Researchers have developed a method of 3D printing highly unusual āmesosurfacesā.
biology
Programmable Microbes Produce 3D Print Material?
Researchers have developed an incredible new technique for producing material for bioprinters, and it may revolutionize other forms of 3D printing.
The Century of Biology, ESG Investing, and the Influence of 3D Printing
Charles R. Goulding and Arianna Coger examine the relationship between increased interest in ESG and additive manufacturing.
A New 3D Printing Material That Resembles Biological Tissues
Scientists have developed a new 3D printing material that closely mimics biological tissues.
NIST Scientists Make Advances In 3D Printing Gels And Soft Materials
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently invented a method to 3D print gels and soft materials.
Electrically Assisted 3D Printing
Researchers have developed an incredibly ingenious new method of 3D printing very strong structures using techniques analogous to nature.
Tokyo Restaurant To Feature Personalized 3D Printed Sushi
Clearly the 21st century is here, as a restaurant is now set to provide 3D printed customized sushi for curious diners.
Book of the Week: Advances in Manufacturing and Processing of Materials and Structures
This weekās selection is āAdvances in Manufacturing and Processing of Materials and Structuresā by Yoseph Bar-Cohen.
In the Face of Climate Change: Saving Coral Reefs with 3D Printing
A combination of human activities has put a number of species of coral on both the endangered and threatened species lists, but as humanity as a whole eradicates these crucial creatures, some people are doing their part to try and restore coral populations around the world.
Towards Self-Repairing 3D Prints?
New research from MIT shows a potential approach for producing self-repairing 3D prints.
A Sustainable Place to Rest Your Rear
3D printing the seating of the future isnāt just getting personal, itās sustainable.
Nanoscribeās Bioinspiration
Nanoscribeās customers are leveraging the companyās powerful 3D printer to duplicate features found previously only in nature.
A New Bio-Active 3D Printing Polymer Suggests Many New Applications
Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have done something Iāve not seen before: mixed bio-active enzymes with 3D printing polymer.
The Great Promise of 3D Printer Resin
A new 3D printed resin demonstrates the opportunities with that 3D printing process.
Biomimetics 3D Printing Challenge Now Open
Crowdsourced innovation service Innonatives has posted a challenge seeking āradical ideasā on how to combine biomimetics and 3D printing for sustainability.
BNKās Unusual Antibacterial 3D Printer Filament
Korea-based BNK has announced an antibacterial 3D printer filament. Why?
3D Bioprinted Rhino Horns: Good or Evil?
A report on New Scientist describes how one company is bioprinting rhinoceros horns to save the troubled beast from extinction. Or are they? Rhino horns are a highly desired product in some regions, as ground-up horn is considered a powerful aphrodisiac. Demand for rhino horn material has generated a culture of poachers in rhino-populated areas,… Continue reading 3D Bioprinted Rhino Horns: Good or Evil?
Squid Supply the Blueprint for Printable Thermoplastics
Squid, what is it good for? You can eat it and you can make ink or dye from it, and now a Penn State team of researchers is using it to make a thermoplastic that can be used in 3-D printing.
Extinct Avian Restored by 3D Scanning
The Dodo Bird is definitely extinct, but only in reality. Itās alive and well in the 3D world.
3D Printed Hydroponics – For Free!
The folks at 3DPrintler Labs have provided a gift to urban dwellers worldwide: free 3D printed hydroponics components.
The Biomimicry Approach
A graduation project illustrates the future of 3D printed structures.
Shark Material Produced by 3D Printing
Shark skin is quite rough yet allows rapid swimming, for those of you who havenāt been up close with the notorious fish, but now the nature of the skin has been duplicated with 3D printing.
