The Download: introducing our 10 Breakthrough Technologies

Each year, MIT Technology Review's reporters and editors pick 10 Breakthrough Technologies, all of which have the promise to fundamentally change the way we live and work. This year's list covers everything from space science and telemedicine to advances in artificial intelligence and biotechnology. They represent the technologies we predict will have the biggest impact on our lives in the year ahead. This year's TR10 is the 22nd we've published, and I'll be highlighting an entry each day in The Download for the next 10 days, starting tomorrow. We hope you enjoy marveling at the progress that's been made in the fields of gene editing, military drones, battery recycling, and computer chip design, to name just a few. David Rotman, our editor at large, has written a fascinating introductory essay which sets out how legislation investing hundreds of billions into industry and research and development could reset how we think about governments' role in the economy.