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What's On
21 hours ago
- What's On
The coolest archaeological sites you need to explore in the UAE
This mosque is located a little outside Fujairah in the village of Al Bidya and is chock full of cultural significance. Considered one of the oldest mosques in the country, it is believed to be constructed sometime between the middle of 15th and 17th century – around 600 years old. Nonetheless it is still a completely sound, standing structure and hosts daily prayers even today, despite being a tourist attraction. The building itself is a small space, with little cut-outs in the walls for windows and a rudimentary design put together with materials that were available then. The mosque features on the World Heritage List compiled by UNESCO. Bidaa Bint Saud, Al Ain Located 25 kilometres north of Al Ain, Bidaa Bint Saud is an ancient caravan site featuring a rare Iron Age building, irrigation systems and 5,000-year-old Bronze Age tombs. Also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the area is largely dominated by Gharn bint Saud, a 40-metre-tall rock rising above the landscape with several ancient stone tombs at the top. Excavations in this area have unearthed several artefacts, including double-edged swords, stone pots, jewellery, tools, revealing evidence of the area being a route for caravans and the home of a community of farmers. A 3,000-year-old falaj (ancient irrigation system) was also discovered 1,500 metres to the west of Gharn bint Saud. Currently, this falaj, as well as other examples from the Hili Archaeological Park and elsewhere in the UAE and Oman, provide the earliest evidence for the widespread use of this irrigation technology across the world. Jumeirah Archaeological Site Jumeirah Archaeological Site is perhaps Dubai's best window into it's ancient history and life in the Arabian Peninsula long before the glittering skyline we see today came up on the horizon. Located between Jumeirah Road and Al Wasl Road, the site was once home to a mosque and residential housing – a small community of sorts. Archaeologists began excavating the site in 1969, uncovering ancient treasures such as pottery, coins, tools and more from the Abbasid era, between the 9th and 11th centuries, when this former settlement served as a caravan stop along a trading route connecting Iraq and Oman. Jebel Al Buhais, Sharjah Nestled within the Sharjah desert, this limestone outcrop is home to a vast necropolis, with burial sites dating back to the Stone, Bronze, Iron, and pre-Islamic periods – some over 8,000 years old. Excavations have uncovered hundreds of tombs, artefacts, and even human skeletons, revealing insights into early human settlement, migration, and burial practices in the Arabian Peninsula. The area is also rich in fossilised marine life, hinting at its prehistoric past when the region was underwater. At the heart of the site is the Buhais Geology Park, where visitors can explore interactive exhibits and striking architecture that blends seamlessly with the landscape. Seih Al Harf, Ras Al Khaimah Seih Al-Harf is tucked away in the mountainous terrain of Ras Al Khaimah near the Omani border. This remote archaeological site is known for its fascinating Bronze Age tombs and stone structures scattered across a rugged plateau, and provides a striking contrast between arid desert plains and the surrounding rocky mountains. Excavations at Seih Al-Harf have revealed collective tombs built with large stones, believed to date back to the Wadi Suq period (2000 – 1300 BCE). The area also shows evidence for early human activity in the region, including pottery shards and tools that help piece together life in prehistoric Arabia. Ed Dur, Umm Al Quwain This can be considered one of the country's most important ancient settlements, dating back over 2,000 years to the late pre-Islamic era. Once a thriving port town during the 1st century BCE to the 3rd century CE, Al Dour played a crucial role in regional trade, linking the Arabian Peninsula with Mesopotamia, India, and beyond. Excavations on the site have revealed a wealth of artefacts, including pottery, glassware, bronze tools, and coins, some even bearing the likeness of Roman emperors, highlighting the site's extensive international connections. The site features the remains of houses, a fortress-like structure, and a distinctive small temple believed to be dedicated to the sun god Shamash, offering a rare glimpse into religious practices of the time. The importance of Al Dour comes from it's coastal location – the coast signals maritime trade and cultural exchange, and the growth of civilisation from this back and forth. Images: Socials
