AI and a Hybrid 3D Printer Just Built Functional Blood Vessel Networks in a Lab
Researchers at Notre Dame and Harvard Medical School used Bayesian optimization and a hybrid extrusion/aerosol printer to build vascularized tissue scaffolds with channels as small as 5-6 microns. Endothelial cells attached, formed linings, and fluid flowed through.
California AB 2047 Would Require 3D Printers to Block Firearm Files — The Technology Doesn't Exist
California's AB 2047 passed the Assembly and is in the Senate. It would require all 3D printers sold after March 2029 to include DOJ-approved firearm-blocking technology. Critics say the blocking tech isn't real and the bill regulates a tool without addressing the crime.
ELEGOO Licensed the Emoji Brand for a 3D Printer. The IP Strategy Behind It Is Serious.
ELEGOO's emoji-branded Centauri Carbon 2 Combo is either a product stunt or a deliberate signal that consumer 3D printing is becoming lifestyle goods. The licensing logic suggests the latter.
Bambuddy Is Walking Away From Bambu Lab's Cloud — and the Community Is Paying Attention
Bambuddy, the open-source self-hosted alternative to Bambu Lab's cloud infrastructure, is discontinuing its Bambu Lab cloud service support. The move is the latest chapter in the ongoing conflict between Bambu Lab's cloud lockdown and the open-source printing community.
Build a $20 Smart Home Macropad With a 3D Printer and an ESP32
Six switches, a rotary encoder, and an OLED display — Prusa's open build replaces expensive commercial controllers with a fully customizable Home Assistant interface for under $20.
Spectrum Filaments Gets Investment: What a Polish Manufacturer's Growth Signals for the Filament Market
Blue Gravity Capital took a majority stake in Spectrum Filaments with an estimated $5–10M USD investment — Europe's largest filament manufacturer plans to double capacity amid consistent backorder conditions.
The Most Useful Thing You Can Print Isn't a Gadget—It's a Better Tool Handle
Industrial ergonomics research points to 3D printing's most underexplored application: custom tool handles, vibration-dampening grips, and left-handed variants that no manufacturer bothers to make.
Bambu Handy's Latest Update Turns Your Phone Into a Filament Inventory System
Bambu Handy's next-gen UI update adds automatic AMS-enrolled filament tracking with RFID spool recognition, cloud-synced remaining weight, and foldable screen support—closing the gap between desktop and mobile print management.
HP's Push to Move 3D Printing Beyond Prototype Status
HP's Arvind Rangarajan argues the industry must stop treating additive manufacturing as experimental and start treating it as a production process — with specific milestones on cost and reliability.
DIY Ceramic Circuit Boards: 3D-Printed Stamps and Clay Replace Chemical Baths
A maker process using 3D-printed stamps, copper powder, and kiln firing creates ceramic circuit boards without PCB chemicals. It's solarpunk electronics manufacturing at bench scale.
Orca Slicer vs Bambu Studio: Which Should You Actually Use in 2026?
Orca Slicer and Bambu Studio have diverged significantly. Here's what each does better — and why many experienced makers keep both installed for different jobs.
3D Printing and the Autonomous Era: How Defense Tech Is Rewriting Manufacturing
Autonomous weapons systems are catalyzing a fundamental shift in defense manufacturing. Smaller companies using additive manufacturing are challenging traditional defense primes — with titanium parts that beat steel in Pentagon testing and supply chains that bypass China's mineral dominance.
UT Researchers Used 3D Printing to Build a Tabletop Version of a $400 Million Semiconductor Machine
University of Texas at Austin researchers have developed a volumetric 3D printing approach that creates nanostructures simultaneously rather than sequentially — a tabletop alternative to EUV lithography machines that cost $400 million and are made by a single manufacturer.
Flashforge WJ51C: A Desktop Wax Printer Fills the Gap Solidscape Left
Flashforge launched the WJ51C, a desktop MultiJet wax 3D printer targeting jewelry and lost-wax casting — the market that lost its primary tool when Solidscape was shuttered in 2024.
Prusa ColorMix Shading: Fake Studio Lighting Baked Into Your Filament
Prusa's free ColorMix Shading app turns zenithal priming into a digital workflow — upload any STL, position a virtual light, and the app generates per-face filament ratios that render realistic shadows and highlights during the print.
3D Printing's Hidden ROI: Custom Tool Voids and Shadow Boards
Custom 3D-printed tool void inserts and shadow boards are more than organization — they're error-prevention systems used by aerospace, HVAC, and emergency services. How to build them and why they justify the filament cost.
The Hidden Cost of Lost Engineering Intent in 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Organizations are good at preserving CAD outputs. They're terrible at preserving the reasoning behind them. As AI optimization tools proliferate, the gap between what the solver receives and what the engineer intends is where design intent gets lost — and where failures originate.
Bambu Launches the A2L: What the New Printer Reveals About Its Market Strategy
The Bambu A2L launches at $489 with a 330×320×325mm build volume, cutting + plotting expansion modules, and AMS support. The launch reveals Bambu's real competitive approach: deploy advanced features across all price tiers, not just the top.
3D Printing Could Reshape Who Gets to Become a Manufacturing Power
New Utrecht University research maps how additive manufacturing is eroding the barriers that kept developing nations out of high-value production. The hearing aid industry shows what early adoption actually looks like at country scale.
Bambu A1 vs A1 Mini: Which Should You Actually Buy in 2026?
The Bambu A1 Mini costs less and prints identically fast — but the A1 has something the Mini doesn't: a path to continuous automated printing. Here's how to choose between them.
Creality at 12: KliTek, AI Cloud, and the Ecosystem Bet
Creality's 12th anniversary marks a strategic pivot from hardware to platform. Here's what KliTek multi-material printing and AI-powered Creality Cloud mean for makers in 2026.
Wells Fargo Backs ICON: Mortgages and Printer Financing for 3D-Printed Homes
Wells Fargo will write mortgages for ICON homes and finance ICON's printing equipment — institutional validation that 3D-printed construction is capital-efficient enough to lend against the hardware, not just the finished product.
Prusament's New Resin Is Safer and Faster — With One Catch
Prusament Resin Model+ removes Bisphenol A, TPO, and ACMO from the formula and cuts layer exposure to 2–2.6 seconds. The higher viscosity creates a workflow tradeoff worth understanding before you order.
Stratasys Buys Markforged at a 65% Discount — And That's the Point
Stratasys acquired Markforged for $42.5M — 65% below Nano Dimension's 2024 price — targeting FX10 metal extrusion and Navy defense contracts in a calculated AM consolidation play.