The Middle East's first synchrotron is in peril

Three years ago, Amor Nadji and three young engineers piled into a van in Amman, Jordan, and drove 30 kilometers northeast to the city of Zarqa. The engineers' mission was to salvage the then-25-year-old particle accelerator and turn it into a first-rate machine. This supermicroscope, called SESAME (for Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) would enable scientists from Jordan and nearby countries to investigate the atomic structure of different materials. The engineers' hope was that SESAME would revitalize Middle Eastern science and encourage friendly encounters between otherwise factious neighbors. This article presents the redevelopment of Middle East's first synchrotron.