Kickstart: Did you hear about Stonehenge and plastics?

This may be the greatest combination of plastics and Stonehenge I've come across. (If we don't include the tiny foam Stonehenge models used in the movie This Is Spinal Tap.)

A researcher used plastics to replicate the circular stone monument in England as it would have looked when it was built 4,000 years ago to test a theory that the stones provided the perfect acoustic setting for whatever ceremonies took place there, Richard Grant writes in Smithsonian Magazine.

Trevor Cox, an acoustical engineer at the University of Salford in Manchester, England, led the experiment and used 3D printing to recreate 27 of the stones and a silicone mold to replicate another 130 stones.

"What we found ... was thousands upon thousands of reflections as the sound waves bounced around horizontally," Cox told Smithsonian. "You can compare it to singing outside, and then singing in a tiled bathroom: Your voice sounds better in the bathroom."

It's been more than four years since 72 people died in a London high-rise apartment tower fire, with the spread blamed on plastic and aluminum composite cladding. While an official investigation continues into the fire, the June 2017 blaze is also continuing to impact other high-rise housing units as officials work to remove similar cladding on other sites.

Residents of a residential tower in Ipswich, England, however, are complaining that plastic sheeting placed over scaffolding, used to protect workers who are removing cladding, has blocked their view and limited the ability to open windows since the project began in 2018.

Caroline Haydon-Knowell told the BBC: "You feel like you're in a little dungeon. You can't see anything, you don't even know what the weather is like."

3D printing is being used by French Olympian Celine Goberville in her quest to medal in the 10-meter air pistol competition during the Tokyo games.

Goberville has worked with Athletics 3D to refine the grip on her pistol so she has the best possible control during events. In the 10-meter competition, athletes fire 60 shots within 75 minutes in the first round and another 24 shots in the finals.

Using 3D printing, Goberville can have exactly the grip she prefers — with a smooth surface, rather than a rough surface as some athletes want, the company said in a blog post.

In addition, if there are any problems or damage to the pistol during transportation, the 3D file can be uploaded with a new grip printed in time for the games.