????3D打印機術有很多光明前景，其中包括打印復雜的原型產品、款式獨一無二的珠寶，甚至是打印人體組織。不過現在，有一個組織又發現了3D打印的另一用途，那就是制造槍支。

????德克薩斯州非盈利組織Defense Distributed是由一名年僅25歲的德州大學法律系學生科迪?威爾森創辦的。該組織近日給《福布斯》雜志的網站Forbes.com提供了一些圖片，聲稱圖片中的槍支就是世界上第一支完全采用3D打印技術造出的手槍。這個組織還表示，這支手槍可發射標準的手槍子彈。這支手槍的名字叫“解放者”（Liberator），它的主體部分完全是用塑料制造的，只有撞針是金屬。另外，槍里還裝了一塊6盎司的鐵片，目的是為了讓這支槍能夠被金屬探測器探測出來。

????去年，威爾森宣布打算利用3D打印技術制造一支槍的時候，他的大膽計劃就吸引了大量關注。這個組織大概花了8個月的時間設計出了“解放者”。

????3D打印技術也叫疊加制造技術，它是一種可以通過電腦模型制作出三維實物的技術。簡單來說，3D打印機通過連續不斷地疊加塑料材料，幾乎可以塑造出任何形狀的物體。3D打印機也可以制造出具有連鎖機制的零部件，比如齒輪和接榫等。這個過程與傳統加工方法存在顯著的區別，后者通常是通過對大塊材料進行切割或雕塑來加工復雜的零件。

????據波士頓Luxe Research研究公司預測，到2025年，3D打印市場的市值將從現在的7.77億美元猛增到84億美元。其中大多數增長是由商業應用驅動的，尤其是在醫藥、汽車和航空領域。

????The many promises of 3D-printing include intricate product prototypes, one-of-a-kind jewelry, even human tissue. Now, a group has revealed a proof-of-concept of another sort: a gun.

????Texas-based Defense Distributed, founded by 25-year-old University of Texas law student Cody Wilson, has given Forbes.com images it says show the first 3D-printed handgun. The group, which is aiming for nonprofit status, claims the weapon can fire standard handgun rounds. The majority of the device, called the "Liberator," is fabricated entirely out of plastic, save for a nail used as a firing pin as well as a six-ounce piece of steel, intended to allow the gun to be detected by metal detectors.

????Wilson generated headlines last year when he announced his plans to produce a 3D-printed gun. It took the group about eight months to design the Liberator.

????Also known as additive manufacturing, 3D printing is a method of making a three-dimensional solid objects from a computerized model. Commonly, 3D printers lay down successive layers of plastic material to create objects of virtually any shape. The printers can also create interlocking mechanical parts, such as gears and cogs. The process is distinct from traditional machining, in which objects are whittled or sculpted down from larger blocks of material.

????Boston-based Luxe Research estimates that the $777 million 3D printing market will grow to a whopping $8.4 billion by 2025. Most of that growth will be driven by industrial applications, particularly in medical, automotive and aerospace industries.