New Effort to Share Scientific Equipment Creates Potential Efficiencies
A new online platform seeks to bring together United Arab Emirates research institutions to facilitate researchers’ access to devices they need. Egypt may follow suit.
Iraqi Researchers Use Art to Help Sexual-Violence Survivors
In a region with a psychiatrist shortage, nonexperts are called on to help refugees cope with psychological trauma. Art therapy is one way this is happening in Iraq.
In a Fractious Region, a New Physics Facility Fosters Collaboration
A new laboratory that has opened in Jordan allows international scientists to explore the behavior of matter at the atomic and subatomic level.
Iraqi Laboratory Engineers Better Crops for Farmers
A researcher at the University of Duhok is experimenting with growing plants in controlled conditions to provide plants to farmers that might resist disease and bear fruit sooner.
In Jordan, Antiquities Sites Enlist Nearby Communities as Partners
A project that links archaeology to economic development and education is a model for preserving the kingdom’s wealth of ancient sites.
The Cradle of Humankind Could Be in North, Not East Africa
New discoveries of fossils in North Africa and evidence of prehistoric butchery make experts rethink the story of human evolution.
Geologists Search for Clues to Dinosaurs’ Extinction
In Iraq, researchers hope to find rock layers that yield an understanding of how and why life came back after dinosaurs died out.
Of Scholars and Spies
Recent headlines involving researchers accused of spying in the Middle East highlight the risk of asking questions in a police state.
An Online Arabic Dictionary Makes Its Debut
A tool created at Birzeit University will take machine translation of Arabic to a higher level.
Spy Conviction May Chill U.A.E. Research
Matthew Hedges, a U.K. doctoral student convicted in the United Arab Emirates of spying for Britain, has been pardoned and released. But his experience has provoked anxiety about the safety of foreign researchers in the UAE.
