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Reporting on the Middle East, Science, and Education for March 27, 2008 - כ' אדר ב' תשס"ח
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Israeli energy startup Zenith Solar is pioneering a “concentrated solar power” method that is up to five times more efficient than standard technology
by Neal Sandler, Business Week, March 26, 2008
Rooftops all over Israel look strikingly similar: More than 1 million households in the nation of 7.1 million people have solar panels that produce hot water—a relatively simple technology that gained popularity after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, when oil prices shot up sharply. As of the early 1990s, all new residential buildings were required by the government to install solar water-heating systems.
Yet despite Israel’s sunny climate and early lead in solar heating, it has been slow in adopting more sophisticated solar technologies that produce electricity from sunlight. Now, with oil hovering near $100 a barrel, a local startup hopes to build on the country’s early embrace of sun power to carve out a new clean-energy business.
Zenith Solar, based in Nes Ziona near Tel Aviv, is a pioneer in a new type of solar energy that uses mirrors and lenses to focus and intensify the sun’s light, producing far more electricity at lower cost. Compared with traditional flat photovoltaic panels made of silicon, this so-called concentrated solar power technology has proved in tests to be up to five times more efficient. That puts it on the verge of being competitive with oil and natural gas, even without government subsidies.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Alternative Energy, Middle East Report, Recent Posts, Science and Technology, Solar Energy on March 27, 2008 - כ' אדר ב' תשס"ח at 5:30 am
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“Even though we’re Muslim, the Islamic world has done nothing to protect us”, said Yassin, a refugee whose tortured flight from Darfur finally brought him to Israel three years ago. He was one of the first Darfurians to make it into Israel across the border from Egypt, and has dedicated his life to helping hundreds of his fellow countrymen who have made the same perilous journey.
Yassin, a genial 30-year-old former architect, is now director of Bnei Darfur [Sons of Darfur], an organisation which assists Sudanese refugees to integrate into Israeli society, and which last week was finally granted non-profit status by the Israeli government. Sitting in his office in downtown Tel Aviv, Yassin painted a harrowing picture of the way in which Darfurian refugees are mistreated by the uncaring and unsympathetic authorities in Egypt, which is the first port of call of many fleeing the violence in Sudan.
Darfuri children are scared to set foot outside in Egypt for fear of attack, Yassin said, citing the slaying of dozens of refugees after a protest outside the UNHCR headquarters in 2005. “It’s not that Egypt doesn’t look after refugees in general,” he said, “after all, they treat the Somalians very well. However, when it comes to us, they are different. It’s racism [that motivates the Egyptian mistreatment].”
It doesn’t help that the Darfurians are accusing fellow Muslims of genocide, said Yassin, noting that the Muslim states who support the Sudanese government in turn claim that the refugees are collaborating with enemy states in the West. “All of the Arab countries support the government of Sudan - our problem is with the Arab League,” Yassin stated with a shake of his head at his people’s plight. Having watched most of his family slaughtered in a militia attack on his village, he fled the region hoping to find shelter in Egypt, but was soon forced to move on.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Middle East Report, News Articles, Recent Posts on March 25, 2008 - י"ח אדר ב' תשס"ח at 8:56 am
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Press Release, Weizmann Institute, March 24, 2008
Mankind triumphed in a recent ‘competition’ against nature when scientists succeeded in creating a new type of enzyme for a reaction for which no naturally occurring enzyme has evolved. This achievement opens the door to the development of a variety of potential applications in medicine and industry.
Enzymes are, without a doubt, a valuable model for understanding the intricate works of nature. These molecular machines – which without them, life would not exist – are responsible for initiating chemical reactions within the body. Millions of years of natural selection have fine-tuned the activity of such enzymes, allowing chemical reactions to take place millions of times faster. In order to create artificial enzymes, a comprehensive understanding of the structure of natural enzymes, their mode of action, as well as advanced protein engineering techniques is needed. A team of scientists from the University of Washington, Seattle, and the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, made a crucial breakthrough toward this endeavor. Their findings have recently been published in the scientific journal Nature.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Evolutionary Biology, Health Sciences, Recent Posts, Science on March 24, 2008 - י"ז אדר ב' תשס"ח at 6:16 pm
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See Also: Zwick’s Picks
Anti-Jewish animosity, rather than economic distress, is terror’s root cause
By Gilad Sharon, YNet News, March 24, 2008
Many people around the world, including some Israelis, believe that the moment the conflict between us and the Palestinians would be resolved, the reason for the Arab and Muslim world’s hostility towards us will disappear. Peace will prevail among Israel and all Arab states, tensions between Islam and the West will fade, and the terror threat against Western nations will be lifted.
