10 tiny tech advances that will make 2015 awesome
We won't settle for anything less
2014 was a pretty great year for tech - we got big iPhones, curvy TVs, and more smartwatches than your wrist can handle.
But 2015 is going to be even better, what with virtual reality, shiny new satellites, and even a few tweaks to the very fabric of the internet itself. Here's our list of the tiny tech advances that we think will make 2015 a year to remember...
1. Battery tech
Batteries power the tech you spend most of your time with, but the design of the lithium-ion batteries commonly used is decades old, and severely limiting. Better batteries wouldn't just mean a week of smartphone use, or longer Netflix binges - they could make electric cars viable, provide a boost for renewable electricity, and maybe make your laptop a little lighter.
Science has promised us faster-charging and longer-lasting batteries for decades, but 2015 might be the year that we finally see some progress. Research has provided solid leads on both improved lithium batteries, and quick-charging versions that last for 20 years. If just a tenth of these potential fixes gets into production, you could be visiting sockets far less frequently next year.
2. Galileo
By this stage, everyone is familiar with the Global Positioning System, the American satellite magic that helps you find your dinner restaurant, and tells you where to go when you're driving. But Europe has been working on its own version, Galileo, which is set to start working (albeit in a limited capacity) in 2015.
The most exciting improvement offered by Galileo is a search-and-rescue function. At the moment, distress beacons are detected by a decades-old satellite system, which uses a Doppler effect to local the signal - but only down to an accuracy of five kilometres. Galileo's satellites carry detectors for emergency beacons, and thanks to its geo-locating abilities, Galileo will be able to pass that distress signal on to the relevant authorities within minutes, rather than hours.
Galileo will also offer more precise location and faster connection than the existing GPS system, which is good news for the millions of us who rely on smartphone location day-in day-out.
3. VR's the star
We've spent the last few years admiring the dual promises of wearable computing and virtual reality from afar, technologies embodied by Oculus Riftand Google Glass. In 2015, it might finally be time for consumers to get their sweaty paws on both products.
Although Oculus Rift has shied away from putting a precise date on the release of its much-vaunted VR system, signs are pointing towards a 2015 release, with a price somewhere between £150-300. Even if we don't end up getting Oculus Rift next year, there'll be a bevy of other VR toys to play with, starting with Samsung's very new Gear VR.
On the wearable computing front, Google Glass is also slated for a 2015 launch - that is, assuming Google hasn't given up on the project altogether.
4. HTML5
One of the biggest changes you might notice in 2015 will be under the hood of the internet itself. HTML5, the latest iteration of the framework that powers web pages, was released in October this year. It's a major update, promising to speed up apps, kill off Flash altogether, and generally make the web prettier and faster.
However, it also requires developers and web designers to re-work their websites and code, and as such it's not an overnight change. Now that the standards for HTML5 have been firmly hashed out, you can expect it to become the default in 2015. Your overloaded browser will thank you, even if you don't notice.
5. Retina Macbook Air
The Macbook Air has long been the best laptop for most people, but with one important caveat: the screen kinda sucks. While you can buy a Macbook Pro with a luscious high-pixel Retina display, or an iMac with the kind of screen than makes you fall in love with an inanimate object, the Macbook Air has been left out in the cold. Hopefully, that will all end next year.
It's been two years since Apple did anything significant with the Air (and even that was 'just' a re-working of the guts). Given Apple's Retina-ifcation of the iMac this year, and the general clamour for a Retina Macbook Air, it's almost inevitable that we'll see one this year.
Provided that the wizards at Cupertino can keep the Air's stellar battery life and svelte body with a Retina machine (and not require the pawning of three or more limbs to own one), the 2015 Retina Macbook Air could be the ultimate laptop.
6. Good Smartwatches
2014 was a big, bold year for smartwatches, but 2015 could be even better. There's the obvious: The Apple Watch will be landing sometime in the first few months, and chances are London's Regent Street might actually collapse under the weight of queuing fanboys. But 2015 will also be the year that smartwatches as a category truly matures.
