3D Printing

3d printing, gifts

3D printing long ago moved from being theoretical to a reality, and in recent years 3D printers have become cheaper to produce; several models are now available for sale, as well as designs for products. Experts predict 3D printers will be common in homes in coming years. Our news and feature articles cover the science and technology behind 3D printers, from how they work to the history, progress and future of the technology and what kinds of things can be made. 3D printing’s uses range from practical objects for everyday use to commercial products and parts used in manufacturing, plus the technology holds promise for bioprinting of human parts for medical purposes.

Latest about 3d printing

A conceptual image of flying cars taking off and parking on a helipad among skyscrapers.

32 sci-fi technology predictions that came true

By Roland Moore-Colyer published

From flying cars and railguns to smartphones and jetpacks — what was once sci-fi can now be found in the real world.

Tech
Bronze sculpture of a reconstruction of a female mummy aged between 50 and 60.

See stunning reconstruction of ancient Egyptian mummy that languished at an Australian high school for a century

By Tom Metcalfe published

The forensic facial reconstruction is based on a precise 3D model of the skull created with medical scans.

Ancient Egyptians
Grid of images of the eyes of eight patients who received a prosthetic eye in the new study

Super-realistic prosthetic eyes made in record time with 3D printing

By Emily Cooke published

Scientists can now 3D print more-realistic prosthetic eyes in a fraction of the time and effort required by traditional approaches.

Anatomy
a close up of a small ice sculpture shaped like a delicate branching blood vessel shown next to a florescent image of cells grown in the same shape

'Ice printing' tiny sculptures could help scientists engineer blood vessels

By Nicoletta Lanese published

A technique for printing 3D structures from ice could be used to help make artificial veins and arteries.

Heart & Circulation
Red and green, 3D reconstructed view of the printed brain tissue under the microscope showing different tissue layers against a black background with a scale reference in the bottom right-hand corner of the image denoting 25 micrometers

3D-printed human brain tissue works like the real thing

By Emily Cooke published

The printed tissue grows and functions like that in a normal human brain, according to the authors of the new study.

Neuroscience
This is the final 3D-printed tracheobronchial splint used in one of the baby boys.

4D Implant Saves Babies with Breathing Problems

By Charles Q. Choi last updated

A new "4D" medical device has saved the lives of three baby boys with life-threatening breathing problems, researchers say.

Health
An artist's illustration of a futuristic spaceship orbiting Earth. The Chinese proposal aims to look into the feasibility of building mega spaceships that are over half a mile long.

China wants to build a mega spaceship that’s nearly a mile long

By Edd Gent published

A Chinese science proposal plans to study how to get a giant spacecraft into space.

Space Exploration
Scientists 3D printed a heart the size of a rabbit's using human tissue.

How Scientists 3D Printed a Tiny Heart from Human Cells

By Yasemin Saplakoglu published

It has four chambers, blood vessels and it beats — sort of.

Heart & Circulation
Researchers 3D printed these ceramic items from fake moon dust, or regolith.

European Researchers Baked Fake Moon Dust into Money and Screws

By Rafi Letzter published

Why did the European Space Agency create a whole bunch of fake moon dust and use it to 3D print small screws, gears and even a fake coin?

Tech
animal eyes, human

Scientists Have Figured Out How to 3D-Print Part of the Human Eye

By Rafi Letzter published

If you damage your cornea, the odds of eventually getting a new one may have just gone up.

Neuroscience
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