Everyone’s going crazy over 3D printing these days, and understandably so. The concept seems like it’s something from the pages of a sci-fi book, and now researchers have managed to turn it into a reality.
The coolest thing about 3D printing is that the sky is really the limit. You can now ‘manufacture’ toys, gadgets, and even weapons from 3D scans, patterns, and of course, a good 3D printer. It’s impressive stuff, but when it comes to the last bit, it’s also pretty scary.
A couple of amateur gunsmiths came together and had a some gun parts printed so that they could put together a fully-functional AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. They tested out the 3D-printed lower receiver recently and results were pretty good at first – that is, until they got to their sixth shot.
Note that the receiver was the only 3D-printed part used in the test; all others used were actual gun parts.
What do you think?
[via Danger Room via Dvice]
While getting your documents or photos printed at your local office supplies center such as Staples is pretty common, we’re not sure if going to Staples to get objects printed in 3D is. Perhaps it could be in the future and Staples appears to be interested in being part of that future with a newly launched service called Staples Easy 3D. Unfortunately this service is launching in 2013 and appears to be limited to the Netherlands and Belgium, but we expect that if it were to take off the way Staples has in mind, we could see it stateside in the future.
You can say that majority of the parents out there are proud of their progeny, and do not mind showing off photos of their newborns. What happens when one is able to make use of today’s technology and capture a 3D image of an unborn child? Well, I guess that means the bragging will only happen earlier, and Fasotec of Japan has come up with a new kind of technology that delivers pre-birth 3D models of their babies. This service is being offered by the Hiroo Ladies clinic in Tokyo, where the process will require taking in ultrasound scans of a pregnant woman’s abdomen, while printing it out in a 3D model which parents are able to keep as a souvenir.
Instead of flat prints, people will get miniature 3D figurines of themselves for a souvenir. It’s not as ‘instant’ as the former, since people will have to remain in their poses for about 15 minutes while an attendant performs a full body scan.
We’ve seen many dedicated Minecraft gamers recreate some pretty amazing things, like a recreation of the World of Warcraft and etc. At the same time there are Minecraft gamers who have come up with their own creations and if you thought that your Minecraft creation deserves to be made a reality, you might just get your wish. The folks at FigurePrints have announced that they will now be able to offer Minecraft gamers the chance to 3D print their Minecraft creations. According to FigurePrints’ founder, Ed Fries, this is possible thanks to a custom software he wrote that “let us view the Minecraft world — it can detect anything that is floating and that solves a lot of problems, it can fill in parts that are completely enclosed and it can shell parts to make it less expensive. There’s a lot that’s automated into the tool itself.”