New shuttle Atlantis exhibit gives close-up look at space flight

This display of antiques is about as close as any American will get to real science. While the US wallows in its past, TOP500 announced that China has the world’s fastest supercomputer, the Tianhe-2, at a speed of 33.86 petaflops, that is in China’s National University of Defense Technology. China is testing its Baidu GPS system, and it has 30 of its 48 satellites, 62.5%, in orbit. China has astronauts that China launched into orbit performing science experiments on its own module of a space station that China also launched into orbit. China is sending its submersible into global ocean depths to map them, take photographs, and capture specimens of marine plants and creatures from the bottoms of the oceans for detailed study. From orbit, a Chinese astronaut presented a lecture to over 60 million Chinese students in over 80,000 schools about scientific experiments in space, and she answered questions from some students.

50% of Chinese major in science, engineering, and technology compared to 13% in the US. Based on differences in populations, China trains 17 times as many students in the profit making professions as the US. Recent international tests showed Chinese students scored 1st and 1st in math and science. Hong Kong tested separately and scored 3rd and 3rd. The US scored 31st in math and 23rd in science. In 2011, Premier Wen Jiabao told the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology that there would be “freedom and democracy in academic pursuits,” so the West’s democratic arguments for technological development is not valid. When I studied for my Phd in engineering with a focus on metallurgy in Texas, I did not hold an election to determine the chemical composition of alloys. I did not create a community organization and hold a discussion to determine the tensile strength of any alloy.

My entire point is that the US lead is diminishing because the US no longer does enough of the basic work in science, and China is passing the US as it does in its economy. Since science is a major component in developing the technological marvels that people buy, the US must devote more to science if it wants to retain its economic and technological leadership. Unfortunately, this costs money, and China appears willing to devote more of the financial resources needed for this development. However, one other possibility exists if the US is willing to cooperate with China on various developments and share the progress achieved. Otherwise, China will become the sole, dominant superpower, and the US will continue to fall behind.