10 Most Advanced Countries in Science

5. Japan

Technology leader Japan lands on the fifth spot with 54,170 patents and more than 2 million published journals. Japanese students rank fourth globally as the smartest in math and science. The country allots more than $151 billion in research and development. Despite being under the radar over the past years, Japan is still making innovations that are changing the world.

According to a 2014 article by IT World, Japan has developed a way to recycle radioactive waste and turn them to metals like palladium and rhodium. The Japanese government funded the research for this initiative amounting to $530 million.