I like the concept of 3D printing creative new things and cheap solutions, but I don’t like the idea of all the plastic that goes into it. Good news though: researchers are constantly finding new ways of repurposing old materials into filaments for 3D printing. In a recent example, researchers in Brazil used old coffee pods to create a conductive filament that could then be used to make caffeine sensors. As I wrote in my piece for Forbes, though, don’t focus too much on the coffee pods. Obviously plastic pods are not even necessary so turning them into new products isn’t the most convenient solution to coffee pod waste. What made the coffee pod research interesting though, was that the pods were turned into conductive materials to make sensors. It’s more about what can be made than what it was made from.
💡 Interesting Links
Beer was the backdrop to Danish Golden Age masterpieces. By Kate Hull for Science.
Decolonizing the humanities: striving to make the arts and media more diverse. By Audrey Thompson for Nature Careers.
How do artists draw newly discovered exoplanets? By Alison Klesman for Astronomy
Enjoy this work-in-progress video from artist Lucy who creates images out of chemical formulas.