A team of researchers from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and MIT have built lightweight, micro-architected structures which demonstrate both incredible strength and amazing rigidity using a special 3D printing process. The process essentially makes use of metals, ceramics, and plastics to create objects made up of hollow tubes which can tolerate load pressures of more than 10,000 times their weight. The research team says the development could impact the manufacturing process for automotive and aerospace applications. You can read the whole story here: http://3dprint.com/42355/3d-printed-microlattices/


Below is a photo of some members of the LLNL/MIT team: