#Asiascience

A seismic shift is reverberating through the global scientific community as China firmly overtakes the United States to become the world’s leading science nation, marking a pivotal moment with profound ramifications for research, innovation, and international collaboration. This trend, explored in a recent commentary and substantiated by the latest data from the prestigious Nature Index, signals not just a changing of the guard but an acceleration of the gap in scientific output and influence between the two global superpowers.

A quiet revolution is reshaping global science. Asian nations are emerging as major engines of discovery, innovation, and technology. For Thailand, this shift offers a strategic chance to align with a rapidly expanding regional research ecosystem.

Recent assessments show Asia contributing more high-impact research across disciplines, especially in physical sciences, engineering, and technology. Universities and institutes invest heavily in infrastructure, talent development, and international collaborations, signaling a long-term reordering of global scientific power. Data from leading science evaluations indicate Asian institutions are expanding their output at impressive rates while traditional Western leaders face slower growth. Some Asian nations are generating substantially more research outputs than Western peers, reflecting coordinated national strategies and sustained investments in people and facilities.

A joint team of Chinese and French researchers has produced the most detailed map yet of the claustrum, a thin brain region long shrouded in mystery. The study in Cell, published on April 3, uses single-cell spatial transcriptomics to chart the claustrum in the crab-eating macaque and reveals its complex connections with the cortex and hippocampus. The researchers highlight evolutionary differences between primates and rodents, suggesting that brain evolution may shape consciousness. According to the study, this atlas provides a molecular framework for exploring how the claustrum contributes to cognition and awareness.

A team of Chinese and French researchers has produced the most detailed blueprint yet of the mysterious claustrum region in primate brains, a scientific advance that could help unravel the biological roots of consciousness and reframe our understanding of mental health and awareness. Published in the prestigious journal “Cell”, the April 3 study charts the intricate landscape of the crab-eating macaque’s claustrum—a tiny strip of tissue in the brain historically overshadowed by more prominent regions, but now emerging as a prime suspect in the quest to decode the essence of conscious experience (source).