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MELBOURNE, Feb. 26 (UPI) — Researchers have 3-D printed everything from animal prosthetics and human teeth to whole cars, but now a university in Australia has tackled printing two jet engines. A group of researchers at Melbourne’s Monash University, in conjunction with Deakin University and Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), used a large 3-D printer to manufacture the two engines.

A printer was once just a printer, dispensing paper sheets with printed material made from the ink stored within. But today, a printer has evolved to becoming a small-scale manufacturer that 'prints' out anything from human organs to affordable meals to guns. For instance, the XYZPrinting 3D Food Printer, exhibited at the recent CES 2015 in Las Vegas, is expected to print any style of uncooked cookies and other dough-based pastries in minutes. Not exactly as affordable as any other food processor, the printer ranges between $500 and $1,900 and prints food that measures around 5000 cubic cm by volume....

The Mark One 3D printer from MarkForged caused a bit of a sensation last January when it was announced that it could extrude continuous fiber using the FFF process.The Mark One 3D printer, featuring a build volume of 320 x 132 x 160 mm, can print using carbon fiber, Kevlar, fiberglass, and nylon, and in doing so creates very strong parts. Now 3 HTi has announced they’ll be offering, through a partnership with the Cambridge, MA-based MarkForged, the Mark One 3D printer as one of the first companies authorized to sell the revolutionary technology. 3 HTi is a technology solutions...

Elon Musk isn’t afraid to shake things up, and he did so again with accusations that US defense contracts awarded to a competitor were the product of corruption. SpaceX, Musk’s orbital transport firm, has been competing for a major contract to put US Air Force satellites in orbit. With a dearth of private investment in space and the end of the US space shuttle program, SpaceX has quickly leapt to the fore of aerospace firms with the help of contracts from NASA to provide re-supply missions to the International Space Station and develop a manned spacecraft to fly astronauts there....

Mario Anzuoni/Reuters Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla. While it's certainly impressive that Elon Musk has bachelor's degrees in physics and economics from the University of Pennsylvania, it's an absurd understatement to say that prepared him to run SpaceX, his spacecraft company. Jim Cantrell, who was an aerospace consultant at the time, became SpaceX's first VP of business development and Musk's industry mentor when the company launched in 2002. He says that Musk literally taught himself rocket science by reading textbooks and talking to industry heavyweights.

We’ve seen an incredible amount of research hours and dollars being poured into an area where the ‘miracle material’ graphene converges with what some may call a ‘miracle technology’ in 3D printing. In this space, a whole slew of groundbreaking applications and processes may emerge as a better understanding of graphene, and how to 3D print it come about. We’ve discussed a company called Graphene 3D Lab in the past. They have been producing a graphene nanocomposite filament for typical FDM/FFF 3d printers. The problem with this filament, however, is the fact that most of the desirable properties of graphene,...

Robotic building by Contour Crafting won the grand prize in a NASA magazine's Create the Future contest.In the not-too-distant future, building a new home may be as simple as printing it out. The process of wielding 3D printers to make homes is in its infancy today, but someday soon you may look out your window at a large-scale printer, swiftly spitting out a whole home under the instruction of just one operator. "Generally, they'll be much cheaper, much faster, much safer and with much nicer architectural features [than traditional homes]," says Dr. Behrokh Khoshnevis, creator of and lead researcher for...

Voxel8, creator of the world’s first multi-material 3D electronics printer and backed by Braemar Energy Ventures, announced pre-order availability of its initial product – the Voxel8 Developer’s Kit. Voxel8 also announced its partnership with Autodesk to develop a new design tool called Project Wire for creating 3D electronic devices printed on Voxel8’s platform. Together, Voxel8 and Autodesk are enabling designers and engineers to create three-dimensional parts with embedded circuitry for the first time. Rapidly design novel devices, such as 3D printed antennas, electromagnetic coils, or stack ICs in ways that were previously impossible. Eliminate wire harnesses by combining them with...

By pushing existing technology to the limits, undergraduates from NTU have assembled a 3D-printed body shell for an electric car, says Associate Professor Ng Heong Wah.SINGAPORE: Students from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have built the first urban solar electric car with a 3D-printed body in Singapore, said the university in a news release on Monday (Feb 2). The car – named NTU Venture 8 (NV8) – is mounted on a carbon fibre single shell chassis. “We are extremely proud to have designed and assembled a 3D-printed body shell for the electric car,” Associate Professor Ng Heong Wah said. “The...

It sounds like something from a science fiction plot: so-called three-dimensional printers are being used to fashion prosthetic arms and hands, jaw bones, spinal-cord implants -- and one day perhaps even living human body parts. While the parts printed for humans so far have been fashioned from plastic, metal and other inorganic materials, researchers in California and elsewhere also have begun printing living tissue, with the goal of eventually employing these "bioprinters" to create customized kidneys, livers and other organs for people needing transplants. What's particularly attractive about the technology, according to its proponents, is that 3D printers can produce...

