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
VidCon 2012: Online learning is where online music was five years ago
YouTube is gearing up to transform the way we learn. At least that's the message that came across loud and clear at this morning's VidCon breakout panel on education. In an overflowing room of well over two hundred conference goers, head of YouTube Education Angela...
VidCon 2012: Community-grown science communicators smoking’ it!
I'm over half way through the first day at VidCon 2012, and thought I would jot a few notes down on the science scene here. OK, so maybe 7,000 people haven't come to the Anaheim Convention Center to hear the latest on the Higgs boson and other interesting science...
VidCon and YouTube Science
Having been initiated into the alternative world of teen YouTube culture last year, I am once again being dragged along to VidCon - the Comic-Con of the online video community. This year - the third year for VidCon - promises to be bigger than better than ever with...
Communicating about communicating science at the National Academies
I've just spent the last two days at the National Academies of Science listening to a long strong of folks talk about the Science of Science Communication. It was a bit of a guilty pleasure for me as I wasn't a speaker and so could just kick back and listen - but I...
Think Design – an alternative take on nanotech (in 11 minutes!)
A few weeks ago I was asked to give a "TED style talk" on nanotechnology for the University of Michigan Environmental Health Sciences department 125th anniversary. What they got was a short talk on "thinking small": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p77fzbfNyes The...
Carbon nanoparticles could be ubiquitous to many foods
TEM images of carbon particles from foods containing caramelized sugar. Click to see larger image. Source: Palashudding et al. Nanotechnology leads to novel materials, new exposures and potentially unique health and environmental risks - or so the argument goes. But...
Nanoparticles, cosmetics and sunscreens – again!
Robin Erb has a good piece on cosmetics and safe ingredients in the Detroit Free Press this week - it tackles the very limited regulation over what goes into cosmetics, but balances this with a useful perspective on consumer choice and how this in turn can drive...
Nano M&Ms?
Not in the technical sense I'm afraid, but thought it would be fun to post this image of nano-branded M&Ms. They were used as part of a recent NanoDays session with local school kids exploring the broader implications of nanotechnology. The only substantive link...
Nano quadrotors – a game-changing technology innovation, but can we handle it?
It's been hard to avoid the buzz surrounding nano quadrotors this week, following the posting of Vijay Kumar's jaw-dropping TED talk - and the associated viral video of the semi-autonomous machines playing the James Bond theme. The quadrotors are impressive -...
Dip into Mind The Science Gap
If you haven't been reading the Mind The Science Gap blog, you really should. Ten Masters of Public Health students have been excelling themselves as they hone their ability to take published research and translate it into something accessible to a broader audience -...