The deadline for submissions of scientific works and videos to the 2017 Noor Student Competition; Recognition of Prof. Jackie Ying has ended. Over 5000 students has participated in this competition by production and sending about 2000 short film.

According to MSTF Media, Noor Student Competition was launched early December last year in order to identify students’ strength points and talents, foster them and develop new perspectives in student communities as well as promote scientific cooperation between educational centers.

The student groups could take part in this challenge, by sending 60-second films of their scientific experiments in all fields of science including physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and astronomy.

One of the distinctive features of the second round of Noor Student Competition compared with previous year, was the participation of other regional countries such as schools from Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In this round, students should have sent their works and science experiments to the Mustafa Science and Technology Foundation (MSTF) within 7 months which ended by 21st of June 2017. In this period, 5110 students in the form of 2194 groups registered and 1193 videos were sent to the Foundation.

The most important selection criteria is based on the creativity and attractiveness of the received science videos. Praising and applauding the 100 top selected works, broadcasting them on a weekly TV program, as well as granting laboratory and science equipment to the selected schools and research centers are among the prizes being awarded.

It is worth noting that the laureates of Noor Student Competition will be honored for their achievements in the closing ceremony of the event which will be held on September the 1st, 2017, coinciding with the anniversary of Eid al-Adha, the second most important holy festival in the Muslim calendar.

/ Meher news /

Tarbiat Modarres University student Samaneh Ashnagar is working on a project to increase the effectiveness of sunscreens with ability to release anti-cancerous substances through nanotechnology.

In this project we tried to add the nanocomposite nanoparticles to the sunscreen and increase the effectiveness of ultraviolet ray absorption, Ashnagar told Mehr News correspondent, pointing to the organic and non-organic toxic substances and carcinogens in the sunscreens.

The new sunscreen will include the gradual release of anticarcinogens to increase the antioxidant capability of them, she added.

“Given that sunscreen is one of the most widely used cosmetic products around the world, improving its quality can significantly reduce the risk of cancer. Therefore, the quality of cosmetic products is one of the main goals of the project,” the researcher explained the aims of her plan.

The nano structure of the cream helps slowly release the anti-cancerous compounds, and on the other hand, after applying the cream, its whiteness will not remain on the skin, project manager noted.

/ Meher news /

Iran has the potential to export $25 billion worth of technical and engineering services per annum, IRNA reported quoting a director with Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) as saying on Wednesday.

Mahmoud Eskandari, the general director of TPO for development of knowledge-based services and products exports, also said that promotion of exports is one of the main plans of the government and in this due TPO has changed it organizational structure to recognize and remove the barriers that exporters are facing. / Tehran times /

American actor Val Kilmer has signed on to star in ‘1st Born’, a comedy from Iranian director Ali Atshani and the first joint production between Iran and Hollywood.

According to Hollywoodreporter, American actor Val Kilmer, notable for roles in ‘Top Gun’, ‘Batman Forever’, ‘Heat’, and ‘Tombstone’, has signed on to star in ‘1st Born’, a comedy from Iranian director Ali Atshani.

The project centers on a newly married couple newlywed couple, Iranian-born Ben and his American Kate, who are living in California. When the couple’s first pregnancy faces complications, both sides of their family must come together — a rather complicated notion as Ben’s father Hamid is anti-American Iranian politician, while Kate’s father Biden (played by Kilmer) is an American politician who takes a hardline stance against Iran.

‘1st Born’ is notable for being the first joint feature film co-production between Iran and Hollywood, using a cast and crew from both the US and the Middle East.

Atshani is notable for directing films such as ‘The President’s Cellphone’, ‘Wishbone’ (to be distributed by Netflix), ‘Banana Peel’, ‘Mr. Alef’ and ‘Negar’s Role’. His 2016 film ‘Paradise’ was a co-production between Iran and Germany.

Filming will begin in Los Angeles in late August, with other castmembers set to join shortly.

/  Tehran times /

Beijing Construction Engineering Group (BCEG) is to finance $250 million in a project for building a hypermarket of construction materials in Iran.

