Sabbah Report » Science and Technology

Saudi supercomputer

Haitham Sabbah — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 20:56:21 +0000

At last, something worth the money spent:

Saudi supercomputer lures researchers

By Asma Alsharif

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - A new science and technology university in Saudi Arabia will house one of the world's largest supercomputers and it is helping lure top researchers to the conservative desert state.

The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) is due to open next year on the Red Sea coast near Jeddah, the most liberal city in a country where religious conservatives have extensive control over society.

Inside the campus, male and female students will be able to mingle freely, contrary to strict gender segregation enforced in most of the country. The university is part of a series of reforms by King Abdullah aiming to open the country up.

"The supercomputer is the cornerstone of this knowledge-based economy that we are seeking," said Majid Al-Ghaslan, in charge of the acquisition, design and development of the "Shaheen" supercomputer.

Named after the peregrine falcon, which reaches speeds of up to 340 kilometers per hour, Shaheen is expected to reach 222 teraflops, a measure equaling a trillion floating point operations per second, Ghaslan said. This will make it sixth most powerful computer in the world.

Shaheen will be able to simulate the Red Sea environment and model oil fields in three dimensions.

Although Saudi Arabia has immense financial resources as the world's biggest oil exporter, the parameters of school and university education are governed by religious strictures and many subjects are even off-limits for women to study.

The new university will offer research in biosciences and bioengineering, material sciences and engineering, applied mathematics and computational sciences.

With a $10 billion donation to its endowment from King Abdullah, it is able to lure experts from around the globe with the promise of almost unlimited funding for research work.

"KAUST is a remarkable addition to the world's resources in high-end computing," said David Keyes, Chair of the Mathematical and Computer Sciences and Engineering Division, who is moving from Columbia University in the United States.

"The machine that is being purchased here is one of the main attractions to me," he said.

The supercomputer will be used by KAUST and its partners including Cornell University, the University of Oxford, Stanford University, and Texas A&M University.

Fireplace: Date Palm Style

Haitham Sabbah — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 08:33:59 +0000

I know it is cold out there. In fact, this is one of the coldest years over here in Bahrain.

Anyway, here is a new idea to get you warm. This invention won the prize for â€œBest Dumbass Idea of the Year.â€ It is called â€œDate Palm Fireplaceâ€:

Click image to enlarge!

As you can see, it was cold enough not to cut the Date palm tree. Câ€™monâ€¦ why waste the time and energy in doing that when it is going to burn, one piece at a time or hundred pieces

PS. Above photos are not necessarily from Bahrain. In fact, donâ€™t ask me where this was taken, cause I donâ€™t know. I got them by email from a friend and they can be anywhere in Arab land!

Engineering for dummies

Haitham Sabbah — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 11:06:03 +0000

I am in a terrible "time-waste" mood these days, so have fun!

This is how illiterate miscalculate it:

and this is how the literate's calculate it (more accurate to the target):

Technology and online activism

Haitham Sabbah — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 13:25:20 +0000

Tunisian ~~Treasure~~ Prison Map

The first project is the brave, superb Tunisian Prison Map by Sami Ben Gharbia.

Sami made a Tunisian Prison Map, which is madeup using a Google Maps API + GMapEZ + video YouTube + flash animations + the Yahoo Y !Q Beta. [Hat tip: Rachel]

Link to the map: http://www.kitab.nl/tunisianprisonersmap

Link to the related article in French: http://www.kitab.nl/2006/09/24/tunisian-prisons-map/

Link to the related article in Arabic: http://www.kitab.nl/2006/09/25/ar-tunisian-prisons-map/

***

Nakba Destroyed Villages

The second inspiring project comes from www.palestineremembered.com.

Salah Mansour, the www.palestineremembered.com webmaster is working on a comprehensive project to bring the Nakba (more here and here) online. He is integrating the Google Earth Maps into palestineremembered database, and he is using Dr. Salman Abu Sitti's Atlas of Palestine as one of their sources.

Soon we will have all the land marks presented and one can see where his/her original town or village in Palestine is.

If you have Google Earth you can download the layer from here and use it to see the destroyed and existing Palestinian Villages. The layer has all of the destroyed Palestinian villages and towns in 1948. This is a big database that shows the site of each village and directs you to a website that talks about each village in detail.

You can download the attachment from: http://bbs.keyhole.com/.../

All what you have to do next (if you have Google Earth installed) is to start Google Earth and then double click the file you downloaded, and there you go...