This conviction is naïve and false – the Palestinian issue is the pretext; a means used to slam Israel. It is not the problem.
The Arab world never reconciled itself to our existence as a Jewish state in the Mideastern space. The only Arab maps where the State of Israel appears are military maps. When it comes to the maps used in geography classes at schools, we do not exist.
Arab states have no interest whatsoever in the fate of the Palestinians. Syria’s defense minister referred to Arafat as the “son of 60,000 whores,” while Egypt’s president once urged the Palestinian leader to do something by telling him: “Come on already, you dog.” We must understand the meaning of such insult in the Arab world, and this is nothing compared to the declarations that were not uttered in public.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Islam, Middle East, Opinion, Recent Posts on March 24, 2008 - י"ז אדר ב' תשס"ח at 8:50 am
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By Israel Zwick, CN Publications, Purim 5768
Editor’s Note: Recently, a secret meeting was held at the United Nations by the request of the Israeli representative. Present at this meeting were representatives from the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), United States (USA), Israel (ISRAEL), and the Palestinian Authority (PA). CN Publications obtained advance notice of this secret meeting and introduced a fly into the room. Using the latest advances in Israeli nanotechnology, the fly was fitted with a microscopic microphone and transmitter. Below is a transcript of the conversation transmitted by the fly.
ISRAEL: My friends, I have asked you to come to this meeting because the State of Israel is facing a severe dilemma and we would appreciate your advice and consent before we make any drastic decisions. You know that we are very concerned about criticism and condemnation from the international community so we would like to avoid that.
UN: We are always eager to assist any of our member nations. How can we help?
ISRAEL: Well, as you recall, the State of Israel was established 60 years ago in order to provide a homeland for millions of Jews scattered around the world who have not had a homeland in almost 2000 years. Many of these Jews were survivors of the Holocaust, living in Displaced Persons camps and had nowhere to go. It was decided that the best place for a Jewish homeland would be the Holy Land where the Jews have strong historical, religious, and cultural attachments.
UN: Yes, we are very proud of the role we played in establishing a homeland for Jews in portions of the former British Palestine Mandate.
ISRAEL: The dilemma that we are facing now is that there are still tens of thousands of Jews around the world who would like to immigrate to Israel.
UN: That’s fine, so what’s the problem?
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Fun Stuff, Humor, Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts, Zwick's Picks on March 18, 2008 - י"א אדר ב' תשס"ח at 7:16 am
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By Charles Q. Choi, Special to LiveScience, 17 March 2008
The very first mammals were reptile-like creatures that laid eggs.
It turns out the ability to nurse their young — a trait unique to mammals — could have led our distant ancestors away from egg-laying, as developing offspring were able to shift from a yolk to a milk diet.
All mammals have at least four physical traits in common. We all possess hair at some point — even whales and naked mole rats. We all have three bones in our middle ear that help amplify sound. We all possess a neocortex in our brains, a structure responsible for higher brain functions. And all mammal species can produce milk.
“The reason we’re known as mammals is because of our mammary glands,” explained researcher Henrik Kaessmann, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. “Nourishment with milk is a key feature of mammals. It’s at the center of our story. And we wanted to know how that came about, how we came about.”
To better understand how the distant ancestors of humanity and other mammals evolved from reptile-like creatures that laid eggs, Kaessmann and his colleagues investigated genes linked with eggs and milk.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Evolutionary Biology, Recent Posts, Science on March 18, 2008 - י"א אדר ב' תשס"ח at 5:43 am
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By Victor Davis Hanson, March 13, 2008
Gaza erupted in celebration last week to the news that a Palestinian had murdered Jewish religious students in Jerusalem. And almost daily terrorists send rockets from Gaza into nearby Israeli cities, hoping to kill civilians and provoke Israeli counter-responses — and perhaps start another Middle East war.
