Frontier tech, tracked by the evidence
17 fields so far, with 362 companies (+38 in 30 days), 183 researchers, 485 papers (+485 in 30 days) and 427 dated events (+38 in 30 days). Each field shows how mature it is, who works on it and how fast it moves. Scanned daily.
Where each field stands
- Research1
- Prototype1
- Pilot3
- Early commercial12
Each field with its paper line over two years and its momentum (0 to 100). Hover or focus one for the dated fact behind its stage.
Every field, by momentum
How momentum works17 technologies
| Technology | Momentum | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Space technologyEarly commercialNew ways to reach, build in and use space: reusable rockets, factories in orbit, phone links from satellites, Moon landers and nuclear power. | Early commercial | 81 | 698+6% yearly | $78B6 rounds | NASA to Study Human Health, Performance During Crew-13 MissionSep 24, 2026 | |
| Advanced geothermalEarly commercialTapping the heat in deep hot rock almost anywhere, using oil and gas drilling methods, to make round-the-clock clean power. | Early commercial | 77 | 568+74% yearly | $3.1B5 rounds | Fervo Cape Station reaches first powerSep 24, 2026 | |
| Next-gen batteriesPilotNew battery chemistries, like solid electrolytes, sodium or iron-air, that store more energy, cost less or last for days. | Pilot | 74 | 2,240+49% yearly | $5.0B5 rounds | Form Energy closes $270 million credit facilitySep 21, 2026 | |
| Fusion energyPrototypeMaking power by fusing light atoms like hydrogen isotopes, the process that fuels the sun, with no long-lived waste. | Prototype | 73 | 486+47% yearly | $2.3B6 rounds | First Light Fusion M3 experiments show target-led fuel compressionSep 22, 2026 | |
| Quantum computingEarly commercialComputers that use qubits, which can hold superpositions of 0 and 1, to solve some problems ordinary computers cannot. | Early commercial | 71 | 1,048+26% yearly | $4.6B4 rounds | A theoretical separation between quantum computers & LLMsSep 15, 2026 | |
| Advanced nuclearPilotNew fission reactor designs, smaller or using new coolants and fuels, meant to be cheaper, safer and faster to build. | Pilot | 65 | 370-19% yearly | $5.2B5 rounds | TRISO-X completes vertical construction of TX-1 fuel plantSep 24, 2026 | |
| 6G wirelessResearchThe mobile network generation after 5G, designed to use AI in the radio, new spectrum and radios that can also sense their surroundings. | Research | 55 | 408+75% yearly | $1.0B1 round | Nokia says operators are trialing AI-RAN on NVIDIA Aerial RAN ComputerSep 16, 2026 | |
| Advanced semiconductorsEarly commercialMaking chips with ever smaller transistors, new transistor shapes and power wiring, and stacking many chips into one package. | Early commercial | 55 | 1,130-27% yearly | $23B5 rounds | NSF invests in translating low-dimensional semiconductor technologies to establish U.S. leadership in microelectronicsSep 17, 2026 | |
| Humanoid robotsEarly commercialRobots shaped like people, run by AI models that let one machine learn many physical tasks instead of one. | Early commercial | 52 | 707+30% yearly | $4.7B7 rounds | Agility unveils Digit 5, built for safe work near peopleSep 15, 2026 | |
| Longevity biotechPilotDrugs and therapies that target the biology of aging itself to delay or reverse age-related decline and disease. | Pilot | 45 | 902+26% yearly | $1.1B7 rounds | Loyal's large-dog lifespan drug LOY-003 earns FDA RXESep 16, 2026 | |
| Quantum sensingEarly commercialDevices that use quantum states of atoms or light to measure time, motion or fields precisely, or to link and secure networks. | Early commercial | 39 | 1,002+12% yearly | $74M3 rounds | NIST-Developed Quantum Sensors Improve Nuclear MonitoringSep 10, 2026 | |
| Advanced materialsEarly commercialNew materials engineered at the atomic scale, like one-atom-thick sheets or sponge-like crystals, with properties ordinary materials lack. | Early commercial | 38 | 4,052+42% yearly | $860M3 rounds | Europe’s first HTS factory plannedSep 15, 2026 | |
| PhotonicsEarly commercialUsing light instead of electrons to move, switch and process data, and to sense the world with lasers. | Early commercial | 34 | 482-48% yearly | $1.5B9 rounds | Q.ANT releases an open-source SDK for photonic computingSep 23, 2026 | |
