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.
Roll over nanotechnology, synthetic biology is coming!
So you’re looking for a new technology concept—something that will stimulate research funding, make a buck or two, and maybe save the world—at least for another year or so. What do you need? Here’s a quick checklist: Something that’s...
The long shout
In the long run, does art trump science? Lateral communication—sending information from point to point around the world—is so fast and efficient these days that we tend to take it for granted. But how good are we at passing information forward in...
Cultural smokescreens
50 years on, have we missed the point of C.P. Snow’s “Two-cultures?” 50 years ago, long before Richard Dawkins coined the term “meme,” the British scientist, public figure and novelist Charles Percy Snow planted an idea into the collective...
Culture clash – Probing CP Snow’s Two Cultures, part 2
Last week I asked a rather trivial (did someone say trite?) question (the 2-second Two-Cultures poll) about perpetual motion machines - as a gentle lead-up to this week's 50th anniversary of CP Snow's Two Cultures lecture. So what were the results...
Control at the nanoscale: Smallness, strangeness and sophistication
Part 5 of a series on rethinking science and technology for the 21st century Last time in this series of occasional blogs, I made the rather bold statement that while science and technology are going to have a highly visible impact on our lives...
Culture clash: Take the 2-second two-cultures poll
A 2-second distraction in the run-up to the 50th anniversary of CP Snow's Two Cultures lecture: Take the two-cultures poll (below), and see how your answer aligns with those from others: (If you can't see the poll, click...
Obama’s science and technology call to arms
Just in case anyone wasn't clear, President Obama blew away any residual doubts this morning that he considers science and technology supremely important to the future well-being of the US. In a stirring and historic speech to the National...
Science influence on Twitter
This is by way of a quick follow-on to yesterday's post on the number of people on Twitter following science-focused users. As was pointed out, just logging the number of followers someone has on twitter is a poor indicator of either success or...
As Twitter users skyrocket, how are the science tweeps doing?
Earlier today, David Bradley over at ScienceBase announced that his growing list of "Scientific Twitter Friends" has hit the 400 mark. Given the recent explosion in Twitter use, I was intrigued to see how these science-types are faring in the...
Control: Gaining mastery over the world at the finest level
Part 4 of a series on rethinking science and technology for the 21st century So far in this series of occasional blogs, I’ve covered coupling and communication—two of three “C’s” which together are challenging how science and technology are best...
Creating order from disorder – the YouTube Symphony way
I was skeptical - really skeptical - that the folks doing the mashup could pull it off. But I was wrong. They managed to create something in virtual space that is quite possibly unique, and that is most definitely greater than the sum of the...
Twitter: changing your perspective on reality, 140 characters at a time
13 “Twits” Who Will Change Your Perspective on Reality Back in the days when Twitter was a mere slip of a social media service—around four months ago by my reckoning—it was a byword for meaningless web-chatter and banal exchanges. But the service...
Geoengineering goes mainstream
Twelve months ago, geoengineering seemed little more than the fancy of science fiction writers and fringe scientists. Now, an increasing number of people are viewing it as a viable - if extreme - option for curbing global warming. This shift was...
Communication: Science and technology in a connected world
Part 3 of a series on rethinking science and technology for the 21st century I’m fascinated by the power of communication. The idea that someone’s perceptions and actions can be changed by information received through sight, sound or touch, is...
Coupling: Actions and consequences in a shrinking world
Part 2 of a series on rethinking science and technology for the 21st century In the previous post in this series I introduced the idea of the three “C’s:” Coupling Communication and Control—three factors that together challenge conventional ideas...
Building better batteries, the Chinese way
Reading yesterday’s New York Times, it seems China could well be poised to leapfrog the West in advanced battery technology (China Vies to Be World’s Leader in Electric Cars). According to the article, Chinese leaders have adopted a plan aimed at...
What Nanotechnology Can Do for Your Average Donut
A guest blog by Dr. Frans Kampers, director of the Wageningen biotechnology center for food and health innovation (BioNT) at the Wageningen University and Research Center in the Netherlands. Using nanotechnology to make food better—it seems like a...
New carbon nanotube study raises the health impact stakes
I’m looking at an electron microscope image of a carbon nanotube - as I cannot show it here, you'll have to imagine it. It shows a long, straight, multi-walled carbon nanotube, around 100 nanometers wide and 10 micrometers long. There is nothing...
Confessions of a “media hog”
There are some things they don’t cover in media training, like giving interviews while suffering from stomach flu, talking to reporters thousands of miles away while on a dodgy cell phone connection, or speaking intelligently while your...
New life, old bottles: The video
A five-minute primer on the promise and challenge of first-generation synthetic biology As an addendum to the previous post on synthetic biology, the following interview from the Wilson Center provides a great overview of what synthetic biology is...
Are we ready for synthetic biology?
A new report looks at the challenges of regulating first generation products of synthetic biology. At the J. Craig Venter Institute, scientists are on the verge of creating a living organism from “dead” chemicals, by rebooting a microbe with a...
Inspiring the next generation of technologists
An interview with Dr. Kristen Kulinowski, Director of the International Council On Nanotechnology Today is Ada Lovelace Day—a day when people around the world are drawing attention to women who excel in technology. Some weeks back I pledged, along...
Blogging the demise of science journalism
This week’s edition of Nature includes a thought provoking piece by Geoff Brumfiel on the decline of mainstream science journalism and the rise of science blogging. The big question: Can one replace the other? It’s a sobering read: Blumfiel...
Science, technology and the three “C’s:” Communication, Coupling and Control
Part 1 of a series on rethinking science and technology for the 21st century We live in a crowded, science and technology-dependent word. And things aren’t getting any better! The global population is currently around 6.8 billion. Over the next...
Working safely with carbon nanotubes
So you want to make or use carbon nanotubes, but you are worried about handling then safely. What do you do? The good news is that the UK Health and Safety Executive has just published an information sheet that addresses just this question. Risk...
Rethinking science and technology for the 21st century
Like it or not, society is dependent on science and technology. The only way we can cram 6 billion people plus onto the earth and use resources at the rate we do, is through the support of scientific discovery and technology innovation. Take our...
Deconstructing the “Fry Event Horizon”
I’ve been intending writing about Ray Kurzweil and the technological singularity for some time now. This isn’t that blog—it is a Friday evening after all, at the end of a long week. But it is connected with some of the ideas behind the...
Nanotechnology risk research, ten years on
Ten years ago to the month, one of the first research reports detailing the challenges of ensuring the safe use of engineered nanomaterials was delivered to the UK Health and Safety Executive. The report wasn’t for general release, and you’ll be...
Science, society and the Second Enlightenment
It’s barely a month since Obama promised to “restore science to its rightful place” and already there has been widespread discussion over what this rightful place might be—spurred on in no small part by science and technology provisions in the...
In space, no one can hear you scream – unless you’re in a sci-flick!
If you want to annoy a scientist, show them a movie that gets the little details wrong—like the fact that sound doesn’t travel in a vacuum, or biologists always have a box of Kim Wipes within arms-reach. If you want to annoy anyone else, put them...