Every September, the editors at IEEE Spectrum prepare for their January tech forecast issue by identifying innovative projects that could address significant challenges or revolutionize industries. This year’s lineup features advancements that, while underreported in mainstream technology outlets, hold promise for substantial impact on society.
Among the standout projects is a groundbreaking energy storage solution from the Milan-based company Energy Dome. Senior Associate Editor Emily Waltz reported on her visit to Sardinia, where she explored the company’s “bubble battery.” This innovative system can store up to 200 megawatt-hours of energy by compressing and decompressing pure carbon dioxide within an inflatable dome. Such modular storage systems could significantly enhance energy efficiency, particularly for data centers reliant on artificial intelligence.
The potential of these storage solutions extends beyond traditional batteries. Senior Editor Samuel K. Moore emphasizes that this technology may soon be integral to computing infrastructure, stating, “When we think about energy storage, our minds usually go to grid-scale batteries. Yet these bubbles, which are in many ways more capable than batteries, will be sprouting up all over the place.”
In addition to energy storage, Moore also examined the competitive landscape between two startups developing radio-based cables designed to replace conventional copper and fiber optic connections in data centers. These innovative systems can link processors up to 20 meters apart while consuming only a third of the power and cost compared to traditional optical-fiber cables. The next phase involves integrating these radio connections directly with graphics processing units (GPUs), which may alleviate cooling challenges and support the scaling of AI models.
The issue also highlights significant strides in medical technology. HistoSonics is pioneering a non-invasive ultrasound treatment that targets pancreatic cancer, a disease that claims nearly 500,000 lives annually worldwide. By using focused ultrasound to create cavitation bubbles, the company effectively destroys tumors without harming surrounding tissue. HistoSonics is concluding kidney trials while initiating trials for pancreatic cancer this year.
The rise of drones has been a recurring theme in IEEE Spectrum coverage for the past two decades. Notably, in 2018, the publication reported on Zipline, a startup deploying autonomous drones for medical supply deliveries in rural Rwanda. Today, Zipline boasts a market capitalization of approximately USD 4 billion and operates in several countries, including Japan and the United States, having completed nearly 2 million deliveries.
This year, journalist Robb Mandelbaum introduces readers to the Wildfire XPrize competition, which aims to develop technologies that suppress wildfires rapidly before they escalate. This initiative follows Zipline’s success in delivering supplies faster than land vehicles, highlighting the potential for technological solutions to address urgent environmental challenges.
This issue features a diverse array of emerging technologies, including Porsche’s wireless home charger for electric vehicles, the first electric air taxi service, advancements in neutral-atom quantum computing, interoperable mesh networks, and robotic baseball umpires. As these innovations develop, the tech community will be watching closely to see which ones will reach maturity and make a significant impact on their respective fields.
