New Technology in 2026: Brain Chips and Space Missions

Brain chip helps blind people see

Elon Musk says his company Neuerable aims to restore partial vision to completely blind patients in 2026. The company plans to test its newest and most powerful implant, Blindsight, in humans early this year. The chip will be connected wirelessly to an external video camera and implanted in the visual cortex of the brain. Bypassing the eyes, it is designed to shape the perception of vision based on what the camera captures, even for people born blind. According to Musk, the resulting image will be low resolution in the early stages of testing, but will hopefully improve over time, although some experts worry it promises too much in terms of quality brain-computer interface.

The arrival of foldable iPhones

It's like the 1990s all over again! Soon you'll be able to punctuate your angry conversations by clapping iPhone close. Apple plans to introduce folding version of its phone to market at the end of 2026, aiming not only to catch up with competitors, but also to solve some long-standing problems of existing popular foldable phones. The company says the iPhone Fold, as it is called, will have an internal hinge mechanism that will make display creases less noticeable. The device is expected expenses at least $2,000—that's $800 more than the iPhone's base price in 2025. The phone will have to compete with strong rivals that have already built up model loyalty, such as Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold series.

Double date in deep space

A Chinese sample return mission is expected to encounter asteroid 469219 Kamoaleva, a near-Earth asteroid, in July 2026. Mission called Tianwen-2will also use instruments including multiple spectrometers and camerasA magnetometerand a dust analyzer to collect data on the asteroid. After more than six months of training, Tianwen-2 will be leave asteroid and drop the collected sample on Earth before heading off to explore 311P/PanSTARRS, a complex celestial object that is part asteroid, part comet.

Sending people back to the moon

Another giant leap for humanity was the first manned mission to moon since 1972, it is planned to launch in April 2026. 10 day flight will kick off NASA's efforts to ensure a sustainable human presence on the Moon by testing equipment and systems for the future. lunar exploration. This will be the first time the crew will evaluate the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for human use. While astronauts They won't actually land on the Moon, they'll come within 7,400 kilometers of the surface and spend time studying how missions to cislunar space affect their health.

City-sized artificial intelligence supercomputer

Meta is spending money to achieve excellence in artificial intelligence, experts say. Company plans launch its first “AI supercluster” in 2026, consuming up to 1 gigawatt of energy. “Prometheus”, as it is called, is located on a site near Columbus, Ohio, with track it's approaching the size of Manhattan. But it's just part of a broader project that will cost Meta hundreds of billions of dollars, according to the CEO. Mark Zuckerberg. Besides Prometheus, Meta is developing an even larger data center, Hyperionwhich will be able to scale up to 5 gigawatts and is expected to be operational in 2028.

Mining the Moon and Mars

How can missions Mars refuel on the red planet? Blue Origin assumes that its in-situ resource utilization system, called Blue Alchemistcould be the answer. This year, the company plans to conduct an autonomous demonstration of the system in a simulated lunar environment, demonstrating how it uses electric current to extract breathable oxygen and valuable metals from regolith without releasing toxic chemicals or carbon emissions. Blue Origin says Blue Alchemist could facilitate the creation of lunar and Martian settlements for both humans and robots. It could also help make deep space exploration possible with asteroids– the company reports.

Who needs tritium?

By the end of the year we could be one step closer to commercial fusion energy. The first-ever project to demonstrate the deuterium-tritium fuel cycle, the most viable path to practical fusion power, is scheduled to be operational by the end of 2026. Unity-2 will conduct the entire DT fuel supply process, including dumping, cleaning and replenishment, to determine that tritium recycling is a sufficient method for obtaining thermonuclear fusion energy. It will also serve as a test bed for related technologies, allowing industry members to test their fusion-related innovations using Unity-2 and move them up a notch on the technology readiness scale.

Own self-driving car

You may soon see privately owned, fully self-driving cars on the road as automotive startup Tensor plans release your SAE Level 4 car for consumers in the second half of 2026. This level of autonomy means that the car is equipped with control instruments including a steering wheel, gas pedal and brakes, but can be driven safely without a person in the driver's seat. Although some driverless taxi services such as WaymoOperating at Level 4, Tensor's product is likely to be the first private vehicle at this level of self-sufficiency. Tensor's commercial director suggests that racers might even watch Netflix or perform work on the road using company vehicles.

Deciding on the future of chip manufacturing

2026 could be a landmark year for the future of chips. Intel announced that the company plans to decide whether it will continue its improved 14A chip manufacturing process this year. The company's chief financial officer says Intel will only use 14A production capacity if enough external customers commit to using the process. There will be a departure from 14A signal that Intel is giving up trying to compete with TSMK And Samsung for leadership in the field of chip technologies.

Social media advertising created entirely by artificial intelligence

Soon, the algorithm will determine not only what ads you see on social mediabut also what is in them. Meta plans fully automate the creation and display of advertising on its platforms by the end of 2026, transferring every stage of the process into the “hands” of AI. While the company's advertising platform already has some AI tools integrated into it, Meta wants to do more. The company is developing a way for any brand to present just a product and budget to an AI tool, which will then create all the advertising (including text, images and video), identify target users and suggest business proposals.

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