3D Printers from Science Fiction to Reality

One of the most popular inventions of recent times, 3D printers are one of the clearest and most obvious examples of technology that touches every aspect of our lives today. The most important advantage of these printers is that they can produce complex shapes that are difficult or impossible to make by hand. 3D is the abbreviation of 3 Dimensions and translated into Turkish in 3D as many of us know. The working principle of this technology is based on electromechanical algorithms that turn a digital file or CAD (Computer-Aided Design) model into a three-dimensional object.

3D printers are one of the signs that best show the point of science. Here, from the fields of science in every aspect of our lives; We're talking about medicine, architecture and, of course, technology. This is exactly what we mean when we say “Industry 4.0”, which we hear a lot, which also means the internet of things: changing every aspect of our lives. Welcome to the future of science fiction.

Producing Food on the Printer

Protein is the most important ingredient in foods that allow us to survive. Protein-containing foods are therefore more expensive than foods containing carbohydrates and fats. The most important of these foods is, of course, red meat. With the logic of 3D printers, there is nothing that cannot be produced after putting the necessary material inside. Here, too, there are plant or animal cells and plant protein obtained in laboratories. Company founder Giuseppe Scionti, who works at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, first started the attempts to cook with a 3D printer, said that edible vegetable steaks can be printed with the newly produced printers. In the production process, first a dough is prepared from various plant materials, then this dough is given to the printer and the printer prints the meat. It is said that thanks to this method, it is possible to press up to one hundred and fifty grams of meat per hour. These meats are also healthy, as they do not contain the harmful parts found in organic foods. The question of authenticity and whether it's really food depends on where you look at it.

Medicine of the Future

The history of prosthetic solutions applied on damaged or damaged bodies dates back thousands of years. The first known prostheses in history date back to BC. It is thought to have been made in Egypt in the 3rd millennium. We are talking about a process that covers a longer period of time when we go back to the Common Era, compared to the time that has passed from BC to the present. Prosthetic legs are among the first prosthetic examples. But this method, which has generally remained stable for thousands of years, has made great progress especially in the 20th century and has now reached incredible dimensions both economically and medically. Thanks to 3D printers, these tools, which do not take even a day to manufacture, reach millions of people around the world. More exciting are the studies for living organisms, which consist of living cells produced in laboratories. It looks like we're going to hear more about this.

Colony on Mars

The most spectacular topics in technological developments are probably space studies and colony on Mars. Especially with the successes of SpaceX company, the scientific world is very excited about Mars. One area that supports them is 3D printers. The revolutionary issue here is nothing like the production of fuel tanks that can withstand space travel. Here we go back to the basics of computing. The pioneers of computing, John Von Neumann and Alan Turing, tried to answer the question of how computation could turn into physical existence towards the end of their lives. The answer to this question was hidden in the idea of ​​designing a machine that could calculate its own construction. This is the main issue that companies working for 3D printers are working on. So a 3D printer that can create another 3D printer. A machine that, after sending it to Mars, could create anything there. Exciting, isn't it? Definitely.