Science in Muslim World

[ekrem]

Here a link where is shown Top Universities from Middle East.
Israel and Turkey are in front. With Israel haveing the first 4 top Universities.

62 Turkish universities are in the Top-100 Middle Eastern Universities.
http://www.webometrics.info/top100_continent.asp?cont=meast

There are even Turkish Universities in this list which we consider in Turkey as shit. Even these Universities being in Top-100, shows how underdeveloped the other states are.

 

[Annie]

Here a link where is shown Top Universities from Middle East.
Israel and Turkey are in front. With Israel haveing the first 4 top Universities.

62 Turkish universities are in the Top-100 Middle Eastern Universities.
http://www.webometrics.info/top100_continent.asp?cont=meast

There are even Turkish Universities in this list which we consider in Turkey as shit. Even these Universities being in Top-100, shows how underdeveloped the other states are.

Well that should tell us all something. On the other hand, contrary to what you think, I'm not putting Turkey down, I think it at the forefront of thinking from MiddleEast. With that said, I no longer think, nor do I think Turkey wants, to be considered 'European', as your nationalistic posts have highlighted. Whenever I'm given voice, I'll say, "Turkey should not be part of EU."

 

[ekrem]

Well that should tell us all something. (...)

When you carefully read the link, right to the ranking is the world ranking of the University.
Even our "Military Acamdemy" is in that ranking with a world-ranking of 3.508. And many many province universities.
I don't know how you interpret this ranking by highlighting my quote, where i myself say that even shitty Turkish Universities are in Top-100 in that ranking.

But as these states, except of Israel, have all Muslim majority population should lead you on the right interpretation when 62 Universities are in that ranking.

And like User "onedomino" allready stated by a link, that there are 2 Turkish universities which are in Top-500 Universities of the world.
In the link of the prevoius post this is acknowledged. Is this enough? Suely not and i tried to describe in this thread that this will improve in near future.
To your other sentences:
Turkey is not purley European. Turkey is also not purely Asian. Turkey is Eurasian, like Georgia, Azerbaycan, Armenia, Cyprus and Russia is.
Turkey is for hundred of years connected to power structure on European continent, and we shaped a part of that continent.
The same definition can be apllied to Middle East.
So we are a bridge between the two of both, haveing nowadays - as in past - territory in both Europe and Middle East.
When you define European continent as christian, ignoreing even regions like Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia; then Turkey is not European.
So the importatnt thing is the definition.

New EU constitution jettisons Europe’s Judeo-Christian heritage
http://www.nationalreview.com/script/printpage.p?ref=/comment/comment-cullinan061603.asp

Turkey has priviligized partnership with EU for decades now. And for me, it is not important whether Turkey joins EU or not, i would prefer not to join as Ataturk said: "independence is my character".
And neither EU nor Turkey have interest in cancelling negotiation process, beacause both sides win in this process. This is a 10 year period and many governments will come and go and then we will see.
We are a dynamic nation with 60% of its population under 25-years of age.
And we will keep being structured in to European power structure be it within EU or out of it.
I see the future positive and questions like EU-Membership is important but not the question i fix my whole interest on.
Turkey is doing good without EU and will do good within EU.
What Turkey needs is keeping philosophy of makeing competition with knwoledge- and industrial-based societies, and under this context reform itself constantly, as the world is not static as some other, mainly Muslim countries, think.
The fruits from this philosophy will come automatically and i tried to show this in this thread.

 

[Annie]

When you carefully read the link, right to the ranking is the world ranking of the University.
Even our "Military Acamdemy" is in that ranking with a world-ranking of 3.508. And many many province universities.
I don't know how you interpret this ranking by highlighting my quote, where i myself say that even shitty Turkish Universities are in Top-100 in that ranking.

But as these states, except of Israel, have all Muslim majority population should lead you on the right interpretation when 62 Universities are in that ranking.

