He told the Desert News that among the challenges he faces is the fear among school districts of increased liability for accidents, which of course, would be minimal to non-existent if you started with walking drills and standing desks.

FORBES: Connect

And then came the news that the British Horseracing Board rates Kauto Star not very far behind Desert Orchid at his peak in 1990.

BBC: KAUTO STAR - THE NEW DESERT ORCHID?

Chris Goodall, an analyst at the media research firm Enders Analysis, said the News of the World was the "sacrificial lamb being taken out into the desert and killed" in order to try to save the Murdoch empire's bid to take over UK broadcaster BSkyB.

CNN: Murdoch's scandal-hit News of the World to shut down

This week at Inhabitat, we were thankful to be able to witness the long-awaited unveiling of the futuristic solar-powered Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi, and we also heard the exciting news that scientists are developing a project that could have us using the Sahara desert to supply 50% of the world's energy by 2050.

ENGADGET: Inhabitat's Week in Green: modernizing the US national grid, not to mention deserts and pyramids

When late in 1935 he went missing while trying to break the speed record for Paris to Saigon, France held its breath until news came that Bedouin had found him after a three-day trek across the Libyan desert.

ECONOMIST: Hunting for Saint-Exup��ry

Syria's air and naval forces conducted live-fire manoeuvres aimed testing their readiness to repulse "any aggression against the homeland, " the official Sana news agency reported, with state TV pictures reportedly showing warplanes and helicopters firing missiles at targets in a desert area, as well as surface-to-air missiles hitting targets in the air.

BBC: Syria crisis: 'Nearly 200 lives lost' in last two days