BBC News
2 days ago
- Science
- BBC News
Ningaloo: Australia's coral reefs bleached by 'underwater bushfire'
Australia boasts plenty of superlatives when it comes to its natural landmarks. The Great Barrier Reef, the world's biggest coral reef system on the north-east coast, is rightly recognised as a Unesco World Heritage Site. Buzzing with biodiversity, it's a diver's there's a lesser-known record breaker on the other side of the country, on Australia's north-western coast: Ningaloo Reef.A 14-hour drive north of Perth, Ningaloo is unique. The world's largest fringing reef and another of Australia's Unesco World Heritage Sites, it is home to a lush oceanic forest that spreads out along the coast for hundreds of kilometres. From the region's remote desert beaches, you can wade into vibrant turquoise waters and almost immediately start snorkelling in a seascape as famous for its vibrant corals as the wildlife that surrounds them - manta rays, reef sharks and whale this year, Ningaloo has found itself in trouble. Hit by a marine heatwave, higher water temperatures have stressed the corals and they've been turning white, in an effect known as 'bleaching'. While some may recover, it's not a given – and the damage has astounded only that, but the heatwave is responsible for another, more worrying superlative. This is the first time that the reefs on both Australia's western and eastern coasts have been bleached."It's like a raging underwater bushfire that has persisted for months now, wreaking harm right along the coast," says Paul Gamblin, who heads up the Australian Marine Conservation Society. "It's an absolutely devastating event and people are reeling from it. It is enormous. It's unprecedented. It's absolutely not normal." What's going on? The marine heatwave that's damaging Ningaloo started in the Caribbean in 2023 . It then made its way across the Indo-Pacific, damaging coral reefs in its path. In 2024, while the Great Barrier Reef saw bleaching, Ningaloo was spared. But by the end of last year and the beginning of 2025 – peak summer – temperatures had begun to soar in Western all part of the fourth global bleaching event, which experts say has affected more than 80% of the world's coral Kate Quigley, principal research scientist at Minderoo Foundation, likens the effect to a stomach bug."Instead of having bacteria in the human gut, corals have this little algal symbiont that lives inside their cells that allow them to do biological processes," she explains, adding that this algae is what gives the corals their colour. When water becomes too warm, that relationship breaks down and bleaching begins."So, kind of like, if we got a stomach bug and the human body doesn't function the same way, [it's the] same thing with the coral," she explains. "The warm water causes the biological processes inside that coral to go haywire. And just like humans get sick, corals get sick too."Of particular worry to Dr Quigley is the prolonged warming scientists have seen. They expected temperatures to drop by April as peak summer passed. This year, that didn't happen. "In previous warming events, water temperatures might have increased for a bit of time and then gone back down again so the corals can essentially recover - they can bounce back," explains Dr Quigley. "But what we're really afraid of seeing, especially in the coming months, is really high levels of death."While government scientists have been monitoring the reef, there's still a lot they don't know."The natural world is an incredibly variable place, and sometimes we're... shocked by what we see, [because] it doesn't seem to follow the rules," says Dr Tom Holmes, the Marine Science Programme Leader at the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions in Western Holmes and his team are doing follow-up surveys between three and six months after the bleaching to assess how many corals have died."There are certainly records of corals [being] in a bleached state for that period of time and still surviving," he says. "So we just need to play the waiting game now."Ningaloo attracts around 200,000 tourists to its waters each year. For swimmers and divers, though, the damage is clear."It was like snorkelling on a corpse," says British-South African tourist Jenna-Rae Clark, who has been up and down the coastline of Ningaloo in recent weeks. "It was so grey and lifeless. You can sometimes hear fish munching on the coral - there was nothing."For residents, there's an additional fear: that tourists will turn their back on Ningaloo."People have been really devastated off the back of summer, and a lot of people are talking about how they were crying in the water, coming out of the ocean just really upset," says Sara Morgillo, who moved here from Perth to dive and work in conservation."There's still amazing parts of the reef here that are worth seeing and we're still running dive tours every day," she adds."I think it's also really important to witness what's happening and [see] the effects of the marine heat wave that we've had." Why is this happening? Scientists are all in agreement about what's causing this heatwave: rising carbon emissions are heating up the planet and its oceans. According to Nasa, the ocean is where 90% of global warming is happening – and the last decade was its warmest since the 1800s. Last year was its warmest on more worrying superlatives are threatening Australia's famous landmarks. But there's another, more home-grown problem up the coast from Ningaloo is one of the world's largest fossil fuel projects, the North West Shelf gas plant. In May, the Australian government announced it would allow Woodside, the company which runs the project, to keep it operating until same company is also trying to get approval to develop Australia's biggest untapped gas reserves in the Browse Basin, further up the coast. While these projects alone don't create the heat that's damaging Ningaloo, it's a symbol of the competing interests in Western Australia – where the gas industry fuels the economy far more than tourism."The Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo are sources of deep wonder, the equivalent of Antarctica or the Serengeti or the Amazon," says the Australian Marine Conservation Society's Paul Gamblin. "The juxtaposition is incomprehensible: at a time when places like Ningaloo are clearly suffering the consequences of climate change, for government even to contemplate opening up new fossil fuel projects... It shouldn't happen, and governments need to draw a line in the sand and make a clear commitment not to make the situation even worse." Finding a fix While the larger debate continues over the use of fossil fuels, scientists are working to better understand the reef in an effort to help University of Queensland's Dr Chris Roelfsema and his team are mapping Ningaloo by taking photos of the corals and linking them with drone images. That way they can better track their health."People ask me, what can we do? Well, the first thing you can do is choose politicians that are considering reducing fossil fuels and are [supportive of] renewable energies," says Dr Roelfsema. "Your vote has a voice for politicians, so you can choose that. But you can also drive less, [use] public transport, not have your air conditioning on all the time - these are all things that can help reduce our footprint."There's also science being done in the lab. Dr Quigley and her team at Minderoo have been selectively breeding combinations of corals to find out which types are the most tolerant to higher temperatures."We have these fertilized eggs from many, many different genetic backgrounds and we raise them over a series of days until we have coral babies, coral teenagers," she explains. "Just like butterflies, corals also undergo different metamorphoses and stages."By testing those corals, researchers can assess which ones are more tolerant to higher temperatures. Then the idea is to place them back in the water. While Dr Quigley has done this in the Great Barrier Reef, it's at a much earlier stage here in Ningaloo - and she admits that the method is not ideal."It would be very hard to scale for all reefs around the world," she concedes. "It would make much more sense to get at the root cause, which is emissions, for that long-term livelihood of coral reefs."Viewed by critics as merely a sticking plaster, there's pressure for authorities to do more. That brings Dr Quigley back to the bushfire analogy."Interestingly, when bushfires happen here in Australia, the authorities are on it very quickly – there's a lot of response," she says. "You don't see that on the coral reefs in Australia."One reason may be because it's corals at risk, not people. After all, there are no houses in the path of the underwater however, say such a view is shortsighted. Coral reefs are home to 25% of all marine life. But they also look after human life."They are absolutely supercharged with nature and diversity and support the tiniest creatures to the biggest," says Paul Gamblin. "They also support millions of people's livelihoods all over the world, and protect the coast from storm surges and extreme storm events that we're seeing more with climate change. So they provide enormous services to the planet."These services often get forgotten by those above the surface. But as fossil fuels continue to warm the planet, life in the oceans is feeling the heat.
