by Andrew Maynard | May 18, 2009 | Emerging Technology, Nanotechnology, Recommended, Synthetic Biology
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 revolutionary. Evolutionary...
by Andrew Maynard | May 13, 2009 | Communication, Recommended
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 time—what you might...
by Andrew Maynard | May 6, 2009 | Civic Science, Emerging Technology, Engagement, Policy, Recommended
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 consciousness that has since...
by Andrew Maynard | Apr 22, 2009 | Communication, Recommended
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 influence. So,...
by Andrew Maynard | Mar 26, 2009 | Communication, Nanotechnology, Oversight, Recommended
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 three-year-old niece runs rings...
by Andrew Maynard | Mar 25, 2009 | Oversight, Policy, Recommended, 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 new—and completely...