Raining Red Aliens in India

Haitham Sabbah — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 09:56:08 +0000

As bizarre as it may seem, the sample jars brimming with cloudy, reddish rainwater in Godfrey Louisï¿½s laboratory in southern India may hold, well, aliens. In April, Louis, a solid-state physicist at Mahatma Gandhi University, published a paper in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Astrophysics and Space Science in which he hypothesizes that the samplesï¿½water taken from the mysterious blood-colored showers that fell sporadically across Louisï¿½s home state of Kerala in the summer of 2001ï¿½contain microbes from outer space.

Specifically, Louis has isolated strange, thick-walled, red-tinted cell-like structures about 10 microns in size. Stranger still, dozens of his experiments suggest that the particles may lack DNA yet still reproduce plentifully, even in water superheated to nearly 600?F. (The known upper limit for life in water is about 250?F.) So how to explain them? Louis speculates that the particles could be extraterrestrial bacteria adapted to the harsh conditions of space and that the microbes hitched a ride on a comet or meteorite that later broke apart in the upper atmosphere and mixed with rain clouds above India. If his theory proves correct, the cells would be the first confirmed evidence of alien life and, as such, could yield tantalizing new clues to the origins of life on Earth. [Full story here]

Rocket Fuel

Haitham Sabbah — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 16:20:24 +0000

Bacteria Eat Human Sewage, Produce Rocket Fuel.
We have a lot of fule, but where is the Rocket?

Protest action against the Nobel Prize for Prof. Aumann and Thomas Schelling

Haitham Sabbah — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 08:41:06 +0000

Please sign the statement at:

http://www.sd-il.com/politics/campaigns/signStatement.php?cid=2

A large number of signatures can be influential

Enclosed is also a sample protest letter by the Israeli peace and anti nuclear activist Gideon Spiro.

The 2005 Nobel Prize for Economics

To The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences:

We, the undersigned, protest your decision to award the 2005 Nobel Prize in Economic to Professors Robert J. Aumann and Thomas C. Schelling. The Academy's reasoning that these persons have "enhanced our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis" is monstrous. In fact, the Academy has awarded the prize to two warmongers.

Schelling's theory encourages the coercive use of military force, used to induce desired behavior in an adversary, rather than simply to destroy the enemy's military capacity. His ideas were the direct inspiration for US strategy in Vietnam, of indiscriminantly bombing the North in order to persuade Ho Chi Minh to stop supporting the Vietcong in the South [see www.slate.com/id/2127862]. This strategy resulted in 2 million civilian deaths and was a complete failure in realizing its objectives.

Aumann uses his analysis to justify the Israeli Occupation and the oppression of the Palestinians. Neither of these individuals has contributed anything that improves the human condition; rather, they have contributed to the misery of millions.

Aumann characterizes the recent evacuation of Israeli settlers from Gaza Strip as "expulsion" and Ariel Sharon's policies as influenced by a dangerous rush to achieve peace. Aumann is a veteran member of the far-right think tank, Professors for a Strong Israel, the first principle of which is:

The Land of Israel is the Homeland of the Jewish People: Judea, Samaria, Gaza, and the Golan Heights are integral parts of the Land of Israel. Every Jew has an inherent right to live in security and under Israeli sovereignty in any part of this Land. We are categorically opposed to yielding control of any part of the Land of Israel to any foreign entity.

This is a proven recipe for bloodshed. It is a principle in opposition to a just resolution of the horrific conflict that is destroying both Palestinian and Israeli societies. In supporting this, Aumann advocates violating international law and disregarding overwhelming international consensus. According to Aumann's game-theory, the longer Israel waits, the more concessions the Palestinians will be forced to make In other words, Israel should forestall any political negotiation that might lead to a just peace.

This criminal and dangerous school of thought should not be honoured. It should be condemned.

You should reverse your decision to reward Professors Schelling and Aumann. We request that you find people who have truly advanced the health and welfare of human, as has always been the intention of the Nobel prize.

Signed,

Please send similar mails to the Royal Swedish Academy of science

-----Original Message-----
From: Gideon Spiro
Sent: 12 October, 2005 7:19 PM
To: 'evak@kva.se'
Subject: Nobel prize

To: Eva Krutmeiger
Royal Swedish Academy of science
Head of information office

Dear Eva Krutmeiger,

Does the Nobel committee for economics (or any other category) consider only the scientific data of the candidate and disregard any other aspects of his or her activity?

