3D printing has actually been around for a long time. But, some of you are just hearing about this now. It seems almost every week people have been finding more and more uses for amazingly accurate 3D printing machines. These machines are even built to reproduce itself; meaning that they’re getting cheaper and cheaper each day. You can get the Prusa Mendel Iteration 2 (one of the most common printing machines) all set up in your home for $800. Sure, that may be a bit expensive, but we didn’t even get to the fun parts of 3D printing yet.

3D printing can create many things. Do you have a broken bone? Surgeons actually implanted a pseudo-jaw made from a 3D printer into an 83 year old woman. In fact, even stem cells could theoretically be made using the same technology. Need a new way of getting around? No need to fear, you can actually make a bicycle by yourself. Although it seems like it’ll be a bit flimsy, no need to worry; it’ll have the strength of steel, weighing 65% less. Too lazy to get batteries from the store? No worries, you can 3D print a battery that is many times more efficient at storing electricity than regular batteries. Don’t have anything to wear? 3D printed clothes were on display at  Paris Fashion Week. You could create all types of flexible clothing for your choosing. Are you hungry? Well, sorry to say, but plastic food tastes horrible. But, using the same technology as a 3D printer, people could theoretically create edible meat. Unfortunately, people look at a wonderful piece of technology such as this, and they immediately think about creating weaponry. It is in fact possible to create a working functional gun without the need of actually go to the store. The one thing I love the most about 3D printers is its future use. We could send a few robots to the moon, and within a few years of automated construction work, we could have an entire base built from the plastic on the moon. We could theoretically create solar panels on the moon with only the resources of the moon, and then send that power back to earth creating a stable source of power. No more burning fuel, no more creating radioactive waste, no more polluting.  The future is wide open!