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
Dear Elon Musk: Your dazzling Mars plan overlooks some big nontechnical hurdles
Elon Musk has a plan, and it’s about as audacious as they come. Not content with living on our pale blue dot, Musk and his company SpaceX want to colonize Mars, fast. They say they’ll send a duo of supply ships to the red planet within five years. By 2024, they’re...
These scientist-communicators deserve your attention!
On April 22 2017, over a million people marched for science around the world. They came for many reasons -- to celebrate science; to soak up the vibe; to protest a growing distain for evidence-based decisions within society; to say they'd been there. But if there was...
Have spacesuit, will travel?
This week, Elon Musk gave the world a sneak-peek of the new SpaceX space suit on Instagram. I was passingly intrigued when I saw it. But then came the request from Fortune.com to write an article tying in the new suit to the future of space tourism ... First picture...
Ten reasons why more scientists should be on YouTube
A couple of weeks ago I tweeted ten reasons I think more scientists should be on YouTube. I know it’s hard & takes time, but there are lots of reasons why scientists should enter this #scivid contest! https://t.co/P5HWHKRFxe pic.twitter.com/Fb4x5ANJQ3 — Andrew...
2017 Science Showcase Video Contest
Can researchers make awesome science communication videos? To find out (and, quite honestly, to encourage scientists to show us what they can do!), we're running a science video competition this year on the YouTube channel Science Showcase. Entries are being accepted...
Will driving your own car one day be as socially unacceptable as smoking in public?
In 2014, over 32,000 people were killed in car crashes in the U.S. In 2012, more than two million Americans visited the emergency room as a result of car crashes. And an estimated 94 percent of the crashes that cause these injuries and fatalities are attributable to...
Taking on the complex ethics of emerging brain technologies
Imagine infusing thousands of wireless devices into your brain, and using them to both monitor its activity and directly influence its actions. It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, and for the moment it still is – but possibly not for long. Brain research is...
Navigating the nanotechnology risk landscape – pointers for early career scientists
Navigating the risk landscape that surrounds nanotechnology development can be a daunting task – especially if you are an early career researcher just getting started in the field. There are plenty of studies and speculations around what might – or might not – be...
A fifth grader (and up) introduction to nanotechnology
The latest video from Risk Bites takes a four minute dive into what nanotechnology is, and why it's important. It was created as a primer for 5th graders - which probably means that there'll be a lot of 5th graders at heart watching it! It also takes a somewhat less...
Elon Musk’s new master plan will take more than advanced tech to pull off
Elon Musk – CEO of Tesla Motors – has just revealed the second part of his master plan for the company. And it’s a doozy. Not content with producing sleek electric cars (which to be fair, was only ever a stepping stone to greater things), Musk wants to fundamentally...