In Jordan, engineers are mapping droughts for better management and to predict future episodes in a country that is famously water scarce. Listen to know more about the new technology they're using to make it happen.

Episode # 13 - Keeping up with droughts

Ancient Arabia is under-excavated, and archaeologists know little about the peninsula's iron era. Nature Middle East talks to two scientists who're trying to change this.

Episode # 14 - Iron Age Arabia

Inspired by the chemical dynamic resulting from volcanic eruptions in deep oceans, scientists get creative clustering nano particles - with great potential for cancer therapy.

Episode # 15 - Underwater cancer therapy

Nature Middle East takes a look at the many secrets of ancient Egypt that archaeology has unlocked recently, from insights into pharaonic funerary and mummification rituals in Luxor to 'shamanic' rock art in Aswan.

Episode # 16 - Ancient Secrets

Nature Middle East talks to the Egyptian restorers who’re in charge of unravelling the mystery of Khufu's second solar ship, one cedar timber at a time.

Episode # 17 - Vessels into the afterlife

A discovery, a hundred kilometres west of Marakkech, holds the secrets of how our oldest ancestors lived.

Episode # 18 - The oldest humans on Earth

Nature Middle East talks to the scientists behind a new 'hybrid' drug system that can, one day, control epilepsy, among other brain disorders.

Episode #19 - Pumping drugs

Two stories from our blog: the origins of domestic cats and the peculiar mudding behavior of Egyptian vultures.

Episode # 20 - House of Wisdom

Nature Middle East talks to one of the scientists behind a new research into underwater "fairy circles" found in meadows of sea grass; these can provide a doorway to understanding clonal plants anywhere, including those on land.

Episode # 21 - Underwater fairy circles

Nature Middle East interviews renowned space archaeologist Sarah Parcak.

Episode # 22 - Space Archaeology Special

How scientists are using satellites to track connections and communication between Red Sea reefs -- some of the most complex marine ecosystems on the planet.

Episode # 23 - Remote Reefs

The militant group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and those who fight against it have something in common: they're both willing to die in battle. In this episode, a new study that looks into what motivates both groups to fight.

Episode # 24 - Willing to die

This new study gives us a glimpse into how sub-Saharan Africans lived and moved across the continent some 8,000 years ago.

Episode # 25 - Ancient African DNA

In this episode, we talk about how artificial city lights and rapidly increasing sky glow are robbing us of night time and disturbing the Earth's natural cycles.

Episode # 26 - Loss of night

In this episode, we look at coastal mangroves – trees and shrubs that trap carbon and are highly adapted to salt water – and the people protecting them.

Special Edition: Mangrove warriors

In this episode, we talk astronauts, observatories and nationalism in the Arab Middle East.

Special edition: Space and beyond

We look back at some of this month's most exciting stories.

Episode # 27 - Best of the month

Straddling fantasy and reality, art and science, the Arab films at this year's Imagine Science film festival of Abu Dhabi continue to meditate on the issues at the intersection of science, technology, art and life.

Episode # 28 - Hybrid Creatures

A single human finger bone fossil and some animal remains give insights ancient into Arabia and puts the peninsula on the human evolution map.

Episode # 29 - The stories bones tell

We chat with a top Arab scientist about how she scrutinizes ancient human genomes to reconstruct history and sift the evidence for a catalogue of diseases.

Episode #30 - The history inside our genomes

A roundup of some of Nature Middle East's most exciting stories and the latest research in the region.

Episode # 31 - Science Highlights

Who sparked the first flame? In this episode, we look at the latest study linking Neanderthals to starting fires, and separately, at Africa’s two million record of changing climate and water.

Episode # 32 - First spark

Sedeer El-Showk unpacks workplace skills and discusses with MIT researcher Ahmad Alabdulkareem a skill ecosystem that could help individuals plan better career paths. Sarah Hiddleston looks at a Syrian artist's thought-provoking exhibition at the confluence of science and art.

Correction: An earlier version of this podcast incorrectly said that research led by Ahmad Alabdulkareem was funded by KAUST. It was funded by KACST. This version has been corrected.

Episode # 33 - Strike

Nature Middle East is a one-stop ganglion for those interested in research and science news in the region. It’s published by Nature Research, part of Springer Nature, one of the world’s leading global research publishers.

Nature Middle East

Popular tracks