juicebox

oahtpham:

jtotheizzoe:

President Obama presents his State of the Union address tonight. At RealClearScience, Alex Berezow and Ross Pomeroy offer these thoughts in advance:

Despite the frequently expressed perception that the U.S. is declining in the world, in reality our scientists continue to perform the world’s most cutting-edge research. Just this past year, an American shared the Nobel Prize in medicine for unraveling exquisite details about the immune system. Three Americans were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for overturning conventional wisdom about the fundamental nature of ouruniverse.

For what it’s worth, two Americans were even awarded the Nobel Prize in economics.

U.S. researchers continue to publish more papers than their foreign colleagues in the most influential science journals. And 31 of the top 100 universities in the world are found in the United States.

If we continue to put forth the type of effort displayed in the 20th century, then the 21st century will again be an American century.

But, we have a lot of work to do, and many challenges to overcome.

They highlight economic recovery, investing public and private spaceflight, energy innovation, improving education and science literacy, and using science to connect to the developing world (especially using science and innovation to support democracy and independence in the Arab world).

Thoughts?

What would you add? (besides demanding a hoverboard for every citizen)

It’s a shame that while we may have the most cutting-edge technology and research, accessibility prevents any of these discoveries from making the most impact. We may excel in our quality of science, but it means nothing when it fails to relay the same quality to the people. So yes - the U.S. is declining in the world and will continue to decline until it puts its people first. 

And FYI, I’m referring to our health care system.