3D printing

Of course you can now Print your own life sized Episode VII Ball Droid

For a character that we’ve seen roughly 2 seconds of, The Force Awakens’ Ball Droid has created a weirdly excitable fandom. He’s got his own parody twitter. People are tattooing him on themselves. And now, months before Disney’s merchandising mania truly starts up, you can 3D print a Ball Droid of your own. The 3D…

3D printers are poised to revolutionize the ways face transplants are done. Using a new technique, face replicas can now be made in accordance to bone grafts, metal plates, and the underlying bone structure of the skull. The new procedure is faster and with improved outcomes. Read more at Live Science.

You Can Already 3D Print Yourself a Copy of That Star Wars Ball Droid

If you’ve foolishly gotten yourself all excited for Star Wars: The Force Awakens after just the teaser trailer (really? did no one else watch Lost?) you’ll be ecstatic to hear that you can already 3D-print yourself a copy of that adorable rolling ball droid we barely got a glimpse of. The 3D model comes courtesy…

Baymax’s belly becomes a Light source in this clever 3D printed Lamp

The image of Baymax’s pudgy form busting out of his armour suit was one of the first we saw of Big Hero 6 – and now it’s formed the basis of this neat bit of 3D printing. The design is by 3Denovo, a developing online marketplace for 3D printing designs, and replaces a 3D printed…

Cremation Urns Replicate The Deceased As Action Figures

If you have any doubt that 3D printing is a transformative technology, then look no further than the cremation industry where companies can rapidly customize urns designed to be enduring keepsakes. But, one Vermont company has gone to the extreme by duplicating your loved one’s head for urns shaped as action figures. Yes, we’ve seen…

The First 3D Printer in Space 3D-Printed Its First Object

While you were probably wishing Thanksgiving break would start already, the astronauts on the International Space Station made history. They 3D-printed a spare part for the 3D printer. In space. We obviously saw this one coming, since a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship dropped off a 3D printer custom-manufactured by Made In Space earlier this month.…

3D-Printed Toy Parts Will Finally Make Kids Love Fruits and Vegetables

Did you know that originally Mr. Potato Head was just a box full of random body parts that kids were supposed to jab into actual potatoes? It sounds like a crazy idea, but Mr. Potato Head went on to become an incredibly popular and iconic toy—and we can only assume the creators of these Open…

The ISS Now Has a 3D Printer

After being shot up into space, the International Space Station’s first 3D printer has arrived. Now installed, the device will allow astronauts aboard the ISS to manufacture equipment and spare parts to demand. https://gizmodo.com/nasa-is-blasting-the-first-3d-printer-into-space-tonigh-1636978871 It’s not yet clear what the astronauts will print first. Sadly, they probably won’t be making pizza: more likely it will…

This 3D Welder Could Bring Metal 3D Printing To The Masses

3D printing in its current guise is kinda cool, but also limited by its use of plastic — there’s only so many combs you can print before you get bored. An affordable 3D printer that uses metal would be a major step up in practicality, which is exactly what this team is hoping to achieve…

Not Even Martha Stewart Can Take 3D Printing Mainstream

Martha Stewart’s affinity for drones has been well-documented, and now she’s trained her domestic eye on another buzzy emerging technology. Stewart has launched a line of custom designs with 3D printing darling MakerBot. But will the celebrity backing really create an insatiable rush for at-home fabrication? Will a 3D printer suddenly become as indispensable to…

Could These Modular Print Heads Be What 3D Printing Really Needs?

Bringing 3D fabrication tools directly to the consumer has been fraught with challenges; these at-home printers are either insanely expensive or limited in scope. A new concept called FLUX claims that it’s solved all those conundrums with an all-in-one 3D printer that offers modular extruders for ultimate flexibility. Is this the game-changer we’ve been waiting…

Here’s How We’ll Build A Cheap, Safe Lunar Base

The “magnificent desolation” of the Moon might offer some great views, but otherwise it’s a lousy place to live. Human explorers would need protection from a constant bombardment of radiation and extreme temperature shifts. A new video shows how we can inexpensively build an ideal shelter with robotic 3D printers. The concept video, produced by…

Inside the ESA’s Plan To Build the First Moon Base

We’ve known for years that the European Space Agency was pursuing research aimed at developing a lunar base. And the ESA has continued to build on the concept alongside a team of architects—today, it released a video that shows more specifics about the idea, which would use lunar soil to print a habitat for four…

Brilliant Dual-Nozzle Faucet Doubles As a Drinking Fountain

When your kitchen lacks a dishwasher you’ll do anything imaginable to cut down on dirtying dishes—including drinking directly from the faucet. But instead of having to lean over and use your hand as a cup, Alice Spieser has designed a simple dual-nozzled faucet that easily becomes a drinking fountain with some strategic finger placement. To…

This 3D Printer Is Made Out of a Floppy Disk Drive and Other E-Waste

When was the last time you used your computer’s disc drive? What about your DVD player? E-waste is all around us, but as the brilliant Instructables user behind this $60 3D printer proves, there’s plenty to be done with it—if you’ve got some engineering chops. Last week we wrote about the world’s smallest 3D printer,…

Plastic 3D-Printed Guns Just Got Bullets That Actually Work

The idea that just about anyone with access to a 3D printer could theoretically spit out a gun with a few clicks is certainly disconcerting, but up until now, the person firing the damn thing was putting themselves in just as much dangeras the person on the other end. A new type of ammo, though,…

The British Museum Will Now Let You 3D Print Copies Of Its Artifacts

Following in the footsteps of New York’s Metropolitan Museum, London’s British Museum is about to revolutionize the gift shop experience by allowing visitors to download and 3D print replicas of its priceless antiques and artifacts. Given the size of the museum’s collection it will hopefully be posting hundreds of artifacts for visitors to download and…

Curvy 3D-Printed Ghost Tops Seem To Disappear When They’re Spinning

As fun as it would be to believe there’s something supernatural about these curvaceous Ghost Tops that look like they’re slowly turning invisible as they spin, the only magic involved is the 3D printing machines that create them from metal instead of flimsy plastic. For $20 to $25 you can order one from Shapeways in…

The World’s Smallest 3D Printer Costs Less Than $300

The two biggest factors when it comes to choosing a printer are price and capacity. The bigger an item you want to print, the more expensive the printer will be. But if you’ve decided to just tip-toe into the world of 3D printing, and are just testing the waters, the $299 iBox Nano looks like…

3D-Printable Cookie Monster and Grover Figures Hit the MakerBot Store

The first series of Sesame Street characters to hit the MakerBot Digital Store weren’t exactly its A-list residents. We all love Snuffleupagus, but he can’t hold a candle to Big Bird. So thankfully Series 2 is finally here, just in time for Halloween, bringing with it some bigger Sesame Street stars you can 3D print…