{"id":170492,"date":"2025-09-30T13:46:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T13:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/170492\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T13:46:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T13:46:10","slug":"uae-raised-astrophysicist-helps-build-nasas-new-portal-for-earth-and-space-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/170492\/","title":{"rendered":"UAE-raised astrophysicist helps build Nasa\u2019s new portal for Earth and space research"},"content":{"rendered":"

An astrophysicist who as a child gazed at stars with Abu Dhabi\u2019s amateur astronomy clubs has helped build a Nasa<\/a>-funded online platform that could transform how scientists share research.<\/p>\n

Mugdha Polimera, 31, who was raised in the UAE<\/a>, is part of the team behind Science Explorer, or SciX, a new portal with more than 30 million data entries that connects research across astrophysics, planetary science, heliophysics and Earth sciences.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s much more than a search tool. When you open a paper, you don\u2019t just see what it cites, you can also follow every paper that later cites it,\u201d said Ms Polimera, as an astrophysicist and software developer for Nasa\u2019s Astrophysics Data System (ADS).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also link research to specific astronomical objects, tag the data sets used and even the software referenced,” she told The National. “It takes that value and extends it across Earth and space sciences.”<\/p>\n

The platform builds on ADS, which was launched in 1992 and has become a trusted source in the scientific community for astronomy-related research. But now SciX will bring together researchers from many more disciplines that share and use data.<\/p>\n

\u201cEarth sciences are Nasa\u2019s largest research field, covering everything from climate and weather to agriculture, rivers, glaciers and volcanoes,\u201d said Ms Polimera. <\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a curated, authoritative platform that connects these disciplines will help researchers share methods, tools and data in a way that hasn\u2019t been possible before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Polimera said the most exciting part of SciX, which is free to use worldwide, is the increased reliability of the research results.<\/p>\n

\u201cPredatory journals are excluded,\u201d she said. “That means researchers don\u2019t waste time questioning whether a source is credible \u2026 they can focus on the science.”<\/p>\n

From Abu Dhabi to astrophysics<\/p>\n

Born in India, Ms Polimera moved to Abu Dhabi as a baby and grew up in the capital, where her curiosity about space was sparked by Hindu mythology and stargazing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was fascinated not just by stars and planets, but also by the way they were woven into Indian folklore,\u201d she said. \u201cFor example, the Big Dipper is called ‘Saptarishi’ (seven sages) and the Pleiades are ‘Kritikas’, their wives. I loved that the same constellations had different stories across cultures.\u201d<\/p>\n

She attended St Joseph\u2019s School in Abu Dhabi until Year 10, then Sunrise English Private School, before studying electronics and communications engineering at BITS Pilani, Dubai. <\/p>\n

At the time, the UAE did not have an established space programme and astronomy courses were limited, so Ms Polimera chose engineering and hoped it would act as a stepping stone to astrophysics.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven then I tried to bring astronomy into my coursework,\u201d she said. \u201cIn image and signal-processing classes, I pitched space-related projects to my professors.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also sought out the few astronomy clubs that existed in Abu Dhabi, attending talks on Mars missions and meeting fellow enthusiasts. \u201cThose experiences were small but important and they kept me connected to the field,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

What does the future hold?<\/p>\n

After her degree, Ms Polimera moved to the US to pursue a master\u2019s then a doctorate in astrophysics. <\/p>\n

She now splits her time between black hole research and her role as a software engineer with the ADS and SciX team. She says the transformation in the UAE\u2019s space sector over the past decade has been significant. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe difference is night and day,” said Ms Polimera. “In 10 years, the country has built a world-class programme. That\u2019s very characteristic of the UAE \u2026 they set a goal and made it happen quickly.” <\/p>\n

She said young people in the UAE today have opportunities that did not exist for her generation. \u201cThere are expanded course offerings, active clubs and huge investment in research and education,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe space programme acts as a hook, getting students excited about science and technology. I\u2019d love to come back and give seminars or tutorials to help students learn how to navigate these systems.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The chief operating officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Andres de Leon, said his company’s hyperloop technology is \u201cready\u201d and safe.<\/p>\n

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Mohammed bin Zayed MajlisUAE currency: the story behind the money in your pocketsMore from Neighbourhood Watch:More on animal traffickingZayed Sustainability PrizeKilling of Qassem SuleimaniThe\u00a0five\u00a0pillars\u00a0of\u00a0IslamUAE currency: the story behind the money in your pocketsMohammed bin Zayed MajlisFrom Zero <\/p>\n

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pocketsMohammed bin Zayed MajlisMore coverage from the Future ForumRead more about the coronavirusZayed Sustainability Prize<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An astrophysicist who as a child gazed at stars with Abu Dhabi\u2019s amateur astronomy clubs has helped build…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":170493,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[92,90,416,5438,5141,10039,10196,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-170492","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-nasa","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-space","11":"tag-standard","12":"tag-story","13":"tag-uae","14":"tag-uae-desk-team","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}