Light Can Control 3D-Printed Materials

Active 3D-Printed Materials Controlled by Light

R.P. Siegel | May 24, 2016

It would seem as if the space between what is life and what is machine has become a new frontier for innovation. Living systems are characterized by their use of structures to impart functions. We wrote recently here about chemically active 3D-printed structures that could perform useful functions such as breaking down pollution in air and water. Printed “organ constructs” have been successfully implanted.
Now, scientists at four major universities in Europe have released a joint paper describing the use of light to put active materials into motion and to control that motion, producing lifelike mechanisms that may or may not contain living organisms, but can produce useful work.

"A close-up image of the light-activated synthetic tissue developed by Oxford scientists." Source: http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2016-04-04-scientists-create-first-light-activated-synthetic-tissues#

<more at http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1386&doc_id=280608; related articles and links: http://spectrum.ieee.org/robotics/robotics-hardware/make-your-own-world-with-programmable-matter (+Video) (Make Your Own World With Programmable Matter. People will conjure objects as easily as we now play music or movies. May 27, 2014) and http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2016-04-04-scientists-create-first-light-activated-synthetic-tissues (Scientists create first light-activated synthetic tissues. Scientists at the University of Oxford have created synthetic tissues that possess functional properties controlled by light – including the ability to 'switch on' the expression of individual genes. April 4, 2016)>