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Trio Night Kicks off the New Year in Riyadh

Fireworks lit up the sky above Riyadh for New Year's Eve. (Reuters)
Fireworks lit up the sky above Riyadh for New Year's Eve. (Reuters)
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Trio Night Kicks off the New Year in Riyadh

Fireworks lit up the sky above Riyadh for New Year's Eve. (Reuters)
Fireworks lit up the sky above Riyadh for New Year's Eve. (Reuters)

The Saudi capital saw a legendary evening to bid farewell to the year 2021. The concert was held on the Boulevard Theater in Riyadh, in the presence of a large audience.

A total of 14 singers from the Arab world participated in the Riyadh Trio Night.

The celebration, which is the first of its kind in the Arab world, saw the appearance of Mohammed Abdo, Abdullah al-Rowaished, Angham, Fahad al-Kubaisi, Assala, Majid al-Muhandis, Ahlam, Nawal El Kuwaitia, Rashid al-Majid, Nabil Shuail, Ali Ben Mohammed, Walid Chami, Aseel Abu Baker, Asma Lamnawar.

The Egyptian orchestra led by maestro Walid Fayed added its innovative touch to the celebration as well.

Abdulmajid Abdullah made an unexpected appearance that turned the stadiums into a festival with all attendees clapping.

Governor of the General Entertainment Authority Turki Al-Sheikh described the night as “historical” and extended his thanks to all the participants.

The fireworks lit up the sky of Riyadh in celebration of the new year.

Saudi musician Diya Azzony told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that Saudi Arabia is witnessing an annual development, namely during the entertainment seasons and public events. This supports artists of all fields and musical talents.

Taking good care of talents is a key part of the development of the artistic sector, especially the musical sector, said Azzony.

He added to the newspaper that there has been an increase in the number of artists and musical instruments' players, and development in the event organizing companies in a way that creates job opportunities, increases productivity in this field, and enriches the artistic movement.

General manager at Music Home KSA Prof. Ayman Tayseer told Asharq Al-Awsat that the future of arts is promising in the Kingdom, adding that this sector is witnessing significant changes.

Tayseer noted that the musical and artistic talents will find the opportunities awaiting them upon completing their training.

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Varieties

Chinese Rover Helps Find Evidence of Ancient Martian Shoreline

(FILES) This undated handout photograph released on June 11, 2021 by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) shows an image taken by a camera released from China's Zhurong Mars rover showing the rover (L) and the landing platform on the surface of Mars. (Photo by HANDOUT / China National Space Administration (CNSA) / AFP) CLIENTS
(FILES) This undated handout photograph released on June 11, 2021 by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) shows an image taken by a camera released from China's Zhurong Mars rover showing the rover (L) and the landing platform on the surface of Mars. (Photo by HANDOUT / China National Space Administration (CNSA) / AFP) CLIENTS
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Chinese Rover Helps Find Evidence of Ancient Martian Shoreline

(FILES) This undated handout photograph released on June 11, 2021 by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) shows an image taken by a camera released from China's Zhurong Mars rover showing the rover (L) and the landing platform on the surface of Mars. (Photo by HANDOUT / China National Space Administration (CNSA) / AFP) CLIENTS
(FILES) This undated handout photograph released on June 11, 2021 by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) shows an image taken by a camera released from China's Zhurong Mars rover showing the rover (L) and the landing platform on the surface of Mars. (Photo by HANDOUT / China National Space Administration (CNSA) / AFP) CLIENTS

With the assistance of China's Zhurong rover, scientists have gathered fresh evidence that Mars was home to an ocean billions of years ago - a far cry from the dry and desolate world it is today.
Scientists said on Thursday that data obtained by Zhurong, which landed in the northern lowlands of Mars in 2021, and by orbiting spacecraft indicated the presence of geological features indicative of an ancient coastline. The rover analyzed rock on the Martian surface in a location called Utopia Planitia, a large plain in the planet's northern hemisphere.
The researchers said data from China's Tianwen-1 Orbiter, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the robotic six-wheeled rover indicated the existence of a water ocean during a period when Mars might already have become cold and dry and lost much of its atmosphere.
They described surface features such as troughs, sediment channels and mud volcano formations indicative of a coastline, with evidence of both shallow and deeper marine environments, Reuters reported.
"We estimate the flooding of the Utopia Planitia on Mars was approximately 3.68 billion years ago. The ocean surface was likely frozen in a geologically short period," said Hong Kong Polytechnic University planetary scientist Bo Wu, lead author of the study published in the journal Scientific Reports.
The ocean appears to have disappeared by approximately 3.42 billion years ago, the researchers said.
"The water was heavily silted, forming the layering structure of the deposits," Hong Kong Polytechnic University planetary scientist and study co-author Sergey Krasilnikov added.
Like Earth and our solar system's other planets, Mars formed about 4.5 billion years ago. At the time the ocean apparently existed, it might already have begun its transition away from being a hospitable planet.
"The presence of an ancient ocean on Mars has been proposed and studied for several decades, yet significant uncertainty remains," Wu said. "These findings not only provide further evidence to support the theory of a Martian ocean but also present, for the first time, a discussion on its probable evolutionary scenario."
Water is seen as a key ingredient for life, and the past presence of an ocean raises the prospect that Mars at least at one time was capable of harboring microbial life.
"At the beginning of Mars' history, when it probably had a thick, warm atmosphere, microbial life was much more likely," Krasilnikov said.
The solar-powered Zhurong, named after a mythical Chinese god of fire, began its work using six scientific instruments on the Martian surface in May 2021 and went into hibernation in May 2022, likely met with excessive accumulation of sand and dust, according to its mission designer. It exceeded its original mission time span of three months.
Researchers have sought to better understand what happened to all the water that once was present on the Martian surface. Another study, published in August and based on seismic data obtained by NASA's robotic InSight lander, indicated that an immense reservoir of liquid water may reside deep under the surface within fractured igneous rocks.