3D printing has long forced a trade-off between speed, fine detail and the materials you can use. On November 4, 2026, Northwestern Engineering researchers described a method that tries to remove it. Called direct ink additive lithography (DIAL), it was published in Science Advances and announced in a Northwestern Engineering news article.
The trade-off DIAL targets
Direct ink writing works like squeezing toothpaste: thick inks are pushed through a narrow nozzle, one line at a time. It handl...
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New Plant-Based Insulation Created
Plant-based, natural building materials have the potential to boost energy savings for homeowners.
Over a three-year period, University of North Texas researchers developed and tested a low-cost process to prepare kenaf, a plant in the hibiscus family that is similar to bamboo, for use as a building material; specifically, kenaf is used to create structured insulated panel building materials.
Scientists worldwide are turning to plants as a resource for biodegradable, renewable and environm...
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