Libya Science

Libya Museums

Libya's First Online Museum:

Temehu Online Museum is an online gallery of Libyan museums, including original photos of exhibits, descriptions of various pieces from all the museums of Libya, and photos of the actual museum buildings.

Earth Science Society of Libya (ESSL)

The Earth Science Society of Libya was registered in 1974, in place of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Libya (PESL - established in 1958). The Society has organised many geological expeditions to Fezzan, Southeast Libya, Jabal al Qarqaf and other geological sites in Libya, as well as to Egypt, Chad, Tunisia, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Sicily, Spain and Morocco. In November 2003 the Society was re-registered with the National Scientific Research Authority as a non-profit scientific society.

Website: http://www.geolibya.org/ (this site has become unavailable recently!)

Libya's Great Man-Made River Project (GMRP)

Libya's Great Man-Made River Authority (GMRA) : (Arabic site): site currently unavailable!

Libya's Great Man-Made River Authority (GMRA) : (English site): site currently unavailable!

The Eighth Wonder of the World : one of the the largest civil engineering projects in the world.
Looking for oil beneath the sand, the Libyans have found water instead.

• The idea of the GMRP was first concieved in 1984.
• Inauguration: 1991.
• Aim: extracting water from an ancient desert aquifer and transporting it to the northern coastal regions.
• Cost: 33 billion dollars in capital investment and running costs over 50 years.
• Viability: more economical than desalination plants.
• Reserves: predicted recoverable reserves would last for 4,860 years.
• Delivery: over 6.0 million m3 (5260 acre-feet) of water will be conveyed every day.
• Structure: a network of 5,000 kilometres of 4-meter diameter, pre stressed, concrete cylinder pipes (PCCP).
• Current network: 4,000 km of pipes.
• Criticism: unsustainability: mining ancient fossil water will never be replenished by the Sahara's scarce rain.

The 2006 Total Sun Eclipse over Libya: 4m 7s:

Actual photo of the eclipse. Wednesday 29 March 2006.

The Moon passed before the face of the glorious and majestic sun during the 4th total solar eclipse of this century; turning the bright desert sky into a twilight zone for a short period of four minutes and seven seconds. The path of totality started in Brazil, then crossed the Atlantic Ocean to Ivory Coast, then Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Libya, Egypt, Turkey, then crossed Asia to end over Mongolia.

The maximum duration of the eclipse occurred over Libya: 4 minutes and 7 seconds, at 10:11:18 UT at location 23.14°N 16.75°E.

LIBFISH

Reynolds, J.E et al. 1995, Planning for aquaculture development In Libya: A review
Tripoli/Rome. FAO. 94p. Fl: DP/LIB/88/009 -
Fl: GCP/LIB/021/lsDB, Field Document 9 (En).
Food And Agriculture Organization Of The United Nations (FAO).

 

The Libyan Centre for Remote Sensing and Space Science (LCRSSS)
Address: P.O. Box 82819
Tripoli
Libya
Phone: +218 21 607004 - 14
Website: http://www.lcrss.org/

 

The centre was established in 1989, in Tripoli, and currently has 5 research centres and nearly 300 workers. The centre conducts research relating to remote sensing and space technologies, and provides information and guidelines for other organisation. The centre also runs an Earthquake Centre, which aims to study the entire country and produce a complete map of the active and inactive regions, which will be then used for planning and building new projects, like power stations and other important projects.

The centre's objectives include:

• Locating underground water reserves.
• Studying the possible locations for dams and the study of all other water resources.
• Preparing geographical and topographical maps.
• Mapping the locations of underground mineral resources like mines and oil.
• Studying the properties of soil and agricultural produce.
• Observation and control of urban developments and expansion of cities.
• Planning and determining the locations of new roads, railways and pipelines.
• Studying water pollution.
• Studying desertification.
• Studying the sky and observing the heavenly bodies.
• Mapping the active and inactive earthquake regions in Libya.

 

 

Recent seismic activity in the Med. 16/02/2009.
From The Libyan Centre for Remote Sensing and Space Science website.

 

 

International Energy Foundation (IEF):

The International Energy Foundation is an independent, non governmental and non profit-making organisation, established in 1989 to research new and better ways to transmit and conserve energy and the environment; to disseminate knowledge through symposia, publications and other media; and to recommend and promote standards for energy consumption and production.

International Energy Foundation
1st September Street
Tripoli,
Libya.
P.O. Box:  83617.
Telephone:  +218 - 21 - 3331832 / 3331833  / 3331834 
Fax:  +218 - 21 - 3331831 
E-mail: info@ief-ngo.org

 

Libyan Society of Science
Contact: Dr. Mohammad Mattug
Alfateh University
Physics Department
Tripoli
Libya

 

Environmental General Authority (EGA)
Researching, protecting and preserving the environment
Tripoli
Libya
Phone: +218 21 4872188 / 4873763

 

Tajoura Nuclear Research Centre
Address: P.O. BOX 30878
Tripoli
Libya
Phone: +218 21 607021 / 607025

 

Agricultural Research Centre (ARC)
Contact: Dr. Fawzi A. Taher
Address: P. O. Box 2480
Tripoli
Libya
Phone: +218 21 3616866

 

Arab Development Institute
P.O. BOX 12312
Tripoli
Libya
Science Humanities

 

Environmental General Authority - EGA
Tripoli
Libya
Scientific controlling and consulting body concern.

