The Smithsonian is using 3D scanners and 3D printers to create plastic models of everything from 5-million year old whale skeletons to models of Abraham Lincoln’s head. This technique effectively opens up the studying of these objects to anyone with a 3D printer. This is exciting news for museums and history enthusiasts around the world. Now many artifacts that museum curators dare not touch can be printed and touched and handled even by children with no worry of the original artifact being damaged. This opens up a new door in how we think about the function of museums and how we study history.
October 4, 2013
