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
Would You Lick Jam Off An Old Man’s Foot? and other important science questions
Would You Lick Jam Off An Old Man’s Foot Or Drink Toilet Water For An Hour? Can you explain how gravitons can escape a black hole? Or do you have a good answer to the question "why are people annoying?" This is just a sampling of some of the more entertaining and...
Frying your brains on information overload: Old perspectives on a new issue
Living online is changing our brains - at least according to Baroness Greenfield in an interview posted today by New Scientist. Leaving aside questions over the extent to which Greenfield's concerns are driven by misapprehension or plausibility, the interview put me...
The science of VidCon – Connecting with Science & Engineering through YouTube
Where I cover science at this year's VidCon YouTube convention, take a look at science and engineering more broadly on YouTube, and suggest that for next year's VidCon the organizers should bring together some of the leading science projects on YouTube with...
I’m a scientist… what the heck am I doing at VidCon?!
This week my teenage kids are dragging me of to the premier YouTube event of the year - VidCon. I was foolish enough to agree to chaperone them, and now I have two days in LA immersed in a sea of one thousand YouTube celebs, fans and wannabe's. But not one to miss an...
Seven challenges to regulating “sophisticated materials”
The materials that most current regulations were designed to handle are pretty simple by today's standards. Sure they can do some nasty things to the environment or your body if handled inappropriately. And without a doubt some of the risks associated with these...
Radiation-Crazed Zombies in Anti-Vaccine Hand-Washing Health Scare – Possibly
OK so it's a slightly misleading title, but I did want to draw your attention to the rather splendiferous Risk Science Blog. When I took over as Director of the University of Michigan Risk Science last year, I wanted to find ways of connecting researchers and students...
Nanotechnology – has the UK dropped the nano-ball?
I must confess to being rather saddened this morning to read Roger Highfield's New Scientist blog on the state of nanotechnology in the UK. Hot on the heels of reports that the company Nanoco is threatening to leave Britain for more fertile grounds, it left me...
Don’t define nanomaterials – new commentary in Nature and an early draft
One of the problems with publishing in journals like Nature is that it can get a little pricey for people to read your work if they (or their organization) don't subscribe. For instance, if you want to read the commentary I've just had published on defining...
A nanotechnology regulation hat trick from the US federal government
It must be Nanotechnology Regulation week in Washington DC. Yesterday, two federal agencies and the White House released documents that grapple with the effective regulation of products that depend on engineered nanomaterials. In a joint memorandum, the Office of...
Responsible development of… Unobtanium?
I thought I'd post this spoof presentation for the fun of it on the responsible development of "unobtainium", which seems to have some remarkable similarities with some other emerging technologies: If you're a little mystified, blame David Berube - who encouraged the...