Technology Engineering How does 3D printing work? Rapid prototyping is a relatively simple process that can be scaled up or down. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Since 3D printers debuted in the 1980s, the devices have been used to build meat, chocolate, human organs, clothing, cars, and houses . It's more mainstream than ever, and you can buy a machine for less than $200.

Additive manufacturing is one of the most important technological advances of the 21st century. It's revolutionized the way we build everything from airplanes and wind turbines to medical implants and nano-machinery -- not to mention the tidal wave of creativity unleashed once the tech made its way into the maker community. In Cosplay: A History, veteran cosplayer and 501st Legion member, Andrew Liptak explores the theatrical origins of the craft and its evolution from costuming enthusiasm to full-fledged fandom. Liptak also looks at how advances in technology have impacted the cosplay community -- whether that's the internet forums and social media platforms they use to connect, the phones and cameras they use to publicize their works, and, in the excerpt below, the 3D printers used to create costume components. Excerpted from Cosplay: A History - The Builders, Fans, and Makers Who Bring Your Favorite Stories to Life by Andrew Liptak, published by Simon & Schuster.

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has quickly become an invaluable tool in heavy industry, and startups are constantly developing new AI tools to help businesses overcome existing challenges. Facility waste management, for example, is increasingly important as manufacturers look to boost efficiency, improve productivity and make their manufacturing processes more sustainable. Identifying sources of waste and potential solutions can be difficult, however. New AI and machine learning (ML) solutions could help manufacturers optimize their facility waste management. For every facility that uses raw materials or components to create a product, waste will be a serious issue.

As a digital manufacturing method, additive manufacturing has already managed to establish itself in a wide variety of industries. Whether in medicine, the automotive sector or the consumer goods industry, there is hardly any sector that does not benefit from the strengths of 3D printing. Among other things, the technology innovates production processes by making components both more flexible and more sustainable. Nevertheless, 3D printing has not yet been able to realize its full potential in terms of productivity. Could artificial intelligence be the key?

The Global Machine Learning in Finance Market report provides information about the Global industry, including valuable facts and figures. This research study explores the Global Market in detail such as industry chain structures, raw material suppliers, with manufacturing The Machine Learning in Finance Sales market examines the primary segments of the scale of the market. This intelligent study provides historical data from 2015 alongside a forecast from 2022 to 2026. Results of the recent scientific undertakings towards the development of new Machine Learning in Finance products have been studied. Nevertheless, the factors affecting the leading industry players to adopt synthetic sourcing of the market products have also been studied in this statistical surveying report.

Robots already assemble and weld products in factories. Can they make the components parts themselves, too? Although it may not be obvious, there's a close link between manufacturing technology and innovation. Elon Musk often talks of the "machines that build the machines" as being the real enabler in both his space and automotive businesses. Using less-expensive, more scalable processes allows Space X to launch missions on budgets and with speed that would be unthinkable using NASA's old-school manufacturing methods.

Objects made with 3D printing can be lighter, stronger, and more complex than those produced through traditional manufacturing methods. But several technical challenges must be overcome before 3D printing transforms the production of most devices. Commercially available printers generally offer only high-speed, high-precision, or high-quality materials. Rarely do they offer all three, limiting their usefulness as a manufacturing tool. Today, 3D printing is used mainly for prototyping and low-volume production of specialized parts.

Objects made with 3-D printing can be lighter, stronger, and more complex than those produced through traditional manufacturing methods. But several technical challenges must be overcome before 3-D printing transforms the production of most devices. Commercially available printers generally offer only high speed, high precision, or high-quality materials. Rarely do they offer all three, limiting their usefulness as a manufacturing tool. Today, 3-D printing is used mainly for prototyping and low-volume production of specialized parts.

Metamaterials seem like a technology out of science fiction. Because of the way these materials affect electromagnetic phenomena and physical attributes of materials, they can render objects invisible, leaving the observer in disbelief. While invisibility cloaks are a gee-whiz application, metamaterials now offer real-world commercial applications such as new antenna technologies for mobile phones. To get to the point where metamaterials are not just a curiosity, but also a viable commercial technology, they have had to evolve a new set of tricks . One example is the work of a team of researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the University of California San Diego (UCSD).

Digital manufacturing is rapidly changing the fundamentals of how products are developed, scaled and manufactured. By digitizing traditional manufacturing methods, including injection molding and CNC machining, and leveraging newer technologies, like 3D printing, the industrial internet of things (IIoT) and artificial intelligence (AI), companies are optimizing their supply chains, reducing development cycles, increasing efficiencies, and driving down costs. The Fourth Industrial Revolution continues to gain traction and is completely changing the economics of manufacturing, for those willing to embrace the change that is. Digital manufacturing breaks down barriers from traditional methods and reduces risk in product development, enabling manufacturers to bring products to market faster, and more effectively than ever before.Protolabs Empowered by connectivity and social networks, consumers are demanding more personalization than ever before. A Deloitte report noted half of consumers are interested in customized products and would be willing to pay more and wait longer if they could have an active role in design. The move from mass production to mass customization has historically had high cost implications, but the balance is beginning to tilt.