Subscribe now

Letter: Editor's pick: 3D printing: you read it here first

Published 9 November 2016

From Ralph Hancock

Daedalus imagined a process very similar to, but earlier than, Chuck Hull's first method of 3D printing in 1983. He suggested developing a liquid monomer that would be polymerised when simultaneously illuminated at two frequencies. Directing two laser beams into a vat of the stuff would create a solid object of absolutely any shape – “even complex interlocking and re-entrant shapes quite impossible to mould”.

London, UK

Issue no. 3099 published 12 November 2016

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. We'll also keep you up to date with New Scientist events and special offers.

Sign up
Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop