Even as violence escalates in the Middle East, plans for SESAME, a synchrotron light source intended to use science to promote peace in the region, are moving forward.
In May, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) officially took the project under its wing. This move is expected to grease political wheels and make it easier to raise the funds needed to realize SESAME (International Centre for Synchrotron Light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East).
SESAME’s host, Jordan, is footing the bill for a building to house the machine, and the project’s members will pay the annual operating costs—about $4 million plus salaries. But money to upgrade BESSY I, a decommissioned synchrotron donated by Germany to form the core of SESAME, and to outfit the machine with beamlines is still being sought, largely from nonmembers.
To help decide whether to contribute to SESAME, the European...
