In 2016, Shaheer became the first ever Pakistani to Participate in the International Young Physicists’ Tournament where he provided a visual demonstration of this scientific phenomenon.  Through a practical demonstration he proved that heat gradients are produced when a drop of oil is subjected to heat and that heat is not uniformly distributed through the oil droplet. Moreover, he showed that when electrically charged particles are made to travel through the oil droplet they align themselves into a polygonal pattern that physicists refer to as The Rose Window Instability.

Muhammad Shaheer Niazi recently published his work on the electric honeycomb phenomenon in the prestigious Royal Society Open Science journal

Shaheer’s study is based on the premise that above a certain voltage freely charged particles work to restore balance by moving in a polygonal shaped circuit resembling a wax honeycomb.

He photographed images of the procedure using the Schlieren photographic technique that shows the oil surface transforming into an electric honeycomb with the flow of electric charge. The manner in which electric particles travel through a fluid medium has applications in printing, heating, and biomedicine.

This is based on one of the fundamental laws of physics which states that everything in nature seeks to create balance and regain order. In this case the ions are the main cause of instability which subsequently self-organize to form a polygon thus making the system stable.

Shaheer’s work was inspired by Dr Alberto T. Pérez Izquierdo, a physicist at the University of Seville in Spain who termed his work an outstanding achievement at such a young age.

Shaheer received support from Dr. Farida from COMSATS University and worked under the guidance of Dr. Sabieh Anwar at PhysLab at LUMS during the summer of 2016 where he received full access to the laboratories and equipment for carrying out his experimentation and research.

Young Shaheer aspires to further his research on the electric honeycomb and aims to win a Nobel Prize one day.

References:

http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/4/10/170503

http://www.peacepak.pk/17-year-old-pakistani-students-physics-paper-surprises-older-scientist/

https://propakistani.pk/2017/10/05/17-year-old-pakistani-shocks-world-proving-electric-honeycomb-theory/

The Dubai Media office announced plans to build the world’s biggest space simulation city to support its  Mars 2117 Project that aims to colonize the planet Mars in the next 100 years.

The ultra-modern Space City shall comprise multiple climate controlled domes designed to prevent direct exposure to solar radiation simulating Mars lack of a layer of protective gases to shield its inhabitants from solar radiation.

Scientists and engineers have considered transparent recyclable plastic material as viable option for constructing the giant inflatable dome like structures. Laboratories inside the facility will simulate temperature conditions similar to Mars which are much lower than on earth. However, it not clear how the City will simulate Maritian gravity at 38% of earth’s gravity.

The facility that will attempt to construct “a viable and realistic model to simulate living on the surface of Mars” is the brain child of the celebrated Danish architect Bjarke Ingels; and is a collaboration between his firm BIG, the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, and the Dubai Municipality.

The mock multi-domed Martian complex is set to house various scientific laboratories dedicated to space research and planetary exploration, a museum 3-D printed from desert sand, and an amphitheater for recreational and educational purposes. The laboratories will serve as testing sites for food and water security, agricultural farming and energy generation in the future.

UAE recently announced its plan to build a Mars Scientific City on the outskirts of Dubai

A museum to celebrate “humanity’s greatest space achievements” will also be built within the Space City. Its walls shall be 3D printed from the desert sand thus testing the concept on 3D printing human settlements from Mars own resources. An interactive educational zone will draw the attention of the youth and invoke a passion for outer space research and exploration.

One of the highlights of the space age Martian complex would be its inhabitants. It aims to house a team of earthly Martians for a year to work together on develop self-sufficient technologies in energy, food and water.

The UAE’s ambitious plan to build a prototype city as part of its vision to make huge strides in space exploration is one of the biggest initiative in planetary science and space travel from the Muslim world.

This is an extension of the same vision – the Emirates Mars Mission under which UAE will send an unmanned probe to Mars by 2020 which would make it the first Muslim country to send a probe to Mars. By announcing its Mars 2117 Initiative, UAE has now put a stake in for an even greater challenge of Mars Colonisation.

