Mr Cassagnes saw the potential for the toy when he noticed, while working with metal powders, that marks in a coating of aluminium powder could be seen from the other side of a translucent plate.

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At the EADS labs in Filton, U.K., researchers demonstrated that they can print out several different metal parts for airplanes with a technology that uses a laser to heat metal powders until they form solid metal shapes.

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Among the materials found were a galvanized metal pipe, a fuse, coils of metal ribbon and several bags of chemical powders, it adds.

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