[UPDATE 10/21/2021 -After 2018 I started posting my updates on my Patreon page, and so I'm filling in the back-logs for this project retroactively so the whole story is in both places. You can also read all of these posts with their original photo formatting here]

December 31st, 2019

Hello dear Patrons! If you only read one of my messages this decade, make it this one! I've been working on a lot of stuff recently, and finally have a lot to show for it! This update comes with a full-length movie about this history of the Universe, a full tutorial video on how to build the Trash Printer Extruder, AND the first episode of a new podcast!

Let's go! 

First up, my friend Finn Graves and I have been working on a new Podcast called "The Gentler Apocalypse", the first episode of which launches TODAY on SoundCloud! Finn is a rad tattoo artist out of Vancouver, WA! Whilst getting tattoos on my arms this Spring, I coped with the pain of being stabbed multiple times per second by ranting about how cool solar panels are, and we decided that we should start a podcast, so we did! Check it out here !

Next, I've been hard at work making better and more detailed documentation for the Trash Printer, which, it turns out, is hard work! I just released a full 30-minute tutorial on how to build the extruder, which is Part 1 in a 3-part series on Trash Printing! Your support made this work possible! Big Thanks to Dave Hakkens for demonstrating the power of great documentation.

You can find the full video HERE and the updated tutorial, complete with cut-files HERE 

Some of you may know that in addition to building trash eating robots, I've also been working on an immersive, hour-long music video about the history of the Universe that I call "Overview". This has been my back-burner "why-am-I-even-doing-this?" art project for the past 5 years, and it's finally kinda sorta actually done. I will be presenting it after my Light Science talk ("Trash Eating Robots and the End of the Anthropocene") during the Portland Winter Lights Festival in early February, exact dates TBA. 

Got an hour? Watch the full version of Overview HERE! 

FINALLY, tomorrow I will announce which of you lucky Patrons is the winner of my first-ever raffle for this lovely trash-printed mushroom lamp! Not a Patron yet? You still have time to become a Patron by midnight tonight! Stay tuned!

Thank you all so much for your support!

Happy New Year!

Sam