by Andrew Maynard | Jan 20, 2009 | Civic Science, Nanotechnology, Policy
As Barack Obama takes the oath and is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States, many are anticipating a new era of socially relevant science and technology. Having run one of the most technologically savvy campaigns in recent times—possibly ever—Obama’s...
by Andrew Maynard | Jan 13, 2009 | Civic Science, Emerging Technology, Engagement
Public engagement was a key feature in Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, and has been front and foremost in the transition between the old administration and the new. You only have to check out change.gov to see how ideas are evolving on soliciting and evaluating...
by Andrew Maynard | Jan 7, 2009 | Civic Science, Communication, Nanotechnology
Here’s a bit of trivia to brighten your day: Between 2000 and 2007, Chinese scientists published roughly one nanotoxicology paper for every ten million people in the country. In contrast, US scientists published twenty-five nanotoxicology papers for every ten...
by Andrew Maynard | Dec 31, 2008 | Emerging Technology, Policy, Public Perception
Science gone right, science gone wrong, science gone social, science gone political—it’s all here in five off-beat book recommendations to kick off 2009. Ranging from Darwin’s Origin of Species to Sir Terry Pratchett’s Nation, the one thing I think I can guarantee is...
by Andrew Maynard | Dec 26, 2008 | Oversight, Synthetic Biology
Last June I wrote a short piece on biohacking, prompted by a UK report on the social and ethical challenges of synthetic biology. At the time, I though the aspirations of the nascent biopunk community naively optimistic, but potentially worrying. Six months on,...
