Six Flags Qiddiya Begins Design of World’s Fastest Roller Coaster

Covering 32 hectares (79 acres) and featuring 28 rides and attractions across six themed lands, Six Flags Qiddiya is set to become the theme park that breaks all records of entertainment in Saudi Arabia and the region.  - SPA
Covering 32 hectares (79 acres) and featuring 28 rides and attractions across six themed lands, Six Flags Qiddiya is set to become the theme park that breaks all records of entertainment in Saudi Arabia and the region. - SPA
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Six Flags Qiddiya Begins Design of World’s Fastest Roller Coaster

Covering 32 hectares (79 acres) and featuring 28 rides and attractions across six themed lands, Six Flags Qiddiya is set to become the theme park that breaks all records of entertainment in Saudi Arabia and the region.  - SPA
Covering 32 hectares (79 acres) and featuring 28 rides and attractions across six themed lands, Six Flags Qiddiya is set to become the theme park that breaks all records of entertainment in Saudi Arabia and the region. - SPA

Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC), in partnership with Intamin Amusement Rides, has kicked off the design process for the Falcon’s Flight, the signature attraction of Six Flags Qiddiya — a one-of-a-kind theme park scheduled for opening in Qiddiya’s first phase.

The Falcon’s Flight is set to become the world’s longest, fastest and tallest coaster. It will travel across approximately 4km, feature a vertical cliff dive maneuver into a 160m-deep valley using magnetic motor acceleration (LSM technology), and achieve unprecedented speeds of 250+ km/h.

The Falcon’s Flight will also be the world’s tallest free-standing coaster structure featuring a parabolic airtime hill allowing a weightlessness airtime experience, Saudi state news agency reported.

Commenting on the event, Qiddiya’s Chief Executive Officer Philippe Gas said that rollercoaster fans "around the world have been eagerly anticipating this ride since it was announced as there is nothing quite like it anywhere else. Now we are in the design stage with the experts at Intamin and the engineering team at Six Flags, the excitement is building!

“Falcon’s flight will dominate the skyline at Qiddiya weave all the way around our destination, right out of the theme park, up the cliffside, and down the cliff face — the greatest drop of any ride in the world; it won’t be for the fainthearted!”

On each ride — a three-minute long adventure — up to 20 passengers will experience the exhilaration of three electromagnetic propulsion launch systems as well as panoramic views of Six Flags Qiddiya and the Resort Core.

For his part, Daniel Schoppen, vice president design & development, Intamin Amusement Rides, said: “I will never forget the moment when I was standing at the edge of the 200-meter-high cliff on the Tuwaiq Mountain in Qiddiya, looking into the valley and imagining the creation of a future record-setting roller coaster."

“I knew that exactly at this spot, The Falcon Flight will dive down along the cliff, ending in a unique exhilarating 250+ km/h proximity flight close to the ground. The worldwide unique setting and heights such as the natural cliff will enable us to design an architectural masterpiece in steel,” he added.

Covering 32 hectares (79 acres) and featuring 28 rides and attractions across six themed lands, Six Flags Qiddiya is set to become the theme park that breaks all records of entertainment in Saudi Arabia and the region.



French Scientists Find New Blood Type in Guadeloupe Woman

A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type. (AFP)
A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type. (AFP)
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French Scientists Find New Blood Type in Guadeloupe Woman

A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type. (AFP)
A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type. (AFP)

A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type, dubbed "Gwada negative," France's blood supply agency has announced.

The announcement was made 15 years after researchers received a blood sample from a patient who was undergoing routine tests ahead of surgery, the French Blood Establishment (EFS) said on Friday.

"The EFS has just discovered the 48th blood group system in the world!" the agency said in a statement on social network LinkedIn.

"This discovery was officially recognized in early June in Milan by the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT)."

The scientific association had until now recognized 47 blood group systems.

Thierry Peyrard, a medical biologist at the EFS involved in the discovery, told AFP that a "very unusual" antibody was first found in the patient in 2011.

However, resources at the time did not allow for further research, he added.

Scientists were finally able to unravel the mystery in 2019 thanks to "high-throughput DNA sequencing", which highlighted a genetic mutation, Peyrard said.

The patient, who was 54 at the time and lived in Paris, was undergoing routine tests before surgery when the unknown antibody was detected, Peyrard said.

This woman "is undoubtedly the only known case in the world," said the expert.

"She is the only person in the world who is compatible with herself," he said.

Peyrard said the woman inherited the blood type from her father and mother, who each had the mutated gene.

The name "Gwada negative", which refers to the patient's origins and "sounds good in all languages", has been popular with the experts, said Peyrard.

The ABO blood group system was first discovered in the early 1900s. Thanks to DNA sequencing, the discovery of new blood groups has accelerated in recent years.

Peyrard and colleagues are now hoping to find other people with the same blood group.

"Discovering new blood groups means offering patients with rare blood types a better level of care," the EFS said.