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Exploration is the engine that drives innovation. Innovation drives economic growth. So let’s all go exploring -- Edith Widder, American scientist

Humankind is like a 1940s analog recording, operating on 78 tech revolutions per minute. Head-spinning developments in science can give whiplash to any early-adopting investor hoping to buy in ahead of the curve. So here’s a CliffsNotes notes rundown—nowhere near complete—of companies making the kinds of advancements that are likely to have staying power.

Taking quantum leaps in computing

One firm to keep in the crosshairs is D-Wave Quantum (QBTS). This enterprise admittedly went cliff-diving last year, when its stock value plunged by nearly 90 percent. Its short cash runway made a sustained takeoff unlikely, too.

Still, its customer base has grown year-over-year. The company is also a pioneer in quantum computing—and the latter could give it a competitive edge in a field that is rebuilding thinking machines from the ground up.

Quantum computers can purportedly process material up to 158 million times faster than any existing supercomputer, while making previously inconceivable calculations. The impact on every human endeavor—healthcare, transportation, climate change—could be huge.

But they’re also notoriously finicky and expensive. What’s more, they could make a hash in milliseconds of our most sophisticated encryption techniques, leaving everyone vulnerable to fraud, privacy breaches and other hacks. If D-Wave Quantum can cost-effectively work out the kinks, it could have a place at the head of the line.

Making pristine data

Imagine there’s no bias (with apologies to John Lennon). That’s the promise—perhaps overstated—of synthetic data.

Synthetic data is information that’s artificially created using algorithms. This material replicates real-world conditions but can also correct for fairness and balance. It’s safer from a privacy standpoint, too, because it doesn’t incorporate the confidential details of actual humans. Typically, it supplements traditionally sourced data in the training of machine learning (ML) models.

In finance, it can be used to detect risk, to level the borrowing playing field and to safeguard highly sensitive personal information. As such, banking heavyweight JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) was quick to get in on the action, developing synthetic data for clients through its AI Research division.

That makes the financial services institution a rare publicly traded enterprise in the synthetic data game (most others are start-ups.) And the bank had a great second quarter this year: Earnings were adjusted from $4.00 to $4.37 per share while revenue rose 34 percent. You can’t attribute all that to its stake in synthetic data—it bought First Republic as well—but the initiative is nonetheless a forward-thinking move for the company.

Making an impression with 3D tech

Innovations are certainly injecting fresh life into 3D printing companies. So much so that the market size for 3D—also called additive manufacturing—is projected to reach nearly $35 billion by 2030. That’s a compound annual growth rate of over 23 percent. 

Those in the know say that a new combination of AI and 3D could be used to created stronger, lightweight vehicles and even buildings. Remarkably, market behemoth Nvidia (NVDA) has shown that AI can actually produce 3D models from text.

Pivoting in the right direction is the U.S.-Israeli company Stratasys (SSYS), which provides 3D tools and products for aerospace, healthcare and consumer-facing industries, among others. The firm is on trend in recognizing that disruptions caused by world events have been a boon for additive manufacturing.

Why? Supply chains are effectively beside the point if you can print a product from scratch no matter where you are. In April, Stratasys bought Covestro Ag, adding heft to its R&D capabilities. And in August, the firm reported its eighth straight quarter of profitability.

Re-setting biological clocks

Care to know how long you’re likely to live? Science is getting closer to providing you with a pretty accurate answer thanks to so-called aging clocks. An aging clock isn’t a physical product. It’s a statistical analysis of chemical tags on your DNA that assesses your probable lifespan.

Invented by biomathematician Steven Horvath, who analyzed over 13,000 human samples for the purpose, it’s also seen as a first step for practitioners seeking to slow down the aging process. In one test, the clock could accurately gage a person’s biological age within 43 months.

Big surprise: Alphabet (GOOGL) has been at the forefront of this technology since 2013, when Google’s co-founder Larry Page launched Calico Labs, called Calico Life Sciences today. Now, this research has come of age, as it were. It’s another strong weapon in Alphabet’s arsenal that makes stock in the company so desirable: Its earnings beat expectations in Q2 2023 and the enterprise reported a net profit per share of $1.44.

So much new tech. So many investment choices. We’ve only scratched the surface here. But it’s a start.