Inventions

Bringing to mind how dramatically the world has changed can help us see how different the world could be in a few years or decades.

Science fiction writers have anticipated a variety of modern inventions, from cars to organ transplants. Some books barely seem like fiction.

A new material for direct air capture systems turns trapped carbon into baking soda when introduced to seawater.

A new anti-dust technology could extend the lives of space rovers, improve the efficiency of solar panels, and more.

A gel that turns into an electrode once inside the body might end the need for invasive implantation surgeries.

A computer’s power is still limited by the number of operations it can execute per second and the efficiency of the algorithms it runs.

Thanks to “electrochromism,” a newly developed material can switch between absorbing and reflecting heat from the sun.

An approach called “rational vaccinology” could allow us to design more powerful vaccines, just by rearranging their ingredients.

Will society will use this moment of AI breakthroughs to advance equity or exacerbate disparities? Five experts weigh in.