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
Realizing dreams of carbon nanotubes
A guest blog by John Dorr, Vice President of Business Development Nanocomp Technologies Inc. Despite all the fuss over nanotechnology, it’s surprisingly difficult to get a clear sense of how the technology is contributing to new products. So when the company Nanocomp...
Prepare and Inspire: The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology’s take on STEM education
The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology - PCAST - has just released a new report on US K-12 education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (the STEM subjects). The report provides, in the words of the President’s Science Advisor...
Ten weeks to save the world: Nature does the Singularity University
You've heard the rumors and read the hype - but what really goes on at the Singularity University, based at the NASA Ames campus in Silicon Valley? Nature's Nicola Jones recently went along to take a look, and her report has just been posted - it's well worth...
Could precisely engineered nanoparticles provide a novel geoengineering tool?
This is an extremely quick and dirty blog post, as I really need to be somewhere else. But while traveling to the World Economic Forum meeting in China today, I came across a new paper that piques my interest. The paper is by David Keith at the University of Calgary...
What do people think about synthetic biology?
The fifth Hart survey of what American adults think about emerging technologies like nanotechnology and synthetic biology was released today by my former colleagues at the Woodrow Wilson Center - the first since I left the group earlier this year. Each summer for the...
Rethinking nanotechnology – responding to a request for Information on the US Nanotechnology Strategic Plan
Back in July, the US National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) posted a Request For Information in the Federal Register for input to the next NNI strategic plan - to be published later this year. The closing date for comments was a couple of weeks ago now. I got mine...
Knitting science
Sitting in a meeting on informal science education recently, I was intrigued to see a respected academic working on her knitting. And she wasn't the only one. Now I may have had a something of a sheltered life, but in over twenty years of attending scientific...
The safety of nanotechnology-based sunscreens – some reflections
A few weeks ago, I set Friends of the Earth a challenge - What is your worst case estimate of the human health risk from titanium dioxide and/or zinc oxide nanoparticles in sunscreens? The challenge came out of an article from FoE on nanomaterials and sunscreens,...
I’m A Scientist – where the prize money went
I love books - the old fashioned kind, printed with ink on paper. As a kid, books were my source of education, inspiration and entertainment. As an adult, I still find there's something oddly satisfying about picking up a sheaf of printed and bound pages and...
Texas Instruments Graphing calculators – essential math teaching aid, or a scam?
Last September regular readers of 2020 Science will recall that I was somewhat taken aback at having to fork out $100 for a Texas Instruments graphing calculator as my son started 7th grade math. One academic year on, was the purchase worth it? (Yes, despite my shock,...