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China is pulling ahead

https://www.science.org/content/article/china-now-tops-u-s-r-d-spending-one-key-measure

China now tops the U.S. in R&D spending by one key measure

China reached long expected milestone in 2024.

Still, the OECD analysis suggests China has hit “a significant milestone,” one “in a series of indicators showing China’s increasing strength as a world scientific superpower, if not the world superpower,” says Caroline Wagner, a science policy scholar at Ohio State University. She notes that in 2022, China edged out the U.S. in the number of most cited papers. In 2024, China surpassed the U.S. in the total number of publications indexed in the Web of Science database. The same year China topped the U.S. in the number of papers listed in the Nature Index, which tracks publications in 145 leading science journals.

Is Pacific Fusion a fraud?

 Does anyone here have some relevant information or opinions about Pacific Fusion? I live in ABQ and they’ve been getting a lot of attention since they’re building a facility, near the airport. I looked at some of their white papers and they sound like a classic fraud scheme. For example, they mention a success, the NIF machine, as justification for their business, even though they are using a completely different fusion scheme. I’m concerned because I’ve had local people tell me they want to invest in the company. Hopefully the city doesn’t take a financial hit when they’re finally exposed, like Theranos was.

DOE OHA bias

 Is the DOE OHA legit or a DOE/NNSA contractor protective big brother?

if one reviews DOE OHA past “decisions”, very quickly you’ll see maintaining a DOE/NNSA employee security clearance is a ~50/50 mixed bag.

Essentially, unless you were
a spy for a foreign country, you had an opportunity to correct your behavior. Unless, you repeated the same behavior without a path forward.

In contrast, if you had a DOE/NNSA case before the DOE OHA against a DOE or NNSA contractor, you are f_cked, from the get go.

Google “DOE OHA” decisions to see for yourself.

A bacterium was raised from the dead

 This is a nice Easter story, scientists have raised a bacterium from the dead:

https://youtu.be/gPvFdMh1LAs?si=ikPt9ZJLkjIfkAnJ

I wonder...

 Anonymous contribution:

Historically, what is the legal consequence, for Federal Contractor

false testimony (under oath perjury risk) in ANY case involving the DOE OHA? Hint: basically zerol, 

How Chris Wright went wrong with the White House

Missteps in cutting clean energy spending and friction between staffers has led to questions about whether the former fracking company CEO will remain in the Cabinet.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/17/chris-wright-white-house-00612920