Where science and innovation are increasingly coming from

[Yugang]

I read an article in the Economist that I believe is worth highlighting here. The world is changing, and science is changing - partly under the radar and sometimes misunderstood. If somebody succeeds in engineering enzymes, like Rubisco for more efficient carbon capture and faster plant growth, the breakthroughs may not come from our well known labs.

China has become a scientific superpower

From plant biology to superconductor physics the country is at the cutting edge

www.economist.com

This graph shows the trend of "high impact papers", papers that by some objective and not easy to manipulate measure have a high impact on science, technology and economy. We see the rise of China, as compared to the trends of Europe and the US. As some of us are interested in progress in biology, agriculture and what we can learn from these for our planted tank hobby have a look at the right hand graph, and especially "Agricultural Science".



An interesting quote from the article:



Yes, according to a prestigious European plant-sciences journal, there are some months when half of the submissions can come from China.

Food for thought... (pun intended)

Note: Rather than derailing @sudiorca great thread, where we are now talking about Rubisco, I thought I should better post this in a separate thread.

 

[Zeus.]

The world is changing, and science is changing - partly under the radar and sometimes misunderstood. If somebody succeeds in engineering enzymes

Also driven by profit by multinationals and data is on file as company secrets. How long has the Tobacco companies known that tobacco is bad, how long have the sugar industry know that high intake of refined sugars is bad....... to name but two the list is big

 

[Yugang]

Also driven by profit by multinationals and data is on file as company secrets. How long has the Tobacco companies known that tobacco is bad, how long have the sugar industry know that high intake of refined sugars is bad....... to name but two the list is big

So true.

The other part is that it is often assumed that the economy has been globalised, and technology spreads across borders. Often it is not, and increasingly less so as trade barriers are used as defence. Try some of the best Chinese electric cars, and you may not want to go back to the Western equivalent. Hence the trade barier, to protect the market, reduce competition and have consumers unaware of the best on offer. Also Chinese companies have such a huge home market, which they know well, so they are less interested to invest and expand globally. I can say from experience that a lot is happening (AI applications, medical technology) that is effectively under the radar and not known / underestimated by western global competitors. It is only a matter of time for them to make their definitive move, with well tested technologies from the 1 billion consumers and protected home market.

 

[Art]

Thanks, @Yugang for posting this. It brings up thoughts and emotion for me.

We can certainly read these things and see the negatives associated with some practices that put up barriers and act to limit human growth as a species. I choose to focus on hope and positivity and the human spirit that these barriers can’t stop our inherent need to progress. And, whether we like it or not, we are all human and that is what matters.

I hope the Internet will continue to be the democratizing and equalizing force it has been. Look at our humble, little hobby. We have people from all regions of the world, all religions, all political inclinations, all cultures sharing information openly to help a fellow human have a beautiful planted aquarium. I hope our countries work through the distrust and share information like we do to better mankind. I realize I’m a bit nieve but I like it that way.

In the meantime, my mind will be focused on our hobby and growing it globally.