It's a simple question, rooted in some coverage we ran this week about a study into the emission levels in school classrooms with running 3D printers. The survey itself was relatively inconclusive about any harms, finding that while printers are responsible for the majority of recorded harmful emissions, it's still below recognized harmful levels. Regardless, it reinforces our position that an enclosure is a smart addition to your printing set up.

Former USA Road National Champion Alex Howes is one of the first to lace up (well, strap in) the Lore Three Performance Series, which are cycling shoes so advanced they’re custom 3D printed to your feet. Seen flaunting his personalized pair at Big Sugar Gravel, Howes says he’s no investor, just a fan with happy arches. After years of WorldTour woes (snapped dials, misfit insoles, and rubbing), Howes says the "Morphic" carbon-fiber produces better power transfer in a perfect fit.

Forget tinkering with plastic prototypes. Munich’s Next Gen Manufacturing conference today was a full-on industrial power play. The "who's who" of additive manufacturing (EOS, Siemens, Nikon SLM, Voxeljet, etc.) huddled with the people who build the really cool stuff: think BMW, Airbus, the European Space Agency, and even the German military. The mission? To quit talking and start building, collaborating on commercial-scale production to put Germany firmly back on the 3D printing throne.

A post on the Autodesk blog for Fusion has announced that, as part of ongoing UI roadmap, the software now offers themes including "dark blue" dark mode. You now have the retina-relieving option to toggle away from Fusion's bright default color scheme between Light Gray, Fusion Classic, and Dark Blue themes, as well as a device-matching selection that intelligently chooses based on your device preferences.

Fusion's classic color scheme will be phased out, but the light grey theme largely preserves its look.

In terms of looks, it's a closed-toe mule-style shoe that shows off the common lattice style that has come to define printed shoes. Contrasting Asics branding separates this $250 sandal from the rest, in my opinion. It's a style Asics has toyed with before, with various printed lattices present in some of the company's shoes since 2022  – a part of the growing story of fully 3D printed footwear.

blends sci-fi design with real-world sustainability — giving reforestation volunteers in Mongolia a sleek, solar-powered base to fight back against desertification. Sitting on the edge of the Tengger Desert and designed by DesignReserve, each of the nine sand-based modules was robotically printed in Wuxi, trucked across the country, and snapped together with no heavy machinery. There are no deep foundations since the Ark "floats" on pallets on the sand. The curvy, dune-like walls shrug off sandstorms and insulate inhabitants from extream weather.

Philipp Enderle quite literally scaled to victory with his ingenious Pocketholds, which are 3D printed replicas of real rock holds he created by scanning outdoor climbing routes via an app. Enderle’s system lets climbers recreate their favorite walls at home or in the gym. This application earned him the top prize at the fifth German 3D Printing Challenge, held at Neu-Ulm Univ. of Applied Sciences. Other winners included a 3D printed skateboard and a 3D printed indoor farming system.