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The progress issue

March 2021

Our annual list of 10 breakthrough technologies shows areas in which lots of progress has been made. But by many other measures, there’s still a long way to go.

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Letter from the editor

What progress means

Features

Categorized in
10 Breakthrough Technologies 2021
Categorized in Humans and technology
Are you ready to be a techno-optimist again?
In 2001, we picked our first annual set of 10 breakthrough technologies. Here’s what their fates tell us about progress over the last two decades.
Categorized in The Big Story: mRNA
The next act for messenger RNA could be bigger than covid vaccines
New messenger RNA vaccines to fight the coronavirus are based on a technology that could transform medicine. Next up: sickle cell and HIV.
Categorized in Artificial intelligence
Why GPT-3 is the best and worst of AI right now
Open AI's language AI wowed the public with its apparent mastery of English – but is it all an illusion?
Categorized in Computing
How data trusts can protect privacy
We can’t expect people to navigate the confusing world of data collection on their own. It’s time to join forces.
Categorized in Climate change
Novel lithium-metal batteries will drive the switch to electric cars
A new type of battery could finally make electric cars as convenient and cheap as gas ones.
Categorized in Battling covid
Digital contact tracing brought tech rivals together while the pandemic kept us apart
Bitter enemies teamed up to build tools they hoped would help slow the virus’s spread.
Categorized in Space
Hyper-accurate positioning is rolling out worldwide
Upgrades to satellites in orbit and systems down below will bring centimeter-level accuracy to the masses.
Categorized in Humans and technology
Some parts of remote living are here to stay
The pandemic was a stress test for many kinds of remote services. Which ones passed?
Categorized in Artificial intelligence
AI armed with multiple senses could gain more flexible intelligence
Human intelligence emerges from our combination of senses and language abilities. Maybe the same is true for artificial intelligence.
Categorized in Humans and technology
The beauty of TikTok’s secret, surprising, and eerily accurate recommendation algorithms
The app’s “For You” page regularly features new or unknown creators alongside those with millions of fans.
Categorized in Climate change
Cheap renewables could make green hydrogen a practical replacement for fossil fuels
Hydrogen made using electricity generated from wind or solar power could provide a clean and carbon-neutral source of energy. Europe is leading the way.
Categorized in The Big Story: Tech Policy
How to fix what the innovation economy broke about America
Across the country, small towns have been left behind. Finding a way to turn things around is crucial if American democracy is to be saved.
Categorized in Biotechnology
Why covid-19 might finally usher in the era of health care based on a patient’s data
After nearly three decades of proselytizing, Lee Hood believes the pandemic may finally enable his vision of personalized, precision medicine for all.
Categorized in Humans and technology
How schools plan to close the pandemic education gap
Many students fell behind as a result of remote learning. Now, educators are trying to figure out how to catch them up.
Categorized in Humans and technology
In pictures: up close with transhumanists
They have many reasons for modifying their bodies, but transhumanists are united in their belief that technology can unlock a new way of being.

Also in this issue
- What does progress mean to you?
  We asked activists, entrepreneurs, historians, and economists how they define this deceptively simple term.
  
  Categorized in Humans and technology
- We asked Bill Gates, a Nobel laureate, and others to name the most effective way to combat climate change
  Their answers included rising carbon prices, storage breakthroughs, a fusion moonshot and more.
  
  Categorized in Climate change
- How behemoth companies quash innovation
  Large corporations have become experts at edging out smaller companies—a terrible omen for the future of progress.
  
  Categorized in Silicon Valley
- What giving birth during a pandemic taught me about progress
  Having a child is an inherently optimistic act. People in the US are doing less and less of it.
  
  Categorized in Humans and technology
- Why it’s a mistake to bet against Silicon Valley
  The latest wave of tech companies quitting California may have mistaken what makes it a center of innovation: its ability to capitalize on its luck.
  
  Categorized in Silicon Valley
- Decoding the CRISPR-baby stories
  Three books explore the He Jiankui affair and what gene editing means for the future of humanity.
  
  Categorized in Biotechnology
- Bill Gates and the problem with climate solutionism
  Focusing on technological solutions to climate change feels like an attempt to dodge the harder political obstacles.
  
  Categorized in Climate change
- Bill Gates: Rich nations should shift entirely to synthetic beef
  We spoke to the Microsoft cofounder about his new book, the limits of his optimism, the tech breakthroughs and energy policies we need—and how his thinking on climate change has evolved.
  
  Categorized in Climate change
- From the archives
  Through the decades the development of a vaccine has always been a major milestone, making it all the more remarkable that we invented multiple covid-19 vaccines in less than a year.
  
  Categorized in The progress issue

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