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
Labels of contention
Labeling – is there anything more contentious in the safe nanotech debate? Some are fearful that too much knowledge will confuse and worry muddle-headed consumers. Others can only see the marketing opportunities of a “nano-inside” label. Then you have the...
Synthetic biology and nanotechnology
The popular computer game “SimLife” allows users to create and manipulate virtual people. But what are the chances of us one day being able to do the same with real organisms: building new life-forms out of basic chemicals, so “SimLife” becomes “SynLife”? This week’s...
Nanotechnology and the God of Small Things
With apologies to Arundhati Roi for “borrowing” the title of her moving book, what—if anything—has nanotechnology got to do with religion? Barnaby Feder of the New York Times takes on this issue in his latest posting to the Bits blog: “There may not be a lot of...
Nanotechnology: The cause, the cure, and the spin-off product
What do Alzheimers and body armour have in common? The answer could lie in the structures formed when proteins self-assemble at the nanoscale. At the end of last year, The Daily Telegraph Science Editor Roger Highfield wrote in an article: “The protein linked with...
$7 billion on nanotech R&D, and what do we have to show for it?
In 2004, the US National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) had a strategy – and it was OK. But what has happened since then? Has progress been made against planned actions? What have been the major challenges to progress? Have effective solutions been found? And...
Nano’s silver lining is… Blue?
So you’ve developed an obsessive nano-silver Benny the Bear paw-chewing habit, and on the advice of your hairdresser, you’re quaffing silver nanoparticle suspensions by the pint. What do you get? Well, according to a story airing on CNN this week, what you get is…...
Benny the Bear, and the case of the disappearing nanoparticles
Let me introduce you to Benny the Bear. Benny is a rather cute cuddly toy sold by the U.S. company Pure Plushy—we met at a meeting of the U.S. Congressional Nanotech Caucus a few weeks back. His claim to fame is a resistance to moulds, mites and bacteria. To quote...
Drinking at the champagne bar of modern science
A trip through the newly refurbished St. Pancras station in London this week, and home to the widely-proclaimed “longest champagne bar in Europe”, prompted the following thought: At the champagne bar of modern science, are risk researchers the cappuccino drinkers...
Animating the small stuff
Are nanotechnology Grand Challenges too grand for you? Do Strategic Research Frameworks lead to you contemple a strategic withdrawal? Have you prioritized just one too many research needs? You are clearly in need of The Adventures of Nanoman—now available on...
Are we on a nanotechnology joyride?
Are we so caught up in the thrill of nanotechnology, that we are blind to future pitfalls? Are we having the new technology ride of our lives—with someone else’s future? Are we living for the nanotech moment, and leaving the consequences to others to deal with? In...