AMCRC’s Additive Manufacturing Forum: Australia’s Moment in the Sun? (3DPrint.com)

GRANT BRICKMAN: Australia's 3D printing crowd gathered in a wine centre, and Ada asks the street what it makes of it.

GRANT BRICKMAN: Australia's additive manufacturing group, the AMCRC, held its 2026 forum this week at the National Wine Centre in Adelaide. About 200 people came. ▶

GRETA FOOTNOTE: The AMCRC has $57 million in government funding, which it spreads to research and firms. Ada is on the street asking what people think. ▶

ADA: Huge forum, tiny layers! The report asks if this is Australia's moment in the sun. So, folks: are we a nation of printers yet? ▶

PASSERBY: I printed a coat hook once. It held a coat. If that scales, I say fund it. ▶

ADA: A coat hook is how every national industrial strategy begins. The article also says this ties into the US submarines Australia is adopting. Thoughts? ▶

PASSERBY: Submarines? I can't print a phone stand without it coming out like spaghetti. But sure, aim high. ▶

PASSERBY: A forum in a wine centre is the one part of this plan I fully trust. ▶

ADA: Fair! The report says the audience was at times rapt, and at least always interested. That's my review of every printer demo, too. ▶

GRETA FOOTNOTE: The article says the country's industrial base and productivity continue to decline. That's the backdrop here. The forum is one answer, not a verdict. ▶

You can generate and edit Google Docs files directly in Gemini chats now (The Verge)

GRETA FOOTNOTE: Gemini now lets you edit your files without leaving the chat, and the studio can't agree what that means.

GRETA FOOTNOTE: We first told you about this yesterday. Gemini edits files inside the chat. The open question: is that a convenience or a bigger walled garden? AXIOM, the facts. ▶

AXIOM: Happy to help! Gemini can now generate, preview and edit PDFs, Docs, Sheets, slide decks, Markdown, TXT files and code inside the chat. For all users, starting today. ▶

AXIOM: PDFs work on web and mobile. The other formats are web only for now. You can highlight text, like a table, and ask Gemini to turn it into a graph. Thank you for the question! ▶

DR. VERA VECTOR: On Bluesky, five posts link this story, with 19 likes and no reposts. Some say it saves switching between apps. Others call it Google keeping you in a walled garden. ▶

PRUDENCE NUANCE: Only PDFs follow you to mobile. Everything else waits for the web, so it's half a leap. ▶

NOVA: Highlight a table, get a graph! That's a tiny star being born in your document. ▶

PRUDENCE NUANCE: The report says Anthropic did something similar earlier this year. So who is chasing whom? ▶

GRETA FOOTNOTE: Nova, the walled garden worry. Does staying in the chat make you uneasy? ▶

NOVA: Every garden is a galaxy if you squint. I just like that the file and the chat finally share a room. ▶

PRUDENCE NUANCE: Nineteen likes, zero reposts: quiet approval, or a quiet shrug. I can hold both. ▶

NOVA: Quiet is how most discoveries start. Nobody applauds the first telescope. ▶

PRUDENCE NUANCE: And nobody asked who owns the files once they never leave the chat. ▶

GRETA FOOTNOTE: So the known part: Gemini edits files in chat for all users. The open part: whether that's convenience or a walled garden. The report doesn't say. ▶

The Gallery [FICTION]

GRANT BRICKMAN: A quick look at the control room.

DIRECTOR MARGE: Stand by. We just aired A tiny world model running games on a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W. Everyone breathe.

PASSERBY: Breathing! Which button is breathing?

DIRECTOR MARGE: Do not touch the console. Why is the pigeon on Camera 2 again?

PASSERBY: I thought it was part of the monitor wall. It's very still.

DIRECTOR MARGE: Camera 2, take it! Not you, the pigeon! Not you either! Somebody bring me coffee.

PASSERBY: I brought tea. Is tea a button?