2020 Science Archives
Here you’ll find all the currently existing posts on 2020 Science, in reverse date order. Feel free to browse through them, or if you’re looking for something specific, use the search box below.
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
A Nanoscale Perspective on The Man in the White Suit
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 ten, and the movie The Man in the White Suit. The Man in the White...
Films from the Future: Judging a book by its cover!
We're just five weeks and a couple of days away from the official publication of Films from the Future on November 15th, but in the meantime, here's a sneak-peek at the book's cover: And just a reminder that the book's currently available...
Enter the Neo-Luddites: Transcendence, The Singularity, and Technological Resistance
On January 15, 1813, fourteen men were hanged outside York Castle in England for crimes associated with technological activism. It was the largest number of people ever hanged in a single day at the castle. These hangings were a decisive move against an uprising protesting the impacts of increased mechanization, one that became known as the Luddite movement after its alleged leader, Ned Ludd.
What people are saying about “Films from the Future …”
While it's still a few weeks before Films from the Future is published (November 15th - mark your calendar!), a few people have already had the chance to read the book, and provide their thoughts on it. The book, by the way, is already available...
Superintelligence: From Chapter Eight of Films from the Future
In January 2017, a group of experts from around the world got together to hash out guidelines for beneficial artificial intelligence research and development. The meeting was held at the Asilomar Conference Center in California, the same venue where, in 1975, a group of scientists famously established safety guidelines for recombinant DNA research. This time, though, the focus was on ensuring that research on increasingly powerful AI systems led to technologies that benefited society without creating undue risks.
Being Human in an Augmented Future (From chapter seven of Films from the Future)
The forthcoming book Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies explores the complex dynamics between emerging technologies and society through twelve science fiction movies. This excerpt comes from the chapter on the 1995...
Social inequity in an age of technological extremes (from chapter six of Films from the Future)
On September 17, 2011, a small group of social activists occupied Zuccotti Park in New York City. The occupation became the spearhead for the global “Occupy” movement, protesting a growing disparity between “haves” and “have-nots” within society. Two years later, the movie Elysium built on this movement as it sought to reveal the potential injustices of a technologically sophisticated future where a small group of elites live in decadent luxury at the expense of the poor.
Limitless: Pharmaceutically-Enhanced Intelligence (from chapter 5 of Films from the Future)
In2004, the academic and medical doctor Anjan Chatterjee wrote a review of what he termed “Cosmetic Neurology.” He was far from the first person to write about the emergence and ethics of cognitive enhancers, but the piece caught my attention because of its unusual title…
Minority Report: Predicting Criminal Intent (From chapter four of Films from the Future)
There’s something quite enticing about the idea of predicting how people will behave in a given situation. It’s what lies beneath personality profiling and theories of preferred team roles. But it also extends to trying to predict when people will behave badly, and taking steps to prevent this…
Never Let Me Go: A Cautionary Tale of Human Cloning (from chapter three of Films from the Future)
In 2002, the birth of the first human clone was announced. Baby Eve was born on December 26, 2002, and weighed seven pounds. Or so it was claimed. The announcement attracted media attention from around the world, and spawned story after story of the birth. Since then, no proof has emerged that baby Eve was anything other than a publicity stunt. But the furor at the time demonstrated how contentious the very idea of creating living copies of people can be.
Jurassic Park: The Rise of Resurrection Biology (from chapter two of Films from the Future)
I was a newly minted Ph.D. when I first saw Jurassic Park. It was June 1993, and my wife and I were beginning to enjoy our new-found freedom, after years of too much study and too little money. I must confess that we weren’t dinosaur geeks. But there was something about the hype surrounding the movie that hooked us. Plus, we fancied a night out.
In the Beginning … Chapter One of “Films from the Future”
I first saw Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 A Space Odyssey on a small black and white TV, tucked in a corner of my parents’ living room. It was January the first 1982, and I was sixteen years old…
YouTube channel on the Science of Risk hits a milestone
It's been a while coming, but the YouTube channel Risk Bites has just hit 10,000 subscribers. It may not sound a lot when compared to some YouTube mega-channels, but for a low-budget channel that occupies the space between academic expertise and...
Second-guessing consumer views on products using nanotechnology
This month's copy of the journal Nature Nanotechnology has a commentary in it by myself and colleague Justin Kidd, where we ask whether manufacturers of nano-enabled water treatment products are in danger of second-guessing consumer views. The...
Excerpts from Films from the Future
Over the next several weeks, I'll be posting short excerpts from Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies ahead of the book's publication on November 15 -- visit regularly to read the latest, and remember that you can...
Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies
I'm thrilled that my new book Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies (Mango Publishing) is now available! From the listing: Learn how movies reveal the future of technology Fans of The Science of Interstellar, The...
Book update: New title, Amazon Listing, Publication Date, Contents, and more …
After a hectic summer of writing and editing, I'm pleased (if a little frazzled) to report that the book formerly known as "The Moviegoer's Guide to the Future" is on schedule to be published mid-November of this year. Just to whet your appetite,...
The Sounds of the Moviegoer’s Guide to the Future
I must confess that, over the past year, I've taken immersing myself in the movies at the core of The Moviegoer's Guide to the Future rather seriously -- perhaps too seriously! Of course, I've watched the movies many, many times. But I've also been...
Nootropics
Excerpted from a early draft of Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies (out November 2018); inspired by the movie Limitless. In 2004, the academic and medical doctor Anjan Chatterjee wrote a review of what he termed...
The “Science” of Predicting Bad Behavior
Excerpted from a early draft of The Moviegoer's Guide to the Future; inspired by the movie Minority Report. In March 2017, the British newspaper The Guardian ran a web-story with the headline “Brain scans can spot criminals, scientists say”.[1]...