In 2015, advances in science and engineering will once again shape the world in profound ways. Here are the most important.
Update: How’d We Do In 2014?
| What We Predicted | What Actually Happened |
|---|---|
| The U.S. Army would use Field Deployable Hydrolysis Systems (FDHS) to neutralize chemical warfare agents. | FDHS aboard U.S. ships had disposed of many of Syria’s chemical weapons by mid-August. |
| Tokyo Electric Power Company would build an underground ice wall to sequester contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. | The company tried, but the ice wall failed because temperatures didn’t drop low enough to freeze the radioactive groundwater. |
| Infectious diseases like whooping cough and measles would reemerge on a larger scale. | We were all too correct; plus, an Ebola outbreak raced through West Africa before jumping to the U.S. and Europe. |
Mark Your 2015 Calendars For These Stories:
This article was originally published in the January 2015 issue of Popular Science, under the title, “The Year In Ideas.”