China's surge in progress could soon overwhelm the US, say experts. China is on course to overtake the US in scientific output possibly as soon as 2013 – far earlier than expected. That is the conclusion of a major new study by the Royal Society, the UK’s national science academy. The country that invented the compass, gunpowder, paper and printing is set for a globally important comeback. An... 

A protester in protective mask holds a placard during an anti nuclear rally in Tokyo, Sunday, March 27, 2011. Leaked water in Unit 2 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant measured 10 million times higher than usual radioactivity levels when the reactor is operating normally, Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman Takashi Kurita told reporters in Tokyo. The placard has a message that reads "Don't spread... 

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu responds to questions during a press briefing in Beijing where China reiterated its opposition to the use of force in Libya amid Western air strikes there and called for an immediate ceasefire in the country’s conflict. China Tuesday called for an immediate cease-fire in Libya, where a United Nations “no-fly zone” is being enforced. After... 

An “urgent” dispatch from Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) chief Mikhail Fradkov to President Medvedev that is circulating in the Kremlin today says that the Chinese warship Xuzhou is preparing to offer protection to Libyan leader Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi and his family to protect them from assassination from the US-led air assault on that North African Nation. In what this report... 

Aerial picture of Chernobyl nuclear power plant taken two or three days after the 1986 explosion. Japanese authorities are considering a “Chernobyl solution” for the stricken nuclear power plant at Fukushima that would bury it in concrete and sand. As the team of 300 workers continues to try to douse the reactors with water, engineers said they had not ruled out the drastic measure. But the “messy... 

A fresh fire Wednesday engulfed a reactor in Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant, with fears that the emergency workers could face long term health issues. The Japanese emperor said he was “deeply worried” as two strong tremors hit the country Wednesday. The fresh fire broke out at reactor no. 4 in Fukushima atomic power plant where three of the total six reactors were... 

Germany’s embassy in Japan Thursday moved its operations from Tokyo to the southern city of Osaka in light of the ongoing nuclear crisis in northern Japan. Tokyo is viewed as too close to the Fukushima nuclear plant, where fears of a meltdown are growing. But Osaka, 600 kilometres to the south, is considered relatively safe. The move does not mean an end to German diplomatic representation in... 

Almost half the United States – the North Central region, the Midwest and the Northeast – faces a high risk of spring flooding over the next two weeks, government forecasters said on Thursday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in its spring forecast that the stage was set for potential widespread, record flooding, particularly in the North Central United States for... 

Japan suspends work at stricken nuke plant due to surge in radiation. Japan suspended operations to keep its stricken nuclear plant from melting down Wednesday after surging radiation made it too dangerous to stay. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the workers dousing the reactors in a frantic effort to cool them needed to withdraw. “The workers cannot carry out even minimal work at the... 

Russian nuclear specialists will leave for Japan Monday to help study the situation of Japan’s nuclear power stations after the devastating earthquake. Experts from Russian Atomic Energy Agency and the Institute for Safe Development of Nuclear Power Industry of the Russian Academy of Sciences will go to Japan, Rafael Arutyunyan, a representative of the industry told reporters here. The Russian... 

Japan faced a potential catastrophe on Tuesday after a quake-crippled nuclear power plant exploded and sent low levels of radiation floating toward Tokyo, prompting some people to flee the capital and others to stock up on essential supplies. The crisis appeared to escalate late in the day when the operators of the facility said one of two blasts had blown a hole in the building housing a reactor,... 

Devastation: The earthquake that struck off the coast of Japan on Friday was a once-in-a-millennium event, scientists say. The earthquake that struck Japan on Friday was so powerful that it actually moved the whole planet by 25cm, experts say. According to Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology the 9.0 magnitude ‘quake was so powerful it shifted the axis around which the... 

Officials in protective gear near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, in Koriyama, March 13, 2011. An American nuclear expert says radiation from Japan could spread across the Pacific and reach the United States if a complete meltdown occurs at a Japanese nuclear facility damaged as a result of last week’s earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Nuclear expert Joseph Cirincione of the Ploughshares Fund... 

An official scans a woman for signs of radiation in Nihonmatsu City. Nuclear experts have warned the next few days will be crucial in determining exactly how bad the fallout from the Fukushima power plant disaster could be. They say advanced Japanese engineering at the 40-year-old facility will avoid a Chernobyl-style disaster, but any radiation leak could still have disastrous consequences. During... 

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday that the United States rushed coolant to a Japanese nuclear power plant as a precaution after a 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit the U.S. ally. Obama told reporters at the White House that when he spoke to Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Friday morning, he ” specifically asked him about the nuclear plants and their potential vulnerability as a consequence...