Social Mercor

After being shot in the face by a poacher seven years ago, Beauty the bald eagle lost most of her beak. Without it, the eagle couldn’t feed herself, and likely would have died in the wild. But now, Beauty’s getting a second chance at survival in the form of a 3D printed beak. A team of researchers, engineers and dentists created the world’s first prosthetic beak, which was modeled with CAD software and 3D-printed from nylon polymers. After a two-hour-long procedure, Beauty can now eat and drink by herself, though she’s not ready to be released back into the wild. The eagle remains at Birds of Prey Northwest, the conservation facility that spearheaded the recovery project.

Via Gust MEES, Dr. Stefan Gruenwald