Modern 3D printing

Have you heard about 3D printing? Do you think we will soon be eating bananas printed on such a printer?

Let it be known, in 2016, General Electric began selling aircraft engines with 3D printed fuel injectors. And in 2011, a biogel-filled printer printed a human kidney during a TED conference.

So probably soon.

By now, many methods have been invented to make solid objects by printing them in thin successive layers. You see, in ten years we will print shoes for ourselves in the printing house, and then at home.

And how does 3D printing work? To a large extent, it is an evolution of the 2D printing we know so well.

Inkjet or laser printers print photos and documents by controlling the application of ink or toner to the surface of a sheet of paper. Similarly, 3D printers produce objects by controlling the placement of successive layers of “building material” in 3D space.

Let’s not discuss the very smart and boring 3D printing technologies now, but just learn the shocking facts about 3D printing.

• With the help of 3D printing, doctors managed to separate Siamese twins, and a cat without four legs was given prostheses that were printed on a printer.
• Visual aids for kindergartens, schools and universities are already being produced on three-dimensional printers.
• Even in industrial design, 3D printing has already taken root: models of houses, microdistricts and villages are printed. They include infrastructure: roads, trees, shops, lighting, transport. As a material, an inexpensive gypsum composite is usually used.

What would you print on a 3D printer?