Judging by the astonishing increase in journal papers written by scientists in China, China is finding its place as one of the world’s scientific power houses, says Michael Banks, but he also quantifies this surge in scientific output China and measures whether quality matches quantity in August’s Physics World.

Nanoscience, quantum computing and high-temperature superconductivity are three of the cutting-edge areas of physics that have seen particularly large increases. Published journal articles in nanoscience, for example, with at least one co-author based in China, have seen a 10-fold increase since the beginning of the millennium, rising to more than 10,500 in 2007.

China has already overtaken the UK and Germany in the number of physics papers published and is beginning to nip at the heels of the United States. If China’s output continues to increase at its current pace, the country will be publishing more articles in physics - and indeed all of science - than the US by 2012.

Have you ever wondered what our world would look like stripped bare of all plants, soils, water and man-made structures?

So have earth and computer scientists from 79 nations who are working together on a global project called OneGeology to produce the first digital geological map of the world.

Images of the Earth as never seen before have been unveiled in what is the world’s biggest geological mapping project ever.

Begun just over a year ago, the project is doing for the rocks beneath our feet what Google does for maps of the Earth’s surface. Pretty fast for a science that usually counts time in millions of years.

Brian May CBE, PhD, ARCS, FRAS, and a founding member of Queen, is a world-renowned guitarist, songwriter, producer and performer.

May abandoned his PhD studies at Imperial College London in 1974 when Queen’s popularity first exploded but always retained a keen interest in astronomy, and has been a regular contributor to “The Sky at Night,” BBC TV’s monthly astronomy program hosted by Sir Patrick Moore.

Returning to astrophysical research in 2006, he was awarded his PhD and is now Chancellor of John Moores University, and a patron to a number of charities, including the Mercury Phoenix Trust and the British Bone Marrow Donor Association.

The value of open access is an on-going debate, at least in the science community, with some stating that it leads to greater citations and others concerned that it leads to less rigorous research outside free internet sources.

A new Cornell study says that while "open access" or free online articles get read more often, they don't get cited more often in academic literature, which goes against the conventional wisdom.

The reason, suggest Cornell graduate student Philip Davis and colleagues, is that most researchers probably already have all the access they need to relevant articles.

So free is nice but everyone still gets paid journals anyway.

LONDON, July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Royal Dutch Shell plc ("RDS") today announced an interim dividend in respect of the second quarter of 2008 of US$0.40 per A and B ordinary share, an increase of 11% over the US dollar dividend for the same quarter last year.

Dividends declared on A ordinary shares ("A shares") will be paid by default in euro, although holders of A shares will be able to elect to receive dividend in pounds sterling. Dividends declared on B ordinary shares ("B shares") will be paid by default in pounds sterling, although holders of B shares will be able to elect to receive dividend in euro. Dividends declared on American Depository Receipts ("ADRs") will be paid in US dollars.

Details relating to the second quarter 2008 interim dividend

LONDON, July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Healthcare IT specialists and IT professionals considering a move into the health sector will have an unrivalled opportunity to meet prospective employers at the Healthcare IM&T Careers 2008, organised by E-Health Insider.

The Healthcare IM&T Careers 2008 event will be held on 24th September 2008 from 10.00am to 5.30pm at the Institute of Directors (IoD), 116 Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5ED. Specially designed to help IT professionals find out about new jobs, training and professional development, the forum will offer an impressive range of resources under one roof:

- Free seminars will help delegates improve their interview techniques, polish up CVs and discover new development pathways

LONDON, July 31 /PRNewswire/ --

Jeremy Darroch, CEO.

In a video interview Jeremy Darroch, BSkyB CEO, discusses the companies full year results and says, "In what has been a more challenging environment, the business has performed well. We have added around 400,000 net new customers this year. We are selling more products to customers than ever before and we have seen a banner year from Sky+, with over 1.3 million new additions."

Mr Darroch said the broadcaster was growing faster than any other provider in broadband and telephony.

"The quality of our base is improving. We have reduced churn back down to below 10 per cent. And financially the business is on track."

Also available is an interview with Andrew Griffith, CFO.

MADRID, July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- ONDAS Media S.A., the Madrid-based satellite radio company for Europe, has today announced it has issued integration contracts to its technology partners Delphi, The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Institute (FHG) in Germany and Certicom to begin integration activities of its satellite radio system in Nissan vehicles in addition to two further leading premium, high-volume car manufacturers in Europe.

Hardware provider Delphi and FHG - which is responsible for the core RF and Waveform - have now been contracted to ensure ONDAS Media's satellite radio and media system matches the detailed specifications from the OEMs for installation in production vehicles.

PARIS, July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- The French agency Agence de Médecine Préventive (AMP) has received a grant of 10 million dollars from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support the development of National Vaccine Advisory Committees in Africa and Asia. These Committees will help the National Health Authorities of GAVI-eligible(1) countries to implement vaccination policy and programs adapted to their needs and to introduce new vaccines. AMP will develop this project in partnership with the International Vaccine Institute (IVI, Seoul) and in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO), and its regional and national offices.

To-date, solar power is a marginal, boutique alternative to mainstream energy but MIT researchers say they have overcome a major barrier to large-scale, cost-effective solar power: efficiently storing energy for use when the sun doesn't shine.

Solar power is currently a daytime-only energy source because storing extra solar energy for later use is prohibitively expensive and grossly inefficient. MIT researchers say have hit upon a simple, inexpensive, highly efficient process for storing solar energy.

Inspired by the photosynthesis performed by plants, Daniel Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at MIT and Matthew Kanan, a postdoctoral fellow in Nocera's lab, have developed an unprecedented process that will allow the sun's energy to be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. Later, the oxygen and hydrogen may be recombined inside a fuel cell, creating carbon-free electricity to power your house or your electric car, day or night.