Until now, the size of 3D-printed objects has been limited by the size of 3D printers. In most cases, in order to produce large items used in, say, aerospace, manufactures have had to fasten, weld or glue smaller 3D-printed substructures together. But that might change soon. A team from UC San Diego developed a foaming resin that can expand to up to 40 times its original volume. 

The expandable resin allows objects to be printed and then grow to their final size. The researchers believe this could be especially useful in fields like architecture, aerospace, energy and biomedicine. The lightweight foam could also be used in floatation devices.

It might soon be relatively trivial to make soft robots — at least, if you have a 3D printer handy. UC San Diego researchers have devised a way to 3D-print insect-like flexible robots cheaply, quickly and without using exotic equipment. The trick was to print “flexoskeletons,” or rigid materials 3D-printed on to flexible and thin polycarbonate sheets. Much like insects, there are features that increase rigidity only in specific areas — a contrast with conventional soft robots that often have soft features tacked on to solid bodies.

Each flexoskeleton component takes about 10 minutes to print, and a completely assembled bot should be ready in less than two hours. An individual part costs less than $1 — the processing power, sensors and battery are likely to be the most expensive parts.

The biomimetic lens are made of stretchy polymer films that respond to the electric signals generated by your eyes when they make a movement, such as blinking. Known as electrooculographic signals, humans are even capable of emitting the electric impulses when they’re sleeping. “Even if your eye cannot see anything, many people can still move their eyeball and generate this electro-oculographic signal,” said lead researcher Shengqiang Cai to New Scientist.

But don’t throw away your reading glasses or binoculars quite yet — it’s still early days. Gizmodo reported that the prototype only functions in a special rig, and test subjects had a series of electrodes placed around their eyes. Scientists hope their invention can be used in prostheses, adjustable glasses and remotely operated robotics in the future.