John Timmer — The global state of science John Timmer

US and Europe still science superpowers, but China is rising fast.

Ars Technica
The global state of science
John Timmer

Also

Asia Times
China on track to overtake US in R&D spending

John V. Walsh — China Closes the Innovation Gap

The headline reads, “The Rapid Rise of a Research Nation: China’s economic boom is mirrored by its similarly meteoric rise in high quality science.” This was not a headline in People’s Daily or China Daily but in the most prestigious of Western scientific publications, Nature.

The 38 pages, which follow that headline in a special Supplement to the journal Nature, tell us that China is now second in the world in high quality science publications and growing fast. This certainly contradicts the Western, dare I say racist, stereotype of the hardworking, but unimaginative, Asian drudge, dutifully churning out mounds of low-quality work.…

Back in the day, this was also said about Japan.

Consortium News
China Closes the Innovation Gap
John V. Walsh | former Professor of Physiology and Neuroscience at the University of Massachusetts Medical School

Department of Huh?

Surprising to find this biased conclusion reported on Alternet.

The legitimacy of acupuncture has been widely debated over the past several decades. While many swear by its healing powers, others, most notably medical researchers, say it does not work for anything, period.

A new study published in the journal Cancer confirms the latter view, suggesting that any relief acupuncture may bring, is the result of a placebo effect and no better than ‘sham version’ used in a breast cancer drug study, Health Finder reported.

Conversely see for example Acupuncture: Review and Analysis of Reports on Controlled Clinical Trials (2003; 87 pages)  at Essential Medicines and Health Products Information Portal — A World Health Organization resource, listing:

1) diseases, symptoms or conditions for which acupuncture has been proved-through controlled trials-to be an effective treatment;

2) diseases, symptoms or conditions for which the therapeutic effect of acupuncture has been shown but for which further proof is needed;

3) diseases, symptoms or conditions for which there are only individual controlled trials reporting some therapeutic effects, but for which acupuncture is worth trying because treatment by conventional and other therapies is difficult, and

4) diseases, symptoms or conditions for which acupuncture may be tried provided the practitioner has special modern medical knowledge and adequate monitoring equipment.

Moreover, there are many more listings under categories 1 and 2 than 3 and 4.

Seems to be another instance of orthodoxy marginalizing heterodoxy in the media?

Alternet
New Study Concludes Acupuncture Is Bogus—Sorry

Jodie Gummow