Slashdot Mirror
France and Japan Planning New Supersonic Jet
jonerik writes "According to this article from the Associated Press, Japan and France are cooperating on research to produce a supersonic passenger plane that would be able to carry 300 passengers (three times as many as the Concorde) and fly from New York City to Tokyo in a mere six hours. Current plans are for the plane to be able to cruise at mach 2.4 while reducing the noise and high fuel consumption associated with the Concorde during its years of service. Although Japan had previously done extensive research towards building a 250-person mach 1.6 passenger jet, the agreement with France - announced at the annual Paris Air Show on Tuesday - represents a interesting shift in technological alliances given the Japanese aviation industry's longstanding ties to the United States. 'To research closely in this area with the Europeans does represent something new,' said Yoshio Watanabe, an official with The Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies, which is heading the new initiative on the Japanese side."
Now if they could only figure out a way to resolve this.
Japan is 127 mega-people with 4 giga-dollars of GDP. France is just over 60 mega-people with 1.6 giga-dollars of GDP. Yet, somehow, France has concluded that Japan must "concede" to France's desire to build ITER in France, as if the conclusion is preordained and we're all just waiting for Japan to figure this out. Almost four years have gone by while we wait for this "decision."
Thankfully, a controversial US leader had decided that should this stalemate continue, the US will pursue a similar project domestically. The Western world treats France as damage and routes around it.
Lurking at the bottom of the gravity well, getting old
I suspect I'm going to get modded down by some "patriots", but here goes anyway:
The country that benefited the most from WW2 was the USA. Not only did the war set Europe back a couple of decades, it also let the US poach most of the top European scientists, engineers, economists, etc. And so the myth of the superior American technology was born.
As the effects of that "bonus" wear off, it's becoming increasingly obvious that the US is not only not more advanced, but is in fact not even competitive with most of the world. Japan, Europe, even China and India are not just more productive but also technologically more advanced, and better educated. While US tax money is poured into useless "national security" projects (i.e., the pockets of the oil and arms lobbies) and mega-corporations (think M$), the rest of the world is investing in science, education, technology, better energy efficiency, open source software, etc.
The fact that even the USA's traditional commercial allies are turning to "old" Europe and to "new" Asia are just symptoms of a much bigger problem, that the US has suffered from for several decades, and was only partially disguised by the influx of talent and experience caused by WW2.
I suppose we could try to start a war in India to talk the best indian minds into moving to the USA, but it might be cheaper (and, in the long run, more productive) if we start spending some money on real education and real science instead of brainwashing our kids (and our adults, come to think of it) and funding ridiculous military projects about lasers in space.
If things continue the way they are, in a couple of years GWB might actually be above the national average IQ.
Yes, the Americans were oh so quick to come to help. They also found it convenient to arm Britain in a selfless act that included taking virtually every drop of money the Brits had earned since Elizabeth I's day.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
I love the frothing hypocrisy and jealousy. You all hate America until you want to suck down another Coke or listen to Eminem. You can bash the US when you stop lining up to suck on the teat of the culture you so love to deride.