Nature Middle East update: 15 January 2015

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Nature Middle East update 15 January 2015 In this issue Latest news and features Latest research Editor's blog Our picks Nature jobs Stay connected: sponsor Latest news & features Feature: Catching the sun: The Middle East's solar energy challenge  The region may be 'sunburnt,' but it's still struggling to reach its solar power potential.  Feature: Desertec: An aborted project or just a change of direction? Desertec's ambitions of meeting regional demand and providing 15% of Europe's electricity needs by 2050 through a super grid were dashed only five years into the project. Here's why.  Feature: Dot-shaped future for solar energy in the Middle East In a region with abundant sunlight, researchers are turning to an innovative technique to exploit its power: miniscule quantum dots or semiconducting crystals Feature: Plugging into the sun: Masdar's solar dream Despite year-round sunshine, UAE’s solar energy ambitions have always faced challenges. In 2008, Abu Dhabi launched an ambitious project to establish one of the world’s most sustainable eco-cities.  Feature: Saudi Arabia should turn to the sun Jean-Luc Bredas and Marc Vermeersch believe that a concerted move in Saudi Arabia toward renewable energy sources, including solar, is essential.  Feature: 2014: The year in science Despite it being a year of unrest in the region, investment in science in the Middle East has paid off in 2014. News: Male Barbary macaques avoid stress by forming social bonds Male Barbary macaques socialize with other males as a stress-coping mechanism, study reveals. Top Latest reseach Why organic crystals can ‘jump’ in Chemistry Top Editor’s blog - House of Wisdom The (biological) spoils of war 2014 Year in Review: Nature Middle East highlights Rise of ascetic, moralizing religions result of affluence not politics Top Our picks Get free access to some premium content of relevance to you published in journals and portals across the Nature Publishing Group. Note - free access is only available through the Nature Middle East Our picks page. A robust SNP barcode for typing Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex strains. Coll, F. et al. Nature Communications Top naturejobs Postdoctoral Fellow : Doha, Qatar Qatar University Physiology Assistant professor Position : Hofuf, Saudi Arabia King Faisal University Assistant or Associate Professor Microbiology/Bacteriology : Muscat, Oman Sultan Qaboos University Postdoctoral Researcher in Stem Cell Biology : Riyadh, Saudi Arabia King Saud University, Stem Cell Unit Plant Geneticist : Thuwal, Saudi Arabia King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) You have been sent this Table of Contents Alert because you have opted in to receive it. You can change or discontinue your e-mail alerts at any time, by modifying your preferences on your nature.com account at:www.nature.com/nams/svc/myaccount (You will need to log in to be recognised as a nature.com registrant). For further technical assistance, please contact our registration department For print subscription enquiries, please contact our subscription department For other enquiries, please contact our feedback department Nature Publishing Group | 75 Varick Street, 9th Floor | New York | NY 10013-1917 | USA Nature Publishing Group | Chiyoda Bldg, 2-37 Ichigayatamachi | Shinjuku | Tokyo 162-0843 | Japan Nature Publishing Group's worldwide offices: London - Paris - Munich - New Delhi - Tokyo - Melbourne San Diego - San Francisco - Washington - New York - Boston Macmillan Publishers Limited is a company incorporated in England and Wales under company number 785998 and whose registered office is located at Brunel Road, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. © 2015 Nature Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited. All Rights Reserved.