15 Ways 3D Printing Is Saving The World

The prototype Cortex cast is “lightweight, ventilated, washable and thin enough to fit under a shirt sleeve.” Say goodbye to itchy and smelly casts.

Buttercup the duck was born with a backward left foot. Thanks to a 3D-printed design by Mike Garey, Buttercup can now walk comfortably again. Read more here. (Warning it's one of the cutest things you'll ever see.)

Here's Buttercup all grown up.

In space, no one can hear you scream “I’m Hungry!” Enter 3D printed food. NASA has begun to study the possibility of using 3D printing to make food in space.

Practice makes perfect. 3D-printed models of a baby’s heart could help medical teams better understand the tiny structures they’ll be working with during surgery.

Leave it to Harvard. Researchers there have figured out how to 3D print lithium-ion batteries that are “the size of a grain of sand.” This means more energy for lots of devices, from the newest smartphone to the smallest hearing aid.

Honey, can you pick up some more printing molecules at the store? Chemist Lee Cronin is working on a 3D printer that, instead of objects, is able to print molecules for developing medicine.

Wait lists are notoriously long for organ transplants. Wouldn't it be a lot easier if you could just print a new one? Surgeon Anthony Atala is working on a project with a 3D printer that “uses living cells to output a transplantable kidney.” Mind = blown. Kidney = saved.

A South African carpenter/super hero teamed up with MakerBot to donate more than 100 prosthetic hands to children in need. Read the full story here.

Introducing the N12 bikini, the first "ready-to-wear, completely 3D-printed article of clothing." Who said nerds don't have style?

Some of the printers are helping to save the day just by the nature of how they work. The Filabot for example, "grinds and melts old plastic items to make 3-D printing self-sufficient." So, if you need more "ink" for your 3D printer, you can just look in your recycle bin.

Guys, these kids made a boat out of garbage. Students at the University of Washington successfully 3D-printed the boat using only recycled milk cartons as the printing materials.

After a tumor removal, Eric’s face was left with a gaping hole. Amazingly, doctors were able to 3D print a lifelike artificial facial cover.

Ok, not actually shrink yourself, but at least a 3D printed miniature version of you. Upload a photo of yourself to the Datalandify Yourself app, and GE will print it out and send it to you for free.