Credit: Hallowell house/Samuel Goldwyn Films/EuropaCorp Distribution/Collection Christophel
No jetpacks yet, but there’s plenty of other cool stuff.
With 2019 already more than halfway over, there has been a lot of exciting inventions and ideas that have sprung to life. Many emerging technologies continue to blossom, but five have stood out as the best this year.
#5: Smarter Fertilizers
The goal with smarter fertilizers is to create a slow release of nutrients as needed. Because many of the ingredients in fertilizer can be damaging to the environment, the idea is to limit the amount of exposure these ingredients get. Many new fertilizers are using more ecologically friendly sources of nitrogen as well as microorganisms that will help the growth of plants.
#4: Disordered Proteins
Disordered proteins are proteins that can cause cancer and other horrific diseases. These proteins lack a rigid structure so they easily change their shape, which makes them difficult to treat. With the protein constantly changing how it looks, doctors have not been able to keep up with the shape-shifting. However, scientists have found ways to slow down the shape-shifting long enough for treatment to take effect.
#3: Metalenses
Just when you thought they couldn’t shrink more things to fit on smartphones, enter the metalenses! These tiny, flat lenses are soon going to replace the larger glass lenses, which will allow for deeper miniaturization in sensors and medical imaging devices. These lenses will be able to open up a whole new world of possibility in many different fields.
#2: Social Robots
Some robots creep people out, but their capabilities continue to amaze everyone. They have the ability to recognize voices, faces, and emotions, and make eye contact. Robots are also able to interpret speech patterns and gestures. Their friendly nature is being used to care for the elderly, teach children, and perform all kinds of other tasks to help humans out.
#1: Bioplastics for a Circular Economy
Less than 15% of the world’s plastics are recycled, which is a global problem. An idea to help boost the circular economy was developed to use cellulose or lignin from plant waste, which will increase material strength (biodegradable plastic is too weak) without having to use crops that are needed for food. This is a big boost to taking care of our environment.
