China closes research publication gap with the US

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China has surpassed the US’s output of high-quality academic articles in physical sciences and earth and environmental sciences but produces fewer exceptional scientific studies than the US overall, according to the 2023 Nature Index. 

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Between them, China and the US produce 52 per cent of the most frequently cited studies. 

Outstanding scientific output from China increased 158 percentage points more than US contributions between 2016 and 2023. The countries’ diverging research volumes are most apparent in the physical sciences, where US authorship fell by 18 percentage points during this period, while Chinese output increased by 196 percentage points.

Since 2010, China has consistently awarded more STEM PhDs than US universities. In 2019, Chinese universities awarded 49,498 of these qualifications, while American institutions produced 33,759. 

Felix Wallis

Our other charts of the week

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Barbie and Oppenheimer have set the record for the biggest head-to-head opening weekend in cinema history. The pair grossed $244mn combined on their debut in North American theatres, beating the previous record of $115mn set in May 2015, when Pitch Perfect 2 faced off against Mad Max: Fury Road.

Individually, the films came in at 20th and 111th of all time opening weekend sales respectively.

Despite their box office success, average opening weekend revenues still linger below the pre-pandemic trend. In the years before 2020, new releases’ takings averaged $67mn, compared with $48mn over the past year.

Jonathan Vincent

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Renewables could make up a third of global electricity generation by 2024, according to a report from the International Energy Agency.

Greater renewable capacity will mean green energy to meet any additional demand for electricity, which is expected to rise by 3 per cent in 2024. Under favourable weather conditions, renewable generation is forecast to grow by more than 11 per cent in 2024 and could surpass coal.

Coal-fired generation is expected to fall slightly in 2023 and 2024 after rising in 2022 but a colder winter and supply constraints, particularly in Europe, could raise gas prices again leading to an increase in production.

Chris Campbell

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For the past year more than two-thirds of Americans have thought the country was moving in the wrong direction, according to data from Morning Consult.

Discontent has been broadly rising since Mississippi’s attorney-general first urged the Supreme Court in July 2021 to overturn the Roe vs Wade ruling that legalised abortion, half way through the first year of the Biden administration.

Since the start of Joe Biden’s second year in office, more Americans believed the country was heading in the wrong direction than they did during the same period of the Trump presidency.

Eade Hemingway

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The EU’s production of summer fruits fell to 8.6mn tonnes last year, a fall of 6.3 per cent from 2021, when 9.2mn tonnes were picked.

This decrease was largely driven by a decline in the harvesting of watermelons and muskmelons, which fell by 18.4 per cent and 9.5 per cent respectively. 

In May, the Spanish agriculture ministry announced that 5.9 per cent less land was being used for the production of watermelons compared with last year.

Spain and Italy, the continent’s top two producers of watermelons and muskmelons, endured a severe drought last summer. There is a risk that production could fall further as a result of the heatwave gripping southern Europe.

Irene de la Torre Arenas

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