Elon revealed details about Starship Flight 4 outcome, Flight 5, and beyond during a gaming livestream in X.
Video Credit: Elon Musk.
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Virgin Galactic is using its SpaceShipTwo to launch the final commercial flight of VSS Unity. This is the 17th flight of the VSS Unity, before the company plans to upgrade the vehicle.
The commercial crew on this mission is composed of a researcher affiliated with Axiom Space, two private Americans, and a private Italian. The Virgin Galactic crew on Unity will be Commander Nicola Pecile and pilot Jameel Janjua.
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New 3D printing method produces commercial grade microlenses with smooth surfaces, which could advance optical device design.
Researchers in Canada have developed a new 3D printing method called blurred tomography that can rapidly produce microlenses with commercial-level optical quality. The new method may make it easier and faster to design and fabricate a variety of optical devices.
“We purposely added optical blurring to the beams of light used for this 3D printing method to manufacture precision optical components,” said Daniel Webber from the National Research Council of Canada. “This enables production of optically smooth surfaces.”
Scientists are harnessing cells to make new types of materials that can grow, repair themselves and even respond to their environment. These solid “engineered living materials” are made by embedding cells in an inanimate matrix that’s formed in a desired shape. Now, researchers report in ACS Central Science that they have 3D printed a bioink containing plant cells that were then genetically modified, producing programmable materials. Applications could someday include biomanufacturing and sustainable construction.
When facing a predator, single cells sometimes unite to defend themselves, paving the way for more complex multicellular life forms to evolve.
Researchers developed a 3D printer that can automatically determine the printing parameters of an unknown material. This could help engineers use emerging renewable or recycled materials that have fluctuating properties, which makes them difficult to print with.
While 3D printing has exploded in popularity, many of the plastic materials these printers use to create objects cannot be easily recycled. While new sustainable materials are emerging for use in 3D printing, they remain difficult to adopt because 3D printer settings need to be adjusted for each material, a process generally done by hand.
To print a new material from scratch, one must typically set up to 100 parameters in software that controls how the printer will extrude the material as it fabricates an object. Commonly used materials, like mass-manufactured polymers, have established sets of parameters that were perfected through tedious, trial-and-error processes.
A team of scientists have developed a new FDM 3D printer that can automatically create parameters for unknown materials.
Material presets for mass-manufactured polymers can be found on most 3D printers. However, the 3D printing parameters for sustainable and recycled materials need to be manually adjusted. This trial and error process can be frustrating and time-consuming, limiting the adoption of environmentally friendly filaments.
Experts from MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA), the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and Greece’s National Center for Scientific Research (Demokritos) are working to change this.
Nanomaterials manufacturing, 3D bioprinting, and astronaut eye health were the main research topics aboard the International Space Station on Friday. The Expedition 71 crew members also continued servicing spacesuits and conducted an emergency drill.
The SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft recently delivered to the orbital outpost a biotechnology study to demonstrate the in-space production of nanomaterials that mimic DNA. NASA Flight Engineers Jeanette Epps and Mike Barratt worked on the second portion of that experiment on Thursday mixing then treating the research samples for analysis. Epps began her day mixing solutions in the Life Science Glovebox to create specialized nanomaterials. During the afternoon, Barratt applied sound and light treatments to the samples then stowed them aboard Dragon for analysis back on Earth. Results may lead to advanced therapies for space-caused and Earthbound health conditions.
The duo partnered back together at the end of the day for eye scans using standard medical imaging gear found in an optometrist’s on Earth. Barratt operated the hardware with guidance from doctors on the ground peering into Epp’s eyes and examining her retina and optic nerve for the B Complex eye health investigation.
University of Florida engineers have developed a method for 3D printing called vapor-induced phase-separation 3D printing, or VIPS-3DP, to create single-material as well as multi-material objects. The discovery has the potential to advance the world of additive manufacturing.
Researchers from Nottingham Trent University (NTU) have developed realistic 3D printed heart and lung models that can bleed, beat and breathe like their real counterparts.
Designed for organ transplant training, the lifelike models reportedly reflect the tactile qualities of a human heart and can be produced with various tissue hardness levels. Using the models, medical professionals can plan surgeries and safely research and teach transplant procedures, without the risk of complications.
The project, which was led by research fellow Richard Arm, leveraged 3D scans of both healthy and diseased human hearts to 3D print the models to a high level of accuracy.
