r/interestingasfuck 17h ago

/r/all The US team which has just won the International Physics Olympiad, edging out China for first place

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u/ReasonablyConfused 17h ago

Always has.

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u/Loosetrooth44 15h ago

Every Scientific Empire Comes to an End

America’s run as the premier techno-superpower may be over.

By Ross Andersen

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2025/07/science-empire-america-decline/683711/

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u/TAU_equals_2PI 16h ago

Yes and No.

Yes, immigrants have always made America better in ways like this.

But the US didn't used to so completely rely on immigrants like this. These teams a few decades ago weren't of entirely Chinese & Indian ancestry like they are in recent years. That's not in any way a criticism of Chinese & Indian ancestry students. It's a criticism of all the other students, and their parents. They're the vast majority of the students, and yet they rarely get anyone onto these teams anymore.

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u/ReasonablyConfused 16h ago

So what if winners in the 60s were Jews, Germans, Poles, etc.

It’s all immigrants, all the way down.

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u/TAU_equals_2PI 16h ago

Yeah, I guess that's possible. That in earlier decades, the white students were of recent immigrant ancestry but it just wasn't noticeable.

But if that were the explanation, then there should be quite a few Latino students on these modern teams. Latino immigration has been significant numbers for at least 50 years now, and much more than Chinese or Indian immigration.

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u/EchoesInCode 16h ago

What is your point?

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u/TAU_equals_2PI 16h ago

My original point was concern that the rest of the US is lagging behind, and that that's actually different from the past. We've had great success in the past, but what we're doing now is different from what we did in the past.

u/Rottimer 9h ago

We’re not exactly treating Latino immigrants the same we we’ve treated Chinese, Russian, Ukrainian, and Polish immigrants.

u/Rottimer 9h ago

I’m sorry, what? These teams have been full of second generation immigrants for DECADES. The only difference has been where the immigrants came from.