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Intelligence Report n Solar Energy from the Pea


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on Your Plate APRIL 13, 2010—Solar energy is often in-


efficient and difficult to utilize in cloudier climates. Now a Tel Aviv University (TAU) sci- entist is suggesting that the solution to these difficulties may lie on your dinner plate. A nano-machine found in the common


pea plant might be harnessed to change light into an energy source to provide electric power, according to research by Prof. Nathan Nelson of TAU’s Department of Biochemistry. “My research aims to come close to achieving the energy production plants obtain when they convert sun to sugars in their green leaves,” Nelson explains. The Israeli scientist and his team have cre-


ated a solar energy device from a plant protein structure. “Looking at the most complicated membrane structure found in a plant, we deci- phered a complex membrane protein structure which is the core of our new proposed model for developing ‘green’ energy,” says Nelson, a structural biologist. “One can imagine our amazement and


joy when, upon illumination of those crystals placed on gold-covered plates, we were able to generate a voltage of 10 volts. This won’t solve our world’s energy problem, but this could be assembled in power switches for low-power solar needs, for example,” Nelson


concludes. HTTP://ISRAEL21C.ORG/201004137874/BRIEFS/SOLAR-ENERGY- FROM-THE-PEA-ON-YOUR-PLATE


“ … when these things begin to take place … lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28)


n U.S., Iraqi Experts Developing Plan to Rebuild Ancient Babylon, Just as Bible Prophesies MAY 2010/HILLAH, IRAQ—The remains of what was once the greatest city in the world occupy a vast site on the bank of the Euphrates River. Their roots go back 3,800 years to when the city of Babylon was the heart of a Mesopotamian empire, and the remnants include great slabs of stone that are said to be the remains of King Ne- buchadnezzar’s castle. A giant stone lion guards one end of the fortifications, but the most stunning remnants were removed by European archaeologists in the early 20th century. Now soldiers with the 172nd Infantry Brigade are exploring


May. Haney said the pair will involve the local community in the plan’s development, as they did with a similar project encourag- ing Western tourists to visit Ghana’s Gold Coast. “You could throw money at it and do all this work, but un-


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the ruins as part of a U.S.-Iraqi effort to preserve the ancient city and plan for the return of Western tourists. Members of the brigade’s 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry Regi-


ment escorted a group of U.S. heritage tourism experts to the ruins during the first week of May 2010 for the first of several visits to develop a preservation and tourism plan for the area. U.S. and coalition troops have been criticized in the past for


damaging and contaminating artifacts. In a 2006 report, the head of the British Museum’s Near East department said that, among other things, military vehicles crushed a 2,600-year-old brick pavement, and sand and archeological fragments were used to fill military sandbags. Now the rapidly improving security situation in surrounding


Babil province has persuaded the U.S. State Department and the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage to embark on the preservation project, dubbed the Future of Babylon Project. The State Department and the World Monuments Fund


have committed $700,000 to the project, which will see U.S. and Iraqi experts develop a plan to preserve the site and develop a local tourism industry, said Diane Siebrandt, the U.S. embassy’s cultural heritage officer. The Babylon project is one of several the State Department


is involved in to conserve ancient sites in partnership with the Iraqi government she said. Two people with expertise developing tourism plans for


historic sites in third-world nations, Gina Haney and Jeff Allen, have been employed by the State Department to run the U.S. side of the project. They visited the ruins for the first time last


20 | Jewish Voice Today JULY/AUGUST 2010


less you can create a sustainable situation, your opportunities for tourism will run out,” Allen said. “The idea is to develop some- thing that is going to be here 30 to 40 years from now and has benefits for the local people. We don’t want something that will only benefit outsiders.” The Iraqi government will be involved in the planning as


well. “If you have 200,000 people a year coming to this site, you will have people staying at hotels, visiting restaurants, buying souvenirs,” Allen said. “The site is in some ways a revenue gen- erator for the local community.” Babylon could be comparable to the Egyptian pyramids,


which draw millions of tourists each year. But the area lacks the tourist infrastructure that has been built at sites such as the pyramids, he said. “There is nothing for tourists here, but if you interpret and preset it in the right way, you can spark interest.” Allen, who has experience designing walkways and signs


for other heritage sites, said detailed planning won’t happen until authorities have worked out how best to preserve the ruins. The crumbling rocks of the original city are surrounded by more elaborate and modern fortifications, including a maze-like col- lection of interior walls built on top of genuine ruins during Sad- dam Hussein’s time. “Some of the past restoration work hasn’t been very good,” he said. “Saddam was trying to inherit the power of the ancients and continue that legacy. His restoration methods helped reinforce that vision of himself, and he created a pattern of restoration and repair work that benefited a certain agenda.” One of the 172nd soldiers who visited the ruins, 1st Lt. Brian


Kelso, 24, of Jacksonville, FL, walked in wonder near the ancient stones. “It’s amazing to be surrounded by this history. To think that we are standing where Alexander the Great has been,” he said, referring to the great Macedonian conqueror who died in Babylon. “Babylon is one of the oldest and first civilizations known to man. They created the wheel and the first calendars. Everybody coming here gets a sense of what this place really is and how it all traces back.” SOURCE: STARS AND STRIPES, THE INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE FOR THE U.S. MILITARY COMMUNITY


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