Articles
How emerging technologies work and how far they have got. Each article keeps what has been shown apart from what has only been reported or proposed, and lists its sources.
AI and autonomous agents
Computer-use AI agents: what they can and cannot do yet
Computer-use AI agents are AI models that operate a computer screen.
Neuromorphic chips: processors built around spikes
Neuromorphic chips are processors designed around a few ideas taken from the brain.
Robotics and artificial muscles
Robot surgeons: how close are machines to operating alone?
Autonomous surgical robots are machines that carry out defined steps of an operation on their own, using their own movements.
Humanoid robots: machines built in the shape of a person
Humanoid robots are machines built roughly in the shape of a person, with a head, a torso, two arms and two legs.
Legged robots: machines that walk over rough ground
A legged robot moves by placing its feet on the ground one after another, much as an animal does, instead of rolling on wheels or tracks.
Warehouse picking robots: can they grab any item?
Warehouse picking robots are machines that reach into a bin or shelf, pick out one product and place it in an order container.
Advanced materials and metamaterials
How do self-healing polymers work, and what can they fix?
A self-healing polymer is built so that damage can start a repair, either with no outside help or with a small trigger such as heat.
How is transparent wood made, and what could it be used for?
Researchers have found ways to treat wood so that a thin sheet lets much of the light through while keeping its wood-like cell structure (Li and colleagues, 2016).
Biotechnology and synthetic biology
Base editing: changing single letters of DNA
Our DNA is written with four letters, A, C, G and T, and a single wrong letter can contribute to an inherited disease.
Energy and storage
Enhanced geothermal systems: the engineering question beneath the headline
Enhanced geothermal systems aim to obtain useful heat where natural underground conditions are not sufficient for conventional production.
How do iron-air batteries work?
Iron-air batteries are a type of rechargeable battery designed to store electricity for days rather than hours.
How do sodium-ion batteries work, and can they replace lithium?
Most rechargeable batteries in phones, laptops and electric cars today use lithium.
How far away is fusion power?
Fusion joins light atomic nuclei and releases energy in the process (LLNL).
Hydrogen electrolysers: read the electricity input before the output claim
An electrolyser uses energy to make hydrogen.
Perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells: why efficiency is only half the question
Stacking two different light-absorbing materials in one solar cell can, in principle, make better use of incoming sunlight.
How far are perovskite solar panels from everyday UK roofs?
A source-led assessment of tandem solar modules, calibrated efficiency, outdoor durability, qualification and the evidence UK buyers still need.
Pumped storage: the difference between power, duration and a project announcement
Pumped storage uses water at different elevations to store energy and return it later.
How far are we from solid-state batteries in everyday UK electric cars?
The evidence behind solid-state EV batteries: working cells, vehicle trials, manufacturing barriers and what UK buyers should watch.
Thermal energy storage: why a heat battery needs a different comparison
The word battery can obscure what a storage system actually delivers.
What are structural batteries, and could they replace battery packs?
A structural battery is a device that stores electrical energy and bears mechanical loads at the same time (Chaudhary et al., 2024).
Quantum technologies
What is a logical qubit?
A quantum computer stores information in qubits, the quantum version of the bit.
Neutral-atom quantum computers: computers built from single atoms
A neutral-atom quantum computer uses single atoms as its basic units of information.
Quantum key distribution: sharing secret keys with light
Quantum key distribution, or QKD, is a way for two parties to agree a secret key using light.
Quantum sensors: measuring the world with quantum physics
Quantum sensors use very small physical systems, such as single atoms, electron spins in a crystal or superconducting circuits, as probes.
Photonics and optical computing
Photonic computing: doing AI arithmetic with light
Photonic computing uses light, rather than electrical signals, to carry out calculations.
Neurotechnology and human augmentation
Brain-computer interfaces: reading brain signals to help people speak and control devices
A brain-computer interface, or BCI, reads electrical activity from the brain and turns it into text, speech or commands for a computer.
Deep brain stimulation: an established treatment and a research frontier
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a treatment in which a surgeon places a thin electrode in a small target area deep in the brain.
Optogenetics: using light to switch nerve cells on and off
Optogenetics is a research method that uses light to control specific nerve cells.
Retinal implants: can electronics give back some sight?
A retinal prosthesis, often called a bionic eye, is an electronic implant that stimulates the retina, the light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye.
Sensors, imaging and electronic skin
Event-based cameras: sensors that only report change
An event-based camera is a vision sensor that does not record full pictures.
Solid-state lidar: laser distance sensing without spinning parts
Lidar works by firing laser light at a scene and timing how long it takes to bounce back.
Climate and environment
How does direct air capture work, and how far has it got?
Direct air capture (DAC) is a group of technologies that pull carbon dioxide (CO2) out of ordinary air.
What is biochar, and does it lock carbon away?
Biochar is a charcoal-like solid made by heating plant material, such as crop residues or wood, with little or no oxygen.
Space and aerospace
How do solar sails work, and have they flown?
This article covers solar sails, large reflective sheets meant to change a spacecraft's speed or orbit using the pressure of sunlight rather than fuel.
Advanced manufacturing
How does metal 3D printing work, and where is it used?
Metal 3D printing, more formally metal additive manufacturing, builds a metal part one layer at a time.
Food and agriculture
How does vertical farming work?
Vertical farming grows crops indoors, under artificial light and in a controlled climate (Benke and Tomkins, 2017).
Reader guides
Energy and computing units: a reader glossary
Use this glossary when you read claims about energy, power or computing.
How a drug approval differs from a trial result
A published trial shows what a study found.
How to check a battery performance claim
Battery claims often rest on one number.
How to judge a technology breakthrough headline
A short checklist for reading a news story or press release about a new technology.
How to read a clinical trial result: a reader checklist
A trial result in a headline is a claim until you have checked a few basic things.
Preprints versus peer-reviewed papers: a reader guide
This guide helps a reader tell a preprint from a peer-reviewed paper.
What a TRL number does and does not tell you
A Technology Readiness Level (TRL) is a single number.