References:

http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/space-flight-news/united-arab-emirates-build-mars-science-city/

https://www.sciencealert.com/to-prepare-for-mars-the-uae-is-building-a-simulated-martian-city-on-earth

https://www.popsci.com/united-arab-emirates-mars-city-pictures?src=SOC&dom=

As the search for knowledge and quests to explore yonder worlds stays part of human nature, Mars remains the first – and so far – biggest feat for space agencies around the world. The Muslim world is playing its part in this global challenge. UAE’s space agency is building up its mission ‘Al-Amal’ or Hope, which is planned to enter Mars’ orbit in the year 2021.

Ancient history of many cultures associated Mars with war and destruction due to its reddish appearance. In the Muslim world, Mars at times was an omen of triumph and divine blessing. In the 10^th century, the Fatimid Caliphate captured Egypt and moved their royal seat to a newly named city ‘Al-Qahir’ or City of Mars (Fatimid dialect), presently known as Cairo. Astrological connotations were gradually refuted by Muslim astronomers and a scientific approach with empirical arguments gave birth to astronomy and space sciences of the modern world.[i]

The space race between US and USSR led to plethora of missions beyond Earth’s orbit. In the 1960s, Pakistan, primarily due to its location, became a region of major interest for NASA and SUPARCO, the first space agency in the Muslim World was born. Many other Muslim nations have since established space agencies and are playing their part in the global space sector such as LAPAN (Indonesia), ANGKASA (Malaysia), ISA (Iran), MAKA (Azerbaijan), NSSA (Bahrain), UzbekCosmos(Uzbekistan), KazCosmos (Kazakhastan), ASA (Algeria), TSA (Turkey), TNSA (Turkmenistan) and SPARRSO (Bangladesh). Other Muslim countries are also either in the phase of establishing a space agency or joining hands with another.

The UAE Space Agency is the latest entrant in this galaxy.  It is investing $5.44 billion and spearheading the space sector in the Muslim world with its ambitious unmanned mission to Mars. Marking UAE as the ninth country working to explore Mars, Hope, the first Islamic probe to Mars, is planned to start its journey from the Tanegashima Space Center, Japan on a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-IIA rocket in July 2020.

The Ruler of Dubai H.E Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum says, “this mission to Mars is really for the hope of the Arab world”.

According to H.E. Dr. Mohammad Al Ahbabi, Director General of UAE Space Agency, “Our vision is to launch space projects that will help the development of the UAE’s economy, support local, regional and international space study and technology and create exciting learning and career opportunities for our people.”

After launch, the probe will begin the seven to nine-month long journey.

Emirates mission to Mars is a science mission. The Emirati orbiter is aimed at providing an integrated model of the Red Planet’s atmosphere. Hope will be the first to study dynamic changes in Martian atmosphere throughout its daily and seasonal cycles. The space probe will be built from aluminum into a honeycomb-like compact structure weighing approximately 1,500 kg including fuel. It will collect planet-wide climate tracking because of its special orbit cycles. It is planned to orbit Mars till 2023 at least and may have an extended mission till 2025.

The mission will search for clues to better understand the ancient climate on Mars and today’s Martian weather. This will be done by tracking the escape of hydrogen and oxygen and their behavior as Mars loses its atmosphere to Space. With an onboard storage capacity of 20 GB, it will send back more than 1000 GB of invaluable data that will be made available for free to space specialists to study.

Hope is to be equipped with 600 watt solar panels for power, six 120-Newton Delta-V thrusters, eight 5-Newton Reaction Control System thrusters for navigation and control along with Star trackers for guidance and attitude correction. To stay in contact with Mission Control on Earth, a High-gain directional antenna producing narrow radio-wave will point at Earth. Once in orbit around Mars, the communication bandwidth may be as low as 250 kbps.

The scientific instruments to be carried by Hope include the Emirates eXploration Imager (EXI), Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer (EMUS) and an Emirates Mars Infrared Spectrometer (EMIRS). The EXI will send back high-resolution color images and measure properties of water ice, dust aerosols and quantify ozone. The EMUS will measure the variability of the thermosphere and traces of oxygen and hydrogen coronae. The EMIRS will help examine temperature patterns and the thermal structure. It will also measure abundance of ice water vapor and dust in Martian atmosphere. [ii]

At approximately 54.6 million kilometers away from Earth with a communication delay of 13-20 minutes, Hope will have to maneuver into Mars’ orbit autonomously. Once in orbit, internal reaction wheels will be spun for attitude control and to point its solar panels towards the Sun while pointing its antenna towards Earth and on board scientific equipment towards Mars. [iii]

The first Muslim and royal in space, Prince Sultan bin Salman[iv] of Saudi Arabia who was part of the crew of Discovery STS-51G that went into orbit for seven days in 1985, has also endorsed active participation in space mission by nations of the MENA region noting that this would greatly benefit the Muslim world by developing technology and bringing hope and inspiration to a troubled region.

At a Global Aerospace Summit in Abu Dhabi in 2016, Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon exclaimed “I want to bring UAE into a small community which will be working, and I believe, living on the only other habitable planet in our solar system by 2040.”

The challenges that UAE Space Agency may face include completing the development of the space probe well in time for launch, securing measurable economic benefits, ensuring effective transfer of technology, and retaining the trained professional Emirati scientists and engineers for the mission to Mars who may seek other jobs. 

Dr Benton C Clark – Lockheed

The UAE Space Agency plans to maintain an ongoing engagement with academia.

Dr. Benton C. Clarke[v], Chief Scientist, Flight Systems, Lockheed Martin Astronautics at the launch of Emirates Mission to Mars in Abu Dhabi said, “We’d very much like to see them be successful, because it’s always good to have more science at Mars. These missions help each other. It has a lot of broad reaching implications for education. We found in the US when the Space programs first started especially when first astronauts went into space, that many students became interested in science and technology than they had before.”

The Emirates mission to Mars will set a precedent for other space agencies in the Muslim world. UAE government’s bold initiatives have put its space sector into overdrive and the ambitious Mission to Mars will move UAE far ahead of others in the Muslim World.

References:

[i] Daily Life in the Medieval Islamic World By James E. Lindsay (Page 103-4)

[ii] http://www.emiratesmarsmission.ae

[iii] http://www.space.gov.ae

[iv] First Arab in Space https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/the-first-arab-in-space-1.32633

[v] Video interview recorded by author at GSSF UAE

The Synchrotron-Light for Experimental Science and Applications center (SESAME) in Jordan

The facility which costs USD 90 million is located in the Jordanian town of Al-Balqa and is funded by member states with support from UNESCO and the European Union. Initial funds for the building and site were offered by the government of Jordan. That coupled with annual contributions including pledges of USD 5 million each from member states of Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan and the Palestinian Authority cover for staff and other operational costs[1]. The European Union through CERN has also pledged 5 million dollars alongside grants from UNESCO and IAEA. The funds provided by IAEA were used for training scientists and engineers[2]. Similarly, substantial contributions were provided by Italy amounting to 3.56 million dollars till date which have been used to procure equipment and build a hostel for SEASME[3]. Founded on the model of Europe’s state of the art physics research laboratory, OPEN SESAME is the Muslim world’s only leading synchrotron.[4] ^[5]    The project signaling the dawn of a new era of scientific collaboration is modeled and conceptualized around CERN, the world’s largest and most powerful particle collider located in Geneva.

What is SESAME?  

The synchrotron is a particle accelerator that can be used to analyze and study almost anything from environmental pollutants to human body tissues. The principle behind it is that it uses a light source that scientists can use to gather information about the structural and chemical properties of the materials at the molecular level. Globally, there are around 60 synchrotrons driving scientific research and functioning as incredible tools in medicine and engineering but SESAME is the first one in the Middle East where expert physicists and researchers practice advanced science and research.

The synchrotron is a large machine about the size of a football field that is used to accelerate electrons at a high speed. The 130 meter accelerator shoots electrons propelling them at high energy and guiding them through a circular tube. They are shot like cannon balls travelling almost at the speed of light. The resultant beam is directed towards an area where the experiments are performed. Each beam line has a specialized wavelength that can be used to analyze a broad variety of materials that are otherwise invisible to the human eye. The synchrotron has wide applications in the fields of chemistry, biology, electronics, medicine, engineering, and archeology.

