Presented By
PRESENTED BY

SPECIAL MENTION: Developed by Austin, Texas-based ICON, the Vulcan system can 3D print 2,000-square-foot homes and other dwellings out of a cement-based material known as Lavacrete in as little as four days. The company has built more than two dozen homes so far—including a simulated Mars dwelling at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Such tech could eventually be deployed on the Red Planet for real. —Jeffrey Kluger

More Must-Reads From TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com.

EDIT POST