3D laboratory printers can now make fully-functioning human skin
Since the notorious paraffin heater fires that ravaged working class neighbourhoods in the 1950s and 1960s, there have been big improvements in home safety regulation. Nevertheless, the number of domestic and industrial burns treated in western countries remains high, and although only a few thousand are serious enough to cause disfigurement or even death, a large proportion of them are children.
Do you know a fidgeter? This 3D printing innovation products fidget toy
Fidgeting – it’s what you were told off for at school. For most of us, our early school memories are blighted by the numerous occasions when our restless creativity was brusquely condemned as a cardinal sin. Is it strange then to now find a 3D printing bureau – and Kickstarter – promoting it heavily?
3D predictions for 2017
A growing area of 3D printing (3DP) applications in 2017 will be in culture preservation and artwork restoration. The technology has already been used to reconstruct numerous ancient objects including a 16th century Mercator globe, a Mayan temple, a Lisbon statue, historic buildings in France and London, an Egyptian mummy’s face, and a 17th Century shipwreck near Drumbeg in Scotland.
Will your future Christmas turkey be 3D printed?
The idea of ‘replicators’ being used to create food products is surely straight out of science fiction, and according to Star Trek fan pages, they were introduced in the 24th century in order to produce meals on Federation starships.
How 3D printing is helping surgeons to learn their craft
Back in the Victorian era, surgeons and doctors often learned their craft using the bodies of the recently deceased. As can be imagined, this had both ethical implications and practical limitations, and provided an inconsistent and often hurried learning experience for those entering the medical profession.
Your smile could soon be improved for less thanks to a 3D dental printing innovation
It’s said that the eyes are the windows to the soul, but it is a person’s smile which people generally notice first, and a judgement on an individual’s personality is consciously or subconsciously formed in those fleeting initial seconds when someone smiles. In an image-conscious age of celebrity culture and social media, everybody wants a perfect gleaming smile. It has always been this way, and in 1955, the very first British television commercial was for toothpaste.
How 3D printers can help businesses to save money
It doesn’t seem that long ago when the concept of printing in 3D was something you’d only expect to see in a science fiction movie. The technology is still in its infancy and has yet to reach its full potential, but as it improves and the costs come down, a 3D printer is increasingly becoming an established tool in many business environments.
Could 3D printing spell the end of animal testing
A breakthrough in 3D printing could herald the end for the need to conduct clinical trials on animals. The prospect was first muted after researchers at Harvard University developed micro-physiological systems, called “organs on chips”, which are able to replicate the functions of human organs such as bone marrow, lungs, intestines and kidneys. The first 3D-printed human liver on a chip was created in San Diego in 2014.
Mattel confirms delay to its first 3D printer for kids
Budding inventors, artists, designers and indeed children worldwide have been waiting with bated breath for the arrival of ThingMaker, Mattel’s 3D printer. The printer is aimed at kids and will allow youngsters to print their own toys in the comfort of their own homes. The device, which was unveiled at the New York Toy Fair back in February this year, works with an app that Mattel developed in partnership with the software company, Autodesk.
How 3D printing could revolutionise our future roads
There is a strong possibility that one day we will all look back at these relatively early days of 3D print technology and wonder how we ever lived without a 3D printing service. Although we might smile at some of the less than useful objects and gimmicks produced merely as proof that it could be done, every day another headline proclaims a new, innovative and extremely beneficial way in which 3D printing is changing our lives.