This is not the way some imagined Gaza two and half years after the Israelis withdrew both civilians and soldiers from the territory in September 2005. At the time, the Palestinian Authority controlled Gaza, but in early 2007, Hamas took over in a violent civil war, claiming legitimacy after once winning a popular election.
Gaza has plenty of natural advantages. It enjoys a picturesque coastline on the Mediterranean with sandy beaches and a rich classical history. There is a contiguous border with Egypt, the Arab world’s largest country and spiritual home of pan-Arabic solidarity.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts on March 13, 2008 - ו' אדר ב' תשס"ח at 9:39 am
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Reprinted from Israel Today, March 13, 2008
‘Hamas Worships Death’
A Palestinian journalist in Gaza writes about his despair in the face of a Palestinian society that worships death. more»
Guide to Kidnapping Americans
Islamic Jihad website hosted in Texas publishes matter-of-fact guide to abducting, ransoming and executing Western non-Muslim hostages. more»
Ridiculing Rockets
“We chased the Jews out of Gaza, and now we will kick them out of Sderot, and afterwards from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.” more»
Agreements with Israel ‘Null and Void’
All Palestinian agreements made with Israel are null and void from a religious and legal point of view and are rejected by Sharia (Islamic Law) more»
Killing Jews Is the ‘Core of our Faith’
“The Prophet of Allah has promised us that the Jews will gather in Palestine, and that the Moslems will fight and destroy them.” more»
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Islam, Judaism, Middle East Report, Monotheistic Religions on March 13, 2008 - ו' אדר ב' תשס"ח at 8:21 am
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By Barry Rubin, GLORIA Center, March 10, 2008
Radical forces in the Middle East have rewritten the international rulebook in a way designed so “they can’t lose.” That is, there’s no easy response to their behavior and strategies.
What’s even more worrisome is the widespread failure in the West even to realize this is happening. Hamas and Hizballah fire from among civilians and use civilian homes for military purposes; Syria or Iran deploy disinformation, radical regimes pretend moderation, and there are plenty of suckers to take the bait.
Extremism makes many believe that kind words and concessions can transform them; intransigence produces a response that if they won’t give up we must do so.
Here are some new rules in which “we” represents such disparate forces as Hamas, Hizballah, Iran, Iraqi insurgents, al-Qaida, Syria, the Taliban, and others including radical Arab nationalists. These forces are not all alike or allied but do often follow a parallel set of rules quite different from how international affairs have generally been conducted.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Islam, Middle East Report, Opinion on March 12, 2008 - ה' אדר ב' תשס"ח at 7:22 am
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By Andre Oboler, JCPA, March 11, 2008
Around 2004, changes in technology created Web 2.0.[1] As technology adapted, so did online antisemitism. With the new “social web” came a new “social antisemitism.” This Antisemitism 2.0 is the use of online social networking and content collaboration to share demonization, conspiracy theories, Holocaust denial, and classical antisemitic motifs with a view to creating social acceptability for such content.
This phenomenon is spreading antisemitism and acceptability of antisemitism in new and increasingly effective ways. Social pressures are key to understanding Antisemitism 2.0, which is a combination of the technology and the emerging social environment.
The main threat posed by Web 2.0 to the Jewish people and their supporters is the creation of a culture where antisemitism has social acceptability, particularly among young people, resulting in the lowering of resistance and the establishment of hate networks.
To challenge Antisemitism 2.0, the Jewish community must as a strategy begin to engage online as an online community made up of individuals and organizations. The community has the talent to combat antisemitism online, but only if it is recognized, trained, funded, and given a shared sense of ownership in the fight against this newest manifestation of antisemitism.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Education Report, Judaism, Monotheistic Religions, Recent Posts on March 11, 2008 - ד' אדר ב' תשס"ח at 1:13 pm
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