What is poly printing?

Can you explain 3D printing and nano technology in a simple way? What is the relation between them?

• I have gone through various articles about Nano Technology and 3D printing. But still I couldn't clearly understand them. Can you explain it with simple terms, may be with some simple examples? And, I am seeing close relation between 3D Printing and Nano Technology whenever I prepare a video for my Youtube channel to report latest technology related inventions (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK2ccNIJVPpB_XqWWq_oaZGIDzmKiSkYc) How 3D printing and Nano Technology  are related to each other? And, Why Nanotechnology and 3D printing became trending topics recently? Is the sudden development of Nano Tech and 3D printing due to  any significant event/invention happened recently?

• Answer:

  3D Printing is a method of producing 3 dimensional objects (such as machine parts), by building thin (approximately 2D) layers on top of each other. There are a variety of different technologies used in 3D Printing, a common one being stereolithography which uses UV lasers to cure a photopolymer. Nanotechnology is a manipulation of atoms and molecules to produce new materials or structures such as nanotubes and fullerenes. More advanced applications may include producing tiny machine parts, which may someday lead to useful functioning nano-machines. Nanotechnology differs from 3D Printing in that it is done at a much smaller scale, and requires completely different techniques and technologies. Both 3D Printing and Nanotechnology have been around quite a while. Sometimes, with new technologies, it is not a single technical development  that results in a surge in their proliferation, but rather a decrease in costs that make them a cost effective solution for problems that previously would have been solved through older, less effective but less expensive means.