AAAS Science Weekly News Volume 349, Issue 6252

Four articles in this issue are about Iran

چهار مقاله در این شماره در مورد ایران است
مقالات در مورد سینکروترون، رصدخانه مراغه، دریاچه ارومیه، و اکوسیستم است

Unsanctioned science

Richard Stone


If all goes well, construction of Iran's first synchrotron, a source of brilliant x-ray light for studies of everything from biological molecules to advanced materials, will begin in 2018. The $300 million Iranian Light Source Facility is the country's biggest basic science project ever-and it is testimony to the country's determination to do science in spite of turmoil, political interference, and the vise grip of economic sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies to block Iran's suspected effort to develop nuclear weapons. Animated by the same spirit, an array of homegrown initiatives has flourished, despite the sanctions, in areas ranging from seismology to stem cell research. The result is a surprisingly robust scientific enterprise, as was evident when the Iranian government recently granted Science rare access to select facilities and researchers.


An eye on the sky

Richard Stone


A millennium ago, when Europe was in its dark ages, Persia and the rest of the Muslim world were dotted with observatories. Copernicus even drew on the meticulous records of planetary motion from the observatory at Maragheh in northwestern Iran for his proposal that Earth revolves around the sun. That astronomical tradition is due to resume next spring, as construction begins on the $30 million Iranian National Observatory, a 3.4-meter optical telescope. When completed in 4 or 5 years, it could be the best general-purpose telescope for thousands of kilometers. A monument to the persistence of Iran's tiny astronomy community in the face of shifting political winds, the telescope will study exoplanets and gamma-ray bursts, hunt for dark matter, and probe galaxy formation.


Saving Iran's great salt lake

Richard Stone


Lake Urmia, in Iran's northwestern corner, was once the planet's sixth largest salt lake, covering about 5200 square kilometers-a bit larger than the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Flamingos, egrets, and other waterfowl feasted on brine shrimp, and resorts catered to tourists who believed that bathing in the saline waters improves health. But after gradually receding for years, the water body shriveled last year to a mere 10% of its maximum. Like the Aral Sea, a better-known vanishing salt lake in Central Asia, Lake Urmia is exposing a salt desert that generates noxious dust, threatening crops and people. Wildlife is vanishing, all the way down to its endemic shrimp, and recreation is also on the extinction list. Iran plans to spend around $6 billion over the next decade on Urmia's revival-the largest environmental project in the country.


Fragile ecosystems under pressure

Richard Stone


Iran has many hot spots where the needs of a burgeoning population are taking a toll on the fragile ecosystems of this vast, water-poor country. This story touches on four hot issues: a drought stretching into its fifth year that is having devastating consequences, especially in central Iran; a controversial plan to transform Iran's only island in the Caspian Sea into a tourism hub; alarming declines of Iran's forests due to wildfires, conversion to cropland, logging, and urbanization; and efforts to save the Asiatic cheetah from extinction. Iranian scientists and nongovernmental organizations are speaking out about the crises-and, in some cases, making headway toward solving them.