AnthroAtlas
VOLUME I
Global Student Voices in Humanity & Society
Editor's Note
As the world grows more connected yet divided, AnthroAtlas seeks to capture the human voice in all its forms: personal, cultural, and collective. In this inaugural volume, our contributors explore resilience, identity, and belonging across continents. Each story is a reminder that understanding others is the first step toward understanding ourselves.
- Angelo Boujaoude, Editor-in-Chief
Where Humanity Fell, and Rose Again
by Hamzah Al Bayyaa — USA
Through Iraq’s decades of conflict and recovery, Hamzah Al Bayyaa reflects on both his nation’s struggles and his family’s experiences. His piece traces humanity’s darkest moments—war, tyranny, and loss—and the enduring resilience that allows people to rebuild, heal, and find hope again.
About the Author
Hamzah Al Bayyaa was born to a Muslim family in Baghdad, Iraq. He spends much of his life striving to practice and learn about Islam, while balancing his passion for video games in his free time.
Once a prosperous cradle of civilization, Iraq flourished first under Mesopotamia and later during the Islamic Golden Age (8th–13th centuries), when Baghdad stood as a world center of science, art, and knowledge. Yet in the past century, the nation has endured unimaginable suffering.
​
It started during Saddam Hussein's iron-fisted rule. He was called "The Butcher of Baghdad," a title he earned from his numerous crimes against humanity. His regime’s brutality reached my own family, leading to the executions of several relatives, a wound my family still hasn’t healed from to this day.
On March 20, 2003, the US launched Operation Iraqi Freedom, invading Iraq on the basis that the country had weapons of mass destruction, allegations which later turned out to be false. But still, Iraqis were optimistic. They were promised freedom. In return, however, Iraqis were met with new horrors, from the Abu Ghraib torture to the Mahmudiyah atrocities. The very forces that claimed to liberate us only deepened our suffering. Those who declared themselves to be the "heroes of humanity" and promised to save us from the enemy ended up being among them as well.
The fall of Saddam only dragged Iraq deeper into chaos. His execution gave rise to ISIS and triggered another wave of violence and intervention by foreign powers. Once the conflict between ISIS and the US came to an end, Iraq remained in ruins: cities devastated, people broken, and their spirit fractured. Many thought life couldn’t get worse under Saddam. Yet somehow, it did.
But time has a way of revealing humanity’s resilience. Eventually, the wars ended, and Iraq found itself standing amid the ashes, free, at last, from the enemies of humanity that had long tormented it. And so, the rebuilding began.
Last year, I returned to Iraq for the summer, and what I saw moved me deeply. Gone are the sleepless nights shattered by airstrikes. Gone are the days when children begged for their lives. Streets once reduced to dust now hum with life again. The crumbling infrastructure has been rebuilt, and for the first time in decades, Iraqis are beginning to believe in a future. I saw smiles, genuine, hopeful smiles, where there once was only fear. When I first lived in Iraq, I recall in my early years many lacking the reason or ability to even smile. This was truly a sight I thought I'd never see.
Yet, even as Iraq rises from the ruins, not everything can be restored. No reconstruction can bring back the one million lives lost. No one can erase the pains of Abu Ghraib or Mahmudiyah, or undo the birth defects caused by chemical weapons. Nothing can take away the mourning that my family still carries from the loss of loved ones.
Through determination and compassion, humanity has built Iraq back up. But it has never been, and will ever be, healed or whole again, forever marked by the darker side of humanity: the greed, the cruelty, and the indifference that brought so much suffering. Still, that same humanity also carries the power to heal, to create, and to protect. Both are worth remembering. After all, it is only when we opt for empathy instead of destruction that we can ensure these tragedies shall never happen again.
How Sea Turtles Inspired Human Navigation Technology
by Alexander Bondar — USA
This essay explores how sea turtles navigate across oceans using Earth’s magnetic field—and how their natural ability inspired scientists to create MagNav, a GPS-free navigation system. By comparing the instinctive navigation of turtles with human innovation, the piece reflects on how nature continues to guide our search for direction, understanding, and progress.
Sea turtles, like the loggerhead (Caretta caretta) species, have an amazing way of finding their way across the ocean. They can swim thousands of miles and come back to the same beach where they were born to lay eggs. Scientists have learned that loggerhead turtles use Earth’s magnetic field to guide them. They have two parts to their navigation. One part is a “magnetic map” that tells them where they are. The other is a “magnetic compass” that tells them which way to go. The magnetic map lets turtles sense changes in the Earth’s magnetic field. These changes help them find certain places like feeding or nesting spots. This skill helps them return to the same beach every time they nest.
In 2025 a group of scientists found that turtles can learn and remember magnetic fields from different places. In a study young turtles in tanks learned to connect a certain magnetic field with food. They remembered this for months, which proved they could recall magnetic patterns over long periods. When they sensed the same field later they did an excited “turtle dance” by moving fast and circling in the water. This showed they remembered what the field meant. The compass part of their system works differently. It helps them keep the same direction while swimming. Tests showed that radio signals are capable of stopping the compass from working but do not affect their internal map. This shows the two systems are separate. Some scientists think the compass depends on light and quantum effects in their eyes while the map might depend on tiny crystals called magnetite in their heads. Others think bacteria that respond to magnetic fields might help turtles sense direction. Nobody knows for sure how the system works, but it is one of the biggest mysteries in animal science.
Humans have now made a new similar tool called MagNav. This new technology also uses Earth’s magnetic field for navigation. It helps people or machines find their way without GPS. MagNav measures local magnetic fields and tries to match them to detailed magnetic maps of the Earth. Each place on Earth has a unique magnetic pattern due to certain minerals underground like maghemite and pyrrhotite. New quantum sensors now make this system much more accurate. These sensors are very sensitive and can pick up tiny changes in magnetic fields. Tests showed MagNav can find its location within about 22 meters, which is far better than older navigation tools.
MagNav works even when GPS signals are lost or jammed. It is used by the military, pilots, and drones to keep track of their position in hard conditions. It can also be used in airplanes, ships, and self-driving cars. Some scientists are testing it for underwater vehicles and space robots where GPS does not work. MagNav can be used together with GPS and other tools so that if one fails, the others keep it working.
Sea turtles and MagNav both use Earth’s magnetic field to guide them. Turtles sense the field naturally while MagNav uses machines to do the same thing. Turtles learn from experience and do not need power or computers. MagNav needs electricity and pre-made maps. Turtles also use other clues like light, smell, and waves, while MagNav depends only on sensors and software. Turtles are more energy efficient since their brains do all the work. Scientists hope to make MagNav systems that can learn and adjust to new data just like turtles do.
By studying how turtles navigate people can now build better and more efficient navigation tools. The turtle’s two-part system shows how humans can be inspired by nature. Learning how their magnetic sense works might help scientists make new kinds of technology for medicine, space, and Earth studies. The way turtles find their way across the ocean could help humans make smarter and stronger navigation technology.
Published in AnthroAtlas, Volume I - 2025
© AnthroExplorer.com 2025​
​