Motorola Mobility, a Google company, is building a 3D printed modular phone, and has partnered with 3D Systems for commercial fulfillment. More »
The Captured Dimensions pop-up studio was located in the Smithsonian Castle and featured approximately 80 digital cameras all connected to 3D software. More »
Microsoft expanded their support for 3D printing by launching a Windows 8 app called 3D Builder. It includes a library of objects you can edit and 3D print. More »
3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) announced the availability of the Sense 3D scanner, the first 3D scanner designed for the consumer and optimized for 3D printing. More »
With rumors circling that 3D Systems will be purchased by IBM, the stock soars. We look at why IBM might be interested in the 3D printing giant. More »
3D Printing Sees New Developments in 2012 – VentureBeat Summary
VentureBeat published a fun summary of some of the top new developments in 3D printing during 2012. They include all stories covered by on3dprinting, listed below:
- MakerBot’s continued growth
- Shapeways raises $6.2 million Series B
- 3D printed guns
- Piracy
- 2-year-old fitted with 3D printed magic arms
VentureBeat’s recap:
Plenty of amazing things are happening as 3D printing expands its influence into mainstream culture. Not only are lots of 3D printing companies expanding and getting more funding, but enterprising designers are finding more and more ways to use the fledgling printing technology. While some of these uses are a bit troubling (like piracy of copyrighted material and firearms), others show that, with enough ingenuity, 3D printing can change lives.
via VentureBeat.
Bre Pettis photo from bre pettis used under Creative Commons license.
Top 3D Printing Headlines Last Week: Guns Banned, Shapeways Celebrates Milestone, Ford Embraces 3D Printing
A roundup of the top news On 3D Printing brought you from December 18 to December 22.
Tuesday, December 18
Thursday, December 20
Friday, December 21
3D Printing Ideas Among 2012 “Science Fiction Become Facts” List
BuzzFeed posted an awesome list of the 27 Science Fictions that Became Science Facts in 2012. Among the list were ideas like invisibility cloaks, stem cell research, and self-driving cars. But 3 of the the 27 were stories about 3D printing innovations that we previously covered.
3D Printing Full-Size Houses
The D-Shape printer, created by Enrico Dini, is capable of printing a two-story building out of sandstone. Covered by us here.
3D Printed Jaw Implant Rescues 83-Year-Old Woman
In a groundbreaking first, a medical team created a method for using 3D printing to fabricate a functioning lower jaw implant in titanium. Covered by us here.
Cheap, Flexible 3D Printed Solar Photovoltaic Film
3D printing using silver ink could create cheap and flexible solar panels. Covered by us here.
Read the full list of science fiction “facts” at BuzzFeed.
Last Night to Trim the Christmas Tree with 3D Printed Ornaments
It’s Christmas Eve: the last night to decorate your Christmas tree before the big day. Here are some 3D printed ornaments to add to your holiday cheer.
Above, you’ll see Christmas ornaments by pmoews (available on Thingiverse)
From the designer: Here is a simple Christmas tree ornament consisting of a sphere pierced with 198 holes. It is related to the holed container in Two Spherical Containers, thing:32840. The holes are hypocycloids with 5 cusps and are meant to resemble stars.
Next, we have 3D Printed Christmas Balls by cunicode (available on Shapeways)
And finally, a cool design called Cube Ball Illusion by Ablapo (available on Thingiverse)
The sculpture is showing a cube or a ball depending on the view angle.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
hat tip to 3dprinter.net for finding these designs.
Researchers Use Nano-Scale 3D Printing to Combat Prostate Cancer
Advanced nano-scale 3D printing techniques are being used to develop new drugs for prostate cancer and other applications. Parabon NanoLabs in Reston, Virginia is conducting this groundbreaking research with support from the National Science Foundation and other grants.
Using a simple “drag-and-drop” computer interface and DNA self-assembly techniques, researchers have developed a new approach for drug development that could drastically reduce the time required to create and test medications.
“We can now ‘print,’ molecule by molecule, exactly the compound that we want,” says Steven Armentrout, the principal investigator on the NSF grants and co-developer of Parabon’s technology. “What differentiates our nanotechnology from others is our ability to rapidly, and precisely, specify the placement of every atom in a compound that we design.”
The new technology is called the Parabon Essemblix™ Drug Development Platform, and it combines their computer-aided design (CAD) software called inSēquio™ with nanoscale fabrication technology.
Scientists work within inSēquio™ to design molecular pieces with specific, functional components. The software then optimizes the design using the Parabon Computation Grid, a cloud supercomputing platform that uses proprietary algorithms to search for sets of DNA sequences that can self-assemble those components.
Read the full brief at NSF.gov.
Medicine photo by epSos.de used under Creative Commons license.
