News-> Mega scientific project gets green signal

A comprehensive scientific project titled 'Plaza of Intelligence and Innovation City' yesterday got the green signal with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by Shaikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Chairman of the Centre of Excellence for Applied Research and Training (CERT), and Prof. George Smoot, director of Cosmology Centre at University of California, Berkeley and 2006 Nobel laureate for physics.

'Plaza of Intelligence and Innovation City' is a project designed by Prof. Smoot and will be developed in the UAE by the CERT Foundation.

The plaza will include various venues, institutions and activities related to science, such as an academy for maths and science for teachers, a research centre for cosmic and space sciences, a space and science museum, a planetarium, an IMAX theatre (3-dimensional cinema for documentary films), an astro sculpture park, as well as exhibition and lecture halls.

According to Venkat Prithviraj, head of programme development at CERT, the project will be developed in stages, the completion date being 2015.

"At the moment we are still considering the best location for the Innovation City, which will be somewhere in Abu Dhabi emirate, although some venues will also be in Dubai," Prithviraj said.

Prof. Smoot told Khaleej Times that the idea is based on the concept of Bayt Al Hikma – The House of Wisdom. "This was a scientific institution in the Abbasid period, founded in Baghdad by caliph Al Ma'mun," he explained.

Apart from translations of philosophical and scientific works from the Persian and Greek originals, Bayt Al Hikma also established two astronomical observatories in Baghdad and Damascus.

"The Mongols destroyed the House during their invasion in 1258," the professor said.

The institution held such a great number of works that, according to a legend, the waters of Tigris turned black with ink from the enormous number of books, which were dumped into the river.
"Now I am trying to bring back to life the House of Wisdom, which was one of the most important scientific institution in the Arab civilisation," Prof. Smoot said.