Whoever thinks research is not exciting might be in for a surprise. In 2025, we could witness genetic decoding of the human brain, collect solar energy in space, and walk across a bridge built of electronically controlled fungi.
Cracking the brain’s genetics with AI’s help
Detailed maps of the human brain drawn up by the EU-funded Human Brain Project are ready for prime time and should start to come into their own in 2025.
These maps will help scientists and doctors navigate towards new treatments for patients with brain disease, according to Prof. Katrin Amunts, a German neuroscientist at the University of Dusseldorf and Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany. She led the landmark 10-year exploration of the human brain that has generated the human brain atlas – the most detailed maps of brain areas and their cellular architecture ever made – with new developments on the way to help exploit their full potential.
“AI is helping us with the brain. The brain has 86 billion nerve cells, each with up to 10 000 connections to other cells, so it is an unbelievably complex network. Our biggest computers today struggle to deal with that.”
“In 2025, we will have enormous computation power when one of the biggest AI machines – JUPITER – starts up in Jülich. By bringing data together with AI, we will be able to run virtual expert scenarios on the effects of certain therapies on the brain.”
“I really want the brain atlases we developed to benefit more patients. I would really like them to be a useful instrument for informing diagnosis and surgery, for example, about the locality of a tumour.”
“Our colleagues in France just finished the first clinical study on epilepsy surgery, using it to predict where surgeons could remove the tissue from patients. Surgeons want to remove as much as possible to have a seizure-free patient, but as little as possible to avoid unnecessary damage. We now wait for the results. These new developments really excite me. This is why I studied medicine – to help people.”
“One breakthrough I would like to see is in understanding how the brain functions on a cellular level. We know about many of the cell types, molecular profiles and their genes, but not in each of the 86 billion nerve cells. Sometimes we see the trees, but we do not see the forest. I hope that in 2025, we can close some of the gaps between our knowledge of the relationship of brain cells, their genes and diseases at different scales, from cells to networks, to the entire brain.”
Read: Mapping the mind – EU-funded research unlocks secrets of the human brain and Brain gain: Europe’s big advances in neuroscience
Solar energy gets a helping hand from space
Combining satellite data with AI is offering surprising new opportunities where the “sky is the limit”, says Effie Makri, an electronic engineer and vice president of Research and Innovation at the Greek tech company Future Intelligence.
Makri leads the EU-funded RESPONDENT project, which combines the power of AI, satellite observations and mini-weather stations to boost predictions of energy going to the grid from a solar farm. Makri predicts that 2025 will see greater use of satellite data, sometimes in unexpected areas of our lives.
“The Galileo and Copernicus satellite programmes are incredible, and Europe should be very proud of these technologies. There are so many areas where we will make future use of satellite data. They are there to be used, from agriculture to energy, to banking, or leisure. We hope to adapt our own technology solution to wind power. Satellite data can also be used to select where best to install a photovoltaic solar park.”
“More data collected in real time will be combined with historical data to better train AI models. This can then help faster process imaging from satellites and, for instance, better track climate change. We will better monitor glaciers or deforestation, or improve our predictions of the spread of forest fires. The sky really is the limit.”
“Another potential development I foresee is space-based energy. This would see the collection of solar energy in space, which would then be wirelessly transmitted to Earth [via microwaves or lasers]. That is a field of energy that will probably become increasingly interesting.”
“I want AI to be used for good, however. There have been a lot of mixed feelings regarding AI. I’m very excited to see new developments that provide benefits to society, but I would not like to be involved in a technology that is exploited for harm. The European Commission has been fantastic at keeping these things in mind and developing regulations.”
Read: Satellite oversight: ensuring Europe’s renewable energy security from above
Self-repairing, living structural materials
We have limited resources and will need to be mindful of the impact we’re having on the climate, says Dr Kunal Masania, an engineer at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and part of the EU-funded AM-IMATE project.
He is creating composite materials made with fungi that could be used in future household furnishings, aeroplane parts, and even in large construction projects such as bridges. Fungi are a renewable resource and some species can be grown on waste products from agriculture or forestry.
“We’ve made composites with sawdust and pieces of wood, which are bound together by fungi. Engineers already use fibres reinforced by a matrix – that’s the same way that trees are reinforced. But what we’ve missed out on is all the interesting capabilities available when your material is alive. I’m making Lego-like pieces consisting of fungal cells, which are fitted together by a robot to build a small bridge. Others from the scientific community are also joining in this goal to make living materials and structures a reality.”
