--- --- # How America Is Falling Behind on Scientific Research by [The Aspen Institute](https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Aug 18, 2015 4:01 PM UTC by [The Aspen Institute](https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Aug 18, 2015 4:01 PM UTC _This week we’re presenting some of the most interesting ideas from the past year._ **1\.** [**How did America fall so far behind on basic scientific research? (From April 29, 2015)**](http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-the-funding-decline-in-basic-research-20150428-column.html) By Michael Hiltzik in the Los Angeles Times **2\.** [**The next leader of the U.N. should be a woman. (From March 30, 2015)**](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-woman-should-lead-the-un/2015/04/26/8519c652-e9fa-11e4-9a6a-c1ab95a0600b%5Fstory.html) By Gillian Sorensen and Jean Krasno in the Washington Post **3\.** [**Cuba has a treatment for lung cancer, and now we can get our hands on it. (From May 12, 2015)**](http://www.wired.com/2015/05/cimavax-roswell-park-cancer-institute/) By Neel V. Patel in Wired **4\.** [**Technology’s greatest gift to social justice is the mobile phone camera. (From April 29, 2015)**](http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/04/thank-god-for-cellphone-video-cameras/391688/) By Robinson Meyer in the Atlantic **5\.** [**Want to change how you see the world? Rewire your brain by learning a second language. (From March 23, 2015)**](http://news.sciencemag.org/brain-behavior/2015/03/speaking-second-language-may-change-how-you-see-world) By Nicholas Weiler in Science Magazine  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/) _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ Research: Why America Is Falling Behind On Science ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4001495/america-behind-on-science/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4001495/america-behind-on-science/"},"headline":"How America Is Falling Behind on Scientific Research","datePublished":"2015-08-18T16:01:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:02:00.744Z","description":"These are today's best ideas","url":"https://time.com/4001495/america-behind-on-science/","keywords":["Innovation","Brain","Research","United Nations","Cuba topic","lung cancer","black lives matter"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4001495/america-behind-on-science/","name":"How America Is Falling Behind on Scientific Research"}}]}] ```