3D printing

Need a creepy Halloween costume? Wear a 3D-printed mask of your own face

This Halloween, do you harbor the sociopathic desire to convey to everyone you know and appreciate — once and for all — that you truly are a walking nightmare? If so, why not make an unnerving 3D mask of your own face? That’s exactly what a fellow at the 3D printing firm Cubify did. As…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

Bloomberg Used Incredible 3D-Printed Scissors for a 3D Printing Factory Ribbon Cutting

Not only did Mayor Mike Bloomberg cut the ribbon today at the new Shapeways 3D printing factory in New York, he did it using 3D-printed scissors. And they came out of the printer fully assembled. How amazing is that? 3D printing is absolutely magical—these crazy machines use selective laser sintering to print complex moving parts,…

Tech News Leslie Horn

New Patent Could Saddle 3D Printers With DRM

One of the greatest benefits of 3D printing technology – the ability to make replacements or parts for household objects like toys, utensils and gadgets – may be denied to US citizens thanks to the granting of a sweeping patent that prevents the printing of unauthorised 3D designs. It has all the makings of the…

Tech News Paul Marks - New Scientist

3D-Printed Optics Could Light Up the Gadgets of the Future

3D-printing is awesome, but it has its limits. For the time being, we mostly get static plastic figures, and while resolution is getting better all the time, we’re far from a real replicator future. A new development is bringing us one step closer, however: printable optics. A paper recently published by Disney Research—the folks who…

Tech News Eric Limer

This Amazing Machine Can Create Anything From Shredded Scraps

As of today the 3D printing revolution is over. Who wants to wait hours for a machine that painstakingly draws a plastic trinket layer-by-layer when the Muffin Monster can create everything from shipping pallets, to shoes, to full-on couches in mere seconds? It even comes with a bonus reverse function that can turn unwanted items…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

How Makers Are Desktop-Fabricating a Revolution of Things

When I was in high school in the late 1970’s, we had workshop class as part of the “Industrial Arts” curriculum. It wasn’t quite clear why this was a required credit—we lived in suburb of Washington, D.C., and there were no factories around and most of my friends’ parents were lawyers and government workers. But…

Tech News Chris Anderson

The MakerBot Replicator 2 Prints A Bigger, More Detailed Chunk of Your Creative Genius

When the first MakerBot appeared in 2009, the idea of 3D printing was a bit foreign to all but the most advanced fabricators. Company founder and CEO Bre Pettis says he used to get asked: “So what, do you have to wear special glasses to see it?” Three years later and with 13,000 units sold,…

Tech News Harry Sawyers

The most badass thing you’ll see today: a bald eagle with 3D-printed beak

Here’s some feel-good news for your Thursday, not to mention one of the most inspired applications of 3D-printing we’ve seen yet: a bald eagle with a prosthetic, 3D-printed beak. When this bald eagle, named “Beauty” by her caretakers, was shot in the face by poachers in 2005, her beak was demolished, leaving her unable to…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

M.C. Escher’s Impossible Structures, Printed in 3D

M.C. Escher’s two-dimensional renderings of impossible feats of architecture are endlessly fascinating to look at, precisely because they could not exist as three-dimensional objects. Or could they? Gershon Elber, a computer science professor at the Israel Institute of Technology, has manipulated Escher’s optical illusions so that they can be fabricated with a 3D printer. So…

io9 Lauren Davis

This toddler and her tiny exoskeleton will melt your heart

Meet Emma. She’s two years old and suffers from arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, a rare disorder that makes moving her arms extremely difficult. But with the aid of Dr. Tariq Rahman, Whitney Sample, and her custom-fit, 3D-printed Wilmington Robotic Exoskeleton, Emma now has the strength to lift her arms and play like any toddler. It’s so…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

For $1,230, you too can own a 3D-printed model of your unborn fetus

This is how you impress your horrified progeny’s date during prom photographs. The Japanese engineering firm Fasotec is teaming up with Tokyo’s Parkside Hiroo Ladies Clinic to offer expecting mothers 3D-printed models of their gestating bundles of joy. A mere ¥100,000 will get you a 90x60x40 millimeter “Shape of an Angel,” an MRI-scanned keepsake that…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar

3D printing technology could let you print your pharmaceuticals at home

3D printers have made incredible promises about the future manufacture and distribution of goods. Already we can print out toys, mechanical components, and even foodstuffs. One team, though, has set it sights on something with even more incredible potential: 3D printed pharmaceuticals that can be manufactured anywhere in the world. The Guardian recently interviewed Professor…

io9 Lauren Davis

This Case Turns Your iPhone Into a Mac Pro Mini

While everyone is transitioning to lighter and thinner laptops, you can show your love for Apple’s venerable—and occasionally updated—Mac Pro tower with this custom printed 3D iPhone case. If you’re lacking a 3D printer at home, and the 3D modeling skills necessary to create your own, you can just order this case from Shapeways for…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