 

Industrial Research Centre (IRC)
Tajoura P.O. BOX 3633
Tripoli
Libya
Research Science IRC

The new website address: http://www.irc.ly

Tel: 00218-21- 3691517
Tel: 00218-21- 3691511
Fax:00218-21- 3690028
Email: info@irc.org.ly

Contact Us page: http://www.irc.ly/irc19.htm

 

 

Marine Biology Research Centre
Tajoura
Tripoli
Libya
Marine research

The Geology of Libya, The Fourth Symposium (November, 17-20, 2008, Tripoli): Sedimentary Basins Of Libya

The Sedimentary Basins of Libya project was launched in 1990 as a joint project between the National Oil Corporation (NOC) and the Earth Science Society of Libya (ESSL). The fourth symposium will be dedicated to the Geology of Southern Libya, including Al-Kufrah Basin, Murzuq Basin, southern Sirt Basin, Al Qarqaf Arch and the Jabal Bin Ghanimah-Dur al Qussah areas.

Libya Science Schools, 2007-2008

As part of two contracts awarded by the Libyan Ministry of Education in relation to investment in primary science facilities, the Findel Projects supplied primary physics, chemistry and biology equipment to 34 schools in Libya in 2007, and to 536 schools in 2008.

Science Teaching in Libya

The Final Report of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific And Cultural Organisation) - 20 March 1961 to 31 July 1964, by Ali Nashat. UNESCO's suggestions to improving science teaching in Libya.

Final Report of Prof. Luc Montagnier and Prof. Vittorio Colizzi on the Nosocomial HIV infection (Paris, 7 April 2003).

The HIV infection of children at the Al-Fateh Hospital in 1997-1998-99 was thought to have been originated from the use of injection material contaminated by blood from an infected child. All the samples from these children (1997-1998-1999) were found to belong to a similar viral subtype, strongly indicating a common origin.

How Clean Are Rental DVDs?

Isolation of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) From Rented DVDs:

By Khalifa Sifaw Ghenghesh (PhD, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine); Halima Nashnoush (MSc, Department of Botany, Faculty of Sciences); Amal Shaker (BSc, Department of Botany, Faculty of Sciences); Hussam Enaami, MBBS, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine); and Abdualaziz Zorgani (PhD, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Fateh Univeristy, Tripoli, Libya).

"Our findings show that, at least in our region, rental DVDs carry multiple antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, including MRSA, and may play a role in the transmission of these organisms in the community."

Parasitological Contamination In Salad Vegetables In Tripoli-Libya:

By Amal Khalifa Abougrain, Mohamed Hadi Nahaisi, Nuri Sahli Madi, Mohamed Mohamed Saied, and
Khalifa Sifaw Ghenghesh.

The study aims to determine the parasitological contamination of salad vegetables sold at wholesale and retail markets in Tripoli, Libya. Results showed the presence of eggs of Ascaris spp., eggs of Toxocara cati, eggs of Toxocara canis, and eggs of Taenia/Echinococcus spp. in the samples examined. The conclusion was that "Parasitological contamination of raw salad vegetables sold in wholesale and retail markets in Tripoli may pose a health risk to consumers of such products."

The NewScientist has recommended that the best way to wash vegetable and fruits is to soak them in water with plenty of vinegar: just fill your kitchen sink with water, add a generous quantity of vinegar, then put the vegetable and fruits in and leave to soak for about 15 minutes. This has the added benefit of removing most of the water-resistent pesticides and insecticides sprayed over the produce while still growing.

Bacteriological Quality of Drinking Water Obtained From Mosques In Tripoli, Libya:

By Khalifa Sifaw Ghenghesh, Khalifa Belhaj, Amna Algaui, Enas Alturki, Amal Rahouma, and Salaheddin Abeid. (The Libyan Journal Of Infectious Diseases, Vol. 1 No.1 Jan-2007).

The aim of this study was to investigate the bacteriological quality of drinking water provided for worshipers by Mosques in Tripoli. The presence of antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacteria in drinking water which may pose a health hazard to users, particularly the aged and the immunocompromised, was confirmed. The types of bacteria investigated include coliform, Escherichia coli, Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas sp., fecal streptococci, Aeromonas sp., Klebsiella sp. and Pseudomonas sp.

