You can take a breath now. The latest issue of the MIT Technology Review reveals its annual list of 10 emerging technologies and two are tied to our field.
To make the MIT list, the technology must be “most likely to alter industries, fields of research, and even the way we live.”
One, light-focusing optical antennas, which couples nanoscale optical antennas with a $50 laser, can narrow an IR light beam onto a spot just 40 nm wide. This has applications for improving photoÂlithography, making chip development smaller and cheaper.
Another, a very-fast and sharp imaging technique known as compressive sensing, being worked on by scientists at Rice University, could broadly improve camera and scanner resolution. One observer says it could make its way into medical and industrial applications within two years.
If you thought we had too many defects now, just wait.