And like User "onedomino" allready stated by a link, that there are 2 Turkish universities which are in Top-500 Universities of the world.
In the link of the prevoius post this is acknowledged. Is this enough? Suely not and i tried to describe in this thread that this will improve in near future.
To your other sentences:
Turkey is not purley European. Turkey is also not purely Asian. Turkey is Eurasian, like Georgia, Azerbaycan, Armenia, Cyprus and Russia is.
Turkey is for hundred of years connected to power structure on European continent, and we shaped a part of that continent.
The same definition can be apllied to Middle East.
So we are a bridge between the two of both, haveing nowadays - as in past - territory in both Europe and Middle East.
When you define European continent as christian, ignoreing even regions like Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia; then Turkey is not European.
So the importatnt thing is the definition.

New EU constitution jettisons Europe’s Judeo-Christian heritage
http://www.nationalreview.com/script/printpage.p?ref=/comment/comment-cullinan061603.asp

Turkey has priviligized partnership with EU for decades now. And for me, it is not important whether Turkey joins EU or not, i would prefer not to join as Ataturk said: "independence is my character".
And neither EU nor Turkey have interest in cancelling negotiation process, beacause both sides win in this process. This is a 10 year period and many governments will come and go and then we will see.
We are a dynamic nation with 60% of its population under 25-years of age.
And we will keep being structured in to European power structure be it within EU or out of it.
I see the future positive and questions like EU-Membership is important but not the question i fix my whole interest on.
Turkey is doing good without EU and will do good within EU.
What Turkey needs is keeping philosophy of makeing competition with knwoledge- and industrial-based societies, and under this context reform itself constantly, as the world is not static as some other, mainly Muslim countries, think.
The fruits from this philosophy will come automatically and i tried to show this in this thread.

Again, you give the reasons why Turkey should not be part of EU and should seriously be reconsidered in regards to NATO.

Neither of which denigrates your country's right to be as nationalistic as it wishes. Good luck to it.

 

[onedomino]

Canavar, I think that your posts in this thread were very good. You spent a lot of time putting your posts together, and they were informative. Thanks. It is clear that you have a lot of pride in your country and that's a good thing. You also said:

What Turkey needs is keeping philosophy of makeing competition with knwoledge- and industrial-based societies, and under this context reform itself constantly, as the world is not static as some other, mainly Muslim countries, think.

Quite true. In my opinion, Turkey also needs to counter the trend toward religious political parties, and theocracy in general. Also, Turkey's media is rabidly anti-American and that does not help Turkish relations with the US. The media in Turkey needs to start printing the truth and not simply make things up and splash it on the front pages of the newspapers. Finally, before Turkey can confidently move into the future, it needs to come to grips with its past. The continuous Armenian denials only delay the day that Turkey gains the respect that it should receive in Europe and America..

 

[ekrem]

Again, you give the reasons why Turkey should not be part of EU and should seriously be reconsidered in regards to NATO.

Neither of which denigrates your country's right to be as nationalistic as it wishes. Good luck to it.

Kathianne, Turkish EU debate is multi-facetted with strong arguments on both pro+contra sides.
For me this is not important as i can agree with some pro and also contra arguments, i only would prefer Turkey not to join EU as Turkish destiny would be decided in Ankara TBMM-Parliament solely, and not in Brussels by EU-bureaucrats. This is for me crucial. But, Turkey would send in same dimensions bureaucrats to EU institutions like Germany does.
So besides that i did not even give any reasons for anything related about EU or even NATO. It was you, like in past and it is O.K. and i tollerate your views.

 

[Annie]

Kathianne, Turkish EU debate is multi-facetted with strong arguments on both pro+contra sides.
For me this is not important as i can agree with some pro and also contra arguments, i only would prefer Turkey not to join EU as Turkish destiny would be decided in Ankara TBMM-Parliament solely, and not in Brussels by EU-bureaucrats. This is for me crucial. But, Turkey would send in same dimensions bureaucrats to EU institutions like Germany does.
So besides that i did not even give any reasons for anything related about EU or even NATO. It was you, like in past and it is O.K. and i tollerate your views.

and if you represent the majority, I agree that is where Turkey should go. Anti-EU, Anti-Nato, Anti-US.

