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Thousands of people get lost in the desert every year, but these otherworldly solar beacons could save them

They look like save checkpoints in a video game, and they kind of are.

Canva Photos

Solar-powered beacons in the Saudi Arabian desert guide lost travelers to water.

Chief among my worries as a kid was what I considered the high probability that at some point in my life I would be trapped in quicksand. It felt extremely important that I remember all the tricks and techniques for getting out — just in case! A close second would have to be getting lost in the desert and dying of dehydration. You absolutely had to watch out for those deadly mirages, where the light on the horizon bends in such a way that you're certain you can see water up ahead.

At least one of those fears was fairly well-founded. All jokes aside, the desert is an incredibly dangerous place. It turns out that thousands of people get lost and go missing in deserts across the world every year. The Sahara Desert, the largest hot desert in the world, claimed a staggering 8,000 lives alone in 2023. These aren't overly flippant explorers, for the most part. Many migrants fleeing conflict zones across the desert become lost and suffer a tragic fate while trying to navigate the 3.6 million square mile area. There are many things that make the desert deadly, but dehydration with no access to water is at the top.

A team in Saudi Arabia has been testing a new technology that could drastically reduce dehydration-related deaths in the country's Al-Nafud Desert, and it looks like something straight out of a video game.

Though the Al-Nafud desert is quite a bit smaller than the Sahara standing at about 25,000 square miles, it can still be daunting to cross. Most years, hundreds of people go missing with several dozen of them perishing in the process.

An explorer named Mohammad Fohaid Al-Sohaiman had a brilliant idea to help lost travelers find water. Having been rescued in the desert himself, even as an experienced survivalist and outdoorsman, he knew there had to be a better way.

“Many people lost their lives in the desert near water resources because they did not know that water resources were close to them,” he told Arab News.

The idea: Beacons made of laser light, shot directly into the sky near water sources such as water wells. These powerful lights could be seen from miles away and would be powered by solar panels, ensuring they never go dark.

The plan is to eventually install 100 of the beacons throughout the Saudi Arabian desert.

The program to install the life-saving beacons began in 2021. It's still getting attention and inspiring awe all over the world.

A recent viral Reddit thread highlighted the innovative laser lights, and users were impressed:

"Absolutely brilliant! The rest of the world should immediately begin to implement this system in their desert areas as well as open oceans where water, food and communication devices could be stored for boaters in distress."

"This is such an amazing idea."

Others joked to the beams look like "save points" or "checkpoints" in a video game. They're not wrong!

Some have criticized the beacons, however, claiming that the light pollution may harm the desert's natural environment and residents like nocturnal animals and insects.



The desert holds vast potential for solar power due to its massive open spaces and plentiful sunlight. In fact, solar farms are common in deserts all over the world.

However, there are a couple of limitations that stop us from covering all the world's deserts in solar panels and completely converting to solar energy.

First, people underestimate how destructive and harsh the desert environment really is. Sand is incredibly corrosive, especially when whipped around in high-powered sandstorms. Maintaining solar equipment in the desert is incredibly challenging and costly.

Second, we think of deserts as open wasteland, but that's a misnomer. They're actually incredibly biodiverse natural habitats, home to many different forms of plant, animal, bird, and insect life. The desert habitat is no less important to preserve than rainforests or oceans.

Third, while solar energy is generally considered incredibly eco-friendly, massive solar farms can actually put off quite a bit of heat. A desert-sized solar farm would emit so much heat that it could negatively contribute to global warming and have devastating effects.


In any case, the life-saving beacons are a genius idea and a fantastic use of solar technology. Once the program is fully rolled out, it could save dozens or even hundreds of lives every year.

Just imagine a similar operation conducted in the massive Sahara Desert, or even in remote stretches of the American southwest.

As one commenter stated perfectly, "Now this is the type of innovation for the future I can get behind."

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Even if you can't march for migrant families, you can help. Here's how.

On June 30, Americans plan to come out in droves with Families Belong Together, an organization resisting the Trump administration's zero-tolerance immigration policy.

The march — which will take place in more than 700 U.S. locations, including a mass march on the White House — is calling for a day of action around the country.

