Through our weekly quizzes this year, you’ve learned about AI, semiconductors, predictive maintenance, energy storage, and myriad other topics. Now learn which of our quizzes were the most popular this year.

In the year 2024, AI continued to dominate headlines and make inroads into new industries — a trend that’s expected to continue next year. Generative AI took center stage in 2024, driving higher efficiency, creativity, and productivity.

I recently came across a blog by Abheek Chatterjee, a researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), that resonated with my belief that you should consider environmental impacts in any new design. He writes about “the importance of using sustainability analyses early on in an engineering project so we can better understand the bigger-picture environmental impact of seemingly small decisions, such as choosing materials for a product.”

University of Washington researchers have created MobiPrint, a mobile 3D printer that can automatically measure a room and print objects onto its floor. The team’s graphic interface lets users design objects for a space that the robot has mapped out. The prototype, which the team built on a modified consumer vacuum robot, can add accessibility features, home customizations or artistic flourishes to a space.

Researchers from Tampere University in Finland and Anhui Jianzhu University in China have made a significant breakthrough in soft robotics. Their groundbreaking study introduces the first toroidal, light-driven microrobot that can move autonomously in viscous liquids, such as mucus. This innovation marks a major step forward in developing microrobots capable of navigating complex environments, with promising applications in fields such as medicine and environmental monitoring.