NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Amy Nordrum of the MIT Technology Review about the magazine's list of breakthrough technologies for 2025.
This year's list of breakthrough technologies that might shape the future MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: Every year, the editors of the MIT Technology Review compile a list of 10 breakthrough technologies that they think will shape the future. On this year's list - robotaxis, remedies for cow burps and the largest digital camera ever built for astronomy. Those are just a few of the big ideas on this year's list, and one of the editors, Amy Nordrum, is here to talk about it. Amy Nordrum, welcome back to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. AMY NORDRUM: Thanks - glad to be back. KELLY: OK, I want to start with robotaxis because I have been hearing all about these from friends and colleagues on the West Coast. These things are already roving all over LA and San Francisco. And I gather y'all are predicting they will roam even more widely this year. NORDRUM: Yes, you're absolutely right. For years, there have been robotaxi companies gathering data in communities and testing out these services. But now it is becoming increasingly possible to hail one of these rides in dozens of cities around the world that are fully autonomous with no safety driver. And we think that this will be more increasingly common in the years ahead. KELLY: Have you ridden in one yet? NORDRUM: I did ride in one. I rode in a Waymo about a year ago, and I was pretty blown away by the experience. It felt very smooth, and it was interesting to observe the car, you know, doing its thing as it encountered different situations and handled curves and, you know, pedestrians or bicycles going in front of it. And just last summer Waymo opened up its services, so there's no longer a wait list. Anybody who goes to San Francisco can try it out for themselves. KELLY: OK - next up, cow burps (laughter). What is the remedy for cow burps? This has to do with climate change. NORDRUM: Absolutely. Yeah. The problem here that is trying to be solved by a number of companies is that when cows burp - and they do this a lot - they…