3D Printing

Most 3D-printed houses we cover are either arranged on one floor or have an upper floor added later using a timber shell. However, this recent example was entirely 3D-printed across both floors in just 18 hours.

Icon has begun work on three affordable 3D-printed homes in Austin, Texas, for low-income individuals. Each of the residences features a compact layout, with a modern interior that's spread over two floors.

Anticipating a boom in nuclear energy, the US Department of Energy’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is using 3D-printing to speed up the building of power plants while bringing down costs.

Researchers in Australia have developed a titanium alloy that's 30% cheaper to produce than standard titanium, and is stronger and more ductile than other titanium alloys.

This remarkable house was built using 3D printing technology, but with a sustainable twist: instead of being constructed from concrete like the majority of 3D-printed buildings, it's predominantly made from a soil-based mixture.

The world's largest 3D-printed construction project is currently underway in Qatar. The effort involves printing a pair of schools, each of which smashes current records for a 3D-printed building.

While there are many uses for soft-bodied robots, the things are still only built in small batches. Scientists are out to change that, with a mass-production-capable soft bot that is 3D-printed in a single piece which walks off of the print bed.

Likened by its creators to an "ornate layered cake," the ambitious Tor Alva is the world's tallest 3D-printed building. The remarkable white tower took around 900 hours to print and rises to a height of almost 100 feet.

Philips just launched a program to offer up 3D printing files so anyone can produce their own spare parts for its trimmers for free. More brands should follow suit to make their products last longer – and avoid being trashed way before they're due.

So this is a weird but ridiculously cool one. Anker Innovations – a well-known worldwide brand with a solid reputation in power banks, chargers, and cables – has a sub-brand called Eufy – and it's built the very first desktop-sized 3D texture printer for home projects.

Researchers have developed a 3D-printable electrode that looks like a single strand of human hair and measures brain activity more reliably than the current method used to diagnose things like epilepsy and sleep disorders.

3D-printed construction is really taking off in the USA and the variety of projects being printed is remarkable. The latest example of this comes from the country's first 3D-printed Starbucks coffee shop.