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World Economic Forum Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2025
Manage episode 490487377 series 3620086
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In this episode of Modem Futura, Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard cover the World Economic Forum’s newly-released “Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2025” report, unpacking what makes each breakthrough matter and how foresight professionals can turn hype into actionable insight. After a quick update on recording in Apple’s Spatial Video, the hosts explore the WEF’s rigorous selection methodology—crowdsourced nominations, AI-assisted clustering, and a STEEP (social, technological, environmental, economic, policy) readiness map—before running down this year’s stand-outs:
Structural Battery Composites – load-bearing parts that double as energy storage.
Osmotic Power Systems – harvesting electricity at salt-freshwater boundaries.
Advanced Nuclear Technologies – Gen-III/IV reactors and compact SMRs promising safer, low-carbon baseload power.
Engineered Living Therapeutics – probiotic microbes that manufacture drugs inside the body.
GLP-1 Drugs for Neurodegenerative Disease – weight-loss stars repurposed for brain health.
Autonomous Biochemical Sensing – self-powered nano-sensors for real-time health and environmental monitoring.
Green Nitrogen Fixation – low-carbon ammonia production to feed half the planet.
Nanozymes – man-made catalysts mimicking enzymes for cleaner industry and medicine.
Collaborative Sensing Networks – vehicles, infrastructure, and devices sharing data seamlessly.
Generative Watermarking – invisible markers that flag AI-generated content to restore trust.
Sean and Andrew weigh the massive opportunities—clean energy, precision medicine, resilient supply chains—against ethical and governance pitfalls such as privacy erosion and bio-risk. They close with practical advice on using the report’s “strategic outlook” section to stress-test business models, craft policy roadmaps, and frame classroom discussions.
Links:
WEF's Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2025 Report [Report]
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Host Bios:
Sean M. Leahy, PhD - ASU Bio
Sean is an an internationally recognized technologist, futurist, and educator innovating humanistic approaches to emerging technology through a Futures Studies approach. He is a Foresight Catalyst for the Future of Being Human Initiative and Research Scientist for the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and Senior Global Futures Scholar with the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University.
Andrew Maynard, PhD - ASU Bio
Andrew is a scientist, author, thought leader, and Professor of Advanced Technology Transitions in the ASU School for the Future of Innovation in Society. He is the founder of the ASU Future of Being Human initiative, Director of the ASU Risk Innovation Nexus, and was previously Associate Dean in the ASU College of Global Futures.
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