It seems backwards, but engineers from Northwestern University have made 3D printing metal easier (and eventually cheaper) by adding extra production steps to the procedure. (Paper available in PDF).

Most of us have seen the terminal as the most brutally efficient, no-nonsense tool. A blinking cursor and an active directory are all you see, and the output of your actions is all that's given back.

Researchers have developed a new inexpensive method to 3D print metallic objects such as batteries, fuel cells and parts for rockets and airplanes, using rust and metal powders. While current methods ...