Youths put skills ahead of money

Emirati students and recent graduates took part in the forum held a day before the Emiratisation Summit. In a live voting session, the opportunity for growth and promotion was the most important element when considering a job offer for 30 per cent of participants; on the other hand some Emiratis thought that learning new skills is the top; work environment and culture was the main factor for some, as 10 per cent said salary first and the rest 2 per cent saw the working hours as the most important factor. Moreover voting showed that more students believed working in the private sector would present more demands than working for the government. The main fear about working in the private sector was competition for promotion and recognition; in the government, it was dealing with routine. Job fairs, career guidance and workshops with corporate guests are ways that universities can help to encourage working in the private sector. Nearly 70 per cent of respondents of a survey of Emirati youth consider factors other than salary and benefits to be the most important criteria when choosing a job, and getting a job is their most immediate priority after graduation, and their trend is toward growth and promotion opportunities, work environment and skill development when choosing between public and private sector positions.

Hydroponics: getting more for less without soil

Recently, many farmers in Abu Dhabi have been switching to different kind of growing methods which includes using hydroponics that help produce more foods with less time, water and energy. Some still don’t value this change as it can cost a large amount of money depending on how big the farm is. Moreover, the procedure of training workers for a different technique than the traditional way they are used to, may take a lot of time and effort at the beginning. Therefore, they are given cash loans by the Khalifa Fund to encourage and help them through the process of converting. The idea of this system actually comes from Holland where they grow their fruit and vegetables without the use of soil. Hydroponics replaces the soil with a combination of other things such as sand, perlite and peat to help reuse and recycle water. This also supports the farmers to be able to grow much larger amounts of different kinds of foods in their greenhouses during all different seasons. In addition, hydroponics can be used in the open field as well so it may cost money in the beginning but it saves and produces a lot more at the end once everything is installed.

How do Gulf corals beat the heat?

The waters of the Gulf reach 35 C in the summer; the Gulf’s corals have found their way to handle the heat and survive over thousands of years. The symbiosis life that corals and algae live is a way to acclimatise to hot water. Producing sugars by the algae inside the coral’s tissue for energy and the corals provide to the algae shelter, nutrients and carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. When temperatures increase more than 35C, corals change the process of exchange.

Corals reproduce in one of two ways: fragmentation or larval production. Fragmentation is when a piece of coral breaks off and lands somewhere and starts growing. Coral larvae are produced in massive spawning events; billions of tiny larvae are released and float around the sea until they have the ability to attach themselves to a rocky surface and start growing. Sometimes they don’t like their new neighborhood, so they change their home.

New Pearl Museum opens in RAK

The precious pearl is our historical treasure, which is brought us to this modern life. In RAK which used to be called Julfar and was a pearl trading center was opened the new Pearls Museum; which shows the story of the treasure.

 In the early 1930s the old pearling industry collapsed in the Gulf due to the Japanese invention of cultured pearls, but pearls are still in our life, as Emaratis. RAK Pearls Holding is the company which organized the museum; the museum is graced by thousands of local pearls and on the trip you can see detailed showcases of tools and gear worn by pearl divers on the first floor. The divers had no protection from the dangers of the sea. You can have diving experience with expert guide as the divers used to do and they had a designated singer, and took with them drums. The second floor is displays of the famous pearls and instruction on how to distinguish natural and cultured pearls from different areas, shape, color and cost.