Another set of ideas, after a long break
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20. Drones and Robots
Drones are to be used dangerous places, say the remains of a badly protected reactor, or the Nether, where you can control them from your home via a terminal. They are resistant to radiation (even though they may carry it on) and, for a short period of time, heat and can perform various tasks if equipped correctly, e.g. with a jetpack and a coin of fortune to mine glowstone over a lava lake or an ender pouch to scavenge in the radioactive crater. Robots are a bit different, as they perform actions via script and are not remote-controlled. To make it easier, they do not need another programming language, but track movement and action of a player wearing a tracking suit and mimic it, maybe with a bit of intelligence themselves after upgrade.
21. Genetics
We already have genetics for trees and bees by Forestry and for plants by IC2, but as far as I see none for animals. It can reach from elementary changes, e.g. more beef from cows unable to produce milk or more eggs from chickens, over mid-tier stuff like static sheep generating energy up to egg-laying, wool and milk yielding pigs.
22. Noisecannon and Ultrasound
If configured correctly, the noisecannon lets certain blocks vibrate, eventually destabilizing them so they drop. Alternately, it may also be used as AoE weapon. An ultrasound detector sends out waves and listens for echoes, showing the direction of ores and other blocks.
23. Lasers
By that I do not mean the energy net, but actual lasers, emitting a bundled (invisible?) beam of light which shatters upon contact to a surface, creating "standard light", so you can see if there are any monsters in a not yet lighted cave. Additionally, on high energy level, they may smelt the stuff they get in contact after a few seconds, depending on material.
24. Satellites
By using conventional rockets or highly reflective lightsails, you can shoot small satellites into the sky, providing different services, such as surveillance of a limited area, an artifical sun shining all night (maybe a bit dimmer) or orbital defenses.
25. Cleanrooms
Even though the architect table is more advanced than the regular workbench, it is logicly incapable of producing complex nanocircuits, as the regular room is just too dirty. For things like nanites (see idea #8 ) or the more advanced gauntlet upgrades, you would need an extremely clean, sterile room only to be entered via an airlock in a special suit.