The group signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in this regard with the Iranian Omran Holding Group- a subsidiary to the country’s Civil Servants Pension Organization (C.S.P.O), in Tehran on Tuesday, the official website of C.S.P.O reported.

The MOU was signed by the CEO of C.S.P.O Mahmoud Eslamian, the Managing Director of Iranian Omran Holding Group Amir Hossein Karimi, and a director from BCEG.

As accorded, 15 percent of the required financial resources for implementation of the project will be supplied by C.S.P.O and the rest will be provided by the Chinese BCEG.

“The intended hypermarket will be constructed in an area of 90,000 square meters in east of Tehran,” Karimi said during the signing ceremony, “construction of this hypermarket is an introduction to construction of other specialized markets in Iran.” / Tehran times /

Iran bucked a slow start to wallop Hong Kong, 21-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-15 and keep their dream of occupying a more decent placing alive at the SMM 19th Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship.

Coming off a deflating loss to Australia, heavy hitter Mahsa Saberi vent her ire to Hong Kong after unloading 24 points off 18 kills, 4 aces, and 2 blocks at the Muntinlupa Sports Complex.

Neda Chamlanian and Soudabeh Bagherpour also came big for Iran as they registered 12 and 11 markers, respectively as the Iranians completely took over after a shaky start.

Yeung Sau Mei scored 11 points in a losing effort for Hong Kong, which has to settle for the 11th-12th classification match.

Iran, meanwhile, now await the winners of Oceania showdown of Australia and New Zealand, which is in play as of press time, to determine what nation will take the 9th place. / Tehran times /

Parisa Baratchi, female Iranian archer, has been awarded a place at 2017 2017 Archery World Cup Final to convene in Italy.

Upon completion of all four stages in 2017 World Cup, World Archery, the international federation for the Olympic sport of archery, has announced overall points garnered by participating athletes. Accordingly, the top seven athletes in every division have been invited to the 2017 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final.

The Italian capital will stage the event at the Stadio dei Marmi, on September 2 and 3.

Having collected an aggregate total of 26 points in various events, Iran’s Parisa Baratchi has landed sixth in the compound category finding her way to finals of the prestigious event.

In the final showdown, Baratchi’s rivals will comprise Sarah Sonnichsen, Denmark; Sara Lopez, Colombia; Sarah Prieels, Belgium; Andrea Marcos, Spain; Tanja Jensen, Denmark as well as Yesim Bostan, Turkey.

Due to injury, the Iranian representative missed the semifinals at the fourth and final stage of this Hyundai Archery World Cup in Berlin; otherwise, the odds were high that she would have collected more points. Parisa started archery in 2009 and made her international debut in 2012.

The competition, the climax to World Archery’s World Cup season, is one of the most prestigious prizes in the sport with the venue situated next to the Olympic Stadium which was used for the Rome 1960 Games.

Competition will take place using both the recurve and compound bows. / Meher news /

Transit of goods via railway network rose 55 percent in Iran since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21) until August 8, compared to the same period last year.

Some 1.2 million tons of cargo was transited via the national railway network in the past [Iranian calendar] year, while the figure is anticipated to reach 1.8 million tons this year, Tasnim quoted Ebrahim Mohammadi, the deputy head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (known as RAI), as saying on Monday.

He also said that some 27.5 billion ton-kilometers of cargo was transported via railway in the country during the past year, and the figure is planned to reach 43 billion ton-kilometers this year.

“We have signed four memorandums of understandings with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) for the promotion of railway transportation since the beginning of current Iranian calendar year,” the official noted.

RAI director Saeid Mohammadzadeh said in January that railway should account for 30 percent of freight transportation in Iran by the end of the Sixth Five-Year National Development Plan (2021). / Tehran times /

C lose to 25,000 tons of confectionery, including sweets and chocolate, worth more than 2.47 trillion rials ($76.13 million) were exported from Iran to over 40 countries during the first four months of the current Iranian year (March 21-July 22), the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration announced.

The main export destinations were Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, the UAE, Germany, the United States, Australia, China, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Norway, Mizan Online reported. / Financial tribune /