There have been several alarming stories about 3D-printing enthusiasts potentially manufacturing their own guns at home.
But a group of 12 researchers at Rice University in Houston have done the opposite — used the technique to create near-bulletproof material. We first saw the news via Gizmodo.
The Rice University group used 3D printing to create plastic cubes that can remain almost wholly intact when shot at by 5.8 kilometer-per-second bullets or subjected to “crushing forces.”
The idea was to test a theoretical structure called “tubulanes”, described as theoretical microscopic structures comprised of crosslinked carbon nanotubes. Two researchers within the group, chemist Ray Baughman and physicist Douglas Galvão, predicted back in 1993 that tubulanes could have exceptional loadbearing and impact-resistance properties.
Read more: Business Insider
