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
The Global Redesign Initiative and the need for up-front investment in sustainable technology innovation
The global financial crisis of 2008-09 laid bare the inadequacies of global systems in an increasingly interdependent world, and highlighted the need to rethink the “architecture of global cooperation” - the idea at the core of the World Economic Forum Global Redesign...
What’s “I’m A Scientist…” all about? Check out the video
The good folks at I'm A Scientist, Get Me Out Of Here have just posted a new video on YouTube about the event. It gives a great overview of what I'm A Scientist is all about, and what makes it special: http://www.youtube.com/v/e1T4zi-DIh8 I particularly like the...
Nano Dispersants and nano hysteria – time to think about the science folks!
Catching up with my email after a long day off the net, I see that a group of Non Government Organizations (NGOs) are urging EPA not to allow the use of an alleged nanotechnology-based dispersant in the Gulf of Mexico. The letter from thirteen organizations was...
As scientists create the first synthetic cell, the future safety of synthetic biology will depend on sound science
Last week's announcement from the J. Craig Venter Institute that scientists had created the first-ever synthetic cell was a profoundly significant point in human history, and marked a turning point in our quest to control the natural world. But the ability to use...
Want advice? Never trust your family!
As you'll have realized from my post last week, I will be competing in I'm A Scientist, Get Me Out Of Here in in a couple of weeks' time. I'm going to be attempting to capture the event from my perspective through a series of rather shorter, more informal blogs than...
Deja vu and synthetic biology – will we learn the lessons of nanotech and genetic modification?
A guest blog by Hilary Sutcliffe, Director of MATTER, a UK think tank which explores how new technologies can work for us all. The other day, I wrote a piece on the implications of synthetic biology where I suggested that we "need to place discussions on a science...
It’s life Craig, but not as we know it!
Typical. One of the most anticipated technological breakthroughs in years hits the streets, and I'm completely off the web - holed up in an Italian hotel with no internet and no phone. I'm talking of course about J. Craig Venter's team's breakthrough in synthesizing...
I’m a scientist – and I’m going to be hanging on for dear life’s sake!
I can't sleep, I'm distracted, I keep breaking out in a cold sweat. And the reason? I have a deceptively simple question going my head - and I don't know the answer! The question... well, I'll come to that in a minute. I'd rather put the moment of embarrassment off...
Building trust between science and society: A Scientist’s Manifesto
Having recently finished Robert Winston's "Bad Ideas? An Arresting History of our Inventiveness," I was rather taken by his concluding "Scientist's Manifesto" - a fourteen-point guide to help strengthen the relationship between science and society. As well as...
Public participation in nanotechnology – should we care?
A guest blog by Barbara Herr Harthorn, Director of the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at the University of California Santa Barbara. A couple of weeks back, my colleague David Guston wrote here about engaging the public on nanotechnology. In his piece he gave...