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
Talk to the Hand: Risk Bites, six months on
From Risk Sense: Six months ago, Risk Bites launched as a somewhat quirky YouTube experiment in science communication. Twenty-seven videos on, how are things going? Risk Bites was originally conceived as a way of pulling some rather cool insights into the...
Carbon nanotubes as a potent cancer promoter – new data from NIOSH
On Monday, the National Institute for Occupational Safety released new data on the potential role multi-walled carbon nanotubes play as a cancer-promoter - a substance that promotes the development of cancer in the presence of a carcinogen. In the study, mice were...
Top 10 Most Promising Technology Trends 2013, from the World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Emerging Technologies has just published its annual list of the top ten emerging technology trends. Based on expert assessment from council members and others, the list provides insight into technologies that have the...
At the frontiers of the science of health risk – five areas to watch
Cross-posted from Risk Sense This week's Risk Bites video takes a roller-coaster ride through some of the hottest topics in risk science. Admittedly this is a somewhat personal list, and rather constrained by being compressed into a two and a half minute video for a...
On the benefits of wearing a hat while dancing naked, and other insights into the science of risk
Risk Bites - my new foray into the world of YouTube informal education - was officially launched a few weeks ago (although the transition from "unofficial" to "official" simply meant posting new videos more regularly!). The channel is an experiment in overcoming the...
COP18 Doha, Qatar: A positive view point from low on the totem pole
A guest post by Candace Rowell MPH. Candace is an alum of the University of Michigan School of Public Health Department of Environmental Health Sciences, and a former contributor to Mind The Science Gap. She is currently a research associated with the Qatar...
Open access academics: Experiments with YouTube, the Science of Risk, and Professional Amateurism
YouTube intrigues me. Having been dragged into the YouTube culture by my teenagers over the past two years, I've been fascinated by the shift from seemingly banal content to a sophisticated social medium. But what has really grabbed my attention is the growth of...
Why should I wash my hands if I only pee?
Cross-posted from Risk Sense "Why should I wash my hands if I only pee?" It's the sort of question most parents have had to handle at some time - especially if you have pretentious kids who delight in telling you how pure pee is! It's also the subject of the first...
Jumping the gap between a US and UK high school education
Tomorrow, my 16 year old daughter is leaving her home in the US for the UK. She'll be there for the next two years while she studies for her A levels. It was a heart-rending decision for my wife and I to agree to her living apart from us in a different country. But...
YouTube does the the Higgs Boson – Science communication on the quick!
Hot on the heels of yesterday's announcement on the Higgs Boson, some of YouTube's most viewed science communicators have been burning the midnight oil to explain why this is so exciting. Wrapping up this series of posts on YouTube, I thought I would call out three...