In other words, can, for example, a racist or a Holocaust denier receive the Nobel prize even if he/she is very talented in his/her scientific field?

I'm asking this questions regarding Robert Auman from Israel. He support the settlement policy in the occupied west bank which is a war crime according to the Geneva and Rome conventions; He support the apartheid regime which Israel established in the Palestinian west bank; He support the buildup of the Israeli nuclear arsenal which amount to the mad number of few hundred atom and hydrogen bombs (a danger not only to Israel and the Middle East but to the whole world).

His racist views receiving now an impressive boost in endless media interviews due to the high prestige of being a Nobel laureate.

After I read the biography of Alfred Nobel and his will in your internet site, allow me to say with all modesty, that his ideas and especially the spirit of his ideas, contradict awarding the prize to professor Auman.

I don't know if you have a proceeding of reconsider the award after announcing it (but before the ceremony). If so, it would be in accordance with Alfred Nobel legacy to think again before the ceremony take place.

Please convey my remarks to the committee members.

I'll appreciate your answer.

With respect
Gideon Spiro
Journalist
(Also a peace and anti nuclear activist)

MENA ‘ideal for solar power’

Haitham Sabbah — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 17:32:56 +0000

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) could gain from a growing solar power industry if they provide financial and political frameworks to lure investment. The report says that in 20 years, solar power could provide the same amount of electricity as 72 coal-fired power stations. This is enough to supply 100 million people, or the combined populations of Algeria, Morocco, Israel and Tunisia. By 2040, solar thermal power plants could supply five per cent of global electricity demand.
the industry will attract nearly US$20 billion a year in investment, employ 54,000 people, and have avoided the emission of 362 million tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere ï¿½ roughly what Japan emits each year.
Will Mideast go that way? I hope they do ONE right thing before it is too late as usual...

Game Theory

Haitham Sabbah — Mon, 10 Oct 2005 22:28:04 +0000

An American and an Israeli won the 2005 Nobel prize for economics on Monday for their work on "game theory," which can help explain and resolve trade and business conflicts, and even play a role in avoiding war... Interesting. It would be nice to know if somebody already applied this theory somewhere.

Update: These two turned to be nothing more than warmongers. Protest action against the Nobel Prize for Prof. Aumann and Thomas Schelling.

Worries For Canada

Haitham Sabbah — Sun, 18 Sep 2005 11:55:27 +0000

A silent tectonic event, so powerful it has shifted southern Vancouver Island out to sea, but so subtle nobody has felt a thing, is slowly unfolding on the West Coast. Scientists who are tracking the event with sensitive seismographs and earth orbiting satellites warn it could be a trigger for a massive earthquake -- some time, maybe soon.

God Bless the World!

Homemade Endoscope

Haitham Sabbah — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 10:49:42 +0000

A hospital doctor in the poor rural area in Vietnam has used his PC and some cheap parts to create a homemade endoscope.

Endoscope is a minimally invasive diagnostic procedure used to evaluate the interior surfaces of an organ by inserting a small scope in the body. Through the scope, doctors are able to see lesions.

The doctor spent two years developing a DIY endoscope to peer inside the bodies of patients without the need for surgery.

Mauritania gets its first science ministry

Haitham Sabbah — Mon, 22 Aug 2005 15:31:28 +0000

In the wake of this month's military coup, Mauritania has established its first ministry for education and scientific research. Can you believe that?

Erotic images can turn you blind

Haitham Sabbah — Tue, 16 Aug 2005 18:08:49 +0000

Researchers have finally found evidence that erotic images make you go blind. The effect is temporary and lasts just a moment, but the research has added to road-safety campaignersï¿½ calls to ban sexy billboard-advertising near busy roads, in the hope of preventing accidents.

Build your business with open source

Haitham Sabbah — Fri, 12 Aug 2005 23:32:12 +0000

Think high-priced commercial software is your only option? Don't be so sure. Free alternatives are available in a wide range of enterprise software categories, including some that may surprise you. Related posts: Featured by Business Week Magazine Dubai to build $1.7 billion Golf City Back in business! Related posts:

Warming hits ‘tipping point’

Haitham Sabbah — Fri, 12 Aug 2005 23:16:23 +0000

Siberia feels the heat It's a frozen peat bog the size of France and Germany combined, contains billions of tonnes of greenhouse gas and, for the first time since the ice age, it is melting.