 

[ekrem]

I wll answer to bith of you tomorrow. Good-Night.

 

[CSM]

Without getting into the very detailed statistic; Canavar has made a Very solid case for proving that Turkey is indeed improving and trying very hard to move ahead in scientific/technological/ endeavors. I applaud Turkey in its efforts and applaud Canavar for a well documented and astute presentation...

Well done. We should have more discussion and debate like this on USMB.

 

[ekrem]

3D TV closer than you think: scientist

You might be replacing your old-fashioned high definition TV set for a brand new 3D TV within three years time, according to one researcher.

Levent Onural is a professor of electronics engineering at Bilkent University in Turkey, and the head of a European consortium involving 19 institutions from seven countries. Their task over the last two years has been to develop technology to make 3DTV possible.

When conversion to digital cinema is completed in about three years, an increase in stereoscopic 3DTV broadcasts will follow, Onural says in a statement.

Just as many moviegoers donned eyewear to watch Superman Returns for its 3D-IMAX presentation this summer, a pair of specs is also required for stereoscopic technology.

But true 3D imaging through holographic projectors is only a decade away, Onural says.

Displays that would allow users to view an object from different angles are the focus of current research. The displays would track the viewer's head as it moved around the room.

To capture 3D images, multiple cameras could record the same object simultaneously. With enough cameras, a full 360 degrees of coverage could be achieved.

Surprisingly, Onural says technology for 3DTV is not new. Stereoscopic TV emerged in the 1920s but initial tests left the viewers feeling motion sick. Even Star Trek holographic technology has been kicking around for a while:

"A form of such incoherent viewing may be based on integral imaging concepts that have been known for about a century," Onural says. "Another decade might be needed before they become a commercial reality."

http://reports.discoverychannel.ca/.../20060921/0921_discovery_3DTV?s_name=&no_ads=

 

[ekrem]

Snow from the Sahara


For Turkey and her neighbours water is an issue. Syria and Iraq both depend on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which originate in the East of Turkey - an area that has recently been stricken by drought. And in Turkey, at least 30% of power is generated by hydro-electric dams.

Professor Cemal Saydam of TÜBI·TAK, one of Turkey's main science institutions, has been investigating a hunch that there's a connection between rain or any kind of precipitation, and dust from the Saharan desert. He placed snow measuring stations across the country's mountainous Eastern region and also monitored dust movements.

"It became clear that if there's dust, then there's an increase in the snow signal; if there's snow, then there's always a passing of dust originating from the Sahara. So if the clouds are passing over the Mediterranean and getting lots of humidity in them, then that would account for the water. And the dust seems to enhance the precipitation."


Sand Boosts Snow
The rain-making qualities of the red Saharan dust are assessed in the lab by Professor Saydam's colleague, Professor Gurcan Oraltay. He uses a special cold chamber to see how dust and water droplets interact to form snow crystals. And he says that, whereas any dust in the atmosphere usually leads to the formation of ice crystals in clouds and then ultimately to precipitation, the Saharan variety has a kind of turbo-charged effect on this process!

"If we use Saharan dust to grow ice crystals it's about 50 % more effective compared to ordinary dust."

Quality and Qauntity
But it's not just a question of quantity. The ice crystals formed by Saharan dust are around four times larger than normal, which again leads Ice Crystalto more precipitation. So why the difference? Initial studies point to the organic composition of the dust and its iron content as possible factors. Professor Oraltay explains:

"Right now we know how much Saharan dust we need, what size these particles need to be and what temperature and water vapour conditions we need. Now we are working on a project to use Saharan dust to seed some clouds in South Eastern Turkey"

Professor Oraltay is confident that the desert dust can be used to create much-needed precipitation in this dry region.

