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Hopes outside Japan that last month's general election will weaken Japan's technological competitiveness are misplaced; there is much that the new government can do to sustain the momentum.
South Korea's rise to the ranks of industrialized nations, symbolized by next week's opening of a science and technology exposition in Taejon, has been meteoric. But the road ahead is fraught with difficult choices. Many policy makers want the country to continue to focus on short-term development of technology to sell on the world market, but there is also a clear need to build a broader base for more basic long-term research.
The formation of ripple patterns on sandy beaches is more than an inconvenience for those who walk on them barefoot, but a challenge in physical analysis that should occupy people for seasons to come.
