Welcome to the 2020 Science Archive
2020 Science started life in 2007 as a nanotechnology blog written by Andrew Maynard on SafeNano. In the following years it developed into a personal blog addressing emerging technologies, responsible innovation, risk, science communication, and the intersection between science and society more generally.
Andrew made he decision to wind the blog down in 2019 as his focus and writing developed in new directions. This archive contains most of the original posts (there have been occasional clean-ups of content). For more recent articles etc. please visit andrewmaynard.net. And thanks for visiting!
BROWSE THE ARCHIVE
Linking press releases to papers: How do universities compare?
Following up on my previous analysis of university news releases and whether they link to the papers they highlight, I've extended extend the analysis to 30 of the top universities in the US as ranked by US News and World Report. Here are the rankings, based on an...
Less than 60% of university news releases link to the papers they cover
In an analysis of recent news releases from the top ten US universities, only 59% of them provided links to the peer review paper they were written about. Over 30% did not cite the paper. And less than 10% of the releases used DOI links to the peer reviewed paper....
MMR Vaccines and Autism: Bringing clarity to the CDC Whistleblower Story
Anyone following the Twitter #vaccinesNOVA hashtag on the evening of Wednesday September 10 would have seen their stream seemingly overwhelmed by the #CDCWhistleblower hashtag. Wednesday was when NOVA's documentary Vaccines - Calling The Shots aired, and the...
Creating Poster Presentations that Tell Stories
This Friday my class of second year Environmental Health Science Master of Public Health students are going to get my admittedly quirky annual lecture on crating poster presentations. Quirky, because I'm a little obsessive about the importance of story telling in...
Why aren’t we more scared of measles?
Measles is one of the leading causes of death amongst children worldwide. In 2012, an estimated 122,000 people died of the disease according to the World Health Organization - equivalent to 14 deaths every hour. Yet talk to parents about this highly infectious...
Using nano silver to treat Ebola – is it misguided?
Update Oct 2: With concern over ebola in the US growing, I'm seeing a number of websites advocating the use of colloidal or nano silver as an effective preventative or cure. Just to be clear - there is no research that suggests ingesting colloidal silver is any more...
University of Michigan, polio, and NOVA’s new documentary on vaccines
On April 12 1955, the world was informed that the Salk polio vaccine was up to 90% effective in preventing paralytic polio. At the time, it was hailed as one of the most anticipated announcements in medical history, and led to the overcoming of one of the most feared...
Fumed silica: Another nano material we need to worry about?
Pick up a jar of chili powder, and the chances are it will contain a small amount of fumed silica - an engineered nanomaterial that's been around for over half a century. The material - which is formed from microscopically small particles of amorphous silicon dioxide...
The human side of vaccines and risk
Leading up to the new NOVA Special on vaccines (Vaccines - Calling The Shots, airing September 10th, 9:00 PM on PBS), the University of Michigan Risk Science Center be reposting a series of pieces that tackle some of the issues around vaccination, acceptance, anxiety...
World Economic Forum Technology Pioneers 2015 Announced
As a member of the selection committee for the World Economic Forum's Technology Pioneers, it's always exciting to see which companies made the bar each year. This year's Technology Pioneers have just been announced. They represent 24 of the world's most innovative...