Three-dimensional manufacturing is making something out of practically nothing. People are buying these printers at a rapid rate–one New York outlet that sells 3-D printers sold 15,000 of them last year.

But it won’t be that way for long: When "three-dimensional assemblers" become practical, they will be able to replicate themselves, eliminating shipping costs.
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Why adopt a pet from the pound when you can print out any kind of pet you want? Three-dimensional printing can make objects ranging from violins to pilotless aircraft, so why not a unique pet, designed especially for you.

The Economist writes: "The idea of printing organs such as kidneys for transplant has been around for several years. It works by growing separate cultures of individual cell types, and then spraying them out, layer by layer, in combination with a binding agent called a hydrogel, to build up the correct shape.
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