China To Overtake US In Science In Two Years 362
An anonymous reader writes "China is set to overtake America in scientific output as soon as 2013 — far earlier than expected. Chinese research spending has grown by 20% per year since 1999, now reaching over $100bn, and as many as 1.5 million science and engineering students graduated from Chinese universities in 2006. 'I think this is positive, of great benefit, though some might see it as a threat and it does serve as a wake-up call for us not to become complacent,' said Professor Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith. However, the report points out that a growing volume of research publications does not necessarily mean an increase in quality."
this is the thing that bothers me (Score:5, Insightful)
'I think this is positive, of great benefit, though some might see it as a threat and it does serve as a wake-up call for us not to become complacent,' said Professor Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith
Science is absolutely not a competition. Was Argentina harmed because the US went to the moon? Was Russia harmed when penicillin was discovered? No, not at all. China's increased scientific research is a benefit to all of us.
The only way you could possibly twist this into a bad thing is if you think China is going to become a military power and try to take over the world. But it's a LONG logical stretch between "greater scientific spending" and "army capable of conquering the rest of the world." So let's cheer up a little and not look at everything through the lens of fear. This is great!
no suprise (Score:1, Insightful)
Good (Score:5, Insightful)
A step rise in Chinese research - and in Indian, and other newly developed countries - means more total research happening around the world. More research and more results is a win for everyone.
In addition, the spread of research efforts mean that more avenues are explored, and that progress is not as dependent on the temporary political and scientific winds in any particular country or region.
Woohoo! (Score:5, Insightful)
Awesome. Then we can just copy their IP for a change.
Aww, go ahead and mod me troll. You know it's true.
Re:no suprise (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Is that so? (Score:5, Insightful)
I worked in one of those. It wasn't the superior research skills of the Chinese, it was racism. Once, it was a balance of lots of nationalities, then they hired someone who only hired Chinese.
There were a lot of people who did really good work there, certainly including the Chinese members, but any time you have a top notch place composed entirely of one nationality, you know it's not merit driving hiring. And yes, I'd say that for an all caucasian crew as well.
Re:Civ4 (Score:5, Insightful)
America already has the Library of Congress, which increases scientific output by 50% in all cities. There are just too many entertainers, some of which should be converted to scientists. That should be pretty obvious to most Civ players, I hope.
dumb and dumber (Score:4, Insightful)
This article is dumb for (at least) two reasons:
Dumb: As noted in the slashdot summary, quantity of papers isn't the same as quality. I have published physics papers in refereed journals, and my experience is that most scientific papers are correct but utterly inconsequential. They matter to the people who published them, because those people are desperate to get permanent jobs. Period.
Dumber: It's not a nuclear arms race, it's scientific research. By the (lame) metric of quantity of papers, the U.S. has increased its "output," while China has increased its "output" as well (and at a greater rate). Why is this a bad thing? Scientific progress enriches everyone.
I hope ... (Score:3, Insightful)
When the US is a third-rate, has-been country with no scientific or technological leadership in the world, the irony will be that it wasn't the Communists or terrorists that did us in ... it was all of those so-called America-loving conservatives who reward ignorance and shun scientific knowledge, who defund scientific research and agencies, who cut education and kill financial aide for college students, who attack scientists for daring to contradict the ideology with their elitist "facts." It will have been these people who damned our country.
Not enough funding... (Score:4, Insightful)
With people complaining about STEM brain drain [slashdot.org] due to lack of science funding from the government, and STEM grads jumping into the luscious field of finance [slashdot.org], what do you expect?
Technology != Science (Score:5, Insightful)
The "Space Race" was the single greatest time in scientific advancement in history.
Not really - the space race was more about technology than science. Scientifically the problem was solved: there was no problem calculating the physics involved to go to the Moon - the problem was developing the technology capable of doing so. It was a fantastic motivator for science and remains one of mankind's shining achievements but was really the result of applying science rather than discovering new science.
Re:Or US tax code encourages foreign R&D (Score:2, Insightful)
You're an idiot. If your logic were even remotely accurate, then Europe would be the last in the pack as far as R&D goes. Guess what? They're not.
Re:I hope ... (Score:4, Insightful)
They'll be sure to hang the liberals for it.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
You know a country is leading ... (Score:3, Insightful)
... in scientific research when you see the following:
None of these apply to China yet, and I don't think it happen in 10 years, let alone 2 years. So, if I were an American policy maker, I'm not gonna to freak out yet.
Re:I hope ... (Score:2, Insightful)
This is what poses as +5 insightful on /., an AC screed against conservatives? Does Soros own /. now, too?
You DO realize that it was conservative, deeply religious people that BUILT this country - the industry, the infrastructure, the economy? It was their hard work, their dollars, their effort that has produced anything of value. The effete intellectuals pretty much just sat around and whined about how bad everything is/was.
No, I think when the US is a downtrodden 3rd-rate country, people are going to wonder why the Left built a massive, overwhelming government that stole from the productive and handed it all to the non-productive. Self-evidently an economically suicidal plan.
Perhaps if scientific research is worthwhile, someone will INVEST in it, rather than needing to steal tax dollars to fund the study of the mating strategies of violets?
Perhaps tax dollars taken from the public should be put to positive use beyond funding giant government agencies that perform little to no useful function? (Dept of Energy, Dept of Education)
Perhaps not everyone needs to go to college? And if you want to go, rather than making Joe and Joanne Public help pay for your lazy ass you could SAVE UP YOUR OWN MONEY and pay your own way. If you don't have enough, perhaps you could work hard and save enough for your kids to go? It's amusingly naive that you think it's strange that people are reluctant to give their dollars to you, so you can go to school.
And insofar as politicians contradicting scientists? I'm glad the Left doesn't do that!...oh wait: http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/11/10/10greenwire-white-house-changed-report-implying-experts-su-96097.html [nytimes.com]