Inspiring teachers – a blast from the past

by Andrew Maynard October 7, 2011

Two years ago, I wrote a piece about ten things that inspired me to become a scientist. One of those was my high school teacher.  We never kept in touch, but through the miracle of the web, that post eventually came to his attention, and we connected again. The other day he unearthed a photo [...]

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Emerging technologies and sustainability: What’s risk got to do with it?

by Andrew Maynard September 24, 2011

Question: What do you get if you place some of the leading thinkers and practitioners in the fields of technology innovation, risk and sustainability in the same room for two days? Answer: one whopping headache! Not because of the confusion and cacophony, but because of the overwhelming volume of information, ideas and insights that emerge. [...]

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Contagion, plausible reality and public health: In conversation with Larry Brilliant

by Andrew Maynard September 14, 2011

Blockbuster movies aren’t usually noted for their scientific accuracy and education potential.  But since its release last week, Steven Soderburgh’s Contagion seems to be challenging the assumption that Hollywood can’t do science. The other day I posted a piece about how director Steven Soderburgh and screenwriter Scott Z Burns’ attention to detail and plausibility left [...]

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Cool science: The Charlie McDonnell Effect

by Andrew Maynard September 11, 2011

There’s been quite a bit of chatter about the “Brian Cox Effect” in the UK recently, as interest in science seems to be on the rise.  But I haven’t heard anyone talking about the “Charlie McDonnell Effect”. Maybe it’s because Charlie appeals more to a growing movement of teens who just want to immerse themselves [...]

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Define nanomaterials for regulatory purposes? EU JRC says yes.

by Andrew Maynard September 6, 2011

Cross-posted from The Risk Science Blog: In a recent letter to the journal Nature (Nature 476; 399), Hermann Stamm of the European Commission Joint Research Centre Institute for Health and Consumer Protection (JRC-IHCP) defended the need to define engineered nanomaterials for regulatory purposes. The letter, titled “Nanomaterials should be defined”, was a direct response to [...]

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The public and peer review literature: Pearls before swine?

by Andrew Maynard September 5, 2011

This morning I sat down with my 14 year old son and asked him what area of science caught his interest especially.  He answered “the future of space exploration”. We carried out a search on the Web of Science for “future + space + exploration”, and the fifth article returned was “Comparing future options for [...]

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Brushing off the academic time planner

by Andrew Maynard September 1, 2011

With the new university year just about to kick off, I thought I would brush off that most essential of items that no faculty member is ever without: the Academic Time Planner.  Here’s what it looks like: Things to do this year: Prepare and deliver a great number of mind-blowing lecture courses that make even [...]

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“Social Media makes us more”

by Andrew Maynard August 29, 2011

Following on from my post a couple of days ago on teens and social media, I wanted to post this highly eloquent response to some of Susan Greenfield’s remarks about social media and society.  It’s from Francisco of the YouTube collab channel Fellowship of the Ning, and directly addresses the 2009 Guardian article “Facebook and [...]

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The Human Project needs your help!

by Andrew Maynard August 25, 2011

Here’s an interesting idea – build a free iPad app that kicks off a global conversation about the future of the human species. The Human Project is the brain child of Erika Ilves & Anna Stillwell.  At its core is a yet-to-be-built iPad app that captures the essence of humanity past and future – who [...]

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Social Media messed-up teens reveal all

by Andrew Maynard August 24, 2011

Is social media messing up today’s teens?  Adults, it seems, love to pontificate on the benefits and ills of emerging internet-based communication platforms  on young people. But how often do they bother to listen to the teenagers they claim to be concerned about? Well, this is their chance. Over this past week, the members of [...]

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Is the UK facing a second generation brain drain?

by Andrew Maynard August 20, 2011

In 2000, I moved to the US with my wife and two children to take up a research job here – becoming part of the migration of science, technology and engineering expertise out of the UK.  Eleven years on, my kids want to go back to the UK to university.  But the costs of re-entry [...]

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Final program posted for the Risk, Uncertainty and Sustainable Innovation symposium

by Andrew Maynard August 19, 2011

It’s been a while in the making, but with a little under five weeks to go, we have just posted the final program for the 2011 Risk Science Symposium (20-21 Sept).  And even though I say so myself, it’s a doozy! Somehow, we are squeezing 45 invited speakers into the two days, and not any [...]

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Want to know about teens and social media from the horses mouth? Watch this space

by Andrew Maynard August 15, 2011

If you are a teen who uses YouTube (or know of one – maybe even your own teenager), please think seriously about posting a response to this video: (You can also watch it directly on YouTube here). Over on the Risk Science Blog, I’ve just posted a piece about Baroness Susan Greenfield’s views on the [...]

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What was worrying us about nanotechnology safety seven years ago?

by Andrew Maynard August 9, 2011

In 2004, the first International Symposium on Occupational Health Implications of Nanomaterials was held in Buxton in the UK.  Seven years later, I’m preparing for a discussion panel at the fifth meeting in this very successful community-led series (being held this week in Boston MA), and looking through the research recommendations we made at the [...]

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Would You Lick Jam Off An Old Man’s Foot? and other important science questions

by Andrew Maynard August 8, 2011

Would You Lick Jam Off An Old Man’s Foot Or Drink Toilet Water For An Hour? Can you explain how gravitons can escape a black hole?  Or do you have a good answer to the question “why are people annoying?” This is just a sampling of some of the more entertaining and challenging questions from [...]

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Frying your brains on information overload: Old perspectives on a new issue

by Andrew Maynard August 3, 2011

Living online is changing our brains – at least according to Baroness Greenfield in an interview posted today by New Scientist. Leaving aside questions over the extent to which Greenfield’s concerns are driven by misapprehension or plausibility, the interview put me in mind of a rather wicked quote that appeared in a presentation I saw [...]

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The science of VidCon – Connecting with Science & Engineering through YouTube

by Andrew Maynard August 1, 2011

Where I cover science at this year’s VidCon YouTube convention, take a look at science and engineering more broadly on YouTube, and suggest that for next year’s VidCon the organizers should bring together some of the leading science projects on YouTube with grass-roots science-advocates like Charlie McDonnell and Hank Green.  It’s a long post, but [...]

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I’m a scientist… what the heck am I doing at VidCon?!

by Andrew Maynard July 26, 2011

This week my teenage kids are dragging me of to the premier YouTube event of the year – VidCon.  I was foolish enough to agree to chaperone them, and now I have two days in LA immersed in a sea of one thousand YouTube celebs, fans and wannabe’s. But not one to miss an opportunity, [...]

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Seven challenges to regulating “sophisticated materials”

by Andrew Maynard July 22, 2011

The materials that most current regulations were designed to handle are pretty simple by today’s standards. Sure they can do some nasty things to the environment or your body if handled inappropriately. And without a doubt some of the risks associated with these “simple” materials are not yet well understood – especially when it comes [...]

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Radiation-Crazed Zombies in Anti-Vaccine Hand-Washing Health Scare – Possibly

by Andrew Maynard July 10, 2011

OK so it’s a slightly misleading title, but I did want to draw your attention to the rather splendiferous Risk Science Blog. When I took over as Director of the University of Michigan Risk Science last year, I wanted to find ways of connecting researchers and students here with a broader audience.  And what better [...]

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