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
Nanotechnology and the G20 emergency summit
As world leaders congregate in Washington DC this weekend for the G20 summit on the global financial crisis, discussions will be informed in part by what has been described as the “biggest brainstorming on the global agenda that has ever taken place.” I mention this...
Synthetic biology: Lessons from synthetic chemistry
Looking back to chart a course to the future This coming lunchtime*, former New York Times columnist Denise Caruso will discuss the promise and pit-falls of synthetic biology with Center for American Progress senior fellow and former Washington Post science reporter...
Taking a fresh look at nanomaterials
The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution report on Novel Materials Imagine for one naïve moment that we have a pretty good handle on managing the environmental impact of existing manufactured “stuff”. Then someone comes along and invents some “new stuff” that...
Science under an Obama Administration
Nobel Laureate Sir Paul Nurse on his hopes for the future Amidst intensifying discussions over what the incoming Obama administration will mean for science and technology, an opinion piece in today’s Telegraph caught my eye this morning. Written by Sir Paul...
Why clever people believe stupid things
Making sense of scientific information While I was in the UK recently, I picked up a copy of Ben Goldacre’s book Bad Science on a tip from a friend. Ben is a medical doctor and writer for The Guardian newspaper—and a vociferous crusader of what he sees as the misuse...
Nanotechnology and cosmetics
UK Consumer Organization Which? Releases New Report Who needs an emerging technologies blog when you have The Daily Mail? For those of you that missed it, Wednesday’s on-line issue of the British tabloid newspaper highlighted “The beauty creams with nanoparticles...
Five good books
Obama and science - Essential bed-time reading for the next Administration Finally, the campaigning is over, everyone knows more about fruit flies than they ever wanted to (thank you Sarah Palin), and on an historic day America has “voted for change.” As the country...
Resolving the carbon nanotube identity crisis
Twelve months ago today I held a bag of multi-walled carbon nanotubes up before a hearing of the U.S. House Science Committee. I wanted to emphasize the discrepancy between the current state of the science on carbon nanotubes, and a tendency to classify this...
Five slightly harder pieces—underpinning sound science policy
With just over a week to go before the 2008 US presidential election, there’s no shortage of opinions floating around on the key science and technology-related challenges facing an incoming Obama or McCain administration. But while advice swirls around issues like...
Shaking up the nano-food debate
Is the RBC Life Sciences® nanotechnology product Slim Shake approved for use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)? According to the BBC Radio 4 science program Frontiers—broadcast on Monday evening—there may be some doubt. But I get ahead of myself. The...