4 technologies that didn't make our 2026 breakthroughs list

We'll keep following these developments, but this just wasn't their year. If you're a longtime reader, you probably know that our newsroom selects 10 breakthroughs every year that we think will define the future . This group exercise is mostly fun and always engrossing, but at times it can also be quite difficult. We collectively pitch dozens of ideas, and the editors meticulously review and debate the merits of each. We agonize over which ones might make the broadest impact, whether one is too similar to something we've featured in the past, and how confident we are that a recent advance will actually translate into long-term success. There is plenty of lively discussion along the way.