Nummulites:

Department of Geology And Paleontology: Modelling of Ypresian carbonate reservoirs from Libya

Nummulite accumulations form important hydrocarbon reservoirs in North Africa were first developed in the Late Palaeocene, spread over the Tethyan margins during the Eocene and vanished during the Middle Oligocene. Nummulites are a unicellular shelled protozoa with large, coin-shaped, fossil foraminifer, up to 12 cm in diameter. They were widely distributed in limestone formations from the Eocene Epoch to the Miocene Epoch of the Cenozoic. They lived in warm, shallow, marine waters, and are numerous enough to be major rock formers in early Tertiary strata of the circum-Mediterranean region. The pyramids of Egypt were built of blocks of nummulitic limestone.

Libya Before The Sahara:

Libya Before The Sahara, by Professor Noel T. Boaz, of Benghazi's Libyan International Medical University, published by the International Institute for human Evolutionary Research Integrative Centres for Science and Medicine, 2009. The following cover photograph is of As-Sahabi Locality P28 and the Petrified Forest fronting Garet Makada ("Elephant Hill"), west of Sebkhat al-Qunnayyin, Libya.

The site of As-Sahabi, in North Central Libya, is one of the greatest fossil sites in Africa; apparently so because a great river once flowed through this region. The Eo-Sahabi River was rich in marine wildlife including large widehead catfish, bichirs, spotted sqeaker, Nile perch, sea turtles, sea cows, long-snouted crocodilian, iniid river dolphins, bream and white sharks, and was surrounded by lush-green trees and many wild animals, chattering birds, bears, hyenas, pigs, monkeys, antelopes, three-toed horses, four-tusked elephants, six-fore-toothed hippos and many more exotic species; all of which have since dissapeared into the corridors of history, leaving behind a sea of fossils. According to Professor Boaz: "The site of As-Sahabi first became known not as a window to the past, but for window panes."

Science News From Around The Globe

The Sound of The Big Bang: The Moment Our Universe Was Created:

In a paper titled "BOOMERanG and the Sound of the Big Bang", John G. Cramer has succeeded in simulating the sound of the Big Bang. The sound, he writes:

"Sounds rather like a large jet plane 100 feet off the ground flying over your house in the middle of the night . . .  It's what you might hear if you could "listen" to the cosmic background radiation during the first 760,000 years of the birth of the universe ." Please click here to read the full paper at:
http://staff.washington.edu/seymour/altvw104.html.

To hear what the Big Bang sounds like,
please click here (http://staff.washington.edu/seymour/BigBangSound_2.wav) .

 

Interplanetary Internet:

NASA Successfully Tests First Deep Space Internet (http://www.nasa.gov/):

Sending emails from one star to another, or browsing web pages from other worlds would definitely make the Internet more interesting than it is today. NASA has successfully tested the first deep space communications network modeled on the Internet. NASA's engineers used software called Disruption-Tolerant Networking (DTN) to transmit dozens of space images to and from a NASA spacecraft located about 20 million miles from Earth. More

3-D Printers: Machines That Can Print More Machines:

Print Your Own Printer:

Fabbers (3D printers or rapid prototyping machines) are a new generation of machines that can build 3D objects, including electronic components like TV remote controls, by depositing materials drop by drop and layer by layer according to a set of instructions programmed into their internal memory. The materials used will be stored in special compartments just like ink cartridges in ordinary printers. Normal printers print out one layer of ink, while 3-D printers carry on printing more layers until the print out become a solid 3-D object.

The technology is set to revolutionise the world because it allows ordinary people the ability to print and thus manufacture complex objects and devices that would normally take special resources, tools and skills and would cost a lot of money.

A fabber can allow you to share your designs with other fabber owners, and therefore the potential to build a global database of designs that other users can use. These designs are the software programs needed for the machine in order to print the desired product. Picture this: you go to the shop and buy a cartridge of plastic, a cartridge of silicon, a cartridge of copper, and a cartridge of glass, then go to the internet and download your favourite design for a particular iPod or MP3 player and print your own, free of charge: you only pay for the cartridges: the raw material from which manufactures   make their own products and sell them for a huge amount of profit. Do it yourself   (DIY) has finally become: make it yourself (MIY).

If you find this dangerous knowledge interesting, or if you find this interesting knowledge dangerous, then you can find out more about it at: Fab@Home

Haua Fteah Cave:

The cave of Haua Fteah, the largest cave in the Mediterranean basin and one of the largest caves in the world, remains one of the best evidences that humans have existed continuously in one site in Libya for 100000 years, and hence today's archaeologists rightly believe the cave to hold the key to when and how our species first emerged in North Africa.

Resources:

• Temehu.com's short article about the cave plus photos and links, at: http://www.temehu.com/Cities_sites/haua-fteah-cave.htm

• The secret life of a Libyan cave By Professor Graeme Barker. http://www.cshss.cam.ac.uk/news/relay/052008.pdf
  
  
• The Organisation Of Lithic Technology In The Middle And Early Upper Palaeolithic Industries At The Haua Fteah, Libya. Colin Campbell Moyer, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. http://www.paleoanthro.org/dissertations/Colin%20Moyer.pdf