THE YEARS since the second world war have been good to(对……很有利) American science. The country’s researchers sent men to the moon, invented the modern computer and led the sequencing(测序) of the human genome. Its government funded basic research(基础研究) in academia and national labs, which could then pass on(传递，转交) findings with commercial promise(具有商业前景的) to firms.
二战以来的岁月对美国科学来说可谓黄金时代。美国研究人员将人类送上月球，发明了现代计算机，并主导了人类基因组测序。政府资助学术界和国家实验室的基础研究，这些机构随后可将具有商业前景的成果转让给企业。
Now there are signs the innovation machine is breaking down(出故障，失灵). The system’s critics fret(担忧，烦恼) that America’s scientific infrastructure encourages groupthink(群体思维), since a small number of committees distribute a large share of funding for basic research. They worry that universities are ill-suited(不合适的) to the interdisciplinary(跨学科的) work that much of 21st-century science requires. And America is no longer an undisputed scientific superpower: China’s research and development (R&D) spending has caught up with(赶上) Uncle Sam(山姆大叔（美国绰号）)’s in purchasing-power terms(按购买力平价计算), and is growing faster. In 2024 China overtook America in the Nature Index(《自然》指数), a measure of publications in the most prestigious scientific journals.
如今有迹象表明，这台创新机器正在失灵。批评者担心，美国的科研基础设施会助长群体思维，因为少数委员会掌控着基础研究经费的很大份额。他们担心大学难以胜任21世纪许多科学所需的跨学科工作。而且，美国不再是无可争议的科学超级大国：按购买力平价计算，中国的研发支出已赶上美国，且增速更快。2024年，中国在《自然》指数（衡量最负盛名科学期刊论文数量的指标）上超过了美国。
Advocates of “metascience(元科学)”, the study of scientific discovery, have spent years pointing out the foibles(小缺点，癖好) of the system. Lately they have been putting their ideas into practice(将想法付诸实践). Private institutions, many of which were founded within the past five years, say they are building the future of science.(许多私人机构成立于过去五年内，它们声称正在构建科学的未来。) The history of American innovation suggests they may be right.
“元科学”（研究科学发现本身的学问）的倡导者多年来一直指出该体系的缺陷。最近，他们开始将理念付诸实践。许多私人机构成立于过去五年内，它们声称正在构建科学的未来。美国创新的历史表明，它们或许是对的。
Sovereign science
主权科学