Machines that can instantly produce everything from food to flowers are a staple of science fiction. Today do-it-yourselfers have brought the fantasy to life with 3-D printers that lay down thin layers of material, be it plastic or cookie dough, that accumulate atop each other to create any desired shape. The printers, which cost about $1,000, work much like their ink-jet counterparts: A reservoir of material serves as a cartridge, and digital blueprints programmed in advance control the output. The printers can produce objects from model planes to robot toys in layers, in some cases spitting out glue to affix each new layer like frosting on a tiered cake. The technique has been used since the 1980s by manufacturers for rapid prototyping of models and parts.
Now 3-D printing is also finding creative applications in the lab, where scientists are using the advancing technology to help design gourmet snacks, set broken bones, and build cars.
Design Nutritious Cuisine
After the Fab@Home Project at Cornell University put 3-D printing instructions online, amateur craftsmen began writing in about their creations. Some had tried using materials like cake frosting and asked Cornell for help. So in 2010 Fab@Home teamed with the French Culinary Institute to fill their printer’s syringes with goopy foods that could serve as cartridge ink for shapely snacks and started making rocket ship cookies and turkey cubes. The product could then be fried, baked, or flambéed. To maintain the design, cookies were chilled before baking, and meat was coated in tasteless glue. Researchers aim to use 3-D printing to improve nutrition by precisely controlling ingredients and making healthy food more palatable for picky eaters...
Image courtesy Daniel Cohen/Cornell University
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