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
Poll: Does trust in science need restoring?
Prompted by a blog post by Stephen Hill this morning - and a flurry or Twitter responses to it - here's a quick question on science and trust: More on this in a later blog.
Science Media Centre briefing on Climate Science in the Media – Don’t Panic!!
A guest blog by Gary Kass, Principal Specialist in Strategic Futures at Natural England The London-based Science Media Centre (SMC) describes itself as “an independent venture working to promote the voices, stories and views of the scientific community to the national...
24 questions and answers on nanotechnology safety
Well I guess I set myself up good and proper - I should have realized that in asking people for their questions on nanotechnology safety last week, they would actually want answers! Having failed miserably to compile a catalog of websites that provide clear and...
Nanotechnology safety: We’ve got the answers, now what was the question?
Last Friday I posted 24 questions on nanotechnology safety provided by folks on Twitter and FaceBook, in a naive attempt to see if people could find matching answers on the web. Predictably perhaps, there weren't too many responses. This wasn't too surprising - I'm...
Twenty nanotechnology safety questions in search of answers
I should warn you in advance - this is an interactive blog - there's something I want from you! I have a question - where do ordinary people go to get information on nanotechnology safety? Feeling a little lazy I thought I would get you - the loyal 2020 Science...
Nanotechnology researchers at sea when it comes to safety
If you ever wanted proof that the nanotechnology research community is floundering when it comes to safe working practices, look no further than a paper just published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. The paper, written by researchers at the Nanoscience...
Davos 2010 wrapup – inspired by youth
Well, I've survived my first "Davos" and lived to tell the tale. I feel I should write about how profoundly important and influential these meetings are (and without a doubt, they are). But it's two o'clock in the morning, and I wanted to wrap up this blog series...
Getting from A to B: Technology innovation, global challenges and the Davos process
There's been something of a theme running through my day at The World Economic Forum Meeting in Davos today - getting from A to B. The "A" in this case is technology innovation, and the "B" the problems we hope it will solve - the big ones like world hunger and...
Owning the carbon cycle
This evening I was invited to talk to a group of industry leaders on alternative solutions to the "carbon" problem at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos. The brief was to be one of three “firestarters” – a bit of a dangerous one if you ask me. Given...
Davos 2010 – first impressions
Having just got back to the hotel at some unseemly hour (at least according to my body clock) from the first full day of meetings at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, I'm trying my best to be disciplined and write some of my impressions up. As it's late,...