Khaleej Times
4 days ago
- Khaleej Times
Look: Inside Sharjah's red sand Faya desert that holds 210,000 years of history
Beneath the vast, rust-coloured dunes of Sharjah's Al Faya desert lies an untold history of human resilience that stretches back an astonishing 210,000 years. Last week, this expansive landscape earned its place as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the only Arab country to do so. The honour cements Al Faya's status not just as a regional marvel, but as a global testament to humanity's earliest struggles and triumphs in the face of an unforgiving climate. A desert that breathes history To stand in Al Faya is to walk in the footsteps of Palaeolithic hunters and Neolithic pastoralists who turned this arid expanse into a lifeline. The people first settled here because of water, and where there was water, there was life. Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels. The terrain is a dramatic mosaic of red-coloured sands, jagged rock formations, and fossilized riverbeds, which at some point in time was all under an ocean. Al Faya has archaeological layers that include 18 distinct strata, which were uncovered over 30 years by teams of archaeologists who have come from far and wide, revealing how humans adapted to climatic shifts between extreme aridity and fleeting rainy epochs. What sets Al Faya apart is its continuity. Unlike fragmented sites elsewhere, this landscape preserves a near-unbroken record of human activity. Flint tools, animal bones, and the very stones tell of hunter-gatherers who tracked gazelles and crafted weapons from the area's fine-grained stone. Actual findings by archaeologists can be found in the nearby museum. Later, pastoralists dug wells and herded livestock through the same valleys, their ingenuity etched into the earth. Echoes in the sand Today, visitors at Al Faya can trace these stories through its geology. It is important to note that some areas are designated as core zones, in which entrance is restricted to private tours. If you find yourself aboard one of those tours, be sure to visit the fossilized rock. Once wet, you may see evidence of these very rocks which were once upon a time, millions of years ago, under the water. At dawn, when the Sun stains the dunes crimson, it's easy to imagine a Palaeolithic family crouched near a fire, shaping tools under the same sky.
CNA
4 days ago
- Business
- CNA
Orchid farms say buyers have halved since 2020, hope national events spur interest
Plant nurseries say local buyers of orchids have fallen by up to 50 per cent compared to five years ago. And they are counting on national events to boost the profile of the flower, which has long been associated with Singapore. The nation marks its 60th birthday this year, as well as the 10th anniversary of the inscription of the Singapore Botanic Gardens as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Eugene Chow with more, Sabrina Ng with reporting.
IOL News
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- IOL News
Chasing snow: Jojo Robinson enjoys a winter wonderland family getaway in the Berg
A aerial view of Sani Pass in the Drakensberg Mountain which was recently covered in snow. Image: Instagram Parts of the picturesque Maluti-Drakensberg Mountains in KwaZulu-Natal and Lesotho have become a winter wonderland, sparking excitement for snow chasers and adventure seekers alike. Among them is Jojo Robinson, star of the reality TV show "The Real Housewives of Durban", who recently shared her family's enchanting snow-chasing expedition on Instagram, igniting both joy and wanderlust among her followers. Robinson, along with her husband, Calven, and their son Roco, ventured into the majestic mountains to host a seasonal getaway that coincides perfectly with the school holidays across South Africa. The family chose this winter escape as forecasts promised rainfall and potential snow, with Robinson expressing her anticipation in an Instagram post. 'Good for the soul and needed ... A little family getaway to the beautiful berg. 🩷 And we are hoping for snowfall tomorrow ...,' she said, encouraging everyone to share in their snowy hopes. As they journeyed towards the breathtaking Champagne Castle, part of the Maloti-Drakensberg World Heritage Site, the Robinson family made some delightful stops along the way. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ They explored the vibrant surroundings of the Midlands, including visiting Dingo Farm, Reptile Park, and the charming Piggly Wiggly, all of which added to the adventure before they settled into their local resort. The snowfall in the region has heightened interest in snow activities, with the latest Snow Report suggesting possible flurries in parts of the Free State but limiting significant snowfall to the peaks of the Drakensberg and Maluti Mountains. As colder fronts sweep across the country, many are embracing winter's magic, especially in renowned snow spots like Fouriesburg and Sani Pass. Snow chasing, a hobby for those who pursue fresh, untracked powder, enriches this winter experience. It combines keen weather forecasting with local insights and a touch of luck, making trips to scenic mountainous areas rewardingly exhilarating. For the Robinsons, this family excursion to chase snow signifies more than just fun in the snow; it embodies moments of togetherness and the shared joy of exploring nature's beauty in wintertime.
