Every year MIT’s Technology Review has a feature on what its editors regard as the most interesting tech developments to have emerged during the previous year. Their current list is now out. See the article for the full details, but the headlines are:

• Agricultural Drones (giving farmers new ways of increasing yields and reducing crop damage)
• Ultra-private smartphones (e.g. the Blackphone)
• Brain mapping
• Neuromorphic chips (i.e. microprocessors configured more like human brains than conventional chips)
• Genome editing (the ability to create primates with intentional mutations to study complex and genetically baffling brain disorders). Hmmm… some ethical issues here
• Microscale 3D printing (i.e. using inks made from different kinds of materials)
• Mobile collaboration (so-called ‘productivity’ software for smartphones. Example: Quip)
• Oculus Rift (the wearable VR tech that Facebook recently acquired)
• Agile robots
• Smart wind and solar power (i.e. using big data and AI to produce more accurate forecasts of winds)