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Visual Presentations Boast Saudi History in ‘Nabd Al Riyadh’

Nabd Al Riyadh sheds lights on the historic and cultural sides of Saudi Arabia
Nabd Al Riyadh sheds lights on the historic and cultural sides of Saudi Arabia
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Visual Presentations Boast Saudi History in ‘Nabd Al Riyadh’

Nabd Al Riyadh sheds lights on the historic and cultural sides of Saudi Arabia
Nabd Al Riyadh sheds lights on the historic and cultural sides of Saudi Arabia

As part of the largest entertainment festival in the region, Nabd Al Riyadh Zone has opened its doors to celebrate the authenticity and history of Saudi Arabia, focusing on the details of the country's unification in the Masmak Palace, which witnessed the emergence of the Kingdom.

The zone sheds lights on the historic and cultural sides of Saudi Arabia, with visual presentations and simulations projected on the palace's walls to narrate the stories of the Kingdom's different regions since its establishment.

Running until mid-January, Nabd Al-Riyadh is located in the heart of the capital, nearby the Masmak Palace. It features many displays that lure art and culture fans. The exceptional event includes many elements designed to amaze visitors like 3D presentations featuring a hawk roaming above all Saudi regions, musical performances, and decorations that symbolize each Saudi region, in addition to aesthetic designs under the theme "Nabd Al-Riyadh" seen all over the zone, and shows displaying diverse popular costumes from Saudi Arabia and the world.

Nabd Al-Riyadh hosts restaurants, cafes, and fast food kiosks, as well as folkloric shows performed by groups that represent the center, west, east, north, and south of the Kingdom. The groups have participated in 415 shows through the "Matloob" platform.

Nabd Al-Riyadh Zone is composed of small spaces such as the Safat Square, which features statues by local artists, sand painting, Rubik’s square painting, 3D street art, in addition to glitter art and theatrical and musical performances.

It also features the Safat Cafe, a historic coffee shop with a modern touch, which serves traditional drinks and sweets.

The zone offers its visitors an exceptional experience with entertaining activities that recall the country's unification scenes with an attractive content projected on the walls of the palace, where the unification journey started.

The event focuses on heritage and history, and offers its visitors the opportunity to visually explore patriotic stories that take them back to the past, introduce them to the traditions of their fathers and ancestors, narrates how King Abdulaziz recovered the city of Riyadh 100 years ago, and how the country managed to maximize its power and influence in the region and the world.

The murals in Nabd Al-Riyadh have astonished visitors with 3D presentations that shed lights on the authenticity and rooted heritage of the city. The different activities held in the zone have helped bring new creative Saudi talents to the light.

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Varieties

Scientists Seek Miracle Pill to Stop Methane Cow Burps

A cow that's part of study on reducing methane emitted by cow burps stands in an exclosure at UC Davis in Davis, California on October 23, 2024. (AFP)
A cow that's part of study on reducing methane emitted by cow burps stands in an exclosure at UC Davis in Davis, California on October 23, 2024. (AFP)
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Scientists Seek Miracle Pill to Stop Methane Cow Burps

A cow that's part of study on reducing methane emitted by cow burps stands in an exclosure at UC Davis in Davis, California on October 23, 2024. (AFP)
A cow that's part of study on reducing methane emitted by cow burps stands in an exclosure at UC Davis in Davis, California on October 23, 2024. (AFP)

A scientist guides a long tube into the mouth and down to the stomach of Thing 1, a two-month-old calf that is part of a research project aiming to prevent cows from burping methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

Paulo de Meo Filho, a postdoctoral researcher at University of California, Davis, is part of an ambitious experiment aiming to develop a pill to transform cow gut bacteria so it emits less or no methane.

While the fossil fuel industry and some natural sources emit methane, cattle farming has become a major climate concern due to the sheer volume of the cows' emissions.

"Almost half of the increase in (global) temperature that we've had so far, it's been because of methane," said Ermias Kebreab, an animal science professor at UC Davis.

Methane, the second largest contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide, breaks down faster than CO2 but is more potent.

"Methane lives in the atmosphere for about 12 years" unlike carbon dioxide which persists for centuries, Kebreab said.

"If you start reducing methane now, we can actually see the effect on the temperature very quickly."

Filho uses the tube to extract liquid from Thing 1's rumen -- the first stomach compartment containing partially digested food.

Using the rumen liquid samples, the scientists are studying the microbes that convert hydrogen into methane, which is not digested by the cow but instead burped out.

A single cow will burp roughly 220 pounds (100 kilograms) of the gas annually.

- 'Social critters' -

Thing 1 and other calves receive a seaweed-supplemented diet to reduce methane production.

Scientists hope to achieve similar results by introducing genetically modified microbes that soak up hydrogen, starving methane-producing bacteria at the source.

However, the team proceeds cautiously.

"We can't just simply cut down methane production by removing" methane-making bacteria, as hydrogen could accumulate to the point of harming the animal, warned Matthias Hess, who runs the UC Davis lab.

"Microbes are kind of social critters. They really like to live together," he said.

"The way they interact and affect each other impacts the overall function of the ecosystem."

Hess's students test different formulas in bioreactors, vessels that reproduce microorganisms' living conditions in a stomach from movements to temperature.

- More productive cows -

The project is being carried out at UC Davis as well as UC Berkeley's Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI).

IGI scientists are trying to identify the right microbe -- the one they hope to genetically alter to supplant methane-producing microbes.

The modified microorganisms will then be tested at UC Davis in the lab and in the animals.

"Not only are we trying to reduce methane emissions, but you also increase the feed efficiency," said Kebreab.

"Hydrogen and methane, they are both energy, and so if you reduce that energy and redirect it to something else... we have a better productivity and lower emissions at the same time."

The ultimate goal is a single-dose treatment administered early in life, since most cattle graze freely and can't receive daily supplements.

The three research teams have been given $70 million and seven years to achieve a breakthrough.

Kebreab has long studied sustainable livestock practices and pushes back against calls to reduce meat consumption to save the planet.

While acknowledging this might work for healthy adults in developed nations, he pointed to countries like Indonesia, where the government is seeking to increase meat and dairy production because 20 percent of children under five suffer from stunted growth.

"We can't tell them to not eat meat," he said.