The idea of the project, led by British physicist Prof Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith, was conceptualized almost 20 years ago and faced obstacles of varying nature along the way.

The Middle Eastern synchrotron faced a host of obstacles due to the complex nature of the project. The plan faced financial and technical delays almost at its onset. The hurdles were further aggravated due to regional sensitivities, governmental hostilities and miniscule science and research budgets of the member states. Iran’s contribution of 5 million dollars as part of its individual pledge faced delays due to international sanctions on banking. Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency is also an observer on the SEASME council. Despite such immense challenges, the venture still managed to materialize in the form of a world class interdisciplinary research laboratory.

What exactly does SESAME do?

Today, SESAME is capable of generating of up to 20 beamlines but scientists have initially planned to work with three.

The first is an X-ray light that has applications in environmental research and can be employed to identify potential sources of environmental pollution.

The second is an infrared light that can be used to study the structural and chemical properties of cells and their proteins.

The third MX (Macromolecular Crystallography – a radiation technique used to study biological molecules) can be used to study the structural characteristics of viruses in order to develop effective drugs against them. Efforts are underway to introduce an imaging beamline to study archaeological or cultural heritage artefacts.

The project open to international and Middle Eastern researchers in universities and scientists, has already received 55 proposals to use the first two beamlines. In Jordan, an advanced research center has been established to study globally relevant problems pertaining to the environment and public health. A project to determine the causes of soil pollution in the Jordan River Valley spearheaded by scientist Messaoud Harfouche and other collaborators from Egypt and Jordan is underway. Similarly researchers are probing the causes and environmental factors linked to cancer which is on the rise in the Middle Eastern region.

In addition, an advanced training program was initiated to train scientists and engineers from the region to impart critical knowledge about the accelerator technology and its uses. Sesame has successfully conducted 30 trainings in the Middle East and other countries and has trained 750 scientists and engineers about the applications of synchrotron technology. The program also offers opportunities of international exposure and collaboration where around 105 research students and scientists were given the opportunity to gain firsthand experience of using the radiation sources by spending up to two years at other synchrotron radiation facilities in Europe, USA and Asia. This program enjoys the support of IAEA and the European Union.

The region’s first synchrotron and the only one being powered by renewable energy holds tremendous potential for advancements in research and technology for future generations. It is the transformative power of science that has enabled scientists and researchers from countries like Iran and Israel to work together despite tensions between their regional countries.

The facility will serve to usher in a new era of scientific knowledge and discovery in this part of the world fostering international scientific collaborations, promoting the development of industrial processes and providing individuals with an environment for scientific research and collaboration. SESAME aspires to reverse the brain drain in the region by promoting research in fields ranging from medicine and biology, through materials science, physics and chemistry to healthcare, the environment, agriculture and archaeology.

Along with this, SESAME also fosters scientific and technological capacity building in the Middle East and neighboring regions. Enhanced scientific links are being developed to nurture a culture of peace through collaboration on scientific advancements.

[1] http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/ON-Jordan-inaugurates-regions-first-synchrotron-1705177.html

[2] http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/ON-Jordan-inaugurates-regions-first-synchrotron-1705177.html

[3] http://www.sesame.org.jo/sesame/images/News/SESAME-Opening/Souvenir_Booklet.pdf

[4] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-39927836

[5] https://phys.org/news/2017-05-sesame-science-centre-inaugurated-jordan.html

Scientists from the University of Birmingham have identified “hotspots” around the globe where crop wild relatives – species plant breeders use to develop new crop varieties that are more resistant to climate extremes, pests and diseases – could be protected on the ground. That would help secure future global food resources.

Globally, these wild relatives are most concentrated in the region known as the “Fertile Crescent”, which arcs around the Arabian desert and includes Jordan, the Palestinian territories, Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Iran.

Conflict in some of these countries – with parts held by extremist Muslim groups – makes in-situ conservation very difficult in practice, Nigel Maxted, lead investigator from the University of Birmingham’s School of Biosciences in Britain, told Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“It won’t necessarily speed up extinction of the species, but the problem is access,” he said. “If Islamic State takes over an area, then we don’t have access to the (plant) material there.”