| Synthetic biologyEarly commercialEngineering living cells and DNA like a technology: writing genes, redesigning organisms and designing new proteins with AI. | Early commercial | 34 | 1,313-12% yearly | $1.1B4 rounds | Genome language models design working bacteriophagesAug 6, 2026 | |
| Brain-computer interfacesEarly commercialDevices that read or stimulate brain signals so a person can control a computer, speak or see without using muscles. | Early commercial | 24 | 994-12% yearly | $743M5 rounds | CorTec gets second FDA breakthrough designationAug 31, 2026 | |
| AR glassesEarly commercialGlasses that overlay digital images on the real world, and wrist or neural sensors that let you control computers without touch. | Early commercial | 21 | 609-2% yearly | $215M3 rounds | Meta expands Ray-Ban Display to five more countries with new featuresSep 23, 2026 | |
| NanotechnologyEarly commercialEngineering matter at the scale of atoms and molecules, from drug-carrying nanoparticles to tiny molecular machines. | Early commercial | 12 | 957-6% yearly | $200M3 rounds | Nanobiotix prices an oversubscribed EUR 85M global offeringMay 21, 2026 |
Latest events
All events| Date | Event | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 24, 2026 | NASA to Study Human Health, Performance During Crew-13 MissionNASA news releases· Announcement· Space technologyUnverified | Space technology | Announcement |
| Sep 24, 2026 | US-India Satellite Captures Time-lapse Video of Volcanic EruptionNASA news releases· Announcement· Space technologyUnverified | Space technology | Announcement |
| Sep 24, 2026 | Practicing for Safe Landings on the Moon and BeyondNASA news releases· Announcement· Space technologyUnverified | Space technology | Announcement |
| Sep 24, 2026 | NASA Shares SpaceX Crew-14 Assignments for Space Station MissionNASA news releases· Announcement· Space technologyUnverified | Space technology | Announcement |
| Sep 24, 2026 | NASA Welcomes Côte d’Ivoire as Newest Artemis Accords SignatoryNASA news releases· Deal· Space technologyUnverified | Space technology | Deal |
| Sep 24, 2026 | New tests for rendezvous and docking interoperabilityESA space engineering and technology· Announcement· Space technologyUnverified | Space technology | Announcement |
| Sep 24, 2026 | TRISO-X completes vertical construction of TX-1 fuel plantx-energy.com· Milestone· Advanced nuclear | Advanced nuclear | Milestone |
| Sep 24, 2026 | Fervo Cape Station reaches first powerfervoenergy.com· Milestone· Advanced geothermal | Advanced geothermal | Milestone |
Questions
Which technologies are tracked?
Frontier fields that are real but not yet mainstream: quantum computing and quantum sensing, 6G, nanotechnology, fusion, advanced materials, photonics, synthetic biology, brain-computer interfaces, humanoid robots, space technology, advanced semiconductors, next-generation batteries, advanced nuclear fission, advanced geothermal, AR glasses and longevity biotech. New fields are added as they show up in the evidence.
What do the stages mean?
Research: lab results, no working product prototype. Prototype: working demonstrators, not yet in customer use. Pilot: first customers paying or deploying, not yet routine. Early commercial: sold and in routine use by early adopters, still far from mainstream. Each field shows the dated fact that puts it in its stage, with the source.
How is momentum measured?
From counts only: how fast papers in the field are growing (OpenAlex, 12 months against the 12 before), the money raised in tracked rounds over the last 12 months, and dated events in the last 90 days. Each is ranked across the fields and momentum is the mean of the three ranks. The Method page has the details.
Where does the data come from, and how often?
Every day a scan reads official newsroom feeds (DOE, NASA, ESA, NIST, DARPA, NSF, IAEA, 3GPP, company newsrooms), arXiv daily listings and SEC filings. Every Tuesday it recounts papers in OpenAlex, refreshes the researchers and institutions publishing most, pulls rounds from funding.fru.dev and companies from companies.fru.dev, and stores a weekly snapshot per field. Nothing is overwritten: changes are kept on the Changes page.