Science and Engineering Indicators 2010 released by US National Science Board (NSB), Jan15.

US lead in Science and engineering could be "cracking-up" according to NSB SEI 2010 Committee Member J-Marie Griffiths.

Intellectual research outputs-No. of Publications
"One key indicator: intellectual research outputs. "While the U.S. continues to lead the world in research publications, China has become the second most prolific contributor." China's rapidly developing science base now produces 8 percent of the world's research publications, up from its just 2 percent of the world's share in 1995, when it ranked 14th." said Griffiths.

The Important of "R&D and R&D Intensity" according to NSB's SEI Committee Chairman Lou Lanzerotti, R&D is a major driver of innovation, which builds on new knowledge and technologies, contributes to national competitiveness and furthers social welfare. R&D expenditures indicate the priority given to advancing science and technology (S&T) relative to other national goals.

In terms of R&D expenditures as a share of economic output, while Japan has surpassed the U.S. for quite some time, South Korea is now in the lead--ahead of the U.S. and Japan.

Over the past decade, R&D intensity--how much of a country's economic activity or gross domestic product is expended on R&D--has grown considerably in Asia, while remaining steady in the U.S. Annual growth of R&D expenditures in the U.S. averaged 5 to 6 percent while in Asia, it has skyrocketed. In some Asian countries, R&D growth rate is two, three, even four, times that of the U.S.

Patent "Stat-us quo" showing crack nucleation and early stages of growth
"Patents are another measure of valuable contributions to knowledge and inventions to societies. Inventors from around the globe seek patent protection in the U.S. U.S. patents awarded to foreign inventors offer a broad indication of the distribution of inventive activity around the world. While inventors in the U.S., the European Union (EU) and Japan produce almost all of these patents, and U.S. patenting by Chinese and Indian inventors. remains modest, the number of patents earned by Asian inventors is on the rise, driven by activity in Taiwan and South Korea," notes Griffiths.

Foresight-Hindsight
Calling SEI a "biennial production and a daily source of pride for the National Science Foundation(NSF) Director Arden L. Bement, Jr., characterized the work as a guide to the future. "It is not just where we stand; it's about where we're heading," he said, quoting 19th century British scientist Lord Kelvin, "'If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.'"

References
1. Original fuller account from ASM_Materials Science community
2.Science and Engineering Indicators 2010, and the Digest

Conversations-on-Innovations: Apologies to IE users

Conversations-on-Innovations: Apologies to IE users

Video Lectures

Be sure to visit this top Video Lectures site. , a true centre of excellence in Learning, online and free to all, an open University for students of post high school, graduate, and post grad. Make it one of your Life-Long Centres of Education.

A full range of subject matter both at basic elementary university and advanced level lectures and courses are freely available.

The link has been added to the side bar "Materials Science & Eng. Free Online Journals-Resources."

Science, Technology, and Society and much more @ MIT OPEN COURSES-Free online

Science, Technology, and Society and much more @ MIT OPEN COURSES-Free online

This was a timely find via twitter search on "Materials Science".

On the principle of "Don't keep a good thing to you" I rushed to share this new and easy to reference presentation of MIT OPEN COURSES-(ie. Free online).

The MIT site spans the full scientific and cultural field an as such may prove to be an indispensable continuous learning tool for students and perhaps even more so for professional Materials Scientists, Technologists and Engineers since their careers evolve and their responsibilities increase in our complex and information abundant world.

An easey access link has been added to Materials Science Free online Resources scroll down the vertical side bar menu.

By a happy coincidence, it so happens that I am currently reading the significance of technology and entreprise in The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain by Roland Marx in French (La revolution industrielle en Grande Bretagne Ed Armand Colin). I expect to find more and more parallels with the current day Industrial and Economic situations (Hindsights-Foresights the focus of my newer management pages This-Above-All

Reference (en référence à ): Free Online MIT Course Materials | Science, Technology, and Society | MIT OpenCourseWare (afficher sur-read on- Google Sidewiki)

Strong materials: Twin strength : featured highlight : NPG Asia Materials

Strong materials: Twin strength : featured highlight : NPG Asia Materials

Water repellent properties, Biomimicry, Self Assembling Molecules, Network of micro- nanowires, excellent imagery in "Nanomaterials: Cu Water Strider

Charles Mackintosh 1766-1843 finally thwarted by modern science and scientists whose work continues to stir our imagination.

Water repellent properties, Biomimicry, Self assembling molecules, Network of micro- and nanowires-Link to Resources, excellent imagery, it’s all in this short news article from Nature Asia-Pacific (NPG Asia Mater)

The plot.
Chinese scientists have created an artificial water strider to show off the remarkable water-repelling properties of a new material.

Biomimicry

We learn of Water Striders, insects that can float on the surface of a pond due to the microscopic hairs that coat their legs. These hairs trap tiny bubbles of air, giving them enough buoyancy to skim over water.

Self assembling molecules form a network of micro- and nanowires, a simple process!

Wenping Hu, Lei Jiang and colleagues at the Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences1, have now mimicked the insect with the help of an anthracene-based molecule. The scientists made their water-repelling films by simply dropping a solution of the molecule onto a glass plate. As the solvent evaporated, the molecules self-assembled into a network of micro- and nanowires.

Scientific principles made simple
The molecule itself is not particularly water-repellent, since it contains two cyano (CN) groups that can form weak bonds with water. [lower the surface tension of water] But when the molecules are stacked into a wire, these cyano groups are turned inwards, leaving the water-repelling parts of the molecule facing outwards. The team found that water beaded into near-spherical droplets on top of the film (Fig.1 images), and that the wires had a rough surface that was ideal for trapping air bubbles.

These two properties allowed the team to create an artificial Water Strider using copper foil and wires for its body and legs. Although it was roughly the same size as a real water strider, at 260 milligrams it weighed at least 26 times as much.

When the anthracene derivative was coated onto the legs, the strider could stand on water without sinking (Fig. 1-images). By loading the strider with more copper foil, the scientists showed that just a milligram of the anthracene molecule was enough to support more than 300 times as much copper. Further experiments showed that the coating increased the supporting force of the leg by at least 2.4 times.
The scientists hope that their inexpensive and simple technique for making water-repelling films could be applied in a variety of ways, including helping to create water-walking robots.

Post Scriptum-comment and further references

1. Environmental pollution can modify the surface tension of water Woodrow Wilson Foundation Leadership Programme for Teachers Princeton Faculty

2. Surface Tension on Hyperphysics' Site

3. Nano Networks more…

4. Images more science and engineering

with reference to : Nanomaterials: Artificial water strider: Reviews : NPG Asia Materials (afficher sur Google Sidewiki

Materials Technology@TMS: Web-Link Information

Materials Technology@TMS is a sister organisation of my life-long professional Materials Institute, The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) both house collaborative websites designed to be a professional knowledge networks.

Online technical communities have been developed to allow materials professionals from all over the world to network, share knowledge, and utilize resources. As such, you are welcome to add the power of Materials Technology@TMS to your site's pages.

"Developed and managed by The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society, Materials Technology@TMS is the on-line technical community environment developed by and for materials scientists and engineers. Here, materials professionals can network, share knowledge, and utilize resources in technology-specific communities through discussion boards, databases, research, articles, proceedings, newswires, and other informational tools."

NB. IOM3's Materials World"> can also be followed on Twitter. More? Get news by joining for free Materials Twibes by Richard Cooper IOM3's webmaster.

These links and more may be accessed on the RHS Menu. under the heading "Materials Science & Eng. Free Online Journals-Resources"

European professionals may opt to join both societies via IOM3 with eTMS at a benificial rate.