In late October, Manchester was in the news because 3D printed gun parts were found in the northern UK city. Now, four months later, researchers at the Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) claim to have created a prototype of a scanner, which is able to detect plastic 3D printed guns, bombs and knifes on people. It could be used at security gates in order to improve security.

The machine, which is a big, black machine – uses radar waves and complex computer programs and it results in the ability to accurately and rapidly scan large groups of people. This technique could also be very useful at crowded areas such as shopping malls and football stadiums. If a thread is detected, authorities can be alarmed directly. The in-built computer enables the machine to work at a distance of 25 meters.

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Internet has globalized the world massively, bring people closer together and making it easier for us to connect with one another. However, the world wide web has also come along with so-called “modern problems”. One of them is the problem of free file sharing, making 3D printing a somehow unregulated business. Californian company Authentise wants to structure the world of 3D printed files, offering a streaming service, which is now being used at marketplace 3DTL.

While Spotify has rescued the business behind pop music and Netflix has done the same for the world of movies, there has not yet been a system to add some structure to the file sharing world of 3D printing. The possibility for customers to store and share 3D print files makes it harder for companies to make money with these files. Authentise uses a different approach, as the company has created a system that sends such files to 3D printers, but after the file is fully printed the file will be deleted. Companies could use this system to sell cheap 3D print files, which customers could use to print out their own objects. For instance, toys manufacturers could use them to sell 3D print files for their figurines.

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Heart surgery is a difficult kind of operation for surgeons to perform, but it even becomes more complicated when a child’s heart is object of surgery. The hearts of young children are automatically smaller and more complex than grown-up counterparts. However, a miracle wasn’t needed to help 14-month-old boy Lian Cung Bawi with his failing heart. Fortunately, a 3D printer used to print out a 3D model of the failing heart, was able to help out the boy.

University of Louisville Physicians’s heart surgeon Erle Austin at Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville is well-experienced in performing surgery. Nevertheless, it was very clear to him that this particular operation on a young heart would implicate a high risk, due to the fact a young heart consists of tiny internal structures which are hard to see clearly.

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