Futuristic Paper Reflects Light Like 3D Objects and Might Just Save Printed Media

File this one under Straight Out of Our Sci-Fi Dreams. When you shine a light on a photo from different angles, nothing happens to the image. But what if the shadows on it could change as if it were a real, three-dimensional object? That day is closer than you think. HP, 3M, and UC Santa…

Tech News Brent Rose

Beautiful prosthetic legs that are made to be seen

Prosthetic limbs are wonderful for restoring mobility to folks who’ve lost a leg, but form can sometimes get lost in the prosthetic function. One company is producing fairings that fit over a prosthetic leg and serve the same role as a well chosen accessory. Bespoke Innovations creates custom-made fairings that restore the leg contours that…

io9 Lauren Davis

Watch This: Time Lapse Video of an Incredibly Detailed 3D-Printed Yoda

Printing this bust at .1mm layer height gives Yoda a significant increase in detail, as compared to the .2mm layer heigh model shown in a side-by-side comparison in the time-lapse video above. Yoda was printed in green Protoparadigm plastic using a Makerbot Replicator 3D printer, at a feedrate of 30mm/s and a travel feedrate of…

Tech News Molly Oswaks

This Gigantor CNC Machine is Longer Than a Football Field

The days of the assembly line as Henry Ford envisioned it are fading, as manual labor is replaced by mechanical. In fact, tomorrow’s factory floors could be covered with gigantic 5-axis CNC machines like this one. Built by EEW Maschinenbau in Germany, the HSM-Modal, as it is called, is a 5-axis high-speed processing center. Superficially,…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola

Desktop CNC Machine Lets You Build Stuff Out of More Than Just Plastic

Affordable 3D printers are all the rage, but you’re limited to only creating objects from plastic or other extrudable materials. A CNC machine, however, like this ultra-compact ShopBot Desktop, can carve objects out of any material, letting you create more than just trinkets or models. With a base price of just under $5,000, the desktop…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

You Can 3D Print Scale Versions of Famous Museum Statues For Your Home

Usually museums are pretty guarded about their collections—selling merchandise pays the bills! New York’s Metropolitan Museum is defying this tradition by making plans available so that you can 3D print many great sculptures from its collection using a MakerBot. Earlier this month a batch of MakerBot enthusiasts set upon the met with digital cameras and…

Tech News Mario Aguilar

Most Ridiculous Foursquare Thing: Jewelry Made by Mapping Out Your Check-Ins

If you’ve ever stopped and wondered why you obsessively check in to Foursquare wherever you go, Rachel Binx and Sha Hwang have the answer. They’ve come up with a unique jewelry line that lets Foursquare users create custom geometrical designs based on where they’ve been. On their website, meshu, you can either login to Foursquare…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

Need a creepy Halloween costume? Wear a 3D-printed mask of your own face

Bloomberg Used Incredible 3D-Printed Scissors for a 3D Printing Factory Ribbon Cutting

New Patent Could Saddle 3D Printers With DRM

3D-Printed Optics Could Light Up the Gadgets of the Future

This Amazing Machine Can Create Anything From Shredded Scraps

How Makers Are Desktop-Fabricating a Revolution of Things

The MakerBot Replicator 2 Prints A Bigger, More Detailed Chunk of Your Creative Genius

The most badass thing you’ll see today: a bald eagle with 3D-printed beak

M.C. Escher’s Impossible Structures, Printed in 3D

This toddler and her tiny exoskeleton will melt your heart

For $1,230, you too can own a 3D-printed model of your unborn fetus

3D printing technology could let you print your pharmaceuticals at home

This Case Turns Your iPhone Into a Mac Pro Mini

Futuristic Paper Reflects Light Like 3D Objects and Might Just Save Printed Media

Beautiful prosthetic legs that are made to be seen

Watch This: Time Lapse Video of an Incredibly Detailed 3D-Printed Yoda

This Gigantor CNC Machine is Longer Than a Football Field

Desktop CNC Machine Lets You Build Stuff Out of More Than Just Plastic

You Can 3D Print Scale Versions of Famous Museum Statues For Your Home

Most Ridiculous Foursquare Thing: Jewelry Made by Mapping Out Your Check-Ins

Study Challenges Popular Theory on Why Primordial Bugs Were So Darn Huge

Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway’s Mystery’s Sci-Fi Film Has Its First Trailer

Scientists Just Found the Salt Limit That Pushes Your Heart to the Breaking Point

White House Social Media Just Had Its Covfefe Moment

Roborock F25 Ultra Steam Wet Dry Vacuum Is Now at Its Lowest Price, but Only During the Spring Sale Window

This $450 Semi-Dumb Phone Is Barely Even a Phone

Startup Successfully Ignites World’s First Fusion Rocket

Shokz OpenDots One Earbuds Hit Their Lowest Price Yet Across All Color Options, Including the New Ones

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

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