As we step further into the twenty-first century, innovation continues to transform how we live, work, and interact. The year 2024 has been a turning point in this journey, with breakthrough advancements that promise to transform sectors and push the limits of possibility. From game-changing discoveries in sustainability and healthcare to cutting-edge advancements in artificial intelligence and mobility, this year’s inventions represent humanity’s never-ending pursuit of progress.
These are the top 10 technological advancements of 2024, chosen for their capacity to address pressing issues, improve productivity, and stimulate a more intelligent and sustainable future. These breakthroughs are more than simply technological wonders; they are also about the vision and ingenuity that is driving real change in our daily lives. Whether it’s solving global environmental challenges, pushing medical boundaries, or revolutionising how we communicate and travel, the following list honours the ideas creating tomorrow.
- AI-POWERED SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY
Artificial intelligence (AI) is altering scientific discovery and cross-disciplinary research by allowing for quick data processing, hypothesis creation, and experimental automation. AI systems like DeepMind’s AlphaFold have made ground-breaking breakthroughs, such as properly predicting protein shapes, opening the path for advances in biology and medication development. AI crunches huge datasets, discovers subtle patterns, and creates prediction models, benefiting industries such as genetics, climate research, and personalised medicine. This capacity accelerates insights while reducing human error.
AI is also transforming drug research and healthcare by optimising procedures, creating personalised therapies, and discovering new applications for current medications. AlphaFold and predictive analytics technologies are enabling tailored medicines and early interventions. Furthermore, AI-powered robotic devices streamline lab operations, ensure precision in tests, and limit human danger in hazardous conditions, as shown in material science and pharmaceutical research.
- CARBON-CAPTURING MICROBES
Microbes have the potential to influence how we approach climate change and environmental challenges. Cyanobacteria, a kind of bacterium capable of fast carbon capture, were discovered near Sicily’s Vulcano island. These bacteria thrive in CO2-rich hydrothermal vents, converting CO2 to biomass at extraordinary rates. This finding, made as part of the Two Frontiers Project, sparked the development of a global “living database” to further explore these creatures. Scientists believe that microbial solutions can supplement technical and natural carbon capture systems by providing cost-effective, scalable, and sustainable techniques.
Beyond carbon capture, microorganisms show the potential to address other environmental issues. For example, probiotics are being developed to improve honeybee health, which is critical for pollination and food production. These probiotics prevent dangerous diseases and promote hive expansion, addressing the global fall in pollinator numbers.
Despite their potential, scaling microbial solutions involves several problems, including technological limits and environmental hazards such as carbon re-release and ecosystem disturbance. Researchers emphasise the importance of cautious application and additional research.
- ELASTOCALORIC COOLING SYSTEMS
Elastocaloric cooling (eCC) is a new alternative to traditional vapour compression systems that eliminates chemical refrigerants, benefiting the environment and conserving energy. This novel technique uses the electrocaloric effect—latent heat exchange during the phase transformation of shape memory alloys (SMAs)—to provide cooling or heating effects. The study includes a thorough overview of eCC foundations such as thermodynamic cycles, SMA materials, and advances in heat transport, actuators, and prototypes.
Elastocaloric cooling systems depend on SMAs’ superelastic nature, in which stress-induced phase transitions allow heat exchange with a heat transfer fluid (HTF). Improving system performance entails optimising heat transmission with new SMA shapes and reducing energy input with efficient actuators and work recovery mechanisms. Despite its lower readiness level as compared to other solid-state cooling technologies, eCC provides a large temperature rise and has zero direct emissions, making it an environmentally benign option.
- BIVACOR ARTIFICIAL HEART
Millions of people worldwide suffer from heart failure, and there are few therapeutic options for severe instances. Heart transplants are ideal, but donor shortages limit access to 6,000 per year. The BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart (TAH) is a breakthrough solution that replaces the function of both ventricles in patients with severe biventricular HF.
The BiVACOR TAH uses a small, electromechanical rotary pump powered by magnetic levitation (MAGLEV) technology. Its revolutionary design includes a single dual-sided rotor that can pump blood to both the systemic and pulmonary circulations at the same time, eliminating the need for valves, diaphragms, and mechanical bearings. This assures longevity, decreased mechanical wear, and enhanced blood compatibility while minimising stress and stagnation. The gadget responds dynamically to variations in patient activity while preserving normal blood flow.
The FDA approved an Early Feasibility Study, with the first human implantation taking place in July 2024 at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Centre. The BiVACOR TAH guarantees portability and flexibility thanks to its rechargeable external power supply. Most patients will benefit from its tiny size, which allows for unfettered movement. By integrating modern centrifugal pump mechanics with MAGLEV technology, the BiVACOR TAH marks a historic leap, giving a durable, efficient, and life-saving option for end-stage heart failure patients waiting for transplants.
- LARGEST CHIP IN HISTORY
Cerebras’ Wafer Scale Engine 3 (WSE-3) chip, the world’s biggest, is poised to transform AI supercomputing with its unparalleled capabilities. This third-generation processor, with 4 trillion transistors and 900,000 AI cores on an 8.5-inch silicon wafer, is twice as powerful as its predecessor, WSE-2, despite consuming the same amount of energy. Cerebras has followed Moore’s Law, considerably advancing chip design.
The WSE-3 processor will power the next Condor Galaxy 3 supercomputer, which is currently under development in Dallas, Texas. This AI system will have 64 Cerebras CS-3 building pieces, resulting in a stunning 8 exaFLOPs of processing power—eight times the capability of the present record-holder, the Oak Ridge Frontier supercomputer. When integrated with the Condor Galaxy 1 and 2 systems, the network will achieve 16 exaFLOPs of performance.
The Condor Galaxy 3 is designed to train next-generation AI models and can handle systems up to ten times the size of today’s best models, such as GPT-4. While the GPT-4 uses 1.76 trillion parameters, the WSE-3 may enable AI with 24 trillion parameters, delivering unparalleled scalability and speed for AI creation. WSE-3’s innovative architecture marks a new era in AI and high-performance computing.
- AI-DRIVEN DRUG DISCOVERY PLATFORMS
Digitalisation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) are transforming medicine, pharmaceutical research, and public health. DNDi (Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative) uses these developments to accelerate pharmaceutical research and development, ensuring that underprivileged areas benefit from cutting-edge remedies.
AI-powered tools, such as DeepMind’s protein prediction program, have opened up new prospects in drug research. DeepMind’s technology speeds the development of cures for illnesses such as leishmaniasis, which were previously hampered by standard laboratory procedures.
Beyond drug development, DNDi is developing eHealth solutions to improve data collecting, processing, and analysis at clinical trial locations. This strategy improves patient safety while also protecting privacy, especially when dealing with sensitive personal data. In Eastern Africa, the Data Management and Biostatistics Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, highlights these efforts. Since 2004, the centre has used electronic data collection tools to enable real-time data retrieval for quick analysis and dissemination. This has funded more than a dozen clinical studies for disorders such as multidrug-resistant TB, paediatric HIV, and neglected tropical diseases, in conjunction with global health partners.
- ADVANCED 3D MAPPING OF THE UNIVERSE
The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) project, a global cooperation of over 900 researchers from 70 universities, has produced the most detailed 3D image of the universe to date, covering 11 billion years. DESI uses 5,000 robotic fibre-positioners on the Mayall telescope to monitor the universe’s expansion history with unparalleled accuracy, revealing new insights into the mysterious force of dark energy that drives cosmic acceleration.
DESI gathered data on nearly 6 million galaxies and quasars in its first year, outperforming prior surveys that had been conducted for two decades. Researchers obtained a 0.5% overall precision in measuring cosmic expansion over 11 billion years, including a record-breaking 0.82% precision for the remote epoch 8-11 billion years ago. This transformational dataset has already hinted at possible changes in dark energy, which warrants more exploration.
