The metal lithium has become integral to our daily lives, due to its essential role as a battery material in electronic devices. Over the next several decades, the rising popularity of electric vehicles is expected to mean the demand for lithium will increase even more — so companies that mine the metal are racing to […]
The robots are coming. Will they work with us?
In the latest installment of our Future of Work series, PBS NewsHour science correspondent Miles O’Brien visits MIT’s Interactive Robotics Laboratory to understand the “new species” of robots scientists are designing to work alongside humans safely. Though the devices often excel at repetitive tasks, will they be able to function just as well in dynamic […]
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 […]