Dubai (IINA) � The Nobel Museum Foundation will host a workshop on the topic of the Nobel Prize and what is the path to that ultimate prize in Dubai on Sunday.

It will be conducted by Gustav KA�llstrand, senior curator of the Nobel Museum in Sweden, and Anna SjAlstrAlm Douagi, program director of the Nobel Center, who will look back at the ideas that changed the world, exploring their characteristics and the driving forces behind them, and citing examples from nominees and laureates of the Nobel Prize in Physics. The event is being held at Children's City � Dubai Creek Park at 11 a.m. This is the third consecutive year the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation (MBRF) is hosting the Nobel Museum in Dubai to promote knowledge and innovation among the youth and in society as a whole, Al Arabiya English reported.

The 10-year partnership by the MBRF with the Nobel Foundation began in 2015. In the first year, the exhibition was on the general topic of the Nobel Prize, while last year the focus was on Medicine and Physiology. In 2018 the focus will be on Chemistry, and in 2019 on Literature. In 2020, the year of the expo, the Nobel Museum will have a bigger exhibition which will be organized at a bigger venue. MBRF has also plans to take the Nobel Museum to other Emirates and also other countries in the Gulf and Arab world in the future.

Earlier on Feb. 6, edition of the Nobel Museum on the theme 'The Nobel Prize in Physics: Understanding Matter', was opened at Children's City, and will go on until March 5. The Nobel Museum is designed to introduce the public to the discoveries and scientific achievements of Nobel laureates in physics, which have played a significant role in improving people's lives. Dr. Olov Amelin, director of the Nobel Museum in Sweden, who was present at the inauguration, hoped the exhibition would inspire young Arabs to contribute to future discoveries in physics.

The Nobel Museum 2017 is made up of eight different sections: The Rays and Waves section allows visitors to discover the interior of objects and bodies using X-ray imagery, while the Matter section presents an interactive table with three touchscreens, allowing visitors to build atoms and learn about their constituent parts and the properties of elements. Stars and Universe offers visitors a completely immersive experience with a video projected on a large screen, taking them on a journey through our universe.

The Electronics section, meanwhile, allows visitors to build their own electronic inventions. In the Quantum Physics section � A Quantum World � a projection allows the visitor to explore different effects in quantum physics. The audience will have a chance to witness a real-life Cloud Chamber, where cosmic particles leave tracks that can be seen by the audience. The museum also offers a VR Experience, where visitors can go on a journey through the cosmos using virtual reality equipment. Last but not the least, visitors will be introduced to the different Nobel laureates in the Laureate Arena.

The exhibition also has an important section on the Arab contribution to physics, especially in mathematics, optics, astronomy and astrophysics, which laid the foundations for Western advances in science. The work of Muhammad Ibn Musa Al-Khwanizmi's in Algebra and astronomy; Abad Al-Rahman Al-Sufi in astronomy; Alhazen Ibn Al-Haytham in optics and discovery of the 'camera obscura'; and Al-Biruni in physics, mathematics and astronomy; Taqi ad-Din in mathematics, astronomy among others, from the period from 9th Century to late 13th or early 14th Century can be considered the golden age of Arab science. Many scientific instruments devised by these Arab scientists were the sun dial, astrolabe, perfect compass and the camera obscura.

The MBRF in partnership with the Nobel Foundation is organizing four other workshops in the weeks ahead, conducted by high-profile scientists, academics, and innovators. On Sunday, Feb. 19, Ulf Danielsson, professor of Theoretical Physics at Uppsala University � Sweden, will conduct the second workshop exploring 'Dark Energy, Cosmology, Black Holes, and String Theory'. Meanwhile, during the Lunar Journey Workshop on Tuesday, Feb. 21, Fatma Lootah and Khalid Badri ask How many moons are out there? How were they formed? What do they look like? What makes moons the way they are?

In a fourth workshop on Sunday, Feb. 26 � titled 'A Century of Nobel Physics: Science Changing the World' � Olof Somell, assistant curator at the Nobel Museum in Sweden, looks back at Nobel Prize-awarded physics breakthroughs, their impact on the 20th century, and their continued influence in our daily lives today � from the wireless telegraph to modern telecommunications. Last but not the least, the final workshop on Tuesday, Feb. 28, features Hessa Al Matroushi, instrument science lead on the UAE Mars Mission at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC); Eman Al Tunaiji, engineer in the Applications Development and Analysis at MBRSC; and Maryam Al Shamsi, space science engineer at MBRSC.

