3D printing

Technology has come a long way. Today, the manufacturing industry is being revolutionised by the 3D printer. The printer works by printing layer upon layer of a certain material (usually plastic), and makes a 3D model from a digital drawing.

While there has been recent technological developments, the idea of 3D printing is not new, and has been around since the 1980's but today is being used to help in a range of areas. 3D printing has allowed for massive developments in the surgical field, architecture, prosthetics, the environment and manufacturing. For example, scientists have started experimenting with printing 3D coral replicas which could hopefully help save the coral echo systems.