this post was submitted on 27 Nov 2025
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Interesting fact: You can use an elephant's trunk as a low-resolution 3D printing nozzle
More interesting facts: you can use a human penis as a medium-resolution 3D printing nozzle
This one seems about that size
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.
Yes, the first attempts via the more obvious approach of using a live mosquito were a lot trickier, because the techniques required in persuading the mosquito to comply were outside of the specialist knowledge base of the team. That is, until one serendipitous moment when a 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.
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 those people; we could all get a doctorate in the field of hindsight!
In the end, just like many discoveries before, penicillin, safety glasses, velcro etc., this breakthrough owes a lot to blind chance.