Let It Snow
Professor Saydam shares this confidence, and is also happy that the process is environmentally friendly.

Cloud Seeding"All you need is a small aeroplane. Satellite images tell us when and where to go and also measure cloud temperatures. You just fly to the area and seed the clouds. Nature takes care of the rest. You could even think of using a balloon that floats around a cloud, seeding it constantly and resulting eventually, in rain over eastern Anatolia which would solve our problem!"

To avoid the danger of flooding from heavy rains, the team has been waiting for cold weather so that any precipitation created will fall as snow.

http://www.radionetherlands.nl/features/science/sahara010219.html

 

[onedomino]

Canavar, regarding some posts that occurred earlier in this thread:

Turk Who Defied Official History Wins Nobel Prize

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2401866,00.html

ORHAN PAMUK, Turkey’s foremost novelist, who faced trial earlier this year for comments about the massacres of Armenians in the First World War, won the 2006 Nobel Prize for Literature yesterday.
Charges of “insulting Turkishness” brought against Pamuk, 54, were dropped on a technicality after attracting worldwide attention and stirring protests that Turkish laws restricted freedom of expression. The case damaged his country’s aspiration to join the European Union.

He had been favourite to win the prize for a rich body of work that explores the complexities of identity and clashing cultures in Turkey, a secular, overwhelmingly Muslim state, that bridges Europe and Asia.

Intense applause greeted his name when it was announced by Horace Engdahl, the head of the Swedish Academy.

In a twist that considerably dampened celebrations in Turkey, the prize was announced on the day that the French Parliament approved a Bill to make it illegal to deny that the Armenian killings amounted to genocide. Abdullah Gul, Turkey’s Foreign Minister, said that his country would consider retaliatory measures against France. In Ankara, protesters pelted the French Embassy with eggs.

Mr Engdahl dismissed criticism that politics might have been a factor in the selection. “I believe that this will be met with delight by all readers,” he said. “But it can naturally give rise to a certain amount of political turbulence. That is not what we are interested in.”

The Academy said that Pamuk — whose works include My Name is Red, an historical whodunnit starring Ottoman miniaturists, Black Book, chronicling a man’s search for his wife through Istanbul, and Istanbul, an autobiographical portrait of the city — has “discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures”. It added: “Pamuk has said that growing up, he experienced a shift from a traditional Ottoman family environment to a more Western-oriented lifestyle.”

On winning the Kr10 million (£728,000) prize, Pamuk declined to answer political questions, but predicted that it would raise the international profile of Turkish literature. “This will lead the world to review Turkish culture as a culture of peace,” he said in New York.

Pamuk’s win was welcomed in Turkey, with Foreign Ministry officials and the eminent writer Yasar Kemal offering their congratulations. But his critics, who concede that Pamuk’s multiple international awards more than prove the quality of his writing, have said that his forays outside literature would not have gone unnoticed. “I think you can say there is more than literature at stake here. Perhaps it’s always been a mixture between what’s on the printed page and what the writer stands for politically,” Ian Jack, the editor of Granta, said.

Ozdemir Ince, the prominent Turkish poet, also said that he believed Pamuk was honoured because of his politics. “If you ask serious literature people, they would place Pamuk at the end of the list,” Mr Ince said. “Turkish literature did not win the Nobel Prize, Pamuk did.”

Until last year Pamuk, the Istanbul-born son of a bourgeois family, had been considered a rather aloof, literary figure. His fanciful, stylish prose won him acclaim but his acute observations about his fellow Turks also made enemies.

His trial, for “insulting Turkishness” followed his assertion that one million Armenians had been killed in Turkey in 1915, and 30,000 Kurds during an insurgency decades later. Although the case was dismissed, it caused great embarrassment to Ankara as it tried to demonstrate to the EU that Turkey is reforming its restrictive laws.