April Fool’s 2015 Recap

By on April 2nd, 2015 in blog

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Yesterday was indeed April Fool’s day in many regions, and 3D printing blogs took full advantage. 

Our own contribution to the confusion was a bold piece suggesting that Jeremy Clarkson, late of BBC’s Top Gear, had been hired by Ultimaker as their new spokesperson. This is in fact not the case, although it would be extremely interesting if it were a real, true fact. 

Aside from our fun, here’s a few other foolish posts we saw yesterday you may have missed:

YouMagine posted an incredibly detailed story on the ChocoRockoBotto by Eggsbotsz, a 3D printer using “unique full color chocolate 3D printing technology.” Sounds delicious. And questionable.

Houzz, an interior design social service, announced they’ve developed a “new three-dimensional printing feature that allows you to print furniture and accessories at home — directly from the photos you see on Houzz!” Here you can see the HouzzPrintz device, which includes features such as USB 3.0, a Status Monitor, Naugahyde Tank, Outgassing Recyclers and a “Nozzelator”. If only this were true. 

Shapeways announced a new material, Moondust. Apparently they’ve been able to obtain “samples” from their “friends at NASA” and have found a way to 3D print with them. Here’s the interesting part: 

The finished product, though, has an extraordinary characteristic: a silver shimmer that only appears when held under moonlight. In daylight or under indoor lighting, moon dust products will have the same coloration as the color that we see the moon – a nice light gray with some white gradation. When held under moonlight, however, moon dust products have a beautiful, sparkly quality to them.

Made In Space is following up their triumphant Space Station 3D printing achievement with something called, “6D” printing. Here’s how it apparently works: “Combining the power of 3D printing with the power of telekinesis, users will be able to use their ‘6th sense’ to instantly and conveniently 3D print objects just by thinking about them.” Just what we need, although we’re interested to see what might emerge from some of the confused minds we run into.  Check out the hardware at the top. 

Sculpteo found what appears to be a 3D printed UFO near their headquarters. The attractively purple saucer has some weird characteristics: 

If you hold it in your hands for more than a few minutes the tips of your fingers start to go numb. You’ll start to feel a little tingling sensation. There’s definitely something alive in this flying saucer!

By Kerry Stevenson

Kerry Stevenson, aka "General Fabb" has written over 8,000 stories on 3D printing at Fabbaloo since he launched the venture in 2007, with an intention to promote and grow the incredible technology of 3D printing across the world. So far, it seems to be working!