Manufacturing Bits: April 18


3D printing on Mars Northwestern University has demonstrated the ability to print 3D-based structures using compounds that resemble Martian and lunar dust. The idea is that if humans begin to colonize the moon and Mars, they may require 3D printers. With 3D printers, humans can make small tools, buildings and other objects. For this, researchers from Northwestern have developed novel in... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Nov. 8


Self-healing magnetic ink The University of California at San Diego has developed a self-healing magnetic ink. The ink can be used to print inexpensive electrochemical devices, such as batteries, sensors, textile-based electrical circuits and other products. A key to the technology is the self-healing concept. This means a device could autonomously repair itself in the field. Over the ye... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Dec. 29


Printing hair Using a low-cost, 3D printing technique, Carnegie Mellon University has found a way to produce hair-like strands and fibers. The printer produces plastic hair strand by strand. It takes about 20-25 minutes to generate hair on 10 square millimeters. A video can be seen here. [caption id="attachment_24544" align="alignleft" width="300"] 3D printed hair (Photo: Carnegie Mellon... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: August 25


South Pole neutrinos A group of researchers using an instrument buried deep in the ice at the South Pole have announced a new observation of high-energy neutrinos from beyond our solar system and the galaxy. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a cubic-kilometer-sized detector sunk into the ice sheet at the South Pole, allows researchers to see the byproducts of neutrino interactions with the ... » read more