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Top Tech 2021

Here are some of the technologies you’ll be reading about this year

Illustration of the icons in the report.

10 Exciting Engineering Milestones to Look for in 2021

Expect advances in Mars missions, wearable brain scanners, and quantum communications

5 min read

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Top Tech 2021

Deep Learning at the Speed of Light

Lightmatter bets that optical computing can solve AI’s efficiency problem

10 Exciting Engineering Milestones to Look for in 2021

Expect advances in Mars missions, wearable brain scanners, and quantum communications

At Last, First Light for the James Webb Space Telescope Nears

The most ambitious space instrument ever will let us see back almost to the big bang

Peering Into the COVID-19 End Game

The pandemic will amp up contact tracing, cloud computing, surveillance, and online gaming

SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Dynetics Compete to Build the Next Moon Lander

If all goes well, in February NASA will pick which design to develop

Carbon Engineering’s Tech Will Suck Carbon From the Sky

It’s not enough to slash greenhouse gas emissions. Experts say we need direct-air capture of atmospheric carbon

Gravity Energy Storage Will Show Its Potential in 2021

Gravitricity and Energy Vault are pioneering a radical new alternative to batteries for grid storage

This Is the Year for Apple’s AR Glasses—Maybe

With head-up displays, cameras, inertial sensors, and lidar on board, Apple’s long-expected augmented-reality glasses could be a game-changer

Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Finally Takes Off in North America and Europe

Li-Cycle, Northvolt, and Ganfeng Lithium are among those building recycling plants, spurred by environmental and supply-chain concerns

Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 Test Aircraft Promises a New Era of Faster-Than-Sound Travel

The prototype of a planned, 65-seat airliner will fly in 2021

St. Helena's New Undersea Cable Will Deliver 18 Gb/s per Person

Satellite operators salivate over access to Google’s Equiano cable, but the island’s telecom monopoly stands in the way

This Year, Autonomous Trucks Will Take to the Road With No One on Board

The startup TuSimple is deploying tractor-trailers that drive themselves from pickup to delivery

This Is How We’ll Vaccinate the World Against COVID-19

We can manufacture and distribute enough coronavirus vaccines to protect humanity

Special Report: Top Tech 2021

After months of blood, toil, tears, and sweat, we can all expect a much better year

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Top Tech 2021

Lightmatter bets that optical computing can solve AI’s efficiency problem

Expect advances in Mars missions, wearable brain scanners, and quantum communications

The most ambitious space instrument ever will let us see back almost to the big bang

The pandemic will amp up contact tracing, cloud computing, surveillance, and online gaming

If all goes well, in February NASA will pick which design to develop

It’s not enough to slash greenhouse gas emissions. Experts say we need direct-air capture of atmospheric carbon

Gravitricity and Energy Vault are pioneering a radical new alternative to batteries for grid storage

With head-up displays, cameras, inertial sensors, and lidar on board, Apple’s long-expected augmented-reality glasses could be a game-changer

Li-Cycle, Northvolt, and Ganfeng Lithium are among those building recycling plants, spurred by environmental and supply-chain concerns

The prototype of a planned, 65-seat airliner will fly in 2021

Satellite operators salivate over access to Google’s Equiano cable, but the island’s telecom monopoly stands in the way

The startup TuSimple is deploying tractor-trailers that drive themselves from pickup to delivery

We can manufacture and distribute enough coronavirus vaccines to protect humanity

After months of blood, toil, tears, and sweat, we can all expect a much better year

The most ambitious space instrument ever will let us see back almost to the big bang 

With head-up displays, cameras, inertial sensors, and lidar on board, Apple’s long-expected augmented-reality glasses could be a game-changer 