Science Education:Themes for the Next 50 Years

Anthony Townsend I Research Director

INSTITUTE FOR THE FUTUREMathScience Innovation Forum

Richmond, Virginia

May 1, 2009

© 2006, 2009 Institute for the Future. All rights reserved.

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where we started

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map 1.0

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map 2.0

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S&T horizon map: 2005–2055

insert final S&T map

Themes for the Next 50 Years

• Mathematical World

• Intentional Biology

• Transdisciplinarity

• The Extended Self

• Science In Place

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mathematical world

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three waves of digital technology

Source: Institute for the Future

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explosion of sensors

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zillionics

Unrelenting rivers of sensory data will flow day and night from zillions of sources.

—Kevin Kelly

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decoding patterns

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math becomes invisible

In 2050, 99% of computational cycles will be devoted to one task—grinding combinatorics.

–Jim Herriot, the Bios Group

Painting by Andreas Gursky, 99 Cent, 1999

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simulation: new literacy

• Visuals

• Multimedia

• Tactile

• Auditory

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simulation: enterprise

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the next curve:

Source: Institute for the Future

sensemaking

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intentional biology

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mother nature has a collaborator

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gene jockeying

The costs of DNA sequencing and synthesizing are dropping

Source: Carlson, Rob. Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, and Science

Volume 1, Number 3, August 2003.

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programmable life

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synthetic biology

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nature’s nanotech

Biology is the nanotechnology

that works.

—Tom Knight, MIT

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nanobiotechnology

Source: Ron Fearing, UC Berkeley

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personalized medicine

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transdisciplinarity

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Source: http://www.hent.org/hent/hentnews/trans3.gif

transdisciplinarity

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democratized innovation

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from cloistered specialists to global networks of innovation

grid physics network

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cultivating amateurs

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new publishing forums

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extended self

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Ritalin abuse among u.s. teens, 2004

Source: University of Michigan Institute for Social Research

hacking our biology

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hacking our biology

personal genome analysis

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metabolomics

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embracing our cyborg selves

Microsoft’s SenseCam

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jacking in

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extra sensory perception

magnetic fingers

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the quantifed self

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science in place

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science 2.0: research meets the social web

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lightweight innovation

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From…

Internal

Centralized

Corporate Labs

To…• Venture funds & start-ups• Knowledge spot markets• Contract labs• IP shops• Consumer co-creation• & more…

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innovation and learning happen anywhere

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but more of it is ad hoc f2f

BioBarCamp @ IFTF

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future spaces: co-working

La Cantine, Paris

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future spaces: disposable labs

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future spaces: MIT’s Stata Center

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K-12 in the regional knowledge ecosystem

Key Themes for the Next 50 Years

• Mathematical World

• Intentional Biology

• Transdisciplinarity

• The Extended Self

• Science In Place

Full map and report available at

http://tinyurl.com/iftf50

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