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The United States provided Pakistan with a $4 million grant to help the country further and maintain cooperation in scientific research. The grant will aid different areas of science to research and develop methods to improve the living conditions of Pakistanis. Mainly the research will be conducted in universities so that the science programs in the teaching institutions also gain new resources and opportunities through the new funding. The Pakistani government has done a subpar job providing the scientific community with sufficient money to expand their fields and research causing a loss of potential research, but through the cooperation of the U.S. and Pakistan, research has been able to progress and interest in the sciences has been renewed. One of the significant outcomes over the years from the funding was Pakistani scientists discovering a cure to the leaf curl virus that had bee affecting cotton textile exports.

I hope that the benefits of the grant will continue to be sustained over time. It's unfortunate that the United States is funding programs that deal with education and scientific research because the Pakistani government is unable to. I wonder what the long-term effects on the country will be as long as the money goes where it is supposed to. Also, I wonder if the United States' main incentive for providing the sum of money is terrorism-related cooperation or something else.

This article discusses the unknowns of genetically modified foods that have parents in a rural China town worried. A US-China research program fed modified "golden rice" to several children in Central China. Little GM research has been done in China and parents are very worried, because of the rumored side effects ranging from lung disease to reproductive lose.

I find this interesting because China is the largest country in the world with 1.3 billion people and food is a crucial resource. I know in the article It says that it is just rumors and hear say but I believe that the government is also worried about how to feed everyone. Now that China has evolved into a developed nation the image of china no longer lacks industries and technology making China more wealthy. With that being said China doesn't want an image where they cannot feed all their citizens.

Instead of the usual methods of hiding cameras in trees and sitting for hours with a pair of binoculars and hoping to see some interaction of the orangutans scientists in Asia had been using, they are now employing unmanned drones to fly over the areas where the endangered primates live in order to document them. The drones are made in China and cost less for the scientists to use than actually going out into the field to study.

Having access to a personal computer lowers or decreases the risk of cognitive decline and dementia in older men by up to 40 percent, say researchers in Australia.

On a similar note as the news of China's space program, South Korea is set to launch a spacecraft for research purposes. This is their third attempt at launching a space rocket after the previous two attempts failed.

Chinese military fans are excited by the news that the country's second stealth fighter prototype has made its maiden flight. Meanwhile, experts and observers considered the possibility that the aircraft might be deployed on an aircraft carrier.

This article predicts that China's Unicom customers will be able to purchase and use Iphones in 2013. The only issue right now is that the prices Apple is offering China is "too high". While a guy name Ramachandran said that apple should give China some sweeteners or incentives to work together. Which doesn't make sense to me because if China wants to be a efficient nation, why not add as many smart phones as you can? Apple is one of the most prospering companies in the world. The logical thing to do is work with apple before they decide to up the price.

Part of the reason apple would add incentives is because there ARE many smart phones available in China, but non-pirated apple products are under-represented. When apple set up their flagship store in Beijing they regulated people to one phone per person because there were so many problems with people trying to buy multiple phones and then re-sell them for a profit.

This article describes a case the US is planning to file against China for subsidizing cars and car parts, mostly in developing countries. The reporter does mention that the rise in automation and the global recession of 2008 probably have effected employment numbers as well. International economics and business is pretty fascinating (ok, maybe, not to everyone), and it's worth noting that increased revenues for Chinese companies will allow China to pursue broader areas of research and development, as well as specilization in a lucrative market: auto sales in developing countries. Once a company has a market, it can give quite the fight to keep it, which provides the country and company a long term source of R&D funding. The article also raises the question of the timing of the case against China, and whether it's filing by the incumbent Obama administration is politically motivated. This question is more fully explored in an article from today's New York Times that goes well with the discussion from class today about government action on science and technology issues, and when it takes that action. Here's the link if anyone's interested in incumbent electoral advantages: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/us/politics/obama-exploits-familiar-junction-of-policy-and-politics.html?pagewanted=all

The iPhone 5 was released recently, which led to many workers in China working extreme overtime. Some had to go a month or more without a day off. Add that to the already poor working conditions in some of Foxconn's factories and you get a riot. It is a shame that these workers have so few rights, especially since they can't even use these phones, which was also highlighted in one of the articles posted by John Trang. The site this article came from, phys.org, is a great site that I've visited for years for news related to a variety of sciences and technologies. Here are a few articles related to changes in the global oceans like the ones discussed in Seasick: http://phys.org/news/2012-09-slippery-slope-slime-overgrown-algae.html http://phys.org/news/2012-09-ocean-acidification-scientists.html

Well now I know why my Iphone is still on back order. Seriously though the brawl in China shows that once people are push to their limits they will revolt. Like Matt stated poor working conditions and high stress will lead to a riot. This should show the world how serious horrible working conditions are in China. In addition to China the brawl also affected the US. Joe McDonald of AP Business wrote "On Monday, Apple said it sold 5 million units of the new iPhone 5 in the first three days, less than analysts had expected. Its stock fell 1.4 percent to $690.50 in midday trading." The amount of Iphone does not match the amount of people that preordered the new Iphone. Zach Epstein of BGR news stated in his article "Verizon ran out of launch-day stock late Friday morning, and AT&T sold out of its preliminary iPhone 5 inventory just before 1:00 p.m. EDT on Friday." http://news.yahoo.com/preorders-disappointing-iphone-5-sell-less-hour-apple-121522743.html;_ylt=A2KJ3CZAimdQ9loAlOrQtDMD http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Foxconn-factory-in-China-shaken-by-worker-violence-3888296.php