Not that scientists tend to brawl at meetings, but sectarian politicos and seemingly endless violence being held at bay for the sake of science does seem news worthy.
Mid-East Accelerator Getting Close to Completion
SESAME, the long-awaited particle accelerator being built in the Middle East, seems poised to enter its final stages of construction. At SESAME’s recent council meeting in Turkey, two countries have fully signed on to help fill in its budget gap, and two more are expected to contribute soon as well. In addition, the organization reports that construction on the accelerator has been moving forward according to plan, and, provided the necessary funding comes through, it is on track to start up in 2015.
“I’d say the outcome was very good technical progress and encouraging news about funding, but nothing final,” said Sir Chris Llewellyn-Smith of Oxford University, who is president of the SESAME Council.
SESAME is a UNESCO-spearheaded project to build a 2.5 GeV synchrotron light source in Jordan. When completed, it would be the first such particle accelerator in the Middle East. The multinational coalition to build and run the facility is modeled after the governance of CERN and features nations that have historically been rivals, such as Israel and Iran, collaborating on the project. Much of the buildings, tunnels and radiation shielding has been completed, and the first parts of the accelerator have just been installed. The accelerator itself is in part made up of Germany’s decommissioned BESSY1 light source.
http://www.sesame.org.jo/...
Synchrotron -
An accelerator in which charged particles are accelerated around a fixed circular path by an electric field and held to the path by an increasing magnetic field.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/...
Sesame synchrotron is a flash of unity in Middle East
Amid rising tensions in one of the world's most volatile regions, an audacious project to use science for diplomacy is taking shape in the heart of the Middle East.
In this land of ancient hatreds, a highly sophisticated scientific installation is being built in Jordan.
It has support from countries that are usually openly hostile to each other.
The plan is for a multi-million-pound synchrotron particle accelerator, known as Sesame.
It has backing from several Arab nations, together with Turkey, Pakistan, Cyprus, Iran and - astonishingly - Israel as well.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/...
Israel, Iran help sustain Amman-based particle accelerator
The Middle East’s first particle accelerator is closer to seeing the light of day after recent funding pledges from countries ranging from Israel to Iran.
Tel Aviv, Tehran, Amman and Ankara have each pledged $5 million to keep alive an initiative to boost scientific research and cooperation in the region, Jordanian officials announced on Wednesday.
[...]
Open to scientists, researchers and graduate students, SESAME aims to reverse a decades-old regional trend of brain drain by providing facilities whose absence has long forced physicists and researchers to go abroad to complete their studies.
The initiative was designed to encourage countries across the Middle East to find common ground in sciences away from divisive regional politics, with a board comprising Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, the Palestinian Authority and Turkey.
http://jordantimes.com/...
What is SESAME?
SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) is a “third-generation” synchrotron light source under construction in Allan (Jordan). It will be the Middle East's first major international research centre.
It is a cooperative venture by scientists and governments of the region set up on the model of CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research). It is being developed under the auspices of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) following the formal approval given for this by the Organization's Executive Board (164th session, May 2002).
It is an autonomous intergovernmental organization at the service of its Members which have full control over its development, exploitation and financial matters.
http://www.sesame.org.jo/...
The language of science being spoken together between those historically separated by the language of superstition.
Cowen Thorne