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.
Basic research and personal responsibility
Dan Sarewitz has a rather provocative commentary in Nature this morning, where he suggests that proposals to increase basic research may be good politics, but questionable policy. The headline alone is probably enough to get some science-advocates'...
International Handbook on Regulating Nanotechnologies – sneak peak of contents
Back in the mists of time, I was approached with a crazy proposition - would I help co-edit a book on nanotechnologies regulation! In a moment of weakness I said yes, and a little more than two and a half years later, the book is finally about to...
Nanotechnology prominent in percieved 21st century science & engineering advancements
This image from the first US National Science and Engineering Festival attracted my attention this morning: It's a wordle constructed from responses to the question "What will be the greatest discoveries and advancements science and engineering...
Spiders, silk and a transgenic goat – the complex art of science communication
Last week while at the NISE Net network-wide meeting, I was fortunate enough to see a preview of part of NOVA's forthcoming series Making Stuff. The series focuses on the wonders of modern materials science. But rather than coming away enthralled...
What happens when you cross a spider with a goat? Complete the story:
Complete the following: Setting: A well known and sometimes off-beat technology commentator explores new breakthroughs on a popular TV science and tech show. Story: Spiders' silk is incredibly strong, but in short supply (ever tried harvesting silk...
Beyond the obvious – lessons from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
The immediate lessons from the Deepwater Horizon disaster are pretty obvious - we (or at least somebody) messed up! But what about the less-obvious lessons - especially those concerning technology innovation and how it's handled? The Fall 2010...
Limited resources and emerging technologies: China does the math
New technologies depend on uncommon materials, and society depends on new technologies. Which means that economies that develop the former and control the latter have something of an upper hand in today's interconnected and technology-dependent...
Science and the Media – a collection of essays from the American Academy of Arts & Sciences
Back in August, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences published a collection of essays under the editorship of Donald Kennedy and Geneva Overholster on the (seemingly) increasingly strained relationship between science and the media. I was...
Rehabilitating “Risk”
Now that I've had some time to get to grips with my new position as Director of the University of Michigan Risk Science Center, I thought it was high time I started letting people know something about where the Center will be heading over the next...
Nanotechnology 2.0: The next ten years of nano risk research
Sometime in the past couple of weeks - I'm not entirely sure when as accounts are conflicting - the World Technology Evaluation Center (WTEC) posted a draft of a new report examining the long-term impacts and research directions of nanotechnology. ...
Realizing dreams of carbon nanotubes
A guest blog by John Dorr, Vice President of Business Development Nanocomp Technologies Inc. Despite all the fuss over nanotechnology, it’s surprisingly difficult to get a clear sense of how the technology is contributing to new products. So when...
Prepare and Inspire: The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology’s take on STEM education
The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology - PCAST - has just released a new report on US K-12 education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (the STEM subjects). The report provides, in the words of the...
Ten weeks to save the world: Nature does the Singularity University
You've heard the rumors and read the hype - but what really goes on at the Singularity University, based at the NASA Ames campus in Silicon Valley? Nature's Nicola Jones recently went along to take a look, and her report has just been posted -...
Could precisely engineered nanoparticles provide a novel geoengineering tool?
This is an extremely quick and dirty blog post, as I really need to be somewhere else. But while traveling to the World Economic Forum meeting in China today, I came across a new paper that piques my interest. The paper is by David Keith at the...
What do people think about synthetic biology?
The fifth Hart survey of what American adults think about emerging technologies like nanotechnology and synthetic biology was released today by my former colleagues at the Woodrow Wilson Center - the first since I left the group earlier this year....
Rethinking nanotechnology – responding to a request for Information on the US Nanotechnology Strategic Plan
Back in July, the US National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) posted a Request For Information in the Federal Register for input to the next NNI strategic plan - to be published later this year. The closing date for comments was a couple of weeks...
Knitting science
Sitting in a meeting on informal science education recently, I was intrigued to see a respected academic working on her knitting. And she wasn't the only one. Now I may have had a something of a sheltered life, but in over twenty years of...
The safety of nanotechnology-based sunscreens – some reflections
A few weeks ago, I set Friends of the Earth a challenge - What is your worst case estimate of the human health risk from titanium dioxide and/or zinc oxide nanoparticles in sunscreens? The challenge came out of an article from FoE on nanomaterials...
I’m A Scientist – where the prize money went
I love books - the old fashioned kind, printed with ink on paper. As a kid, books were my source of education, inspiration and entertainment. As an adult, I still find there's something oddly satisfying about picking up a sheaf of printed and...
Texas Instruments Graphing calculators – essential math teaching aid, or a scam?
Last September regular readers of 2020 Science will recall that I was somewhat taken aback at having to fork out $100 for a Texas Instruments graphing calculator as my son started 7th grade math. One academic year on, was the purchase worth it?...
ASME launches a new series of nanotechnology podcasts
ASME - the organization that used to be known as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers - has just launched a series of educational podcasts on nanotechnology that are well worth checking out. Between now and next February, the ASME...
I’m A Scientist 2010 ends, and the winner is…
An hour or so ago, the final winners of I'm A Scientist, Get Me Out Of Here were announced. To my surprise, I made it to the last two standing in the Silicon Zone yesterday, and have been on the edge of my seat today waiting to see whether I was...
I’m A Scientist – A brilliant British idea that needs to come to the US!
Today was a tough day on I'm A Scientist, Get Me Out Of Here - three live chats almost back to back, followed by the first evictions. And believe me - even though I live to fight another day, the evictions were traumatic! But more of that below. ...
Welcome to real science!
The way science is taught, the way it's portrayed on TV and in the press, he way it's promoted by science-advocates and science bloggers, often seems to adhere to a rather pompous and hubristic view of science as the ultimate bastion of truth and...
Just how risky can nanoparticles in sunscreens be? Friends of the Earth respond
Last week, I posed Friends of the Earth a challenge - "What is your worst case estimate of the human health risk from titanium dioxide and/or zinc oxide nanoparticles in sunscreens?" Georgia Miller of FoE Australia and Ian Illuminato of FoE in the...
Day one of I’m A Scientist – It’s the teens who are training us!
It's a quarter to one in the morning Eastern Time, and I've just polished off the last question of the day on I'm A Scientist, Get Me Out Of Here! I should be heading off to bed, but I wanted to capture some initial thoughts on this exercise...
A spectator’s guide to I’m A Scientist, Get Me Out Of Here!
If you want to participate in the rather fab science event I'm A Scientist, Get me Out Of Here I'm afraid you are out of luck - unless you happen to be one of the 100 scientists and 8000 teenagers taking part. But you can still get a thrill from...
Just how risky could nanoparticles in sunscreens be?
Following up from my previous post, here's an open question to Friends of the Earth: What is your worst case estimate of the human health risk from titanium dioxide and/or zinc oxide nanoparticles in sunscreens? What I am interested in is a number...
Friends of the Earth come down hard on nanotechnology – are they right?
Friends of the Earth (FoE) do not like nanoparticle-based sunscreens. This has been evident for some years - back in 2006 the organization published the report Nanomaterials, Sunscreens and Cosmetics: Small Ingredients, Big Risks, and every year...
I’m A Scientist – Check out the competition!
Reading the Twitter feeds, it seems that a number of scientists participating in I'm A Scientist, Get me Out of Here have struggled with their profiles. It's one thing to design an elegant experiment or write a smart paper - but describing...