The 3-D revolution will blow you away

By Sally Kohn, CNN Political Commentator

Updated 1457 GMT (2257 HKT) April 30, 2014

Scientists are 3-D printing body parts ranging from plastic skulls to artificial eyes. Fripp Design and Research and Manchester Metropolitan University say they are able to 3-D print up to 150 prosthetic eyes an hour.
Photos: Artificial eyes, plastic skulls: 3-D printing the human body
Printed eyes – Scientists are 3-D printing body parts ranging from plastic skulls to artificial eyes. Fripp Design and Research and Manchester Metropolitan University say they are able to 3-D print up to 150 prosthetic eyes an hour.
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Fripp Design is also 3-D printing prosthetic ears, made from pigments, starch powder and silicone.
Photos: Artificial eyes, plastic skulls: 3-D printing the human body
Artificial ear – Fripp Design is also 3-D printing prosthetic ears, made from pigments, starch powder and silicone.
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Lawrence Bonassar, of Cornell University, has created ears made from living cells, grown from 3-D printed molds.
Photos: Artificial eyes, plastic skulls: 3-D printing the human body
Artificial ear – Lawrence Bonassar, of Cornell University, has created ears made from living cells, grown from 3-D printed molds.
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Doctors at University Medical Center Utrecht, in Holland, completely replaced a patient's skull with a 3-D printed plastic version.
Photos: Artificial eyes, plastic skulls: 3-D printing the human body
Plastic skull – Doctors at University Medical Center Utrecht, in Holland, completely replaced a patient's skull with a 3-D printed plastic version.
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Wake Forest School of medicine in the United States is developing a printer that will print skin straight onto the wounds of burn victims. Pictured, a researcher works on a prosthetic "burned" hand.
Photos: Artificial eyes, plastic skulls: 3-D printing the human body
Printed skin – Wake Forest School of medicine in the United States is developing a printer that will print skin straight onto the wounds of burn victims. Pictured, a researcher works on a prosthetic "burned" hand.
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South Africa's Robohand 3-D prints cheap mechanical prosthetic hands, arms and fingers.
Photos: Artificial eyes, plastic skulls: 3-D printing the human body
Robohand – South Africa's Robohand 3-D prints cheap mechanical prosthetic hands, arms and fingers.
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Robohand has collaborated with American Mike Ebeling to provide affordable printed arms to war amputees in Sudan.
Photos: Artificial eyes, plastic skulls: 3-D printing the human body
Project Daniel – Robohand has collaborated with American Mike Ebeling to provide affordable printed arms to war amputees in Sudan.
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Washington State University has 3-D printed structures from layers of bio-compatible calcium phosphate, including a hip stem (left) and bone scaffolds.
Photos: Artificial eyes, plastic skulls: 3-D printing the human body
Bones – Washington State University has 3-D printed structures from layers of bio-compatible calcium phosphate, including a hip stem (left) and bone scaffolds.
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3d printed eyeprosthetic ear fripp designprinted ear cornell university3d printed skull umu utrechtprinted skin wake forest3d interactive robohandmohammad daniel project danielprinted bone wsu 2

Story highlights

  • A company in China reportedly used 3-D printers to make 10 houses in a day
  • Sally Kohn: 3-D printers have potential to address problems like hunger, pollution
  • She says scientists are even experimenting with printing human tissues, organs
  • Kohn: Millions worldwide can benefit from 3-D printed houses or foods
A company in China reportedly used giant 3-D printers to make 10 houses in one day. This leads to two obvious questions.
First, how big were those printers? The answer is: 10 meters wide by 6.6 meters high. A mixture of cement and construction waste were sprayed to build the walls layer by layer.
And second, if 3-D printers could be used to create a neighborhood of full-sized, detached single family homes in less time and money than it would conventionally take, could 3-D printers help end homelessness?
I'm not Pollyanna-ish when it comes to ending poverty. Many of the world's problems stem from decades of government policies that fostered inequality and neglect, dynamics that cannot be easily fixed by one solution.
Sally Kohn
Sally Kohn
At the same time, I'm completely obsessed with 3-D printers, probably because I don't fully understand them, so they seem like magic sent to us from the future by Captain Picard. If these printers can make even a dent in some of the world's most pressing challenges, they would be even cooler in my book.
So, what major social and economic problems might we potentially print our way out of? Here are some possibilities.
Hunger
The site of the world's first 3D printed house in northern Amsterdam.
Photos: Dutch architects to build 'world's first' 3D printed house
The site of the world's first 3D printed house in northern Amsterdam.
Photos: Dutch architects to build 'world's first' 3D printed house
The world's first 3D printed house? – The site of the world's first 3D printed house in northern Amsterdam.
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Three large building blocks have already been printed using the custom built "KamerMaker" machine. They will eventually be joined together to form a 13 room canal house.
Photos: Dutch architects to build 'world's first' 3D printed house
The world's first 3D printed house? – Three large building blocks have already been printed using the custom built "KamerMaker" machine. They will eventually be joined together to form a 13 room canal house.
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