Top 3D Printing News Stories From July, 2014

Let’s take a look at some of the biggest 3D printing stories from the month of July. It was certainly an action packed month for the industry, as many breakthroughs in research have been reported, and significant news seemed to pop up almost daily. Below you will find some of the more important and interesting stories we have covered this month:

July 2nd – 3D Printing Used to Successfully Remove Previously Inoperable Tumor in 5 Year Old Boy (Complete Story)
A team of surgeons 3D printed replicas of a stomach tumor in a 5 year old boy. Doing so allowed them to practice the surgery, and to finally remove the tumor without any major complications.

July 2nd – Engineers Create 3D Printed Bio-Bots That Can Walk, Using Real Muscle Fiber (Complete Story)
Researchers were able to create ‘bio-bots’ which were made from 3D printed hydrogels combined with actual human muscle cells. Using electrical pulses they were able to get these biological robots to move.

July 7th – 3D Printed Semi-automatic Ruger Charger Pistol is Assembled and Fired (Complete Story)
Yet another 3D printed gun was fabricated. This one was a semi-automatic Ruger Charger pistol. It was able to firing without damage to the gun. The receiver of this weapon was 3D printed, but not the entire gun.

July 10th – WASProject Aims to 3D Print Homes in 3rd World Countries Using Native Soil for Material (Complete Story)
The WasProject has been working on ways to 3D print house-like structures using the natural soil and dirt within an area. They aim to be able to construct homes in developing nations. In addition to the natural soil, they also use vegetable oil and water as a bonding agent.

July 14th – Home Depot Teams With MakerBot to Offer 3D Printers Online and in Stores (Complete Story)
Home Depot teamed with the largest consumer based 3D printer manufacturer, MakerBot to offer their machines within several stores. The pilot program will offer printers in 12 stores, initially in California, New York, and Illinois.

July 14th – Japanese Woman Arrested for Selling 3D Printable Files of Her Genitals (Complete Story)
A 30-year-old Japanese woman was arrested for 3D scanning and then printing replicas of her vagina out of plastic. She turned the 3D models of her vagina into all sorts of objects like a kayak, as well as dioramas. She was released from jail the following week, and is waiting to see her fate.

Jul 15th – I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for 3D Printed Ice Cream? 3D Ice Cream Printer is Created at MIT (Complete Story)
MIT students modified a Solidoodle 3D printer to enable it to print out shapes with ice cream. The three students, Kyle Hounsell, Kristine Bunker, and David Donghyun Kim did this as a part of a project for their graduate class on additive manufacturing.

July 17th – 3D Printing Allows For Human Embryonic Stem Cell Breakthrough – Cell Organization (Complete Story)
Researchers at Rockefeller University were able to use 3D printed molds in order to separate the various germ layers of human embryonic stem cells. In doing so they were able to control what types of cells developed where. This discovery could play a major role in future stem cell research.

July 23rd – NASA releases 3D Printable Models of Asteroids, Moon Surfaces, Spacecraft & More (Complete Story)
NASA released a treasure trove of different 3D models which have been modified to be ready to 3D print. The models include that of the asteroid Eros, Mars’ Gale Crater, NASA’s space observator, and Kepler. They are all free to download and will print on your home 3D printer.

July 25th – Two South African Cancer Patients Receive 3D Printed Titanium Jaw Implants (Complete Story)
The 2nd and 3rd ever 3D printed jaw implants were surgically placed into two South African men who had bone defects due to cancer. Both men have made significant progress since the procedure.

July 27th U.S. Army Looks to 3D Print Warheads (Complete Story)
The United States Army is investigating the use of 3D printing to manufacture warheads which could be light, more compact, and in shapes which enable better control over their flight as well as explosion.

July 28th – Amazon Jumps Head First Into Fully Personalized 3D Printed Products (Complete Story)
Amazon took another step to solidify their position within the 3D printing marketplace. They teamed with Mixee Labs to offer personalized 3D printed items.

July 29th – Manufacturing Breakthrough Allows for 3D Printing of Several Different Metals Within One Print (Complete Story)
A major breakthrough by researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has led to a method of 3D printing several different types of metal alloys all within one print. Such technology allows for the fabrication of objects possessing multiple properties based on where different metal alloys are placed within them.

July 30th – Minnesota Man 3D Prints a Real Castle – On to Printing a Full Size House Next (Complete Story)
A man from Minnesota named Andrey Rudenko has begun work on 3D printing a life size castle using a modified 3D Printer. Rudenko plans to 3D printed a normal home in the near future, once he feels confident enough to move forward.

It has certainly been an exciting month. We can’t wait to see what next month has in store.