big bang and the brain drain

This morning I was reading about the Big Bang experiment that marked the activation of the Large Hadron Collider over at CERN and I noticed something interesting by comparing articles from both American news and coverage by the BBC. Whereas the BBC focused on the sort of experiments that would be run and the potential discoveries to be made, a CNN article felt the need to explain "Why should the layperson care" and the AP report via Yahoo made extensive reference to the absurd fears by some that the LHC could destroy the Earth.

The disparity, though subtle and small, symbolizes the vast difference between Europe's and America's relationships to science. It's been known for years that the majority of American jobs requiring a PhD in science are filled by foreign-born scientists. But increasingly, those scientists are taking their degrees back to their home countries--leaving the United States with a declining number of qualified experts in fields critical to the challenges of the 21st century.

I can't help but feel there are cultural factors at play here. The love of the American for the "common man" has always had its dark side in a distrust of the intellectual. People would rather hear that their elected official bases decisions on his "gut" instead of the advice of experts. Meanwhile the brain drain continues and America slips further and further behind the vanguard of scientific achievement.