MENA...

GoingToMeetdotcom

"Swap solar energy from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) for scientific equipment or access to facilities in Europe. Boost the scientific level in the region through exchanges and collaboration. Establish in Cairo a joint European–MENA solar energy center for research and implementation of relevant technologies. Power the region’s scientific facilities with solar energy."

Gerhard Knies (from the article): “within six hours deserts receive more energy from the sun than humankind consumes within a year,...”

I don't know how to verify that, but it seems plausible and reasonable.

I have a friend that got his undergrad at UC Berkeley, his Masters in Physics at UT, and promptly after a Masters in Finance from Princeton. He's on Wall Street. I guess I should look him up.

From what I could tell, he was a brilliant physicist, quirky and nerdy enough to advance humankind in research, the type of endeavor that benefits the whole, rather than himself and a small few. Of course, it would mean a postdoc salary, grinding through to tenure, and the possibility that you may not have an Einstein-like "miracle year."

I know the logic of recruiting people with backgrounds in the sciences into finance, but in my opinion, my friend could do so much more in things like: Nuclear Fusion, Space, Applied Physics, etc. He's not the first to go to Wall Street, and will definitely not be the last. To each his/her own, I suppose.

An export to Europe like this from the region will hopefully cool tensions, and the geopolitical significance of warring over depleting resources.

American Institute of Physics: Scientists help make deserts into solar-energy hubs