Welcome to the 2020 Science Archive
2020 Science started life in 2007 as a nanotechnology blog written by Andrew Maynard on SafeNano. In the following years it developed into a personal blog addressing emerging technologies, responsible innovation, risk, science communication, and the intersection between science and society more generally.
Andrew made he decision to wind the blog down in 2019 as his focus and writing developed in new directions. This archive contains most of the original posts (there have been occasional clean-ups of content). For more recent articles etc. please visit andrewmaynard.net. And thanks for visiting!
BROWSE THE ARCHIVE
2020 Science in 2020
In September 2008, the blog 2020 Science was born. The intent was to write about how science and technology can be used most effectively in the service of society. At the time I was science advisor to the Woodrow Wilson Center-based Project on Emerging...
A new website for Films from the Future
There's a new website for the book Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies that you might want to check out! As well as an overview of the book, and those every-important links to where to purchase it, the site contains information and...
A book club guide for Films from the Future
The same structure that makes Films from the Future ideal for undergrads, also makes it perfect for an extremely engaging book club – one where you not only read a book together, but you get to watch films as well!
Sci-fi movies are the secret weapon that could help Silicon Valley grow up
If there’s one line that stands the test of time in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 classic “Jurassic Park,” it’s probably Jeff Goldblum’s exclamation, “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” Goldblum’s...
Even “bad” sci-fi movies can teach us something about emerging technologies!
The film Transcendence, is not a great movie. Yet this futuristic thriller, which stars Johnny Depp as a genius scientist who mind-melds with a supercomputer, provides surprising and sometimes startling insights into how future technologies are unfolding, and the moral and ethical challenges they potentially raise.
Films from the Future: The Last Chapter
Through this book, I’ve set out to show how science fiction movies can help point the way along this journey, flawed as they are. As I’ve been researching and writing it, I’ve developed a deeper appreciation of how the movies here can expand our appreciation of the complex relationship between technology and society, not because they are accurate or prescient, but precisely because they are not tethered to scientific accuracy or to realistic predictions of the future.
Contact: Occam’s Razor and Films from the Future
William of Occam was a fourteenth-century English philosopher, friar, and theologian. From historic accounts, he was sharp thinker, and a somewhat controversial religious figure in his time. Yet, these days, he is best known for the scientific rule of thumb that bears his name.
Environmental resilience and The Day After Tomorrow
Resiliency, I have to admit, is a bit of a buzz-word these days. In the environmental context, it’s often used to describe how readily an ecosystem is able to resist harm, or recover from damage caused by some event. But resiliency goes far beyond resistance to change..
The Honest Broker meets Dan Brown’s Inferno
Each week between now and November 15th (publication day!) I’ll be posting excerpts from Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies This week, it’s chapter eleven, and the movie Inferno. Inferno may seem like an odd choice of movie in a book...
Everything you wanted to know about the book “Films from the Future”, but were afraid to ask
On November 15, my first solo-authored popular science/technology book will hit the streets. As we're only a few short weeks away from the big day, I thought I'd answer some of the questions people may be asking about it. What's...