《科学美国人》2020十大新兴技术 下

6 Electric Aviation Could Be Closer Than You Think

 

In 2019 air travel accounted for 2.5 percent of global carbon emissions¹, a number that could triple by 2050. While some airlines have started offsetting² their contributions to atmospheric³ carbon, significant cutbacks are still needed. Electric airplanes could provide the scale of transformation⁴ required, and many companies are racing⁵ to develop them. Not only would electric propulsion motors eliminate direct carbon emissions, they could reduce fuel costs by up to 90 percent, maintenance by up to 50 percent and noise by nearly 70 percent.

 

7 Low-Carbon Cement Can Help Combat Climate Change

 

Concrete, the most widely used human-made material. The manufacture of one of its key components⁶, cement, creates a substantial yet underappreciated amount of human-produced carbon dioxide: up to 8 percent of the global total, according to London-based think tank Chatham House.

 

In 2018 the Global Cement and Concrete Association, which represents about 30 percent of worldwide production, announced the industry's first Sustainability Guidelines, a set of key measurements such as emissions and water usage intended to track performance improvements and make them transparent⁷.

 

8 Quantum Sensors⁸ Could Let Autonomous⁹ Cars 'See' around Corners

 

Quantum computers get all the hype, but quantum sensors could be equally transformative, enabling autonomous vehicles that can "see" around corners, underwater navigation systems, early-warning systems for volcanic¹⁰ activity and earthquakes, and portable scanners that monitor a person's brain activity during daily life.

 

Quantum sensors reach extreme levels of precision by exploiting the quantum nature of matter. Atomic clocks illustrate¹¹ this principle. Other quantum sensors use atomic transitions to detect minuscule¹² changes in motion and tiny differences in gravitational, electric and magnetic fields.

 

9 Green Hydrogen Could Fill Big Gaps in Renewable Energy

 

When hydrogen burns, the only by-product¹³ is water—which is why hydrogen has been an alluring¹⁴ zero-carbon energy source for decades. Yet the traditional process for producing hydrogen, in which fossil fuels are exposed to steam, is not even remotely zero-carbon.

 

Green hydrogen is different. It is produced through electrolysis, in which machines split water into hydrogen and oxygen, with no other by-products. Historically, electrolysis required so much electricity that it made little sense to produce hydrogen that way. The situation is changing for two reasons. First, significant amounts of excess renewable electricity have become available at grid¹⁵ scale; the extra electricity can be used to drive the electrolysis of water, "storing" the electricity in the form of hydrogen. Second, electrolyzers are getting more efficient.

 

10 Whole-Genome Synthesis Will Transform Cell Engineering

 

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists in China uploaded the virus's genetic¹⁶ sequence to genetic databases. A Swiss group then synthesized the entire genome and produced the virus from it—essentially teleporting the virus into their laboratory for study without having to wait for physical samples. Such speed is one example of how whole-genome printing is advancing medicine and other endeavors.

 

 

Whole-genome synthesis is an extension of the booming field of synthetic¹⁷ biology. Researchers use software to design genetic sequences that they produce and introduce into a microbe, thereby¹⁸ reprogramming the microbe to do desired work—such as making a new medicine. So far genomes mainly get light edits. But improvements in synthesis technology and software are making it possible to print ever larger swaths of genetic material and to alter genomes more extensively.

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