http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/13/world/asia/13iht-educSide13.html?ref=science
In the past twenty years the Asia-Pacific region has jumped from contributing 13 percent of the global share of published science articles to an astounding 30 percent. The United States have had a slight drop in their percentage from 40 percent, twenty years ago to merely 28 percent. The large increase in published articles from Asia, shows the huge increase in funding in recent years which has helped it gain scientific prominence in the world today. The reason for this funding isn’t as much for the knowledge gained from the research, but rather for its contribution or ‘usefulness’ to the economy. United States Universities have always dominated the Jiao Tong Rankings, but Chinese Universties are starting to make their way onto that list, having their number jump from 16 in 2004, to 34 this year appearing on the list. The world is starting to put more of an influence on scientific research because of the direct effects it can have on daily life.
review by Max Boyd
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2 comments:
A well written aspect of your review is where you say that the funding to scientific research in Asia is for a quote on quote ‘usefulness’ to their economy. It’s like doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. I also appreciate the comparison of the American scientific scene with that of the Asian scientific scene; it shows a nice contrast between the two areas. The conclusion to your review helps us reflect on the true importance of scientific research because it does affect our daily lives. What if Philo Farnsworth wasn’t able to get funding for his electric television, would one of the worlds greatest inventions remained on his farm forever.
Something I would suggest is that you mention some of the quotes that were reported in the article in order to bring in some expert knowledge to your review. Another suggestion is that you replace the words ‘slight drop’ with ‘downward spiral into a vortex with glass shattering behind it’ because from 40% to 28% is quite a big drop.
This article and your review provide us with even more evidence that the twenty-first century belongs to China, just like the twentieth belonged to us and the 19th belonged to Britain.
Andrew Reichel
The NY Times article “In Worries About Sweeteners, Think of All Sugars,” was timely and well written. It was interesting to learn how the nutritional value of corn syrup is essentially the same as sugar. It is important to note that sugar is 16 percent of the calories Americans consume, which is a shocking 50 percent increase from thirty years ago. High sugar intake can lead to obesity and many other health problems. The posting was clearly and simply written, and it is important to note that the distinction between table sugar and corn sugar is in the processing.
I noticed that in the NY Times article, the experiments were performed on rats, which was fascinating, but was not included in this review. This should have been discussed in the blog. The discussion of the differences between cane sugar and corn syrup was too long and detailed.
Overall, the article was worthwhile to read. It is important to learn about the healthfulness of the food we eat, and it was interesting to learn about the different molecular structures of corn syrup and ordinary table sugar. However, the article did not address how to reduce these foods from our diet.
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