We’ve talked in the past about ways 3D printing can be Earth friendly and reduce CO2, so we’ll just say Happy Earth Day!

The first 3D-printed drug has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  Aprecia Pharmaceuticals has made a drug called Spritam (levetiracetam) that is used to treat epilepsy.  By 3D printing the tablet can be made of layers of the powdered drug for rapid dissolution in what they call the ZipDose® platform.  Cool to see another serious medical use of 3D printing!

No doubt you’ve heard of the potential of self driving cars and what they could potentially mean to safety and reduced traffic.  With thousands killed in accidents due to driver error one wonders if 100 years from now we’ll wonder why a human was ever allowed to pilot such a dangerous machine.  Self driving cars can even let the blind drive! Continue reading →

In last week’s episode of Scorpion on CBS, 3D scanning and printing was at the center of the plot.  In the episode called “Djibouti Call“, the characters used 3D printing to try to take down a group of bad guys by disrupting their funding which came through selling artifacts.  By switching the real thing for a 3D printed fake they could wreck the groups reputation in antiquities Continue reading →

We’ve spoken in the past about some of the environmental benefits of 3D printing, but there are always two sides to a coin.  The polymers often used in 3D printing can have impurities from their manufacturing process, coatings or other compounds which can cause health and environmental concerns.  There was even an “accidental” study about 3D printed items being toxic to fish.  A new company 3DPrintClean has a KickStarter campaign to capture the 3D printing plastic emissions that can be released during the printing process using a novel enclosure. Continue reading →

You know you’ve gone mainstream when Family Guy can use you for humor!  In season 14 and episode 11 called “The Peanut Butter Kid” go to 15:21 to see Peter’s use for a 3D printer!

Are 3D printers a toy or best left to the professionals?

3D Systems is discontinuing it’s desktop Cube 3D printer, effectively exiting the consumer space.  The company states that this “reflects management’s plans to focus its resources and strategic initiatives on near-term opportunities and profitability”.  Essentially it’s cost cutting and prioritizing resources to the currently more lucrative professional market.  The stock (DDD) has been pretty ugly the last year or so and this type of move is not unexpected.  It just makes one wonder if there really is a consumer market “just around the corner” or if 3D printing is going to be more of a professional tool for the foreseeable future?

Do you wonder if people are looking at you?  Maybe you’re a women like in this video and are gawked at by men and women alike when ? (actually has a good message overall about checking yourself for breast cancer)  A new 3D printed garment reacts when someone looks at it.  Maybe someday we’ll all have to be a little more careful of what we look at as there may be sensors leading to “booty alarms” when people check out our butt!

For the ladies this is a mascara alert as doctors take 3D ultrasound information and use it to 3D print a 3D representation of the baby for a blind mother.  As an expectant father, I can imagine how she must feel and the gift that 3D technology has given her that wouldn’t have been possible just a few years ago.  If you’re interested the company WolfPrint 3D does this commercially.