In the never-ending hunt for new designs that jump, pump, or run faster and better, scientists are finding inspiration in nature. The field of biomimicry blurs boundaries between living things — like the butterfly’s proboscis or the flea’s powerful legs — and the inanimate to spur new problem-solving technologies. PBS NewsHour science correspondent Miles O’Brien […]
You can now build a 3-D bioprinter for less than $50. Here’s why that matters.
3-D printing… with living tissue? No, this isn’t Westworld, this is the real world. It’s a growing research trend called bioprinting and a team of Carnegie Mellon University engineers may have just made it much easier to print using biomaterials and fluids. Using off-the-shelf parts, Dr. Adam Feinberg and team have created a bioprinting attachment […]
Need a new car? Want to launch a rocket? 3D print it with metal.
Metal 3D printing is entering a new dimension, moving from small volume and prototyping to full-scale manufacturing. Miles reports on two innovative companies that are taking metal 3D printing to the limits: Relativity, which wants to 3D print entire rockets, and Desktop Metal, which is set to provide industrial manufacturers with production-scale 3D printers. Is […]
Putting the pedal to the metal with 3D printing
The last time I did a story on 3D printing, it was 2014 and there was a consumer rage underway. People were buying the gadgets, taking them home with all kinds of big ideas in mind. But the reality fell short as they discovered the limitations and frustrations in building, maintaining and operating them–not to […]