Archive by date | January 2011

Academia in Tunisia gaining rights

Academia in Tunisia gaining rights

7th of November Carthage University to be renamed. The ousted Tunisian ex-president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali had a firm hold on the academic community in Tunisia for more than two decades. Now that he is out of the picture after four months of national protests sparked by unemployed university graduates, the professors are trying to right all the wrongs done. Every action by the scientific community required permissions, ranging from meeting foreign researchers to holding a science conference. Universities were required to submit regular reports of all the ongoings within their walls. Now, Tunisian professors are rejoicing at their new-found  … Read more

Unknown metabolic pathway discovered in hardy Middle Eastern microbe

Unknown metabolic pathway discovered in hardy Middle Eastern microbe

This is a guest post by Tony Scully, Nature Middle East’s subeditor “dead © Imagebroker/FLPA German scientists have identified a third pathway by which microorganisms digest carbon compounds in a microbe native to the Dead Sea in the Middle East. Up to now, two pathways were known in invertebrates – the glyoxylate cycle and the ethylmalonyl-CoA pathway – that use acetyl-CoA to form the building blocks of sugar. Haloarcula marismorui, a member of the domain Archaea, has adapted to live in the Dead Sea, which is bereft of fish and plant life  … Read more

Can Tunisia happen elsewhere in the Arab world?

Can Tunisia happen elsewhere in the Arab world?

“TunisianScience usually doesn’t mix much with politics on the Arab world, which is why there was never much politics (thankfully!) on this blog. However, with the events that happened over the past month in Tunisia being the talk of practically every person on the street in the region, it was inevitable to show up here.  Read more

A science fair to cross international borders

Growing up in the Arab world, science fairs for us as students were non-existent. I actually only learned of the concept of science fairs when I was much older and heard about the Cheltenham Science Festival held in the UK.  Read more

A solar eclipse to spark imaginations

A solar eclipse to spark imaginations

Science is meant to be exciting. If it is dull (as is often taught in schools in the Arab world) then it loses its most important effect: to inspire others. Now solar and lunar eclipses may not seem like rocket science, but they do fit the bill of events that inspire a mainstream audience, and they also offer great opportunities for scientific research. For instance, Einstein’s theory of general relativity was only confirmed during the 1919 total solar eclipse, when scientists observed light from distant stars bending when passing near the Sun due to its immense gravity. With that in  … Read more