In the Moto 360 and LG Watch R we saw devices with bags of promise, but still some deal breaking flaws. Now that companies have had a year or two to get to grips with software, work out the physical limitations and run a few thousand prototypes past focus groups, we might start seeing devices that look nice, run great, and don't need charging every single evening.
Not to mention smartwatch old-timer Pebble, which will probably be pushing out its third iteration this year. And you know what they say: the third instalment in a trilogy is always the best.
7. Windows 10
Statistically speaking, you're probably reading this article on a machine powered by Windows. It's not glamorous or exciting, but Microsoft's OS is still one of the most popular pieces of software around. And next year Windows 10 will be released.
Windows versions run in a hot-and-cold sequence: XP good, Vista bad, 7 great, 8 terrible. So by that logic, Windows 10 is going to be a hit. That hypothesis is backed up by our initial testing, which has shown Windows 10 to be the operating system that 8 should have been: all the speed improvements, none of the stupid home screens.
One other difference could be in how you pay for Windows 10. Apple has released the last few versions of OS X for free. Now, Microsoft's unlikely to follow suit - Windows is one of its last remaining cash cows - but it could well move to a different pricing model.
Specifically, Microsoft has moved to a subscription payment system for Office, and a similar move could be in the works for Windows 10. How much you'll have to fork over is still up in the air; but if we don't have to pay every few years for the latest version of Windows, it'll be a welcome change.
8. New Wi-Fi
You might think that Wi-Fi is a decidedly old-hat technology, since it's been around for decades now. But in actuality, it's undergoing constant improvements to improve speed, reliability and security. 2015 could see some major improvements for your YouTube video streaming, with any luck.
The Wi-Fi 802.11ac standard has been around for over a year now. But to benefit from its vastly improved speeds, you need both a router that supports 802.11ac, and a phone with a compatible chipset. Unless you bought your home routerand a brand-new phone this year, then there's very little chance that you're actually using 802.11ac.
But next year, every higher-end smartphone sold will likely have a ac-compatible chipset embedded, in the same way that you'd be hard-pressed to find a handset without 802.11n on sale today. Internet providers will also be upgrading users to 802.11ac-packing routers. Hopefully, you'll have an internet connection worthy of the new speed.
9. Fast-charging tech
With batteries still a major problem for smartphone users, a few companies are turning to a fairly simple fix - faster, wireless charging. A crowdfunding project for Petalite Flux, a portable battery pack that charges in just 15 minutes, has seen a lot of attention, and it's just the tip of the iceberg.
The Flux uses charging tech that's normally reserved for electric vehicles to charge 2600mAh in 15 minutes. That's about the same size battery as found in a smartphone, charged in about a sixth of the time.
Although the battery looks cool, the real excitement would be a smartphone manufacturer integrating the same tech into the phone itself. It's something that companies have proven surprisingly willing to do - the Galaxy S5 uses high-speed charging, as does the iPhone 6 for that matter.
If fast charging doesn't do it for you on its own, there's also the potential for fast,wireless charging. Freescale is a new wireless charging standard that promises to work three times faster than existing wireless chargers. If it can do that while not adding too much weight or cost to handsets, it could finally push wireless charging into the mainstream.
10. Steam Machines
If you're a gamer, you might already be aware of the SteamOS project. It's a plan by PC game company Steam to get the power of PCs into your living room, with the same size and simplicity advantages as gaming consoles.
The system has two key components: SteamOS, a free version of Linux that'll run games happily, so you don't have to touch Windows when you want to game. And the Steam Machines, small form-factor PCs designed specifically for their gaming chops.
It's a very promising project, but sadly it's been delayed a little. Although you can download a beta right now, full release has been delayed until 2015. Hopefully, that'll be enough time to fix the minor bugs (and for them to finish work on Half Life 3, of course).
Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2015
From autonomous drones to emergent AI to digital genomes, this year’s list from the World Economic Forum offers its latest glimpse of our fast-approaching technological future
By Bernard Meyerson | March 4, 2015
Fuel-cell vehicles have long promised several major advantages over those powered by electricity or hydrocarbons.
Credit: Masaru Kamikura/Flickr
SA Forum is an invited essay from experts on topical issues in science and technology.
Editor's note: Today the World Economic Forum's Meta-Council on Emerging Technologies, one of the organization's networks of expert communities that form the Global Agenda Councils, released its Top 10 List of Emerging Technologies for 2015. Bernard Meyerson, chief innovation officer of IBM and author of the following essay, is chair of the Meta-Council. Scientific American editor-in-chief Mariette DiChristina is serving as vice-chair.
Technology is perhaps the greatest agent of change in the modern world. Although never without risk, technological breakthroughs promise solutions to the most pressing global challenges of our time. From zero-emission cars fueled by hydrogen to computer chips modeled on the human brain, this year’s Top 10 Emerging Technologies list—an annual compilation from the World Economic Forum (WEF)—offers a vivid glimpse of the power of innovation to improve lives, transform industries and safeguard our planet.
To compile this list the WEF’s Meta-Council on Emerging Technologies, a panel of 18 experts, draws on the collective expertise of the Forum’s numerous communities to identify the most important technological trends. In doing so, the Meta-Council aims to raise awareness of their potential and contribute to closing the gaps in investment, regulation and public understanding that so often thwart progress.
1. Fuel-cell vehicles
Zero-emission cars that run on hydrogen
Zero-emission cars that run on hydrogen
Fuel-cell vehicles have long promised several major advantages over those powered by electricity or hydrocarbons. The technology has only now begun to reach the stage where automotive companies are planning launches for consumers, however. Initial prices are likely to be in the range of $70,000 but should come down significantly as volumes increase within the next couple of years.
Unlike batteries, which must be charged from an external source and can take from five to 12 hours depending on the car and charger, fuel cells generate electricity directly, using hydrogen or natural gas. In practice, fuel cells and batteries are combined, with the fuel cell generating electricity and the batteries storing it until demanded by the motors that drive the vehicle. Fuel-cell vehicles are therefore hybrids and will likely also deploy regenerative braking, which recovers energy from waste heat, a key capability for maximizing efficiency and range.
Unlike battery-powered electric vehicles, fuel-cell powered ones have a long cruising range—up to 650 kilometers per tank (the fuel is usually compressed hydrogen gas); a hydrogen fuel refill only takes about three minutes. Hydrogen is clean-burning, producing only water vapor as waste, so fuel-cell vehicles using hydrogen will be zero-emission, an important factor given the need to reduce air pollution.
There are a number of ways to produce hydrogen without generating carbon emissions. Most obviously, renewable sources of electricity from wind and solar sources can be used to electrolyze water—although the overall energy efficiency of this process is likely to be quite low. Hydrogen can also be split from water in high-temperature nuclear reactors or generated from fossil fuels such as coal or natural gas, with the resulting carbon dioxide captured and sequestered rather than released into the atmosphere.
As well as the production of cheap hydrogen on a large scale, a significant challenge is the lack of a hydrogen distribution infrastructure that would be needed to parallel and eventually replace gas and diesel filling stations. Long-distance transport of hydrogen, even in a compressed state, is not considered economically feasible today. Innovative hydrogen storage techniques, such as organic liquid carriers that do not require high-pressure storage, however, will soon lower the cost of long-distance transport and ease the risks associated with gas storage and inadvertent release.
Mass-market fuel-cell vehicles are an attractive prospect because they will offer the range and fueling convenience of today’s diesel and gas-powered vehicles while providing the benefits of sustainability in personal transportation. Achieving these benefits will, however, require the reliable and economical production of hydrogen from entirely low-carbon sources as well as its distribution to a growing fleet of vehicles, expected to number in the many millions within a decade.
