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! 

 

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A Nanoscale Perspective on The Man in the White Suit

A Nanoscale Perspective on The Man in the White Suit

Each week between now and November 15th (publication day!) I’ll be posting excerpts from  Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies This week, it’s chapter ten, and the movie The Man in the White Suit. The Man in the White Suit is a 1951...

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Films from the Future: Judging a book by its cover!

Films from the Future: Judging a book by its cover!

We're just five weeks and a couple of days away from the official publication of Films from the Future on November 15th, but in the meantime, here's a sneak-peek at the book's cover:   And just a reminder that the book's currently available for pre-order at...

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Enter the Neo-Luddites: Transcendence, The Singularity, and Technological Resistance

Enter the Neo-Luddites: Transcendence, The Singularity, and Technological Resistance

On January 15, 1813, fourteen men were hanged outside York Castle in England for crimes associated with technological activism. It was the largest number of people ever hanged in a single day at the castle. These hangings were a decisive move against an uprising protesting the impacts of increased mechanization, one that became known as the Luddite movement after its alleged leader, Ned Ludd.

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Superintelligence: From Chapter Eight of Films from the Future

Superintelligence: From Chapter Eight of Films from the Future

In January 2017, a group of experts from around the world got together to hash out guidelines for beneficial artificial intelligence research and development. The meeting was held at the Asilomar Conference Center in California, the same venue where, in 1975, a group of scientists famously established safety guidelines for recombinant DNA research. This time, though, the focus was on ensuring that research on increasingly powerful AI systems led to technologies that benefited society without creating undue risks.

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Social inequity in an age of technological extremes (from chapter six of Films from the Future)

Social inequity in an age of technological extremes (from chapter six of Films from the Future)

On September 17, 2011, a small group of social activists occupied Zuccotti Park in New York City. The occupation became the spearhead for the global “Occupy” movement, protesting a growing disparity between “haves” and “have-nots” within society. Two years later, the movie Elysium built on this movement as it sought to reveal the potential injustices of a technologically sophisticated future where a small group of elites live in decadent luxury at the expense of the poor.

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Never Let Me Go: A Cautionary Tale of Human Cloning (from chapter three of Films from the Future)

Never Let Me Go: A Cautionary Tale of Human Cloning (from chapter three of Films from the Future)

In 2002, the birth of the first human clone was announced. Baby Eve was born on December 26, 2002, and weighed seven pounds. Or so it was claimed. The announcement attracted media attention from around the world, and spawned story after story of the birth. Since then, no proof has emerged that baby Eve was anything other than a publicity stunt. But the furor at the time demonstrated how contentious the very idea of creating living copies of people can be.

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