This one's doing the rounds, but has major implications for amateur astrophotography:
http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/news/luckyimaging.html
Basically, uses a technique to amplify the image signal on the sensor to a point sensor readout noise is practically non-existent. This means it will be possible to stack sub-second exposures and achieve the same signal-noise ratio as one single exposure. Autoguiders and expensive high precision mounts will become redundant and potentially higher resolution is possible (since atmospheric seeing can be frozen). Implications for planetary and deep sky imaging are enormous!
I also wouldn't be suprised to see this technology soon in consumer cameras
Terry