The Stellar Journey Workshop follows in the ethos of the Lunar Journey Workshop, this time shifting the focus onto the stars. The experts from MBRSC take the audience on a journey through space and time, exploring the story of a star's formation, its life cycle, and its ultimate fate. Attendees will also learn how to distinguish between different stars and how to classify them.

Source: International Islamic News Agency (IINA)

WASHINGTON � The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan says Russia, Pakistan and Iran are pursuing their own agendas with regard to the fragile country, complicating the fight against terrorism and extremism.

"We're concerned about outside actors," General John Nicholson told VOA's Afghan service in an interview.

Russia, which had an ill-fated intervention into Afghanistan that started in 1979 and ended nearly a decade later, has been trying to exert influence in the region again and has set up six-country peace talks next week that are excluding the United States. Nicholson worries about Russia's links with the Taliban.

"Russia has been legitimizing the Taliban and supporting the Taliban," he said. "Meanwhile, the Taliban supports terrorists. I'm very sorry to see Russia supporting the Taliban and narcoterrorism."

Moscow denies that it provides aid to the Taliban and says its contacts with the group are aimed at encouraging them to enter peace talks.

Taliban role in peace efforts

Despite the Taliban's history of violence and extremism, Nicholson didn't rule out a role for the Taliban in the peace process, saying there were elements in the group that appeared to be more pragmatic about the country's prospects for peace.

"Many of its leaders see a better life for all Afghans," he said.

Meanwhile, he said Iran appeared to be supporting extremists in western Afghanistan.

"But the situation is more complex than with Russia," Nicholson said. "There needs to be a relationship" between Afghanistan and Iran, which have seen a resurgence in trade that has partially compensated for a decline in Afghan economic activity with Pakistan.

President Donald Trump's new administration has made a flurry of contacts with top Afghan and Pakistani officials in recent days as it formulates a new policy in the region. That clearly involves pressure on Islamabad to do more to crack down on terrorist groups that hide out near the Afghan border in Pakistan's volatile tribal areas.

"We want cooperation from Pakistan against all terrorists," Nicholson said. "We must have pressure on external sanctuaries in Pakistan."

Rooting out terrorists would help ease Pakistan's concerns about further attacks on its turf that are seen by many as a penalty for the country's support for the U.S. war on terrorism, he said.

"We all hope for a change in Pakistani behavior," Nicholson said. "This is in Pakistan's interest."

Congressional appearance

The general spoke shortly after appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, where he said he needed "a few thousand" more soldiers to bolster the 8,400 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Nicholson told VOA that the extra troops would serve as advisers, extending that role from the core of the Afghan military down to the brigade level to help the country's troops in what he called a "very, very tough fight" to foster peace.

"The enemy is trying to seize cities," he said. "It's a new dimension to the fight."

The Afghan military has suffered heavy losses as a result. More than 6,700 of its soldiers were killed last year through November 12, according to a quarterly report from the U.S. government's Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, up from 6,600 for all of 2015.

Nicholson discounted recent figures that indicated the Taliban has gained more territory this year and now holds about 15 percent of the land, saying it was the result of a revised Afghan government strategy to focus on protecting urban areas.

"This was a wise decision by the government," he said, adding that it had provided greater protection for most of the people. "There's a difference between territory and population. Many areas are sparsely populated."

Propaganda war

U.S.-led forces also have been losing ground in the propaganda war waged by the Taliban and the 20 terrorist groups that operate in Afghanistan, who aggressively use social media, often with false reports that put the international mission in a bad light, Nicholson said.

He sought advice from VOA journalists on the best ways to counter the extremists' message and recruitment efforts, saying "the enemy" was doing a better job than the government and its allies at reaching the Afghan people. "We're trying to be more proactive in communications," he said.

The U.S. has been in Afghanistan for more than 15 years and has committed to at least four more years. But Nicholson said even though the internal fight is currently at a "stalemate," the battle is worthwhile. He added that he did see a peaceful future for the country.

"I believe it will end well for the Afghan people," he said. "Our Afghan brothers and sisters are worth our support."

Source: Voice of America