A few days ago, the famous science magazine "Scientific American" announced the top ten breakthrough technology list in 2019. The list is famous for its “unpredictable†new nuclear reactors and DNA storage, as well as new fertilizers and food packaging that are “easy to approachâ€. After reviewing the Science and Technology Daily reporters, the top ten technologies can be divided into five categories: clean environment, innovative energy, health promotion, convenient life and subversive innovation.
Clean environment technology
Biodegradable plastics and smart fertilizer technology can make the environment cleaner.
Plastic waste can not only exist in the environment for hundreds of years, but also release toxic compounds. Biodegradable plastics previously produced from corn, sugar cane or waste oils are difficult to compare with ordinary plastics. Now, Imperial College London, Germany, Metgen Biotech, Finland, etc. are studying the use of low-cost ionic solvents and biological enzymes to treat cellulose or lignin to produce new biodegradable plastics, which is expected to help solve the problem of plastic waste.
Nitrogen in agricultural fertilizers forms greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and phosphorus enters the river, causing excessive growth of algae and other organisms. Companies such as Haifa Group and ICL Specialty Fertilizer use advanced materials and manufacturing techniques to improve the shell of slow-release capsules, making them “smart fertilizers†that change the release rate based on soil temperature, acidity or nutrients. This approach is easier to promote than the so-called "precise agriculture" that requires artificial intelligence, data analysis, and a large number of sensors.
Innovative energy technology
New nuclear energy and large-scale energy storage technologies are expected to bring about a new energy revolution.
Almost all of the existing commercial nuclear reactors use nuclear fuel rods that deposit uranium cores in zirconium alloys. If zirconium is overheated, it will react with water to produce hydrogen and explode. This problem has led to nuclear accidents in the US island of Mishima and Fukushima, Japan. The "fourth generation" nuclear reactor under development will use liquid sodium or molten salt instead of water to transfer heat and avoid hydrogen. The United States has proposed building small modular reactors to improve safety. New fuels and small modular reactors are expected to bring nuclear power back.
Wind and solar energy are the main renewable energy sources, but large-scale energy storage technologies are needed to store “backup energy†for use at night or when there is no wind. Previously, pumped storage and lithium batteries were the main energy storage methods, which had the disadvantages of high cost and short energy storage time. The United States, South Korea, China and Japan are developing large-scale flow batteries and hydrogen fuel cells, which are expected to solve the above problems.
Promote health technology
New targets for the treatment of cancer and Alzheimer's disease, advanced food tracking and packaging technologies can make humans healthier.
In recent years, scientists have discovered a special protein called "essential disordered protein" (IDP) that, once not working properly, can lead to cancer or neurodegenerative diseases. As scientists' research on IDP has deepened, the industry has begun to focus on treatments that target IDP. Pharmaceutical companies such as IDP, Graffinity, and Cantabio are investigating drugs that bring new tools to treat diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's disease.
According to the World Health Organization, about 600 million people are poisoned each year worldwide, of which 420,000 die. New technologies can effectively alleviate this problem. IBM's cloud platform based on blockchain technology, IBM Food Trust, can help the food industry quickly trace toxic foods, while sensors with foods such as TimeStrip UK and Vitsab International can help people determine if food is at the right temperature. Store and start to deteriorate.
Convenient life technology
Human life is more convenient due to social robots and remote co-presentation technology.
Artificial intelligence technology enables engineers to turn psychology and neuroscience into algorithms that allow robots to recognize sounds, gestures, eyes, and emotions to suit people's needs. The humanoid robot Pepper developed by Softbank Robotics is enough to recognize faces and basic emotions, and has been used to provide hotel registration, airport customer service, and shopping assistants through the "thorch" touch screen dialogue. In addition, more and more intelligent treatment robots and toy robots are also attractive to the elderly and children.
Remote co-presentation technology enables people in different locations to overcome the close proximity of space. The development of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and 5G communication technology made this possible. The “X Awards†Foundation has launched the $10 million “ANA Avatar†Grand Prix, which aims to “transfer human feelings, actions and presence to a distant location in real time, thus bringing a closer worldâ€. Companies such as Microsoft are also conducting research. In the next 3-5 years, the remote collaborative rendering technology will usher in a breakthrough.
Subverting innovative technologies
Metal-based microlenses and DNA-based data storage technologies are the most disruptive technological innovations on the list.
When thinking about lens materials, the first thing people think of is glass. Who can think of metal? However, conventional glass cutting and glass bending techniques make it difficult to manufacture microlenses, which limits the miniaturization of optical products. Now, scientists use metal instead of glass to make lenses, and found that metal lenses eliminate chromatic aberration without delamination, and also break through the problem of aberrations that cause image distortion and blur, such as astigmatism. Metal lenses make it possible to design and manufacture miniature optics.
Humans are facing serious data storage problems. By 2020, 418 billion 1TB hard drives will be needed each year to accommodate all data. In contrast, a DNA cube about 1 meter long is enough to hold the same amount of data. In fact, DNA data storage technology is not far away. In 2017, researchers at Harvard University recorded images of one hand into the genome of E. coli. Researchers at the University of Washington and Microsoft Research have developed a fully automated system for writing, storing, and reading DNA-encoded data.
Source: Technology Daily
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