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TheTechno Optimist.

Glossary

Short primers on the technical words used across the site. Select any term to read it here; the same terms are underlined wherever they appear.

130 terms 15 frontiers

AI9

  • AI agents, agentic, coding agent
  • context windows, context length, context lengths
  • inference compute, inference chip, inference chips
  • LLM, LLMs, large language models
  • mixture-of-experts, mixture-of-experts model, mixture-of-experts models
  • open-weight, open-weight models, open weights
  • reasoning models, chain of thought, chain-of-thought
  • RL, RL-trained, RLHF
  • transformers, transformer architecture, transformer model

Spaceflight9

  • tower catch, tower catches, booster catches
  • direct-to-device, direct-to-smartphone, satellite-to-phone
  • heat shields, heat-shield tiles, thermal protection system
  • hot stage, hot-stage, hot-staged
  • LEO, low-Earth orbit, low Earth orbits
  • methane/LOX, methane-oxygen, liquid methane
  • orbital refueling, orbital refuelling, propellant transfer
  • Raptor, Raptors, Raptor 2
  • reusable rockets, reusability, reusable booster

Robotics7

  • actuators, electric actuator, electric actuators
  • cobots, collaborative robot, collaborative robots
  • degree of freedom, DoF
  • humanoid, humanoids, humanoid robots
  • teleoperated, teleop, teleoperator
  • VLA, VLAs, VLA model
  • whole-body controller, whole-body

Energy13

  • Wh/kg, specific energy, gravimetric energy density
  • enhanced geothermal system, enhanced geothermal systems, EGS
  • fast reactors, sodium fast reactor, sodium-cooled fast reactor
  • FRC, FRCs, field-reversed configurations
  • fusion gain, Q>1, scientific breakeven
  • HTS, HTS magnets, high-temperature superconducting magnet
  • LFP, LFP batteries, LFP cells
  • perovskite, perovskites, perovskite solar cells
  • SMR, SMRs, small modular reactors
  • sodium-ion, sodium-ion batteries, sodium-ion cell
  • solid-state batteries, solid-state cell, solid-state cells
  • tokamaks, spherical tokamak, spherical tokamaks
  • TRISO, TRISO particles, TRISO pebbles

Computing8

  • CoWoS, 2.5D packaging, 3D packaging
  • AI accelerators, GPU, GPUs
  • chiplets, chiplet design, multi-chip module
  • CPO, optical I/O, photonic interconnect
  • EUV, extreme ultraviolet lithography, EUV scanner
  • GAA, gate-all-around, nanosheet transistor
  • HBM, HBM3, HBM3E
  • process nodes, 2 nm, 2nm

Quantum9

  • two-qubit fidelity, two-qubit gate fidelity, gate fidelities
  • logical qubits, error-corrected qubit, error-corrected qubits
  • neutral-atom, neutral atom, neutral atoms
  • photonic qubit, photonic qubits, photonic quantum computer
  • QEC, error correction, error-corrected
  • qubits, physical qubit, physical qubits
  • superconducting qubits, transmon, transmons
  • topological qubits, Majorana, Majorana zero mode
  • trapped-ion, trapped ion, trapped ions

Crypto10

  • DA layer, DA layers, data availability sampling
  • time to finality, single-slot finality
  • L1, L1s, layer-1
  • post-quantum, PQC, quantum-resistant
  • proof-of-stake, staking, staked
  • restaked, restake, AVS
  • rollups, L2, L2s
  • smart contracts, EVM, Ethereum Virtual Machine
  • stablecoins, dollar stablecoin, dollar stablecoins
  • zero-knowledge proofs, zero-knowledge, ZK

Materials8

  • black mass, hydrometallurgy, hydrometallurgical
  • cathode active materials, cathode, cathodes
  • carbon mineralization, mineralization, mineralized CO2
  • DRI, H2-DRI, hydrogen DRI
  • electrolyzer, electrolyzers, electrolyser
  • fossil-free steel, low-carbon steel, near-zero steel
  • molten-oxide electrolysis
  • silicon anodes, silicon-carbon anode, silicon-carbon anodes

Biotech11

  • AlphaFold 2, AlphaFold2, AlphaFold 3
  • base editor, base editors, adenine base editing
  • protein language model, protein language models, DNA language model
  • clinical trial, clinical trials, Phase 1
  • CRISPR-Cas9, Cas9, CRISPR editing
  • GLP-1, GLP-1s, GLP-1 agonist
  • in vivo, ex vivo, in vivo editing
  • iPSC, iPSCs, iPS cell
  • lipid nanoparticles, LNP, LNPs
  • messenger RNA, mRNA vaccine, mRNA vaccines
  • prime editor, prime editors, pegRNA

Longevity8

  • autophagic
  • reprogramming, epigenetic reprogramming, cellular rejuvenation
  • epigenetic clocks, epigenetic age, biological age
  • mTOR inhibitor, mTOR inhibitors, rapamycin
  • NLRP3, NLRP3 inhibitor, NLRP3 inhibitors
  • partial epigenetic reprogramming, partially reprogrammed, transient reprogramming
  • senolytics, senolytic drug, senolytic drugs
  • Yamanaka factor, OSKM, OSK

Neurotech9

  • BCI, BCIs, brain-computer interface
  • electrocorticography, thin-film electrode, thin-film electrodes
  • electrode arrays, microelectrode array, microelectrode arrays
  • Stentrode, stent electrode, stent electrodes
  • TD-fNIRS, functional near-infrared spectroscopy, time-domain fNIRS
  • functional ultrasound imaging, fUS, focused ultrasound
  • neural decoder, neural decoders, speech decoding
  • retinal implants, subretinal implant, subretinal implants
  • Utah arrays, intracortical array, intracortical arrays

Vehicles7

  • end-to-end learned driving, end-to-end neural network, end-to-end model
  • HD maps, high-definition map, high-definition maps
  • lidars, lidar sensor, lidar sensors
  • ODD, operational design domains, geofence
  • remote assistant, remote assistants, remote operator
  • robotaxis, robo-taxi, robo-taxis
  • SAE Level 2, SAE Level 3, SAE Level 4

Aviation8

  • distributed propulsion, DEP
  • eVTOLs, electric vertical takeoff and landing, air taxi
  • hydrogen-electric, hydrogen fuel cell, hydrogen fuel cells
  • hypersonic, hypersonics, hypersonic aircraft
  • lift-plus-cruise, lift + cruise, lift and cruise
  • sonic booms, Boomless Cruise, supersonic flight
  • tiltrotor, tilt-rotors, tiltrotors
  • type certificate, type certificates, type-certified

Agriculture7

  • bioreactors, fermenter, fermenters
  • cultivated chicken, cultivated salmon, cultivated seafood
  • laser weeder, laser weeders, LaserWeeder
  • nitrogen fixation, nitrogen-fixing, nitrogen-fixing bacteria
  • polyploid, polyploids, diploid
  • precision spraying, spot spraying, targeted herbicide spraying
  • vertical farm, vertical farms, vertical-farmed

Manufacturing7

  • 3D printing, 3D-printed, 3D printer
  • CNC, CNC machine, CNC machines
  • topology optimization, topology optimisation, computational design
  • powder-bed fusion, laser powder bed fusion, laser powder-bed fusion
  • incremental sheet forming, incremental forming, die-free forming
  • SLS, SLS printing, SLS printer
  • SLA, resin printing, resin 3D printing
Primer