On Saturday, 13 pupils from various schools in the Emirates will be arguing about how society now needs to be fostering the ideas of global, cosmic citizenship, at the TEDx Youth@Winchester conference. After the success of their first youth conference in 2012, The Winchester School in Jebel Ali Gardens in Dubai is back this year with a session focusing on current advances in science and space travel.
Rohan Roberts, the school’s senior leader and organiser of the event, believes the topic of the hour is readying the youth for possibilities in outer space, and says such conferences and efforts at the grass-roots level support the wider push by the country in the fields of science and innovation.
“The UAE government is keenly invested in promoting science – I don’t think it’s just a buzzword,” he says.
“Historically, the Middle East was the centre of scientific learning and discoveries and with the Expo 2020, the space agency and mission to Mars, I think the rulers are bringing back that glorious age. It’s an exciting time for science and astronomy.”
Roberts says there is a push to expand the presence of humanity in space in the next 10 years and it is imperative that young people start thinking about the effect of such progress.
“Children here are already global citizens,” says Roberts, who is also the director of the Dubai Science Festival and founder of Cafe Scientifique in Dubai. “They think globally and have friends from all around the world. The next step for this international crowd of students is thinking cosmically.”
Topics the students will be discussing range from the discovery of intelligent alien life and its effect on the human psyche, the case for space exploration, steps to becoming a cosmic citizen, existential threats facing mankind and the role of education in creating cosmic citizens.
Simrah Ali of The Winchester School will be speaking about the rights and responsibilities of a cosmic citizen in her nine-minute talk.
“Most of us are aware of our basic rights and responsibilities, but as we explore space, are these rights enough?” asks Ali. The 16-year-old student will be comparing The Universal Declaration of Human Rights to how rights will have to be redefined in the future.
“Once we are accepted as cosmic citizens, our rights will have to involve leaving the planet, our solar system and galaxy,” she says, adding that she chose to major in economics but science and astronomy have always intrigued her. “I’ve never been into just one thing and I do enjoy the sciences. Also, I strongly believe in the cosmic advancements.”
The event is driven by the school’s student body, led by Roberts and Year 13 student Behshid Behrouzi.
“We had some vigorous auditions,” says the 17-year-old. “We chose students who showed an excitement for the topic.”
She says the TEDx platform is an opportunity for young people to air their opinions and get noticed. “These independent conferences give more people in the community a chance to voice their thoughts, especially students who, if honed now, will be future innovators.”
The line-up for the conference is predominantly made up of female speakers this year. Roberts says this is indicative of a broader issue educators are noticing.
“Girls tend to outperform boys at the school level,” he says. “They are better speakers and writers, and more diligent. And while there is talk about women not getting into science, we notice here that girls are with it and are doing more to promote science in the community. We need to find ways to motivate boys to be as excited.”
•TEDx Youth@Winchester is on Saturday from 10am at the school. The event is free. To register, visit www.tedxwinchesterschool.com
aahmed@thenational.ae
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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2.
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China
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3.
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UAE
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4.
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 390bhp
Torque: 400Nm
Price: Dh340,000 ($92,579
EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
- Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old
- Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old
- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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Walls
Louis Tomlinson
3 out of 5 stars
(Syco Music/Arista Records)
Stage 3 results
1 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 4:42:33
2 Tadej Pocagar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:03
3 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana 0:01:30
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ
5 Rafal Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Diego Ulissi (ITA) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:56
General Classification after Stage 3:
1 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 12:30:02
2 Tadej Pocagar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:07
3 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana 0:01:35
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:40
5 Rafal Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Wilco Kelderman (NED) Team Sunweb) 0:02:06
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE LOWDOWN
Photograph
Rating: 4/5
Produced by: Poetic License Motion Pictures; RSVP Movies
Director: Ritesh Batra
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Farrukh Jaffar, Deepak Chauhan, Vijay Raaz
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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The%20Last%20White%20Man
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