The most talked about tech events of 2022

The year 2022 was a year in which a lot happened. On the world stage, but also in the tech field. What were the most talked-about developments? Here’s an overview.

Artemis I: NASA makes a flight to the moon

For the first time in half a century, humanity is once again preparing to reach the moon. This time we intend to stay there. With NASA’s Artemis 1 mission, the American space agency has already tested whether it is possible to transport astronauts to the moon with the new launcher and module.

These tests have all been completed successfully, keeping NASA’s plans to have a space base on the moon before the late 1920s on track.

Nothing Phone 1

Probably the most notable phone of this year is the Nothing Phone 1, developed under the leadership of ex-OnePlus founder Carl Pei. He and his team went all out and developed a trendsetting smartphone, of which the unique light pattern and the transparent case are just some of the striking elements.

Where the smartphones of the major brands look a bit tame and well-behaved, the Nothing team has been quite groundbreaking. This is probably the most innovative smartphone of 2022.

Breakeven achieved with nuclear fusion

For the first time, scientists have succeeded in extracting more energy from a controlled fusion reaction than was put into it. In the experiment, they compressed a small amount of deuterium and tritium using laser pulses.

This released more energy than was supplied by means of the laser pulses. Because lasers are not very efficient, an even higher efficiency is needed to really get energy out of it. But this proves that we are on the right track and that nuclear fusion is feasible.

iPhone 14 Pro Max

This year is also the year that the new iPhone 14 series was released. This series consists of the iPhone 14, the iPhone 14 Plus, the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

This time there is only the choice between large and very large, the mini version has been removed from the product range.

Apple has clearly worked to significantly increase the difference between the standard edition and the Pro edition. Perhaps this worked out a bit too well, as the standard edition is almost no different from the iPhone 13. But the iPhone 14 Pro Max is packed with the latest gadgets.

First sodium ion batteries make electric cars much cheaper

Sodium ion batteries are now going into mass production for the first time. Sodium is very abundant, the jar of table salt in your cupboard consists of half sodium. Observers therefore expect that electric cars will become much cheaper thanks to these batteries, because there is enough salt.

This in contrast to the scarce lithium. Thanks to this breakthrough, we can provide everyone on earth with an electric car, plus almost unlimited power storage.

ChatGPT: the breakthrough of artificial intelligence?

This year, OpenAI also surprised with ChatGPT, a chat application that can provide almost as good answers to questions as humans in natural language. And also, for example, can write reasonably good texts.

Perhaps in many ways this is the most talked about breakthrough of 2022, because this application is going to turn a lot of industries upside down. Consider, for example, education. The first students who used ChatGPT to create a paper for school have already been caught…

Aeromine wind turbine

The Aeromine wind turbine can achieve a higher return per euro invested than a number of solar panels for the same amount. This wind turbine, which can be placed on flat roofs, is especially interesting for apartment complexes, industrial halls and other people with a large flat roof.

Because wind energy is approximately equally abundant all year round, this is an interesting development that can significantly increase our energy independence. You can read more details here.