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• On the grounds of Blenheim Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site near Oxford, England surrounded by roughly 12,000 acres of forest and gardens, researchers from Australia and the UK are...
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On the grounds of Blenheim Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site near Oxford, England surrounded by roughly 12,000 acres of forest and gardens, researchers from Australia and the UK are using 3D printed prosthetics to help save endangered birds. But, rather than prosthetics beaks or limbs, they’ve engineered 3D printed prosthetic nests out of biodegradable plastic and mushrooms.
The experiment, led by designer Dan Parker, a researcher with University of Oxford and the Deep Design Lab at University of Melbourne, is meant to help improve typical bird boxes. These are used worldwide as nesting shelters but don’t often attract large species of endangered birds, and can even end up killing chicks due to poor conditions inside.
People make bird houses all the time, building them with kits and s