On the organization's website, it declares this:

"Families Belong Together opposes the cruel, inhumane, and unjustified separation of children from their parents along the U.S. border with Mexico and at other ports of entry into the U.S. We protest the conditions in which these children are kept. We protest the irreversible trauma that has already been perpetrated on these children and their parents for the crime of seeking a better life."

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images.

The march comes at the end of a month that has seen an unusually high level of controversy over issues of immigration.

In late May, the Trump administration issued an immigration policy that separated thousands of families at the Texas-Mexico border en masse.

Most immigrants arrive seeking asylum from violent situations in their home countries, and children experience irreversible trauma when separated from their parents. Despite this, the Trump administration has repeatedly mischaracterized immigrants as being largely criminals, sparking fear in many citizens and creating an unsafe environment for the large proportion of immigrants who abide by the law.

After the child separation policy was put in place, organizations around the country sprung into action.

One Texas organization raised millions of dollars to help provide migrant families with legal representation, while Upworthy's own Parker Molloy helped raise money by encouraging Americans to show that we "really do care" about immigrant families.

On the legal end of the issue, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) demanded a reversal of the policy and for kids to be reunited with their parents. At their request, a federal judge in California issued a preliminary injunction that orders all children detained or misplaced be reunited with their parents within 30 days (children younger than 5 must be returned to their families within 14 days).

Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.

Though the order to reunite has been issued, there's much work to be done.

It took Trump weeks of public backlash to actually sign an executive order to end family separation, and there's no clear plan in place to reunite the 2,300 children who have been detained with there families.

It's why thousands of people are planning to march — and you can too.

On the Families Belong Together/Famalias Unidas No Divididas website, you can enter your zip code and find which of the more than 700 organized protests is near you.

Don't see one in your neighborhood? You can create one! By filling out a form on the website, you can organize a march in your area.

Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.

If you're asking, "What if I can't go this weekend, but I still want to help?"

You're in luck! One great way to support the fight against the zero tolerance immigration policy is by donating to Human Rights Watch, which strives to reduce the detention of immigrants and asylum seekers. Families Belong Together also has a list of organizations that are fighting for or helping immigrants and asylum seekers, including RAICES, Al Otro Lado, and KIND (Kids in Need of Defense).

Lastly, you can email or write to your Congressman asking them to support legislation that reunites families that have been separated at the border.

It's true that much of the damage this immigration policy will cause has already been done. But by raising our voices and supporting organizations that have the power to create real change, we can end many families' pain — and make sure this never happens again.

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A U.S. warship saved a group of drowning migrants. But they had nowhere to go.

Imagine you're serving on a U.S. ship in the Mediterranean when you come upon a group of people drowning.

Their boat is disintegrating and dozens of people are struggling to stay afloat. Another dozen have already perished; their bodies float in the water around the survivors. What do you do?

Both human kindness and international law dictate that you help them, of course. And according to The Daily Beast, that's just what sailors on the USNS Trenton did when they came across a group of migrants whose boat had failed off the coast of Libya. The Navy warship brought the 40 survivors aboard and offered them food, water, and medical care.

The problem was that they didn't know what to do with them next.

A child being rescued in the Mediterranean in 2016. Thousands of people drown each year trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach safer shores. Photo via Aris Messinis/Getty Images.

They couldn't return them to Libya because migrants were fleeing violence there, and the law required they be dropped at a "safe harbor." Transferring them to an nongovernmental organization's migrant rescue ship bound for Italy would make sense, but Italy's new interior minister was in the midst of enacting strong anti-immigrant policies, including turning away migrant rescue ships at entry ports. Other nations have been tightening their borders as well, so this U.S. warship has found itself in the middle of a European standoff over migration with nowhere to take a group of vulnerable people.

The global migration crisis has led to complex questions with no simple answers.

More than 1.8 million migrants have arrived in Europe since 2014, most of them fleeing violence and conflict in North Africa and the Middle East. Globally, there are 65 million displaced people who have been forced to leave their homes to find safety.

We are facing a global refugee crisis of massive proportions with no simple solutions.

Photo via AFP Contributor/Getty Images.

It should be a given that when a human being is suffering or in danger, other human beings step up and help out.

