3D printing is getting bigger and bigger.
People are finding some amazing ways we can use the technology: Health care, food, games, spare parts, you name it, 3D printing can probably be a part of it.
And the range of substances you can use in 3D printing projects is growing, too, including a new project that uses bacteria to make a 3D ink.
Bioprinting isn’t a new technology, but up to this point bacteria-based gels have also included polymers, to help them keep their shape after printing.
The scientists got the bacteria to produce their own ink, which is also made of bacteria.
If that isn’t sci-fi enough, let’s introduce you to the phrase “living architecture.”
Researchers think one possible use for their substance is in space.
If we’re on the moon or another planet, we could 3D print structures with the bio-ink, and if it was damaged in some way, it could repair itself.
Feed the cultures and you can grow more, like sourdough starter.
Although, the bacteria they’re using here are E. coli, so ask the scientists before you use this ink to make a vegetable drawer or something.
People who really want to get into the holiday spirit are heading to a rental unit in Utah that’s been designed to look like the home of the Grinch, from Dr. Seuss’s famous Christmas tale.
It has signs outside warning visitors to “get lost” and plenty of room to plot schemes against the people of Whoville, if that’s your thing.
This Ink Is Alive and Made Entirely of Microbes (New York Times)
Would You Spend the Night in the Grinch’s Cave? (Architectural Digest)