To boldly go into a future on an amazing trek of discovery
I was 10 years old in 1966, when the original Star Trek television series first ran. This was the time of the moon race, when everyone predicted that we were at the start of a new space age. My family lived in Florida and an uncle worked at Cape Canaveral, so, of course, I dreamed of growing up to be an astronaut. Almost none of those dreams — personal or societal — have come true. After all, I’m not writing this from my office on the moon.
Unlike the current, braindead, shoot-em-up movies, the original Star Trek series was deeply philosophical. It pictured alternative societies — both utopias and dystopias. But, the thing that really attracted me as a teenager was the Star Fleet Academy — a university for future Star Fleet officers. Maybe, it would be up and running by the time I turned 18.
As I got older, I became more interested in the Vulcan Science Academy — a research institution located on the planet Vulcan. Graduates of the VSA could solve any technical or scientific problem within the hourlong TV episode.
I had no luck getting into either Star Fleet or the VSA, but I’ve recently had the pleasure of visiting a number of impressive research academies in China. These are specialized research centers, funded by both the central government and provincial governments. They are mostly separate from universities — although they do have doctoral students.
In the United States most of this type of research is done at universities, so we don’t have such organizations that are designed to provide research on social and economic issues directly to government officials at all levels
For example, the Hunan Academy of Social Sciences, in Changsha, Hunan province, is doing interesting economic analysis designed to inform both the Hunan government and the central government about the possible consequences of the trade war.
I also got a chance to visit the Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Institute, which has greatly improved the yield of rice, feeding hundreds of millions around the world. In Hebei province, the Zhangjiakou Academy of Agricultural Sciences is making similar improvements in the yield of millet. Both organizations are working to make those advances available to farmers in Africa. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization said that five research organizations in China are key components of its South-South Cooperation program.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences includes 104 research institutes with leading researchers in all sciences. I had the opportunity to visit the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, which is advancing the new science of using ancient DNA to explore human history.
China is working to upgrade its manufacturing, produce more high value-added products, and become a leader in technological innovation.
In a 2017 speech to the CAS, Premier Li Keqiang said: “Manufacturing is the key to the nation’s economic development, and the economic restructuring requires making the sector stronger. But the sector is still on the lowto-medium tier compared with other leading countries, thus it is vital to improve the quality and upgrade to increase competitiveness.
“The upgrade depends on innovations, and manufacturers should make technological breakthroughs by focusing on quality and branding and using top manufacturing countries as bench marks.”
Private companies are essential to this effort. For example, Alibaba, iFlytek, and others are pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence, and Huawei is one of the world’s leading innovators in 5G.
But, fundamental scientific research is also key to the transformation of the economy. These research academies, which are present in every large city in the country, are working with industry to push technology out of the laboratory and into the economy. I’m still hoping that warp drive is on the agenda.
Bilingual: HK-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge