We’re constantly reminded that human presence often has a negative effect on our natural world, and many people judge this by the holes in our ozone layer. Often regarded as a protective layer that acts as a barrier between the surface of the Earth – and our own bodies – and harmful UV rays, it’s no secret that the ozone layer is incredibly important to our survival. Recent events have caused an ozone hole over the Arctic to close up, but what does that really mean?

Keeping Us Safe

The ozone layer around the Earth keeps us all safe, but many holes have been appearing in the ozone layer over the years. It’s long been held that this is because of global warming, chemicals, and other harmful activities that we often take part in, but things have changed over the past few months. With more and more people staying inside, leaving their cars parked in their garage, and many factories putting a temporary end to their production, these holes have been becoming smaller and smaller.

Closing Up Completely

In fact, one particular ozone hole over the Arctic has closed up completely. This has led many people to believe that we have got a hold over global warming and our carbon emissions – but it’s important to remember that this isn’t completely unprecedented. According to Paul Newman, chief scientist in the Earth Science Division at NASA, the closing up of the Arctic ozone hole is “unusual but not unexpected” as it has happened in the past. He has noted that we normally have events like this occur every decade, and while it shows a drastic change in the way that we live our lives, it doesn’t mean that things are fixed. In fact, there’s a much larger ozone hole in Antarctica, which is still as big as ever.

An ozone hole closing is good news, but we still have a long way to go.

3D printers, even though they have been around for a long time, are still not the most common pieces of technology. Once looked upon as expensive, bulky machines only reserved for factories and industries, they’ve now become affordable and viable tools for engineers, hobbyists, schools, etc.

Questions to Ask

There are a variety of options in today’s market if one is looking for a 3D printer. Some questions to ask yourself before you look for a printer that fits your needs are –

What do you want to print? What size are the objects that need to be printed? What are your objects made of? How high a resolution would you need? Do you want to print in multiple colors? What surface will you print on? What software would you need for your printer?

Once these questions have been answered, there is a clear picture of what kind of 3D printer will fulfill your needs. Take a peak at these top printers from 2022 and decide for yourself.

Original Prusa i3 MK3S Plus

This printer is an incremental upgrade from its award winning predecessor. With consistently high quality prints, no misprints while testing, easy-to-use among its various other pros, this is one of the top candidates of printers to choose from, especially for hobbyists and classrooms.

Dremel Digilab 3D45 3D Printer

The best printer for product designers, engineers, and classrooms, this 3D printer is feature-packed and comes loaded with user-friendly yet powerful software. It also prints via USB, ethernet, wifi and is a relatively quiet design as opposed to its competitors.

Original Prusa Mini

Two from the same company on the list! The original Prusa Mini is the budget printer, perfect for newbies. It contains user-friendly software, has great support resources, and is a machine of the best quality. This printer is sold as a kit, but is fairly easy to assemble. One of the best low-cost printers around.