1w ago

Dead mosquito proboscis used for high-resolution 3D printing nozzle

www.tomshardware.com

Dead mosquito proboscis used for high-resolution 3D printing nozzle — scientists boast of the extremely fine output from ‘necroprinting’

A severed mosquito proboscis can be turned into an extremely fine nozzle for 3D printing, and this could help create replacement tissues and organs for transplants.

I've linked to a decent write-up on Tom's Hardware, but New Scientist covered it last week too.

Source paper: 3D necroprinting: Leveraging biotic material as the nozzle for 3D printing (science.org)

54 comments

I'm only in favor of this if the mosquito suffers mightily somewhere along the process.
- I want it setup so the hot filament goes into its asshole and then out through the probiscus.
  
  Now there's a mental image.
- One almost killed me. Dengue.
  
  Good news! Brazil developed a single dose vaccine against dengue!! I don't know when they're going to start vaccinating, but the vaccine has been approved, it's already tested and everything!
- I'm currently living somewhere hot enough that the little pricks are a bother all year round.
  
  I'm currently living in Canada where the ground has been hidden by snow for a month.
  i was bitten by a mosquito outside yesterday.
  They are getting stronger.
Interesting fact: You can use an elephant's trunk as a low-resolution 3D printing nozzle
- More interesting facts: you can use a human penis as a medium-resolution 3D printing nozzle
  
  Ugh, my prostate is not going to make an entire benchy. Ow.
- This one seems about that size
- Yes but does it have to be dead at the time?
  I'm really not sure why they felt the need to point this out in the article.
  
  Yes, the first attempts via the more obvious approach of using a live mosquito were a lot trickier, because the techniques involved in persuading the mosquito to comply were outside of the highly-specialised knowledgebase of the team. That is, until the serendipitous moment when one particularly heavy-handed researcher accidentally killed a mosquito whilst trying to attach it to a printer. The surprise and elation that must have resulted when they realised they could use mosquito husks was, surely a sight to behold. The missing piece of the puzzle had finally fallen into place. Some might even say... by Divine Providence, perhaps?
  I daresay some of the project leads were kicking themselves nonetheless: "It's so simple! Dead mosquito proboscises! Dead! Why didn't I think of that?!", etc. But I think we should go easy on them; we could all get a doctorate in the field of hindsight!
  In the end, just like many discoveries before it: penicillin, safety glasses, velcro etc., this breakthrough simply owes a lot to blind chance.
3D printing is not vegan anymore.
- I'd say harming mosquitoes (females only, that feed on blood) is better than vegan!
  
  That's misogyny.
And here I've been throwing away all my dead mosquitoes like a sucker.
Necroprinting is the new Necromancer skill upgrade I’ve been waiting for.
Aahhh yes, man-made horrors beyond my imagination.
- This reminds me of a post where someone hooked a dead spider up to a syringe and used it as a grabber. A spider's musculature is hydraulic so the legs would curl and uncurl as the syringe was pressed.
  Definitely one of the creepier things I've casually stumbled upon.
  Edit: Behold, necromancy! (time-stamped video)
I’m a fan of the flinstones timeline over the techno dystopia
There is no way this is more viable than a manufactured micro needle, nor scalable.
- Not scalable? You haven't seen my back yard in the summer time, I'm gonna be rich!!
  
  He said: I'm gonna be rich!
  But all he got was an itch 🎶
  
  Keep in mind, you can't squish them.
- If you scaled it, it wouldn't be high-resolution anymore.
  
  Scaling goes in both directions.
- It is not. This is just yet another piece of garbage science made to get into headlines, nothing more or less.
I like how the title specifies the mosquitos are dead. Otherwise I would have imagined a swarm of mosquitos trained to perform like some cartoon.
- There is a 3d printer hotend called the mosquito. The company behind it is incredibly litigious. It’s why literally the entire community hates them.
- Probably something from The Flintstones.
So these 3D printed things arent vegan?
- Mosquitoes are an exception to the values typically exhibited in veganism.
  
  Say what? Is this not exploiting an animal, or worse, creating a potential market incentive to further exploit animal bodies and life? I'm not even vegan. I know individuals have exceptions, and the philosophy is a spectrum rather than a monolith and all that, but are mosquitoes not animal life?
I cannot believe i've never encountered the term "necroprinting" in a scifi/scifantasy setting before
Ugh. I hope that there being a use for the little bastards now doesn't make people breed them on purpose.
- Have you seen the footage of scientists feeding them from their own arms? Nooope, not for all the tea in China.
  
  If it makes you feel better, the people who stick their arms in aren’t allergic to mosquito bites. Doesn’t bother them to get bit beyond the feeling of being bit.
  I mean I guess it could happen that they are just masochistic, but typically not.
- I did not have GMO mosquitos bred for a more effective proboscis escaping into the wild on my bingo card
  
  Imagine looking down and there's a mosquito printing a fucking benchy on your forearm.
  
  Even splatted on the back of it?
- I hope not. Around here, you just step outside and there will be a dozen swarming around you.
Dude, that’s metal.
I challenged my family not to say WHAT! when reading that headline. So far, everyone's failed (including myself).

54 comments