But on a global level, who should be stepping up and helping refugees and to what extent? How do you share the load when some nations flatly refuse? At what point do wealthy nations say, "We'd love to help, but we're all tapped out?" And at what point do you look into the face of an innocent child trapped in the most tragic circumstances and tell them, "Sorry, find help someplace else"?

These are questions that governments and individual citizens find themselves grappling with. In the meantime, thousands of people are dying each year trying to get to safety.

The refugee crisis is horrible — but not hopeless. We can use our voices and our wallets to save lives.

Governments have a host of issues to consider when making hard decisions about where to place resources and how to mold policy. But ultimately, they work for the citizenry. One thing we can do to help the most vulnerable is to let our government know we want our country to do more.

Under the Trump administration, the U.S. has cut the number of refugees we take by more than half, from Obama's 2017 goal of 110,000 to a 2018 limit of 45,000. According to the International Rescue Committee, we are actually slated to bring in less than halfthat number of refugees by the end of 2018.

A Syrian family fled their homeland due to a brutal civil war. Photo via Dan Kitwood/Getty Images.

Just so we're clear, George W. Bush maintained an annual refugee ceiling of 70,000, even after the worst terrorist attack in history occurred on our soil. If we hit President Donald Trump's 45,000 refugee limit, that's still just one refugee per 10,000 Americans. And as Trump loves to tout, our economy is booming with unemployment at historic lows. Why aren't we doing more?

It's time to get on the horn to our government and ask that question.

Supporting organizations that help refugees is the most efficient way to provide immediate aid.

A number of highly rated organizations offer aid to refugees in various ways. Here are some you can donate to or volunteer with:

— International Rescue Committee. The IRC aids refugees and people whose lives are impacted by conflict and disaster.

— United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The UNHCR protects and support refugees at the request of a government or the U.N. itself.

— Doctors Without Borders. An international humanitarian organization, it provides medical aid where needs are the greatest.

— Refugees International. An independent organization (which means it receives no funding from governments or the U.N.), Refugees International advocates for protection and assistance for displaced people and promotes solutions to the refugee crisis.

— Mercy Corps. A global nongovernmental humanitarian aid organization, Mercy Corps helps people recover from crises due to economic, environmental, social, and political instability.

Humanity needs help, and those of us in developed, stable nations are in the best position to provide it. We know there are complex problems that need solving to turn the tide, but until we figure that out, let's keep pulling people from the water and doing what we can to keep them safe.

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Macron granted a heroic man French citizenship. It says a lot about how we treat migrants.

There's a real life Spider-Man walking around in our world, and he's living in France.

In an utterly superhuman move captured on video, 22-year-old Malian Muslim migrant Mamoudou Gassama scaled a several story building to save a baby dangling from a fourth floor balcony.

After noticing a crowd gathering in angst, Gassama saw someone struggling to grab the baby and immediately acted. Leaping from floor to floor, Gassama managed to grab the child and return them safely.

People from around the world praised the young man for his pure, selfless actions.

But those aren't the only responses making a difference in Gassama's life.

In addition to praise from commenters around the world, French president Emmanuel Macron offered him citizenship and a job.

Under the French civil code, people who have "performed exceptional services for France, or whose naturalisation would be of exceptional interest for France" can be granted citizenship, and that's exactly what Macron did. But that's not all. According to the BBC, Macron met with Gassama to thank him, give him a medal for courage, and offer him a role in the country's fire service.

Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images.

This wonderful opportunity is changing the young man's life. Gassama reportedly was working to build a life in France, a dream of many African migrants who make their way there.

As Gassama receives praise, Macron is facing some backlash from French citizens embroiled in a fierce debate about the growing number of migrants in Europe. His steadfast support of Gassama is an important step for accepting African migrants into European culture.

Many migrants go through incredibly harsh experiences to get to Western countries, and many are just like Gassama — dreaming of a life of safety, freedom, and opportunity. While the young man's actions are heroic and deserving of the applause, we must remember that migrants — of all abilities and values — deserve respect and a fair chance at gaining citizenship.

Gassama's actions are an example of just how important it is to value all immigrant lives.

Gassama's actions show the heroic, uplifting, selfless possibilities of humanity when we put the needs of another before our own. When we recognize others, and even sometimes go through discomfort to help someone else, the possibilities are endless.

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