Labworx

With year-round sunshine, a mean annual temperature of 29°C and less than 10 days of rainfall per annum, the UAE is one of the sunniest countries on the planet. It’s little wonder, then, that one of its Emirates is leading the way when it comes to solar-powered energy – although the affordability of that energy may constitute a surprise.

Abu Dhabi has announced plans to create a solar farm c...

A collective of 20 of the foremost scientists, engineers and researchers from across the UAE have come together to investigate innovative new ways of containing the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. Citizen Science, as the group are known, are being spearheaded by the Technology Innovation Institute (TII) in their efforts to relieve the medical and social pressures that the virus is causing.

While ...

At present, the UAE imports as much as 80% of its food supplies. However, the growing global population and dwindling resources mean that food security could become a very real problem in the foreseeable future, which is why the Emirati government is so keen to increase its self-sustainability with regard to the food sector.

While that’s an admirable ambition, it’s a trickier proposition to ...

A clinical trial which utilises stem cells to combat COVID-19 is underway in the UAE for the first time. The treatment, which involves extracting stem cells from a patient’s bloodstream, activating them and then reintroducing them back into the patient’s lungs, is currently being tested at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City.

However, those involved in the trials have stressed that the treatment is ...

The Middle East, one of the world’s greatest oil producing regions, is facing a shortage crisis of unprecedented proportions. That’s because the prolonged lockdown measures being enforced across the globe to combat the spread of coronavirus have led to a sharp drop-off in demand, meaning that there is so much surplus crude on the market that traders are struggling for places to store it.

Ind...

e Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its partners finally came to an historic agreement to slash oil production outputs by an unprecedented amount last month. The accord followed a lengthy stand-off between OPEC and nations such as Russia, who shared differing opinions on how best to control the slump in oil prices exacerbated by the spread of coronavirus.

Although the ...

One silver lining of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic which has ravaged the world is its effect on air pollution. In the Middle East, as in other parts of the globe, the reduced activity has seen air quality drastically improve in a matter of weeks since the virus first surfaced at the end of last year.

As the epicentre of the outbreak, Wuhan City in the Hubei Province of central China has ...

The UAE has announced it intends to create the world’s largest artificial coral reef off the coast of Fujairah. Covering an estimated 300,000 square metres, the reef will comprise a joint venture between the Emirati Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and the Florida Keys National Sanctuary.

The initiative is a response to the massive coral bleaching which has ravaged the reefs off th...

The UAE believe they may have struck upon the largest natural gas reserve discovery in 15 years. The Jebel Al reservoir, located between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, is projected to hold up to 80 trillion cubic feet of the resource, making it the biggest discovery of its kind since 2015.

If the estimates prove to be correct, the reservoir would become the fourth biggest in the Middle East and catapu...

For the last few years, the UAE has implemented an increasingly aggressive cloud-seeding policy, aimed at combating rising temperatures and increasing rainfall in the country. And the beneficial effects of its scheme are being felt not just in the Emirates themselves, but all across the neighbouring region, according to meteorological expert Dr Said Al Sami.

The global effects of climate cha...