2. Next-generation robotics
Rolling away from the production line
Rolling away from the production line
The popular imagination has long foreseen a world where robots take over all manner of everyday tasks. This robotic future has stubbornly refused to materialize, however, with robots still limited to factory assembly lines and other controlled tasks. Although heavily used (in the automotive industry, for instance), these robots are large and dangerous to human co-workers; they have to be separated by safety cages.
Advances in robotics technology are making human–machine collaboration an everyday reality. Better and cheaper sensors make a robot more able to “understand” and respond to its environment. Robot bodies are becoming more adaptive and flexible, with designers taking inspiration from the extraordinary flexibility and dexterity of complex biological structures, such as the human hand. And robots are becoming more connected, benefiting from the cloud-computing revolution by being able to access instructions and information remotely, rather than having to be programmed as a fully autonomous unit.
The new age of robotics takes these machines away from the big manufacturing assembly lines and into a wide variety of tasks. Using GPS technology, just like smartphones, robots are beginning to be used in precision agriculture for weed control and harvesting. In Japan robots are being tried in nursing roles. They help patients out of bed, for instance, and support stroke victims in regaining control of their limbs. Smaller and more dextrous robots, such as Dexter Bot, Baxter and LBR iiwa, are designed to be easily programmable and to handle manufacturing tasks that are laborious or uncomfortable for human workers.
Indeed, robots are ideal for tasks that are too repetitive or dangerous for humans to undertake, and can work 24 hours a day at a lower cost than human workers. In reality, new-generation robotic machines are likely to collaborate with humans rather than replace them. Even considering advances in design and artificial intelligence, human involvement and oversight will remain essential.
There remains the risk that robots may displace humans from jobs, although previous waves of automation have tended to lead to higher productivity and growth, with benefits throughout the economy. Decades-old fears of networked robots running out of control may become more salient as next-generation robots are linked to the Web, but at the same time they will become more familiar as people employ domestic robots to do household chores. Undoubtedly, however, the next generation of robotics poses new questions about the human relationship with machines.
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3. Recyclable thermoset plastics
A new kind of plastic to cut landfill waste
A new kind of plastic to cut landfill waste
Plastics are divided into thermoplastics and thermoset plastics. The former can be heated and shaped many times and are ubiquitous in the modern world, comprising everything from children’s toys to lavatory seats. Because they can be melted down and reshaped, thermoplastics are generally recyclable. Thermoset plastics, however, can only be heated and shaped once, after which molecular changes mean they are “cured,” retaining their shape and strength even when subjected to intense heat and pressure.
Due to this durability thermoset plastics are a vital part of our modern world. They are used in everything from mobile phones and circuit boards to the aerospace industry. But the same characteristics that have made them essential in modern manufacturing also make them impossible to recycle. As a result, most thermoset polymers end up as landfill. Given the ultimate objective of sustainability, there has long been a pressing need for recyclability in thermoset plastics.
In 2014 critical advances were made in this area with the publication of a landmark paper in Science announcing the discovery of new classes of thermosetting polymers that are recyclable. Called poly(hexahydrotriazine)s, or PHTs, these can be dissolved in strong acid, breaking apart the polymer chains into component monomers that can then be reassembled into new products. Like traditional unrecyclable thermosets, these new structures are rigid, resistant to heat and tough, with the same potential applications as their unrecyclable forerunners.
Although no recycling is 100 percent efficient, this innovation—if widely deployed—should speed up the move toward a circular economy, with a big reduction in landfill waste from plastics. We expect recyclable thermoset polymers to replace unrecyclable thermosets within five years, and to be ubiquitous in newly manufactured goods by 2025.
