3D-printed Y-zipper turns from flexible to hard in less time than it takes to zip your fly

Y-zip.

• Y-zipper is a 3D-printed three-sized zipper
• Is flexible when unzipped but rigid when zipped up
• The 40-year-old concept was brought to light by researchers using software and a 3D printer

Let's make zippers interesting again. Right now, they're just part of your coat, pants, or fashionable bag, but what if a zipper could serve as the framework for a cast on your broken leg, or help you construct a tent in one minute? That's the kind of zipper we could all get behind, and apparently, it exists as something called Y-zipper.