Dead mosquito proboscis used for high-resolution 3D printing nozzle

https://www.tomshardware.com/3d-printing/dead-mosquito-proboscis-used-for-high-resolution-3d-printing-nozzle-scientists-boast-of-the-extremely-fine-output-from-necroprinting

A severed mosquito proboscis can be turned into an extremely fine nozzle for 3D printing, and this could help create replacement tissues and organs for transplants.

I've linked to a decent write-up on Tom's Hardware, but New Scientist covered it last week too.

Source paper: 3D necroprinting: Leveraging biotic material as the nozzle for 3D printing (science.org)

324 points · 58 comments · view on lemmy.world

58 Comments

MushuChupacabra@lemmy.world · 111 pts · 272d (13 replies)

I'm only in favor of this if the mosquito suffers mightily somewhere along the process.

Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works · 51 pts · 272d (1 reply)

I want it setup so the hot filament goes into its asshole and then out through the probiscus.

toothpaste_sandwich@thebrainbin.org · 18 pts · 272d

Now there's a mental image.

Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world · 25 pts · 272d (1 reply)

The process does involve gaslighting and lying to their mosquito family

meco03211@lemmy.world · 22 pts · 272d

No no. I want them to know it was me.

Fuck_u_spez_@sh.itjust.works · 16 pts · 272d

Cybersteel@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 271d (1 reply)

One almost killed me. Dengue.

argarath@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 271d

Good news! Brazil developed a single dose vaccine against dengue!! I don't know when they're going to start vaccinating, but the vaccine has been approved, it's already tested and everything!

Deebster@infosec.pub · 12 pts · 272d (5 replies)

I'm currently living somewhere hot enough that the little pricks are a bother all year round.

Bo7a@piefed.ca · 15 pts · 271d (2 replies)

I'm currently living in Canada where the ground has been hidden by snow for a month.

i was bitten by a mosquito outside yesterday.

They are getting stronger.

caseyweederman@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 271d (1 reply)

I'm currently living in Canada and we've seen two snowflakes this entire winter (they fell in October)

Bo7a@piefed.ca · 4 pts · 271d

Lucky.

We have had full snow cover since mid-october here. But it has also been +3-5c most afternoons.

Although early snow often means warmer winter. And I can definitely handle the snow in QC better than the -40s I used to get in AB.

comador@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 272d (1 reply)

MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip · 0 pts · 271d

Why ja vol? Either ja, voll or jawoll.

jbloggs777@discuss.tchncs.de · 79 pts · 271d (8 replies)

Interesting fact: You can use an elephant's trunk as a low-resolution 3D printing nozzle

kami@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 38 pts · 271d (3 replies)

More interesting facts: you can use a human penis as a medium-resolution 3D printing nozzle

GreenKnight23@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 271d (1 reply)

less interesting fact, my penis is a lower resolution than an elephant trunk.

Saber_is_dead@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 270d

humblebrag!

muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works · 7 pts · 271d

Ugh, my prostate is not going to make an entire benchy. Ow.

brown567@sh.itjust.works · 12 pts · 271d

This one seems about that size

dellish@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 271d (2 replies)

Yes but does it have to be dead at the time?

I'm really not sure why they felt the need to point this out in the article.

crapwittyname@feddit.uk · 14 pts · 271d (1 reply)

Yes, the first attempts via the more obvious approach of using a live mosquito were a lot trickier, because the techniques involved in persuading the mosquito to comply were outside of the highly-specialised knowledgebase of the team. That is, until the serendipitous moment when one particularly heavy-handed researcher accidentally killed a mosquito whilst trying to attach it to a printer. The surprise and elation that must have resulted when they realised they could use mosquito husks was, surely a sight to behold. The missing piece of the puzzle had finally fallen into place. Some might even say... by Divine Providence, perhaps?
I daresay some of the project leads were kicking themselves nonetheless: "It's so simple! Dead mosquito proboscises! Dead! Why didn't I think of that?!", etc. But I think we should go easy on them; we could all get a doctorate in the field of hindsight!
In the end, just like many discoveries before it: penicillin, safety glasses, velcro etc., this breakthrough simply owes a lot to blind chance.

crapwittyname@feddit.uk · 1 pts · 271d

.

Agent641@lemmy.world · 58 pts · 271d (4 replies)

3D printing is not vegan anymore.

GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca · 14 pts · 271d (3 replies)

I'd say harming mosquitoes (females only, that feed on blood) is better than vegan!

RickyRigatoni@retrolemmy.com · 2 pts · 271d (2 replies)

That's misogyny.

GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 271d (1 reply)

I don't hate them because they're women, I hate them for what they eat! Which they do because they're female. 🤔

echodot@feddit.uk · 1 pts · 270d

I feel the same way about women who drink prosecco. Kill them all.

gedaliyah@lemmy.world · 41 pts · 272d

And here I've been throwing away all my dead mosquitoes like a sucker.

veeesix@lemmy.ca · 39 pts · 272d

Necroprinting is the new Necromancer skill upgrade I’ve been waiting for.

msage@programming.dev · 38 pts · 271d (1 reply)

Aahhh yes, man-made horrors beyond my imagination.

Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.world · 23 pts · 271d

This reminds me of a post where someone hooked a dead spider up to a syringe and used it as a grabber. A spider's musculature is hydraulic so the legs would curl and uncurl as the syringe was pressed.

Definitely one of the creepier things I've casually stumbled upon.

Edit: Behold, necromancy! (time-stamped video)

Lemming6969@lemmy.world · 29 pts · 271d (7 replies)

There is no way this is more viable than a manufactured micro needle, nor scalable.

some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world · 53 pts · 271d (3 replies)

Not scalable? You haven't seen my back yard in the summer time, I'm gonna be rich!!

Valmond@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 271d

He said: I'm gonna be rich!

But all he got was an itch 🎶

Chais@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 271d (1 reply)

Keep in mind, you can't squish them.

some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 271d

Yeah yeah, we'll figure that out, but first let's talk about that first round of VC funds, right?

Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works · 11 pts · 271d (1 reply)

If you scaled it, it wouldn't be high-resolution anymore.

chiliedogg@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 270d

Scaling goes in both directions.

squaresinger@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 271d

It is not. This is just yet another piece of garbage science made to get into headlines, nothing more or less.

HootinNHollerin@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 29 pts · 271d

I’m a fan of the flinstones timeline over the techno dystopia

lemmyout@lemmy.zip · 26 pts · 272d (2 replies)

I like how the title specifies the mosquitos are dead. Otherwise I would have imagined a swarm of mosquitos trained to perform like some cartoon.

muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works · 16 pts · 272d

There is a 3d printer hotend called the mosquito. The company behind it is incredibly litigious. It’s why literally the entire community hates them.

WindyRebel@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 272d

Probably something from The Flintstones.

9488fcea02a9@sh.itjust.works · 20 pts · 271d (3 replies)

So these 3D printed things arent vegan?

Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 271d (2 replies)
[ removed ]
some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 271d (1 reply)

Say what? Is this not exploiting an animal, or worse, creating a potential market incentive to further exploit animal bodies and life? I'm not even vegan. I know individuals have exceptions, and the philosophy is a spectrum rather than a monolith and all that, but are mosquitoes not animal life?

Lemminary@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 271d

I think they were joking.

orenj@lemmy.sdf.org · 13 pts · 270d

I cannot believe i've never encountered the term "necroprinting" in a scifi/scifantasy setting before

nyan@lemmy.cafe · 13 pts · 272d (6 replies)

Ugh. I hope that there being a use for the little bastards now doesn't make people breed them on purpose.

Deebster@infosec.pub · 8 pts · 272d (1 reply)

Have you seen the footage of scientists feeding them from their own arms? Nooope, not for all the tea in China.

CentipedeFarrier@piefed.social · 3 pts · 271d

If it makes you feel better, the people who stick their arms in aren’t allergic to mosquito bites. Doesn’t bother them to get bit beyond the feeling of being bit.

I mean I guess it could happen that they are just masochistic, but typically not.

some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 271d (2 replies)

I did not have GMO mosquitos bred for a more effective proboscis escaping into the wild on my bingo card

bluesheep@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 271d

Imagine looking down and there's a mosquito printing a fucking benchy on your forearm.

Nighed@feddit.uk · 1 pts · 271d

Even splatted on the back of it?

cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de · 1 pts · 272d

I hope not. Around here, you just step outside and there will be a dozen swarming around you.

muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 272d

Dude, that’s metal.

Grimy@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 272d

fubarx@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 272d

I challenged my family not to say WHAT! when reading that headline. So far, everyone's failed (including myself).