press release
MIT Technology Review Announces 10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2016
Annual list highlights the most important technology milestones.
Cambridge, MA – February 23, 2016: Today, MIT Technology Review publishes its annual 10 Breakthrough Technologies list (www.technologyreview.com/lists/technologies). The list identifies innovations from the past year that solve difficult problems or create powerful new ways of using technology. These are the breakthroughs that will matter for years to come.
Jason Pontin, Editor in Chief and Publisher, states, “Each year, our editors search the globe to create this important list. From Beijing, China, where researchers are creating fungus-resistant wheat and boosting rice crop yields, to Seattle, where a spin-off company of the University of Washington is commercializing “passive Wi-Fi,” making data connections using 1/10,000th as much power as existing Wi-Fi, the 10 Breakthrough Technologies represent the advancements we feel have the greatest potential to impact our lives for years to come.”
The stories behind the 2016 list are live on www.technologyreview.com and are featured in the March/April magazine, which hits newsstands March 1.
Immune Engineering
Killer T cells programmed to wipe out cancer.
Precise Gene Editing in Plants
Technology to cheaply and accurately alter plant genomes without leaving behind foreign DNA.
Conversational Interfaces
Combining voice recognition and natural language understanding to create effective speech interfaces for the world’s Internet market.
Reusable Rockets
Rockets that can launch payloads into orbit and then land safely.
Robots That Teach Each Other
Robots that learn tasks and send that knowledge to the cloud for other robots to pick up later.
DNA App Store
A new business model for DNA sequencing that will make genetic information widely accessible online.
SolarCity’s Gigafactory
Highly efficient solar panels made using a simplified, low-cost manufacturing process.
Slack
Easy-to-use communication software that is supplanting e-mail as a method of getting work done.
Tesla Autopilot
A car that drives itself safely in a variety of conditions.
Power from the Air
Wireless gadgets that repurpose nearby signals, such as Wi-Fi, to power themselves and communicate.