Meet 16 companies pushing tech and science to new heights

Many tech and science undertakings are focusing on new ways to leverage the AI boom. But even within that context, plenty of companies are incubating scientific innovation with a host of applications. Among this year’s World Changing Ideas, these projects are focused on expanding beyond the existing edges of science and tech capabilities. Some are looking at how to protect against AI’s ability to help supercharge the spread of information, while others are rethinking the complexity of aviation. Some projects are focused on using scientific innovation for everything from a new electric boat model to a fragrance that uses the body’s pH to adjust how it smells on every person. Regardless of the exact application, each of these honorees is doing its part to advance science and technology into new territory. Winners Advanced aviation platform, NimblFor “business aviation” operators (that’s private jets and other small planes) who are often running small fleets of planes, things like weather risk assessments, compliance management, and emergency response planning can be daunting. There are more than 23,000 aircraft in the category, most operated by companies without the internal resources to build their own comprehensive safety systems. Nimbl is designed to centralize all these assessments and smooth out complicated factors to make it easier to operate at the safety level of larger, commercial fleets. The company has now processed more than 50,000 risk assessments, helping to ensure more safety in the skies. Beacon & Shield, Innov8 AIWhen health information starts emerging in online spaces, public health officials can sometimes be slow to find it and correct it until the consequences start showing up in emergency rooms. Innov8AI’s Beacon & Shield is an AI-based program to monitor these conversations and find small signals of changes in sentiment. The system—operating with funding from the National Institutes of Health—generates si