# Key Ideas from #hplusroadmap IRC Discussion

• The community demonstrated active resource sharing and open science advocacy, including requests for paywalled scientific papers and promotion of Melanie Swan's "DIY Genomics" talk on citizen science platforms.

• A significant debate emerged about the capabilities of amateur scientists versus professional institutions, questioning whether distributed amateur efforts could match the capabilities of professional scientific equipment.

• The consumer 3D printing market was discussed as evolving rapidly, with a Chinese company's $1500 personal portable 3D printer (pp3dp.com) challenging established players like MakerBot, while Richard Stallman was noted as advocating for more open-source CAD development.

• An innovative application for 3D printing was proposed: creating decorative plastic shells that snap onto LEGO bricks, allowing builders to enhance the aesthetics of functional LEGO structures.

• The intersection of space exploration and open manufacturing was highlighted through discussion of the Mars Society convention, where plans to demonstrate 3D printing technology for potential Mars applications were mentioned.

• The group explored ethical questions in robotics testing, with QuantumG arguing against anthropomorphizing machines, stating that "kicking a robot, no matter how anthropomorphic it makes you feel, has the same moral importance as kicking a tractor."