A Chinese company has successfully 3D printed a five-storey apartment building and a 1,100 square metre villa from a special print material.While architectural firms compete with their designs for 3D-printed dwellings, one company in China has quietly been setting about getting the job done. In March of last year, company WinSun claimed to have printed 10 houses in 24 hours, using a proprietary 3D printer that uses a mixture of ground construction and industrial waste, such as glass and tailings, around a base of quick-drying cement mixed with a special hardening agent. Now, WinSun has further demonstrated the efficacy of...

Perhaps you read the title of this article, and automatically assumed that we made a typo. After all, it sounds awfully similar to a story we did in the past about 3D Systems. If you have been following the 3D printing space for the past several months, then you know that 3D Systems has been working on creating a new 3D printing system that they say is based on a “racetrack architecture”. It is an assembly line of sorts, and is said to be able to fabricate objects up to 50 times faster than other printers currently available today. Now...

The first ATF ruling of 2015 is a vast expansion of its already considerable power.  It maintains that an entity that rents or leases equipment or tools that are under kept under the entity's control, must be licensed as a gun manufacturer and keep gun manufacturing records, if it allows other people to use its equipment to perform work that complete a frame, receiver, or complete firearm.  From the ruling (pdf): An FFL or unlicensed machine shop may also desire to make available its machinery (e.g., a computer numeric control or “CNC” machine), tools, or equipment to individuals who...

Impossible Objects is, even for the 3D printing world, apparently doing the impossible. The focus of the company is to create the world’s first composite 3D printed objects, using an impressive variety of materials, to revolutionize the already-revolutionary 3D printing space. Larry Kaplan heads up the Impossible Objects team as the CEO. The former CEO of Navteq, Kaplan is leading the five-employee firm’s chaimpossible objects logorge in developing novel 3D manufacturing machines to enhance upon the presently available capabilities. “Current technologies are 20 or so years old,” said Kaplan. “They are great for prototyping but too slow compared to volume...

Evolution is what got us here today, if you accept the scientific approach to our creation. It was processes such as ‘survival of the fittest’ which led us, as well as other earthly creatures, to develop some of the traits, senses, and abilities that we possess today. For superhero fans, especially those who love the X-Men, you know that these superhuman characters acquired their powers through the process of evolution. Little mutations in genes led to them become the recipient of more than simple human-like abilities. Wouldn’t we all like to have the ability to see through objects, climb walls,...

The future is always filled with uncertainty, especially for individuals involved in growing and producing safe, nutritional food for the world. As the agriculture community, spends a great deal of time and effort in pondering the “what ifs”, consumers still sit in the driver seat. One thing futuristic minds can agree on is the world population clock is clicking away at much quicker rate than the U.S. population. Recent estimates show a global population will not slow down its pace even after it reaches the United Nation’s projection of 9.2 billion in 2050. For now, the drop in global population...

2014 was the year of 3-D printers. According to the 2014 edition of the Wohlers Associates annual report (via The Motley Fool), which is considered the industry’s bible on 3-D printing, there are approximately 400 to 600 3-D printer brands available in the $200 to $5,000 price range. That number is not surprising: With its focus on customized products and innovative materials and technology, 3-D printing is poised to transform our world. Yet not much is known about 3-D printers. This is due to two reasons. First, 3-D printing still has a long way to go to become consumer-friendly. The...

Food researchers in the US Army are looking into ways to 3D print food for soldiers. According to a press release, Army food technologists say that 3D printed food could produce meals on demand for soldiers in the battlefield. With 3D technology, food can be tailored to a soldier’s nutritional needs. Because the Army’s Meal Ready-to-Eat (MRE) standard for food has a shelf life of three years, 3D printing creates new options that could make meals have longer and more stable shelf lives according to Lauren Oleksyk, Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC). Earlier this month in December...

After more than two years and an estimated $20,000, a research group in the mechanical engineering department has created the first 3D printer capable of printing LED lights. The venture was led by researcher Yong Lin Kong and Ian Tamargo '14, and was sponsored by the Air Force of Scientific Research and the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency. The research group McAlpine, led by mechanical and aerospace engineering professor Michael McAlpine, made a breakthrough more than a year ago after it successfully printed 3D bionic ears, devices that can hear sound frequencies beyond the capacity of a human ear, out...

If 3D printers don’t already fall somewhere on your list of the top ten coolest things ever, then you really need to take some time to rethink your priorities. The following list of eight unbelievably awesome things that 3D printing is already being used for should help to convince you (if you need convincing) that 3D printers are science fiction come true. 1) Prosthetic Legs for Dogs With a prosthetic leg created by designers at 3D printing company 3D systems, Derby the disabled rescue dog (warning: if you’re pregnant, menstruating, or a passionate animal lover the aforementioned link will probably...