4. Precise genetic-engineering techniques
A breakthrough offers better crops with less controversy
A breakthrough offers better crops with less controversy
Conventional genetic engineering has long caused controversy. Now new techniques are emerging that allow us to directly “edit” the genetic code of plants to make them, for example, more nutritious or better able to cope with a changing climate; we believe the benefits, and the precision in “editing,” could allay the concerns, leading to more widespread adoption.
Currently, the genetic engineering of crops relies on the bacterium agrobacterium tumefaciens to transfer desired DNA into the target genome. The technique is proved and reliable and, despite widespread public fears, there is a consensus in the scientific community that genetically modifying organisms using this technique is no more risky than modifying them using conventional breeding. Whereas agrobacterium is useful, more precise and varied genome-editing techniques have been developed in recent years.
These include ZFNs, TALENs and, more recently, the CRISPR–Cas9 system, which evolved in bacteria as a defence mechanism against viruses. CRISPR–Cas9 uses an RNA molecule to target DNA, cutting to a known, user-selected sequence in the target genome. This capability can disable an unwanted gene or modify it in a way that is functionally indistinguishable from a natural mutation. Using “homologous recombination,” CRISPR can also be used to insert new DNA sequences or even whole genes into the genome in a precise way.
Another aspect of genetic engineering that appears poised for a major advance is the use of RNA interference (RNAi) in crops. RNAi is effective against viruses and fungal pathogens and can also protect plants against insect pests, reducing the need for chemical pesticides. Viral genes have been used to protect papaya plants against the ring spot virus, for example, with no sign of resistance evolving in over a decade of use in Hawaii. RNAi may also benefit major staple-food crops, protecting wheat against stem rust, rice against blast, potato against blight and banana against fusarium wilt.
Many of these innovations will be particularly beneficial to smaller farmers in developing countries. As such, genetic engineering may become less controversial as people recognize its effectiveness at boosting the incomes and improving the diets of millions of people. In addition, more precise genome editing may allay public fears, especially if the resulting plant or animal is not considered transgenic because no foreign genetic material is introduced.
Taken together, these techniques promise to advance agricultural sustainability by reducing input use in multiple areas, from water and land to fertilizer, while also helping crops to adapt to climate change.
5. Additive manufacturing
The future of making things, from printable organs to intelligent clothes
The future of making things, from printable organs to intelligent clothes
As the name suggests, additive manufacturing is the opposite of subtractive manufacturing. The latter is how manufacturing has traditionally been done: Layers are subtracted, or removed from a larger piece of material (wood, metal, stone, etcetera), leaving the desired shape. Additive manufacturing instead starts with loose material, either liquid or powder, and then builds it into a three-dimensional shape using a digital template, one layer at a time.
Three-dimensional products can be highly customized to the end user, unlike mass-produced manufactured goods. An example is the company Invisalign, which uses computer imaging of customers’ teeth to make near-invisible braces tailored to their mouths. Other medical applications are taking 3-D printing in a more biological direction: Machines can directly print human cells, thereby creating living tissues that may find potential application in drug safety screening and, ultimately, tissue repair and regeneration. An early example of this bioprinting is Organovo's printed liver-cell layers, which are aimed at drug testing and may eventually be used to create transplant organs. Bioprinting has already been used to generate skin and bone as well as heart and vascular tissue, which offer huge potential in future personalized medicine.
An important next stage in additive manufacturing would be the 3-D printing of integrated electronic components, such as circuit boards. Nanoscale computer parts, such as processors, are difficult to manufacture this way because of the challenges of combining electronic components with others made from multiple different materials. In other areas 4-D printing now promises to bring in a new generation of products that can alter themselves in response to environmental changes, such as heat and humidity. This could be useful in clothes or footwear, for example, as well as in health care products, such as implants designed to change in the human body.
Like distributed manufacturing, additive manufacturing is potentially highly disruptive to conventional processes and supply chains. But it remains a nascent technology today, with applications mainly in the automotive, aerospace and medical sectors. Rapid growth is expected over the next decade as more opportunities emerge and innovation in this technology brings it closer to the mass market.
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