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
ASME launches a new series of nanotechnology podcasts
ASME - the organization that used to be known as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers - has just launched a series of educational podcasts on nanotechnology that are well worth checking out. Between now and next February, the ASME Nanotechnology Institute will...
I’m A Scientist 2010 ends, and the winner is…
An hour or so ago, the final winners of I'm A Scientist, Get Me Out Of Here were announced. To my surprise, I made it to the last two standing in the Silicon Zone yesterday, and have been on the edge of my seat today waiting to see whether I was going to be ousted by...
I’m A Scientist – A brilliant British idea that needs to come to the US!
Today was a tough day on I'm A Scientist, Get Me Out Of Here - three live chats almost back to back, followed by the first evictions. And believe me - even though I live to fight another day, the evictions were traumatic! But more of that below. At the end of a...
Welcome to real science!
The way science is taught, the way it's portrayed on TV and in the press, he way it's promoted by science-advocates and science bloggers, often seems to adhere to a rather pompous and hubristic view of science as the ultimate bastion of truth and certainty. So it's...
Just how risky can nanoparticles in sunscreens be? Friends of the Earth respond
Last week, I posed 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?" Georgia Miller of FoE Australia and Ian Illuminato of FoE in the US have kindly...
Day one of I’m A Scientist – It’s the teens who are training us!
It's a quarter to one in the morning Eastern Time, and I've just polished off the last question of the day on I'm A Scientist, Get Me Out Of Here! I should be heading off to bed, but I wanted to capture some initial thoughts on this exercise first. I've lost count of...
A spectator’s guide to I’m A Scientist, Get Me Out Of Here!
If you want to participate in the rather fab science event I'm A Scientist, Get me Out Of Here I'm afraid you are out of luck - unless you happen to be one of the 100 scientists and 8000 teenagers taking part. But you can still get a thrill from watching the...
Just how risky could nanoparticles in sunscreens be?
Following up from my previous post, here's an open question to Friends of the Earth: What is your worst case estimate of the human health risk from titanium dioxide and/or zinc oxide nanoparticles in sunscreens? What I am interested in is a number - a probability of a...
Friends of the Earth come down hard on nanotechnology – are they right?
Friends of the Earth (FoE) do not like nanoparticle-based sunscreens. This has been evident for some years - back in 2006 the organization published the report Nanomaterials, Sunscreens and Cosmetics: Small Ingredients, Big Risks, and every year since then they have...
I’m A Scientist – Check out the competition!
Reading the Twitter feeds, it seems that a number of scientists participating in I'm A Scientist, Get me Out of Here have struggled with their profiles. It's one thing to design an elegant experiment or write a smart paper - but describing yourself in three words or...