US researchers have found a safe way to 3D print explosives
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The ability to 3D print explosives is a turning point for the military and other industries that rely on explosives, but it also opens up a debate on the potential dangers of the uses of the technology. According to new research out of the...
Researchers 3D printed a working spinal chord implant in 1.6 seconds
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Today if you break your spine, you’re paralysed, but paralysis is increasingly no longer for life. 3D Bio-Printing, an offshoot of its better known cousin 3D Printing, lets scientists manufacture everything from real bones, cartilage, corneas and kidneys, to hearts, ovaries, skin, and teeth, by laying...
Here’s how NASA plans to build on Mars and the Moon
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As the cost of launching equipment and people into space plummets the reality of colonising other planets is getting closer. It’s one thing to send an astronaut to Mars to be an extraterrestrial tourist for a few hours. But if humanity wants to actually...
A creative AI designed NASA’s next spider-like interplanetary lander
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As humans we tend to believe that creativity is our exclusive domain, but AI is muscling in in a big way, and creative machines are improving all the time. Over the past couple of years I’ve been banging the drum, through my articles and...
Robot swarms help scientists 3D print the buildings of the future
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As more companies explore using 3D printers to print buildings it’s impractical to use just one large printer, so scientists are experimenting with swarms. Today there’s more talk than ever before of using 3D printers to print all sorts of buildings, from small houses, and...
3D printed fashion takes over New York Fashion Week
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF 3D printed clothes can be customised and printed on demand using sustainable new materials, giving fashion designers new options and reducing the industry’s environmental impact. Downloadable 3D printed personalised sustainable fashion. I think you’ll agree it’s quite a catchy phrase – or at least...
US Navy puts AI brains into its 3D printers to make them “creative and intelligent”
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF By combining the power of AI with 3D printing the US military hopes to revolutionise how products are designed and made everywhere. One thing about aircraft, especially ones that fly from aircraft carriers, that are increasingly being turned into floating factories and flying fortresses,...
Researchers 3D print human corneas in world first
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Tens of millions of people a year go blind because of a lack of donor corneas, this work will, literally, give them a new outlook on life. There are so many parts of the human body now that can be 3D printed that it’s...
US Marines 3D printed new barracks using the world’s largest 3D printer
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The way we make buildings hasn’t changed much in thousands of years, so it’s time for a faster, cheaper alternative to take center stage. Recently a family in France were the first family to move into a 3D printed house, and the benefits of...
A family in France become the first family to live in a 3D printed house
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As 3D printing improves it will continue to revolutionise the way we make everything from clothes to homes. It was always going to happen, and now it finally has. First came 3D printed houses in Dubai, who want 25 percent of all new houses to...
Scientists have 3D printed the world’s first physical neural network
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to print advanced and complex AI’s mean we can produce them cheaply and position them at the edge of networks where computer power might be limited. Recently a team of researchers in the US revolutionised artificial intelligence when they made the world’s first...
Scientists printed a flexible battery that could revolutionise wearable computers
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Ultra thin and ultra flexible batteries made from Graphene could make new types of wearable computing platforms a reality. Researchers in the UK who were motivated by the problem of how to power the growing number of wearables that are now hitting the market...
Nike’s new 3D printed kicks get set to revolutionise retail
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Retail will soon be going through another disruption, one where personalised products are made on demand in the back of stores, and the sportswear industry are leading the charge. We’re facing a retail revolution, another one, and this time it’s not e-commerce, one where...
3D printed Graphene Aerogel, stronger than steel and 99.8% lighter
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Tomorrow’s materials will be lighter, stronger and more flexible than todays, and that opens up a whole host of new applications. The world’s lightest 3D printed structure, a Graphene Aerogel, is so lightweight that it can be placed on top of a cotton ball...
This is the world’s first 3D printed carbon fiber bike
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Carbon fiber’s light weight and superior strength make it idea for many applications, but up until now it’s been expensive and very difficult to work with to create products, that’s all about to change. Modern carbon fibre bikes, stiffer and stronger than their metal...
BMW and MIT create the world’s first 3D printed inflatable material
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to 3D print materials with different and unique properties opens up a whole new range of use cases and applications, from car design to implanted medical devices, to soft robots and beyond. A two year collaboration between BMW and MIT has produced...
Researchers use AI to turn smartphones into lab grade microscopes
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Not everyone has access to a lab grade microscope, and if you’re a doctor in the middle of nowhere that’s an issue that will delay disease diagnosis and potentially put lives at risk, this breakthrough will revolutionise front line medicine. Today we are on...
Futurist keynote, Milton Keynes: The Future of Communities, Castleton European Summit
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The future will have a huge impact on the future of communities, both good and bad, but with proper foresight and planning tomorrow’s communities could be brighter and better for everyone. Firstly, I’d like to thank Jay and Chantel for inviting me to present...
New hydrogel that mimics cartilage could transform knee surgeries
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Hydrogels are proving to be an amazingly versatile material, and in this case they could help revolutionise how surgeons treat knee conditions and injuries. A new cartilage-like hydrogel material could make the job of repairing knees much easier, say a team of scientists in...
MIT invents a 3D printed dye that lets objects change colour on demand
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF There is nothing to say that tomorrow’s products can’t change their colour, or even their functionality, on demand, and this is one of the first steps in helping achieve that goal. Do you remember the colour changing dress that took the internet by storm and went...
