China overtakes the USA in scientific research in 2013

[ScienceRocks]

China overtakes the USA in scientific research in 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12885271

In terms of scientific output, China had been closing the gap between it and the developed world for several years. Thousands of new research papers were being published each year at an accelerating rate, while millions more students were entering universities as the country became more developed. At the same time, the United States had seen a steep drop in its own scientific and technological research. In 2004, China passed the United Kingdom, becoming second in terms of academic studies. The gap finally closes in 2013, as even the USA falls behind China

China is on course to overtake the US in scientific output possibly as soon as 2013 - far earlier than expected.

That is the conclusion of a major new study by the Royal Society, the UK's national science academy.

The country that invented the compass, gunpowder, paper and printing is set for a globally important comeback.

An analysis of published research - one of the key measures of scientific effort - reveals an "especially striking" rise by Chinese science.

The study, Knowledge, Networks and Nations, charts the challenge to the traditional dominance of the United States, Europe and Japan.

The figures are based on the papers published in recognised international journals listed by the Scopus service of the publishers Elsevier.

In 1996, the first year of the analysis, the US published 292,513 papers - more than 10 times China's 25,474.

By 2008, the US total had increased very slightly to 316,317 while China's had surged more than seven-fold to 184,080.

Previous estimates for the rate of expansion of Chinese science had suggested that China might overtake the US sometime after 2020.

But this study shows that China, after displacing the UK as the world's second leading producer of research, could go on to overtake America in as little as two years' time.

"Projections vary, but a simple linear interpretation of Elsevier's publishing data suggests that this could take place as early as 2013," it says.

This is a huge blow to America's lead. America needs to pull out of the middle east and beef up our technological and scientific sector. This is deadly serious as we can't maintain the most advance military on earth over china if they get the edge.

 

[uscitizen]

We have a lead in something besides military spending?

 

[ScienceRocks]

We're about ready to lose that. We can thank Obama...He also crapped away our economic competitiveness from first to seventh and credit rating.

There's never been a president that has fucked this country so much.

 

[uscitizen]

Whatdaya mean? Romney is gonna win isn't he?

If you are speaking of sequestration, that came out of congress.
Even with sequestration we will still outspend anyone else on military spending.

 

[Mad Scientist]

We have a lead in something besides military spending?

The Military Industrial Complex controls this country, that's why we're in the Middle East.

 

[konradv]

Obama was the one talking about research. He can't do anything about it, if we return him a Republican Congress. To get the country going again we need to stimulate education, research and infrastructure. Don't expect Romney to do anything. He's just going to be a puppet for his Congressional masters.

 

[flacaltenn]

Congress has no real role in this other than to quit catering to the LARGE (too big to fail) and start getting the fuck out of the way of the SMALL new high tech ventures.

That means converting wasted subsidies, loans, and tax breaks to their PRINCIPAL FED responsibilities and reserving a small portion of the diff for TRUE RESEARCH and advanced R&D..

Can't afford to have an army of compliance officers, accountants and lawyers as an initial expense part of a serious Tech start-up..