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Saudi Space Agency Concludes Participation in World Space Week 2025

Saudi Space Agency Concludes Participation in World Space Week 2025
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Saudi Space Agency Concludes Participation in World Space Week 2025

Saudi Space Agency Concludes Participation in World Space Week 2025

The Saudi Space Agency (SSA) concluded its participation in World Space Week 2025, designated by the United Nations to be held annually from October 4 to 10, through a series of awareness and interactive activities targeting students, researchers, specialists, and the general public.

During the week, the SSA launched a digital awareness campaign and scientific content through its website and official accounts, offering visual and written materials to promote scientific knowledge about space and its sciences, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday.

The initiative aimed to raise awareness of the importance of space exploration for the benefit of humanity, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and with the participation of more than 20 Saudi universities across the Kingdom.

The SSA organized workshops and field visits for university students to its Concurrent Design Facility (CDF), allowing them to learn about the mechanisms of space mission design. It also held awareness lectures delivered by a number of its staff and experts, focusing on concepts and technologies related to space exploration.

At the beginning of the week, the SSA launched the Knowledge Space portal on its website, offering a variety of Arabic content, including videos, booklets, and interactive educational guides, to promote scientific awareness and disseminate knowledge about space sciences across all segments of society.

Moreover, Saudi astronauts presented a series of video messages for school and university students, sharing insights about space, their experiences aboard the International Space Station, and the role of youth in shaping the future of space exploration.

The week’s events saw wide engagement across schools, universities, and digital awareness platforms, featuring activities, competitions, and simple scientific experiments introducing students to space concepts and life in space, and the campaign received broad media coverage across multiple platforms.

The agency’s participation in World Space Week 2025 comes as part of its ongoing efforts to enhance the Kingdom’s presence in space science and technology awareness and education, and to reaffirm its leading role in empowering and inspiring the new generation to contribute to the future of space and its technologies. This initiative aligns with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to build a knowledge-based economy and promote sustainable, innovation-driven development.

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Orphaned Kittens Meet Sharks and Stingrays on an Aquarium Field Trip at Mall of America

This image taken from a Sea Life at Mall of America video shows a rescue kitten from the Bitty Kitty Brigade visiting Sea Life at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (Sea Life at Mall of America via AP)
This image taken from a Sea Life at Mall of America video shows a rescue kitten from the Bitty Kitty Brigade visiting Sea Life at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (Sea Life at Mall of America via AP)
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Orphaned Kittens Meet Sharks and Stingrays on an Aquarium Field Trip at Mall of America

This image taken from a Sea Life at Mall of America video shows a rescue kitten from the Bitty Kitty Brigade visiting Sea Life at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (Sea Life at Mall of America via AP)
This image taken from a Sea Life at Mall of America video shows a rescue kitten from the Bitty Kitty Brigade visiting Sea Life at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (Sea Life at Mall of America via AP)

A pair of kittens gazed up through the aquarium's shimmering blue waters as a (relatively) enormous fish passed overhead. One kitten stared transfixed through the glass while the other, unfazed, was more interested in darting around playfully.

Inside a clear dome, a kitten named Turkey Leg stood up on its back legs as brightly colored clownfish — think “Finding Nemo” — darted just inches from its whiskers. Raising a paw, it batted at the glass, mewing.

For nearly two hours, about two dozen rescue kittens with names like Lottie Dottie, Bendy Wendy and Mouth Trap romped through the Sea Life aquarium at the Mall of America, the largest shopping complex on the continent, located in a suburb of Minneapolis.

Some charged down a 300-foot (90-meter) underwater tunnel, stopping to stare at a sand tiger shark or sea turtles. Other cats found the aquarium's dim blue environment calming and closed their eyes for a little nap.

This was the sixth year the Bitty Kitty Brigade, a rescue organization in the Twin Cities that finds foster homes for orphaned neonatal kittens, held its “field trip” to the aquarium. Some of this year's kittens had Minnesota State Fair -themed names like Funnel Cake or Apple Fries.

“We just thought it’d be a really fun, engaging thing for kittens to see,” aquarium spokesperson John Sullwold said. The kittens came early Monday morning before the aquarium opened to the public.

In addition to raising awareness for the Bitty Kitty Brigade, these field trips are a great way for the young cats to socialize, said Kya Anderson, an event director with the group.