“We plan to put electrodes in this material, so we can listen out for signals of mechanical stress from the fungi. We also want to signal to the fungi in response to repair damage or locally reinforce certain areas, something that the hyphae [filaments] of fungi can do. Recently a group in the US built a soft robot walker using fungi and signalled to the fungi to control movement. So this is a really exciting area where I expect to see many new innovations in 2025.”
The advantage of structures made of living organisms could be that the materials are capable of sensing, reporting and adapting to stresses, reinforcing only where material is needed. Imagine a bicycle or a bridge that could repair itself!
Read: New aerospace and building materials could repair themselves thanks to fungi and bacteria
Better future for bees, and nature, in Europe
Honeybees are the most frequent visitor to flowers in natural habitats worldwide and pollinate around half of all crops. Yet they have not been doing well, says Professor Dirk de Graaf, a biologist at Ghent University, Belgium.
“The pollination of crops and wildflowers by honeybees is more valuable than all the honey they produce – by some distance. Yet, on average, each year one-third of our colonies in Europe are lost. That means that for some beekeepers, all their bees are dead.”
However, by returning to nature – with the help of technology – the situation with European honeybees will improve in 2025 and beyond. De Graaf leads an EU-backed project researching honeybees called B-GOOD, which seeks to restore their harmony with nature.
“The vast majority of honeybees we have in Belgium and northern Europe were imported, so we don’t have the race adapted to our climate. Instead, our beekeeping focused completely on bees that were good for honey production and calmness of the bees. In the future, there will be a need to select bees that can better resist parasites such as the varroa mite, rather than relying on chemicals to kill these parasites.”
“We should aim in future years not to interfere as much with our beehives. We can do that by using technology developed in Europe, such as sensors placed on a hive to track activity and temperature from a distance. A recent study found that around 21% of beekeepers across 18 European countries already have automated data collection.
“The real added value will be when we develop smarter algorithms that interpret the data and send alerts to the beekeeper, so they spend less time working with the bees, and yet their bees will be healthier.”
“I predict that take-up will continue to rise, especially among younger beekeepers who are so used to checking their smartphones. They will enjoy checking on their bees remotely and leaving them be.”
Read: The latest buzz – smart hives and dancing robot bees boost sustainable beekeeping
Greener, cleaner cities that benefit all
Our future cities will be greener, generate fewer carbon emissions and be more beautiful, predicts Dr Annemie Wyckmans, an architect at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. As leader of the EU-funded CRAFT project, she brings together artistic and cultural groups to help kindle sustainable change on city streets. These transformations will be pushed forward mostly by local communities.
“Right now, we have a lot of changes in politics and so much focus in the media is on all the negatives. There’s an energy crisis, a food crisis and a health crisis. It can feel hopeless. Yet lots of people found hope in being able to do something locally and to really make a tangible difference in their own communities, neighbourhoods and cities.”
“As an example, we visited many urban market gardens in cities such as Zagreb and Sarajevo. I’d never known about it, but it is a regional strength. It allows people to grow their own fruit and vegetables. This is important because often people might not have enough money to buy healthy, local and sustainable food – it can be more expensive than fast food and difficult to find in some places. Yet it is easy to give people access to a piece of land to grow their own food, allowing them to meet other people doing the same and to help each other.”
“Such positive changes often don’t make the news. They don’t cost a lot, do not have to wait for big political decisions and are easily overlooked. I hope that in 2025, this type of movement is going to be too big to ignore, because it will reach a critical mass and burst onto the surface, attracting the attention of politicians, investors and others.”
The CRAFT team is drawing inspiration from an EU initiative to bring the European Green Deal to the places where people live. Called New European Bauhaus, or NEB, it wants people’s daily lives and living spaces to take inspiration from art and culture, be in harmony with nature and involve social interaction.
Alongside CRAFT, projects such as Re-Value, Bauhaus Bites and NEB-STAR are working towards the same goals, together involving more than 100 cities and communities in Europe.
Like the Bauhaus movement in Germany a century ago, the NEB aims to fuse urban design, science, technology, art and community spirit to overcome major societal challenges. Art itself can be a driving force because it’s widely on display in cities and has the power to galvanise people.
Read: Waterfront cities in Europe set sail for climate resilience
and The artistic flair inspiring greener European cities
The views of the interviewees don’t necessarily reflect those of the European Commission. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.