3D Printed Coral Reefs
Forbes published more information on the 3D printed reef produced by concrete 3D printer D-Shape, whom we met with earlier this year. Why 3D print a reef when you can simply drop concrete blocks or sink redundant ships at the correct locations? The answer lies in the shape of the reef. Evidently artificial… Continue reading 3D Printed Coral Reefs
3D Printing a Living Object: Furniture
Designer Eric Klarenbeek has used 3D printing in a revolutionary way we’ve not seen before: printing a living piece of furniture. The Dutch designer 3D printed a chair (with an amazing design) from straw material (not seen before) and added living fungus (also not seen before). The “Mycelium Chair” includes a very thin… Continue reading 3D Printing a Living Object: Furniture
HOG Scrubber Saved by 3D Printing
You probably don’t know what a HOG Scrubber is. We didn’t either. It turns out it stands for “Hang On Glass” aquarium filter. Ok, wait a minute, don’t aquariums already have filters? They do, but they are mechanical in nature and simply clog up, requiring cleaning or replacement. They also don’t get rid… Continue reading HOG Scrubber Saved by 3D Printing
3D Printed Hermit Crab Cities
It’s not a city “of” hermit crabs, it’s a city that a hermit crab can carry around. Japanese artist Aki Inomata developed a 3D printed replacement shell for hermit crabs that includes a tiny model city on its back. Thus, when the crab wanders, it takes the city with it. Inomata says: I… Continue reading 3D Printed Hermit Crab Cities
GIANT 3D PRINTED BUGS!
The Australian National Insect Collection could be a creepy place if you’re adverse to meeting bugs. But now it’s enormously MORE creepy because they’ve used advanced technology to create GIANT 3D PRINTED BUGS! They’ve carefully 3D scanned specimens of several species and reproduced them up to forty times life size. Yes, FORTY. And they’re… Continue reading GIANT 3D PRINTED BUGS!
Human Faces 3D Printed From Stray DNA
In another truly science fiction moment, PhD student Heather Dewey-Hagborg has developed a technique for transforming found DNA into a 3D model of the DNA owner’s face. This, of course, can be 3D printed. Studying Information art at Troy, NY’s Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Dewey-Hagborg has been involved in a wide variety of similarly unusual… Continue reading Human Faces 3D Printed From Stray DNA
3D Printed Fish Tags
Perhaps you might not need tags for your fish, but the folks at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) do. They’ve developed a way to 3D print titanium tags for tracking larger fish including Marlin and Tuna. Titanium was chosen as it does not react to salty ocean water and can withstand… Continue reading 3D Printed Fish Tags
Controlling Microorganisms to Fabricate Products
Designers and scientists in California are exploring the idea of using microorganisms to create consumer products. This can be thought of as a natural way of 3D printing. E. coli bacteria are being studied to ‘re-program’ them and build the product. This idea has tons of potential and in my opinion should have been looked into much… Continue reading Controlling Microorganisms to Fabricate Products
3D Printed Fish Breeding Gear
We’ve seen many applications of 3D printing to a wide variety of situations, but this one is pretty interesting: Indiana-based research scientist Shane Graber has been using his MakerBot to produce a variety of specialized items for his salt-water fish breeding experiments. He’s designed an incredibly simple brine hatchery composed of a base that’s… Continue reading 3D Printed Fish Breeding Gear
3D Printed Dino Robots
We know folks have 3D printed dinosaur bones before. What could possibly be better than that? We know one thing: 3D Printed Dinosaur Robots! The project to produce these entertaining items has in fact a very serious scholarly purpose. Researchers at Drexel University are 3D printing scaled down dino bones and attaching artificial muscles… Continue reading 3D Printed Dino Robots
Capture That Dinosaur!
Or at least capture their footprints. Most dinosaur species are now extinct, save for those that fly, but the large extinct versions occasionally left behind amazing fossil footprints. We’ve been reading a report of how palaeontologists have been using 3D scanning techniques to capture detailed 3D models of these fossilized prints for later analysis. According… Continue reading Capture That Dinosaur!
Microscopic 3D Models
We’re always looking for new sources of 3D models to print, and we found another potential source: microscopic imaging. Scientists at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Janelia Farm Research Campus are using a special microscopic high-speed imaging (e.g. video) system to capture moving images of teeny things in action, like a single cell dividing, for… Continue reading Microscopic 3D Models
Printing Carcasses
Continuing with the biology-meets-3d-printers theme today, we’ve run across a dark hobby: printing 3D models of animal carcasses! Designer Harry Allen has scanned and modelled a dead firefly, and then implanted an LED to create an unusual lighting system. He’s also scanned a deceased piglet to create an actual “piggy bank”. Perusing his portfolio… Continue reading Printing Carcasses