Future Links February 29th

MarkForged promises the strength of metal for the costs of plastics
A Wall-Street-Journal article takes an in-depth look at the technologies developed by MarkForged, a company specializing in 3D printed carbon parts. Greg Mark, CEO of MarkForged, said that 3D printed carbon could give companies the strength of metal for the costs of plastics.
More at The Wall Street Journal

Samsung provides cloud printing services to South Korea postal service
Samsung designated its enterprise printing business as its key growth area and is catching up to companies like HP, Canon, and Sharp. The company has now signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea’s postal service to supply its cloud printing services. Using Samsung’s services, Korea Post customers can use their smartphones or tablets to print their mail and check delivery statuses. Samsung said it expects mobile printing will grow to account for 20 percent of the South Korean printing market this year.
More at ZDNet

New anti-bacterial packaging extends shelf-life of perishable food
Researchers from the National University of Singapore spent three years developing a new composite packaging material from the shells of shrimp and other crustaceans that resembles cling-wrap. But here is the twist: Fortified with grapefruit seed extract, the non-toxic, biodegradable material can keep food fresh and extends its shelf-life by up to two times the original time period, according to the researchers.
More at ScienceAlert

Canon provides professional training for printers in Africa
Canon Central and North Africa has signed a partnership agreement with Invest in Africa to launch the ‘Professional Print Excellence’ program to train small and medium sized (SMEs) printing companies. The training program aims at improving the commercial and technical skills of 20 local professional printing SMEs by providing them with focused training to help run large volumes of business and deliver high-quality printing products and services.
More at Ghana Business News

LA Times uses printing technique to make Oscar pages come alive
The Academy Awards are a very special event for the Los Angeles Times and the newspaper tries to surprise its readers every year with a creative special section. This year, the L.A. Times wanted the front page of the section to resemble a smartphone or a tablet in its interactivity. When light hits the page that shows three rows of Oscar statues, they all change. They’re decked out in clothes that represent each of the Best Picture nominees.
More at Poynter

Hyproline platform creates mass-production line for 3D printed metal
The Hyproline platform is the result of an EU initiative with the goal to facilitate the production of metal parts with 3D printing technology. The Hyproline machine uses 100 build platforms, a 3D scanner, metal deposition, and laser machining to produce 100 separate parts at high speeds. Once printed, the parts are machined and polished and removed from the printbed automatically.
More at 3D Printing Industry

GE Pharmaceuticals uses Baumer hhs tamper-proof packaging solution
Counterfeit pharmaceutical products are an increasingly common problem in all parts of the world. GE Pharmaceuticals now said it has taken on a pioneering role in the European packaging market by utilizing two tamper evidence solutions from Baumer hhs. The electric application heads of the Tamper Evidence solution apply a combination of hot melt and cold glue to folding cartons, enabling GE Pharmaceuticals to achieve maximum protection against falsification of its pharmaceutical packs.
More at Packaging News