Science and the Future with Dr. Andrew Maynard

The LIUniverse with Dr. Charles Liu

How does the science of today lead us into the future we’ve imagined? To find out, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome scientist, futurist and podcaster Andrew Maynard, PhD from Arizona State University. Dr. Maynard’s career has taken him from physicist to futurist, with sojourns in risk analysis, nanotechnology, synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, and of course, science communication.

To begin, we travel back to Andrew’s early days studying aerosol physics, using electron microscopy to analyze minute airborne particles… like asbestos fibers. And, given the pandemic we’ve all been living through, it’s not surprising that Chuck, Allen and Andrew end up discussing the airborne particle on everyone’s mind these days: the COVID-19 virus. You’ll find out exactly how big nanoparticles are: 10,000 times thinner than a human hair!

Andrew is also a futurist, and we slide right into a discussion of nanobots, and why man-made mechanical nanobots are unlikely – the physics just don’t work at this scale – but biological molecules that behave like microscopic machines are at work right now inside each and every one of us.

Our first question comes from Stacey Severn, who is the Community Manager for The LIUniverse and a serious science fiction fan. She asks, “How plausible is it for the nanites described in “Star Trek: They Next Generation” to become real? Andrew relates the story of scientist Eric Drexler, who wrote a book called “Engines of Nature” that speculated on the possibility of creating nanites. Unfortunately, physics at the nano scale works very differently than at larger sizes.

Moving on, Chuck asks about She-Hulk, who became a green superpowered being through a blood transfusion from the Incredible Hulk. Could a transfusion cause a systemic change to a living being? Surprisingly, in principal, it’s possible. We look at gene editing using CRISPR and creating gene drives, where you can change the genetic makeup of a whole species like malaria-bearing mosquitoes.

What about finding extra-terrestrial life? Andrew puts on his risk-analysis hat to look at the possibility, and the potential risks to humanity. Andrew explains why he’s not really worried about alien diseases, but much more concerned about the hypothesis of contacting an advanced species – and not for the reasons you might expect. (Hint: we’re the danger, not the advanced, evolved aliens!)

Our next question comes from a fan named Benjy and is also related to Star Trek: Will we ever have transporter technology that can move living creatures from one place to another. We look at the digitization of information, 3-D printing, DNA replication, and the similarities to and differences from transporter technology.

Finally, Chuck asks Andrew about science communication and how to become successful on YouTube as an academic. Despite the fact that Andrew describes himself as having “no talent and no time” he started his own YouTube channel called Risk Bites, which has racked up 4 million views across all his videos, which isn’t bad for an academic channel. The key: staying focused on empowering other people to do really cool stuff.

If you’d like to know more about Andrew, check out the Mission Interplanetary podcast at ASU he co-hosts here: https://missioninterplanetary.com/.

We hope you enjoy this episode of The LIUniverse, and, if you do, please support us on Patreon.

Credits for Images Used in this Episode:
– Biomolecules translating DNA into a protein – Bensaccount at en.wikipedia, CC-BY 3.0
– Animation of CRISPR editing a gene – UC Berkeley, Video by Roxanne Makasdjian and Stephen McNally, Additional footage provided by Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) and Ella Maru Studio, CC-BY 2.5
– Timelapse of a 3D printer – RepRapPro, CC-BY 3.0