Now here's an interesting article about the construction of a Middle Eastern version of a particle accelerator. Three things are worthy of note:
1) Being built in Jordan it has the backing from several Arab nations, together with Turkey, Pakistan, Cyprus, Iran and surprise, surprise Israel as well. It is amazing to see the scientific community ignoring political differences, with most countries listed contributing to the funding!
2) Doesn't it kind of make you wonder why these countries are eager to build such a device? I know the one in Cern, Switzerland has had some success, but what exactly have they achieved? More to the point, what aren't the Swiss and American scientists telling us?
3) I also find the name of this one very intriguing: "Sesame" (which according to physicist Herman Winick in an interview published in 2009 stands for "Synchrotron-Light for Experimental Science Applications in the Middle East"). Still, "Open Sesame" has other connotations for many of us being the magic words that can open a mountain to expose treasures. Mmmm.
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