EPFL scientists played an important role in survey targeting techniques, robotic systems, and data interpretation using advanced simulations and models. The study incorporates novel methodologies such as blinded analysis to reduce bias and ensure strong outcomes. DESI’s revolutionary data, which will supplement future studies, ushers in a golden age of cosmology. It increases our understanding of the universe’s dynamics, laying the groundwork for future study, including the DESI-II upgrade.
- GHGSAT-C10 ‘VANGUARD’ SATELLITE
GHGSat Inc. has launched Vanguard, the first orbiting sensor that can detect carbon dioxide emissions from particular industrial units. Building on its 2016 experience in high-resolution methane monitoring, Vanguard now employs sophisticated technology to give reliable, independent CO2 data at a 25-meter resolution, changing emissions tracking, reporting, and trading.
This discovery allows for exact attribution of emissions to individual facilities, beyond the capability of existing public satellites. The data helps firms optimise operations, improve Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting, and refine global emissions inventories. It also strengthens scientific modelling and the Global Stocktake Assessment under the Paris Agreement, as well as trust in the $1 trillion carbon trading system.
Additionally, GHGSat collaborated with Kairos Aerospace on a Department of Energy-funded effort to extensively analyse methane emissions in key oil and gas basins. This partnership integrates satellite, aerial, and modelled data to enhance mitigation efforts, therefore improving industrial operations, safety, and environmental sustainability. GHGSat’s nine satellites provide approximately two million yearly facility measurements, contributing to NASA, ESA, and UN activities.
- BRAINBOX AI ARIA
BrainBox AI has introduced ARIA (Artificial Responsive Intelligent Assistant), a new generative AI technology that is set to transform building management. ARIA uses powerful Large Language Models (LLMs), BrainBox AI’s patented algorithms, and real-time building data to streamline operations, improve decision-making, and optimise performance. ARIA serves as a virtual building operations engineer, allowing facility managers and building operators to operate complicated systems such as HVAC, lighting, and boilers with simple voice or text instructions.
ARIA’s primary features include real-time data visualisation, proactive notifications for problems like as equipment breakdowns or weather changes, and personalised energy conservation advice. It converts operational data into meaningful insights, allowing for better decisions, increased occupant comfort, and faster operations. Advanced diagnostics simplify troubleshooting, minimising downtime and increasing operating efficiency.
Unlike typical generative AI technologies, ARIA focuses on building management, using external data like power prices and weather predictions to provide accurate, actionable insights. It adapts to user feedback, providing a personalised experience that corresponds with sustainability goals. To use ARIA, buildings must first install BrainBox AI technology, which acts as the foundation for its capabilities. This breakthrough promises to alter facility management in areas such as real estate and retail, supporting energy efficiency, carbon reduction, and sustainable progress towards Net Zero goals.
- CAVNUE CONNECTED AND AUTOMATED VEHICLE CORRIDOR
Michigan is pioneering the future of transportation by building a 40-mile Connected and Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) Corridor between Detroit and Ann Arbour. This groundbreaking initiative, spearheaded by Cavnue in collaboration with the state, aims to improve transportation safety, efficiency, and accessibility while strengthening Michigan’s leadership in smart infrastructure. The corridor will combine cutting-edge physical and digital infrastructure to provide ‘future-proofed’ lanes for linked buses, shuttles, freight and personal autonomous vehicles.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer emphasised the initiative’s potential to overcome transportation gaps, spur innovation, and strengthen Michigan’s status as an automotive centre. The initial efforts, which will span 24 months, will focus on testing technology, designing roads, and assessing financial viability. Cavnue is working with major parties such as Ford, GM, Waymo, and the University of Michigan to develop OEM-neutral standards for autonomous mobility.
The initiative supports Michigan’s policy goals of safety, equality, and sustainability, as well as regional planning and economic growth. Michigan is well-positioned to lead in autonomous vehicle innovation, as it already has a large car-to-infrastructure network. The CAV Corridor aims to minimise road deaths, relieve congestion, and serve as an example of egalitarian and ecologically sensitive transportation solutions, therefore reinforcing the state’s position in influencing the future of mobility.
