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
Spare a comment – student science writers need your help!
In a little over a week, ten of my University of Michigan Masters of Public Health students will embark on an intensive science blogging course - and they need your help! Every week for ten weeks, each student will take a recent scientific publication or emerging...
Brain candy for the intellectually incapacitated – the sequel
Two years ago I posted links to ten (relatively) mindless online "games" as a bit of fun, and as something not too taxing to indulge in over the holiday break. Having reached that point again where anything more intellectually challenging than tic tac toe makes my...
A few Small Issues about Public Engagement on Nanotechnology
A guest blog by Craig Cormick. Over the past decade there has been a significant growth in public engagement activities relating to nanotechnology and when you look across all the data being generated you can learn a lot about how the public view the risks and...
Exposure to silver nanoparticles may be more common than we thought
The past few years has seen an explosion of interest in silver nanoparticles. Along with a plethora of products using the particles to imbue antimicrobial properties on everything from socks to toothpaste, nanometer scale silver particles have been under intense...
Techno Hype or Techno Hope? Two panel discussions on technology innovation
I've been up to my eyeballs this past few weeks in stuff, and haven't had as much time as usual to post here. So this weekend I thought I would take the easy route and post a couple of videos from the recent Symposium on Risk, Uncertainty and Sustainable Innovation....
New US federal strategy for nanotechnology safety research released
The latest iteration of the US National Nanotechnology Initiative's Environmental, Health and Safety Research Strategy was released today - downloadable from nano.gov. A draft of the document has been on the streets since last December - this version was compiled...
EC adopts cross-cutting definition of nanomaterials to be used for all regulatory purposes
The European Commission had just adopted a "cross-cutting designation of nanomaterials to be used for all regulatory purposes" (link). The definition builds on a draft definition released last year, but includes a number of substantial changes to this. Here's the full...
US National Nanotechnology Initiative to release latest Environmental, Health and Safety research strategy, Oct 20
This coming Thursday (Oct 20 2011), the US National Nanotechnology Initiative is releasing the latest version of the Initiative's federal nanotechnology environmental, health and safety research strategy. The strategy will be available for download from 10:00 AM...
New models needed to master technology trends – World Economic Forum
In his opening remarks at this year's Summit on the Global Agenda, World Economic Forum founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab placed the need for new models to support effective use of technology innovation firmly on the table. This is the fourth year I have...
Inspiring teachers – a blast from the past
Two years ago, I wrote a piece about ten things that inspired me to become a scientist. One of those was my high school teacher. We never kept in touch, but through the miracle of the web, that post eventually came to his attention, and we connected again. The other...