Most 3-D printers use a single material to fabricate objects. For consumer 3-D printers, that generally means some kind of plastic or resin. But using only one kind of material means 3-D printers are limited in the kinds of objects they can create. There are 3-D printers that can use multiple materials, but they can cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, putting them out of reach for almost everyone besides engineers and developers. A team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory wanted to find a way to create a more affordable multi-material 3-D printer, and thus the MultiFab was born.

But the technology is still far behind in reliably producing a variety of useful objects, with no assembly required, at a moderate cost. In recent years, companies have been working to tackle some of these challenges with "multi-material" 3-D printers that can fabricate many different functional items. Such printers, however, have traditionally been limited to three materials at a time, can cost as much as $250,000 each, and still require a fair amount of human intervention. But this week, researchers at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) say that they've found a way to make a better, cheaper, more user-friendly printer. In a paper accepted at the SIGGRAPH computer-graphics conference, a CSAIL team presented a 3-D printer that can print an unprecedented 10 different materials at once by using 3-D-scanning techniques that save time, energy, and money.

Read about the world's tallest building, the longest bicycle, the most modern tractor and a discovered time capsule that cannot be opened until the year 2957. Shoe manufacturer New Balance is stepping onto the 3-D printing platform with a new running shoe that incorporates a 3-D printed midsole that can be customized to each runner. New Balance is making the shoe available for the first time in Boston in April, 2016 -- timed to coincide with the Boston Marathon. It's difficult to believe that with all of the unrest in Iraq, a company such as AMBS Architects would propose building a skyscraper to rival Dubai's Burj Khalifa, which stands 830-meters high. But here it is: the 1,152-meter-tall Bride's tower. The building is being suggested for Basra, located in the south of Iraq -- a rapidly growing center for business.

Read about the world's tallest building, the longest bicycle, the most modern tractor and a discovered time capsule that cannot be opened until the year 2957. Shoe manufacturer New Balance is stepping onto the 3-D printing platform with a new running shoe that incorporates a 3-D printed midsole that can be customized to each runner. New Balance is making the shoe available for the first time in Boston in April, 2016 -- timed to coincide with the Boston Marathon. It's difficult to believe that with all of the unrest in Iraq, a company such as AMBS Architects would propose building a skyscraper to rival Dubai's Burj Khalifa, which stands 830-meters high. But here it is: the 1,152-meter-tall Bride's tower.

We've seen Lego robots that do Sudoku puzzles, solve Rubik's Cube, and mimic the human hand. Well, this Lego robot builds Lego models--so far. How long until it starts building other robots out of Lego? Hobbyist Will Gorman built his Lego Mindstorms NXT MakerLegoBot for the ongoing Lego World 2010 expo in Zwolle, the Netherlands. Inspired by the open-source 3D printer MakerBot, the machine is made of more than 2,400 bricks and runs on three NXT Intelligent Bricks and nine NXT motors. A PC running the MLCad Lego design system sends instructions to the printer via USB, and it then starts selecting bricks from its large-capacity feeder system.

While every single book in this list is provided for free, if you find any particularly helpful consider purchasing the printed version.

Among emerging technologies, IT professionals expect Internet of Things (IoT) devices and artificial intelligence (AI) technology to have the biggest impact in the workplace, according to a new report from online IT professionals community Spiceworks. The study, "Future of IT: Hype vs. Reality," examines organizations' adoption plans for technologies such as virtual reality (VR), 3D printing, IoT and AI. While survey respondents don't expect mass adoption to take off for VR and 3D printers, some industries have significantly higher adoption rates than the industry average, the report notes. Of the 566 IT professionals surveyed worldwide in October 2016, 80 percent said IoT devices will be useful to their business practices in three to five years, and nearly 60 percent said the same for AI. Over the next five years 60 percent of companies plan to adopt machine learning and 72 percent plan to deploy business analytics with AI.

"INDUSTRIE 4.0 connects embedded system production technologies and smart production processes to pave the way to a new technological age which will radically transform industry and production value chains and business models." Advanced manufacturing--in the form of additive manufacturing, advanced materials, smart, automated machines, and other technologies--is ushering in a new age of physical production.2 At the same time, increased connectivity and ever more sophisticated data-gathering and analytics capabilities enabled by the Internet of Things (IoT) have led to a shift toward an information-based economy. With the IoT, data, in addition to physical objects, are a source of value--and connectivity makes it possible to build smarter supply chains, manufacturing processes, and even end-to-end ecosystems.3 As these waves of change continue to shape the competitive landscape, manufacturers must decide how and where to invest in new technologies, and identify which ones will drive the most benefit for their organizations. In addition to accurately assessing their current strategic positions, successful manufacturers need a clear articulation of their business objectives, identifying where to play in newly emerging technology ecosystems and (as important) what are the technologies, both physical and digital, that they will deploy in pursuit of decisions they make about how to win.4 The charge is perhaps easier to execute in theory than in practice.

Despite some significant arrivals, 2016 also failed to deliver some long-awaited technologies. And some of what we eagerly ripped the wrapping paper off proved to be a letdown. Here's a rundown of the gifts IT didn't get in 2016. If you want to print out a stand for your phone or a model for a new product, you can easily find a 3D printer for the office that can do that -- as long as you want to print them out in plastic. You can spend more and get a 3D printer that can UV cure resin and make small objects like custom-fit earplugs in about 10 minutes (I watched my ACS Custom in-ear monitor headphones get printed from digital scans of my ear canals earlier this year). Even HP's $140,000 Multi Jet Fusion printers -- promised for this year and offering multi-color printing -- only just went on sale, and they still only print nylon.

Despite some significant arrivals, 2016 also failed to deliver some long-awaited technologies. And some of what we eagerly ripped the wrapping paper off proved to be a letdown. Here's a rundown of the gifts IT didn't get in 2016. If you want to print out a stand for your phone or a model for a new product, you can easily find a 3D printer for the office that can do that -- as long as you want to print them out in plastic. You can spend more and get a 3D printer that can UV cure resin and make small objects like custom-fit earplugs in about 10 minutes (I watched my ACS Custom in-ear monitor headphones get printed from digital scans of my ear canals earlier this year).