! 2011 tr10
Every year, Technology Review looks at the advances that have happened over the previous year and chooses 10 emerging technologies that we think will have the greatest impact. The ultimate criterion is straightforward: is the technology likely to change the world? This year’s group includes high-energy batteries that could make cheaper hybrid and electric vehicles possible and a new class of electrical transformers that could stabilize power grids. Some of our choices will alter how you use technology: you’ll be tapping into computationally intensive applications on mobile devices, or using gestures to command computers that are embedded in televisions and cars. Other choices could improve your health; for instance, doctors will craft more effective cancer treatments by understanding the genetics of individual tumors. But no matter the category, all 10 promise to make our lives better.
Facebook remaps the Web to personalize online services
Controlling the flow of electricity to stabilize the grid
Making cloud computing more secure
Controlling computers with our bodies
Deciphering the genetics behind the disease
Making critical software safer
A more precise way to read DNA will change how we treat disease
High-energy cells for cheaper electric cars
Designing new genomes could speed the creation of vaccines and biofuel-pro