Economics

New university rankings have upended the world:  Chinese universities hold 6 of top 10 spots
New university rankings have upended the world: Chinese universities hold 6 of top 10 spots Kwabena Ofori Osei 57 Views • 2 years ago

The Leiden University Center for Science and Technology Studies CWTS group has new university rankings that add open-data sources to the traditional list of top journals, which were previously the standard.

Common university ranking systems carefully consider research reputation and scholarship, including real-world impact and application. But tens of thousands of scientific and engineering journals are omitted by Western university ranking systems, especially those not written in the English language.

Simply by including the journals in the OpenAlex databases, Chinese universities vault to the top of global rankings for research universities, snagging six of the top nine spots, and ten of the top 20.

Resources and links:

Forbes, China Used More Concrete In 3 Years Than The U.S. Used In The Entire 20th Century [Infographic]
https://www.forbes.com/sites/n....iallmccarthy/2014/12

Nature, Modernizing cement manufacturing in China leads to substantial environmental gains
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00579-3

Graphic, China HSR network since 2008
https://www.reddit.com/r/Urban....ism/comments/1ceda02

CNN, High speed trains are racing across the world. But not in America
https://www.cnn.com/travel/art....icle/high-speed-rail

Sample English-language abstracts of Chinese scholarship in high-speed rail:
Nature, High-speed rail new towns and their impacts on urban sustainable development: a spatial analysis based on satellite remote sensing data
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-024-03337-2

Nature, The impacts of high-speed railway on environmental sustainability: quasi-experimental evidence from China
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-023-02135-6

Nature, The impact of high-speed rail on SO2 emissions—based on spatial difference-in-differences analysis
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-49853-0

High-Speed Rail and Energy Productivity: Evidence from China
https://journals.sagepub.com/d....oi/10.5547/01956574.

Nature, How does the opening of high-speed rail drive energy restructuring? New micro evidence from China
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-024-02622-4

Forbes, A Look Inside Shenzhen's High-Tech Empire
https://www.forbes.com/sites/w....adeshepard/2016/07/1

China’s universities just grabbed 6 of the top 10 spots in one worldwide science ranking – without changing a thing
https://theconversation.com/ch....inas-universities-ju

Methodologies for CWTS Leiden Global University Rankings:
https://open.leidenranking.com..../#:~:text=The%20Leid
and https://www.universiteitleiden.....nl/en/news/2024/01/

Leiden Rankings for 2024
https://www.leidenranking.com/

Closing scene, Hong Kong

China is first to create nuclear fusion plasma, and is way ahead in the most important race of all
China is first to create nuclear fusion plasma, and is way ahead in the most important race of all Kwabena Ofori Osei 29 Views • 2 years ago

Fusion power is the "Holy Grail" of energy, and the first country to successful deploy fusion power at scale will upend the economic order of the world.

In under two decades, China's nuclear power industry went from functionally zero, to at least fifteen years ahead of the United States in most metrics. China now leads the global field in research, and in the number and types of reactors currently under construction. China's supply chain dominance also ensures that virtually all the components and parts are domestically sourced.

Last month, a Shanghai company announced a successful test of their newest fusion reactor, and created plasma for the first time. Their reactor is much smaller than Western types, and can be built in under 4 years, instead of 30, and for just 5% of the cost of European or American designs.

China's national plans call for rollouts of fusion reactor prototypes by 2035, and economy-wide installations by 2050. If China meets these targets, while the United States and Europe are still racing to catch up, the industrial and economic advantages to China may be irreversible and permanent.

Resources and links:

Power Technology, The US is 15 years behind China in nuclear power - report
https://www.power-technology.c....om/news/the-us-is-15

How Innovative Is China in Nuclear Power?
https://itif.org/publications/....2024/06/17/how-innov

SCMP, How China’s huge industrial supply chain may lead to ‘artificial sun’ via nuclear fusion
https://www.scmp.com/news/chin....a/science/article/32

Company website, Energy Singularity
https://www.energysingularity.cn/en/technology/

China’s Energy Singularity produces first net energy positive fusion reaction
https://www.intellinews.com/ch....ina-s-energy-singula

Oil Price, China Has Just Gained First-Mover Advantage In Nuclear Fusion
https://oilprice.com/Alternati....ve-Energy/Nuclear-Po

Investopedia, First Mover Advantage
https://www.investopedia.com/t....erms/f/firstmover.as

Closing scene, The Bund, Shanghai

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