{"id":884832,"date":"2026-01-13T23:11:44","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T05:11:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/13\/the-download-introducing-this-years-10-breakthrough-technologies\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T23:11:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T05:11:44","slug":"the-download-introducing-this-years-10-breakthrough-technologies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/13\/the-download-introducing-this-years-10-breakthrough-technologies\/","title":{"rendered":"The Download: introducing this year\u2019s 10 Breakthrough Technologies"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

It\u2019s easy to be cynical about technology these days. Many of the \u201cdisruptions\u201d of the last 15 years were more about coddling a certain set of young, moneyed San Franciscans than improving the world. Yet you can be sympathetic to the techlash and still fully buy into the idea that technology can be good.<\/p>\n

We really can build tools that make this planet healthier, more livable, more equitable, and just all-around better. And some people are doing just that, pushing progress forward across a number of fundamental, potentially world-changing technologies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

These are exactly the technologies we aim to spotlight in our annual 10 Breakthrough Technologies list. These are 10 technologies that we believe are poised to fundamentally alter the world, and they\u2019re a matter of hot debate across the newsroom for months before being unveiled. So, without further ado\u2026\u00a0Here\u2019s the full list<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Do you think we\u2019ve missed something? You have until April to\u00a0cast your vote<\/a>\u00a0for the 11th breakthrough!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why some \u201cbreakthrough\u201d technologies don\u2019t work out\u00a0<\/h4>\n

\u2014Fabio Duarte is associate director and principal research scientist at the MIT Senseable City Lab.<\/em><\/p>\n

Today marks the 25th year the MIT Technology Review newsroom has compiled its annual 10 Breakthrough Technologies\u00a0list<\/a>, which means its journalists and editors have now identified 250 technologies as breakthroughs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A few years ago, editor at large David Rotman\u00a0revisited<\/a>\u00a0the publication\u2019s original list, finding that while all the technologies were still relevant, each had evolved and progressed in often unpredictable ways. I lead students through a similar exercise in a graduate class I teach with James Scott for MIT\u2019s School of Architecture and Planning, asking them what we can learn from the failures.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Although it\u2019s less glamorous than envisioning which advances will change our future, analyzing failed technologies is equally important.\u00a0Read about why that is<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The must-reads<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve combed the internet to find you today\u2019s most fun\/important\/scary\/fascinating stories about technology.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

1 Iran has almost completely shut its internet down\u00a0<\/strong>
Which makes it very hard for the world to witness its government killing people. (AP<\/a>)
+\u00a0The shutdown is chillingly effective, and likely to last.<\/em>\u00a0(The Guardian<\/a>)
+\u00a0President Trump is considering military strikes against Iran.<\/em>\u00a0(NYT<\/a>\u00a0$)<\/p>\n

2 ICE is gaining powerful new surveillance capabilities<\/strong>
It\u2019s purchased tools that give it the ability to track individuals across entire neighborhoods. (404 Media<\/a>\u00a0$)
+\u00a0The ICE shooting shows why reality still matters.\u00a0<\/em>(The Verge<\/a>\u00a0$)
+\u00a0It\u2019s time for Apple to reinstate ICEBlock.<\/em>\u00a0(Engadget<\/a>)\u00a0<\/p>\n

3 Malaysia and Indonesia have blocked access to Grok\u00a0<\/strong>
They are the first in the world to ban the AI tool, which is being used to make explicit non-consensual deepfakes. (BBC<\/a>)
+\u00a0How Elon Musk\u2019s platform unleashed a torrent of abuse upon women and girls.\u00a0<\/em>(The Guardian<\/a>)<\/p>\n

4 Silicon Valley\u2019s billionaires are panicking over a proposed 5% wealth tax<\/strong>
Poor dears. (Wired<\/a>\u00a0$)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

5 Meta signed a deal with three nuclear companies<\/strong>
It\u2019s becoming a favored power source for tech companies as their AI ambitions grow. (TechCrunch<\/a>)
+ Can nuclear power really fuel the rise of AI? (MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\n

6 AI has a memorization problem\u00a0<\/strong>
The fact it reproduces copyrighted work shows it might not work the way its makers claim. (The Atlantic<\/a>\u00a0$)
+\u00a0DeepSeek is poised to release a new flagship AI model.\u00a0<\/em>(The Information<\/a>\u00a0$)<\/p>\n

7 Here\u2019s the stuff from CES you might actually consider buying\u00a0<\/strong>
It\u2019s always a bit of a gimmick fest\u2014but these items made their way onto reporters\u2019 wishlists. (The Verge<\/a>\u00a0$)
+\u00a0On the flipside, you absolutely should\u00a0not\u00a0purchase anything on the \u2018worst in show\u2019 list.<\/em>\u00a0(The Register<\/a>)<\/p>\n

8 How WhatsApp took over the world\u00a0<\/strong>\ud83c\udf0d
It\u2019s used by more than three billion people every month\u2014nearly half the global population. (New Yorker<\/a>\u00a0$)<\/p>\n

9 AI music is here to stay<\/strong>
Love it or hate it, it\u2019s only going to play a bigger role going forward. (Vox<\/a>)
+\u00a0It\u2019s complicating our definitions of authorship and creativity in the process.<\/em>\u00a0(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

10 We\u2019re crying out for better experiences online<\/strong>
The question is: who will give them to us? (WP<\/a>\u00a0$)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

\n

Quote of the day<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Things here are very, very bad. A lot of our friends have been killed. They were firing live rounds. It’s like a war zone, the streets are full of blood. They’re taking away bodies in trucks.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014An anonymous source in Iran\u2019s capital Tehran tells the\u00a0BBC<\/a>\u00a0how the government is cracking down on protests.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One more thing<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

This startup is about to conduct the biggest real-world test of aluminum as a zero-carbon fuel<\/strong><\/p>\n

Found Energy aims to harness the energy in scraps of aluminum metal to power industrial processes without fossil fuels. Since 2022, the company has worked to develop ways to rapidly release energy from aluminum on a small scale.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s just switched on a much larger version of its aluminum-powered engine, which it claims is the largest aluminum-water reactor ever built. Soon, it will be installed to supply heat and hydrogen to a tool manufacturing facility in the southeastern US, using the aluminum waste produced by the plant itself as fuel.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

If everything works as planned, this technology, which uses a catalyst to unlock the energy stored within aluminum metal, could transform a growing share of aluminum scrap into a zero-carbon fuel.\u00a0Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014James Dinneen<\/em><\/p>\n

We can still have nice things<\/strong><\/p>\n

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? <\/em>Drop me a line<\/em><\/a> or <\/em>skeet ’em at me<\/em><\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

+ I enjoyed this heartwarming story of\u00a0love<\/a>\u00a0across the generational divide \u2764\ufe0f\u00a0
+ It turns out you can\u00a0cook an egg in an air fryer<\/a>. The big question is\u2014should you?
+ Of course Japan has a real-life\u00a0Pok\u00e9mon Fossil Museum<\/a>.
+ If you haven\u2019t already, make 2026 the year you get a\u00a0hobby<\/a>. Your life will be all the richer for it.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Charlotte Jee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s easy to be cynical about technology these days. Many of the \u201cdisruptions\u201d of the last 15 years were more about coddling a certain set of young, moneyed San Franciscans than improving the world. Yet you can be sympathetic to the techlash and still fully buy into the idea that technology can be good. We<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":884833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24097,28681,46],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-884832","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-download","8":"category-introducing","9":"category-technology"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=884832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/884833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=884832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=884832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=884832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}