Syria is a case in point. Two of the most important sites in the world for wild relatives of crops – including wheat and sugar beet – are located in the war-torn country, according to Maxted.

The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) has been forced to duplicate a globally unique collection of crop genetic resources, that were kept at its gene bank in Aleppo, in Syria, by shipping seeds to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway where they can be kept safe.

Government support needed

The Birmingham university team is joining with the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), to plan and implement effective conservation of crop wild relatives for the first time in the countries where they are found around the world, as well as taking samples and placing them in gene banks as a back-up.

They plan to negotiate with governments in the Fertile Crescent to highlight the plight of the species, and to try to implement conservation in the hotspot areas. But Maxted said it won’t be possible in Syria for the time being.

Another challenge is, that these wild relatives of crops are concentrated in developing countries, which often lack the skills and resources to protect them properly, Maxted said, stressing the need for new funding for such efforts.

They are increasingly important because the growing risks to crops from climate change means, there is rising demand from plant breeders for resilient traits that are found in wild relatives.

For example, Saccharum arundinaceum, a relative of sugar cane, can survive very low temperatures, and Prunus ferganensis, a wild relative of peach, is tolerant to drought conditions. A wild relative of wheat, Aegilops tauschii, is resistant to Hessian fly, a pest of cereal crops.

But research at Birmingham shows that 12 per cent of crop wild relatives are threatened with extinction, and all are likely to be already suffering a loss of genetic diversity for reasons including habitat destruction and alteration, conflict, intensive agriculture and urbanisation.

Conserving them in the locations where they are naturally found is important because it means they can continue to adapt to changing climatic conditions, as well as threats from pests and diseases, Maxted said.

“If we combine global population growth with the prospect of climate change decreasing crop yields by 2 per cent per decade, crop wild relatives may be one solution to this food security threat – but not if we don’t have access to them or the species are extinct,” he said.

Source: eco-business.com

The virtually augmented surgery was carried out as part of a pilot program utilizing software by Vipaar, a remote video software company, which uses Google glasses to allow surgeons to communicate from thousands of miles away.

The software was used during the surgical procedure on a two-and-a-half year old girl with a cleft lip. The Vipaar technology allowed Dr. Usama Hamdan, president of GSF MENA and Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah, head of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at AUBMC, to communicate with a Reconstructive Surgeon at New York University, Dr. Raj Vyas. Cleft Lip surgery on a young patient requires a tremendous amount of precision and that is why the surgery was selected to test the software.

During the surgery, Vyas was able to see the surgery in the eyes of Hamdan and Abu-Sittah on his iPad in NYC. In turn, Vyas, who has previous experience with the Vipaar technology, virtually demonstrated where the incisions should be made.  The surgical team in Beirut was able to see the surgical markings through the glasses as if they were on the patient’s face.

“The software will allow us to share expertise in performing cleft lip procedures, amongst others, with surgeons in remote or poverty-stricken areas in need,” said Hamdan. The surgeries conducted as part of The Global Smile Foundation MENA mission are supported by the Talia Foundation and INFOPRO. “Most patients with cleft lips come from impoverished backgrounds and the support of foundations such as the Talia Foundation and organizations like INFORPRO make it possible to provide patients with life-changing surgeries,” he added.

Abu-Sittah added, “The software is important in two ways. First it allows us to further our academic mission at AUBMC by sharing our expertise and providing education and training to physicians and surgeons. Second, it allows us to reach those in remote areas virtually without them needing to travel to Lebanon or vice versa. It increases access to patients in the areas that need it.”

AUBMC and the Global Smile Foundation MENA have been partnering together since 2012 to provide surgeries for patients with cleft lip in Lebanon and the region.

Source: American University Beirut – News

The analysis is based on a division of regions, each analyzed according to an indicator. The following are the regions identified:

1. South Asia

2. Sub-Saharan Africa

3. Europe/Central Asia

4. Latin America/Caribbean

5. East Asia/Pacific

6. Middle East/North Africa

Each of these regions are judged on the basis of the following 6 indicators:

1. Maternal mortality rate

2. Infant mortality rate

3. Adult mortality rate

4. Average life expectancy

5. Access to clean drinking water

6. Access to clean sanitation facilities