That can make it easier for them to adjust to new homes if they get adopted, she said.

The group is overseeing some 1,000 kittens this year.

“The kittens just get so excited to see, like, the fish swimming around,” Anderson said.

Sea Life has also invited puppies from Safe Hands Rescue, another foster-based animal rescue, but obviously not on the same day as the kittens.

“Much more running involved with the puppies,” Sullwold said.

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Belgium’s Francis Halzen Wins Nobel Prize in Physics

Eva Olsson, Ellen Moons, and Mark Pearce sit in front of a screen displaying Francis Halzen as the recipient of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics during a press conference at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 6, 2026. (Photo by Christine OLSSON / TT NEWS AGENCY / AFP)
Eva Olsson, Ellen Moons, and Mark Pearce sit in front of a screen displaying Francis Halzen as the recipient of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics during a press conference at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 6, 2026. (Photo by Christine OLSSON / TT NEWS AGENCY / AFP)
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Belgium’s Francis Halzen Wins Nobel Prize in Physics

Eva Olsson, Ellen Moons, and Mark Pearce sit in front of a screen displaying Francis Halzen as the recipient of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics during a press conference at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 6, 2026. (Photo by Christine OLSSON / TT NEWS AGENCY / AFP)
Eva Olsson, Ellen Moons, and Mark Pearce sit in front of a screen displaying Francis Halzen as the recipient of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics during a press conference at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 6, 2026. (Photo by Christine OLSSON / TT NEWS AGENCY / AFP)

Belgian Francis Halzen won the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for his contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and his discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the award in Stockholm.

The prize money this year is 12 million Swedish kronor (about $1.2 million), whether for an individual, a small group of laureates or an organization.

Last year, three scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics for research on the strange behavior of subatomic particles called quantum tunneling that enabled the ultra-sensitive

measurements achieved by MRI machines and laid the groundwork for better cellphones and faster computers.

The announcements of this year's prizes began Monday with the Nobel Prize in medicine being awarded to three scientists whose work led to a tool that uses light to help unravel how the brain works.

This week's awards continue Wednesday with the chemistry prize and literature on Thursday. After Friday’s peace prize is awarded, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences will be announced on Monday.

The prize money this year is 12 million Swedish kronor (about $1.2 million), whether for an individual, a small group of laureates or an organization.

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Indonesia Says Will Halt Forest Destruction for Rice Paddies

A man attempts to extinguish flames with a bucket amid thick smoke and fires burning through peatland in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, on October 3, 2026. (Photo by REINA / AFP)
A man attempts to extinguish flames with a bucket amid thick smoke and fires burning through peatland in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, on October 3, 2026. (Photo by REINA / AFP)
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Indonesia Says Will Halt Forest Destruction for Rice Paddies

A man attempts to extinguish flames with a bucket amid thick smoke and fires burning through peatland in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, on October 3, 2026. (Photo by REINA / AFP)
A man attempts to extinguish flames with a bucket amid thick smoke and fires burning through peatland in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, on October 3, 2026. (Photo by REINA / AFP)

Indonesia said on Tuesday it will halt a project to raze several million hectares of forest to clear land for rice production, saying it had reached self-sufficiency levels of the staple grain.

The government launched a program in 2024 to stop relying on rice imports within five years by clearing three million hectares of land for paddies.

Indonesia is one of the world's most forested countries, and as such a major absorber of planet-warming carbon emissions from mankind's burning of fossil fuel.

It aims to become a net carbon sink by 2030, with forests and other land use absorbing more carbon than they emit.

However, observers have said continuing forest destruction for agriculture and logging, as well as rampant wildfires, could put Indonesia's plans at risk.

President Prabowo Subianto hailed an "important victory" this year after data showed countrywide rice demand had been met with domestic production in one of the world's top consumers of the commodity.

Climate envoy Hashim Djojohadikusumo said on Tuesday the government's strategic reserve rice stock had reached about 5.3 million tonnes.

"The government sees no further need for expanding rice cultivation areas in the so-called forest areas," said Hashim, who is Prabowo's brother.

He added that the government will focus instead on "intensification measures" using superior seeds, for example, to increase rice yields.

It was not known how much forest had already been replaced by rice paddies before the project was halted.

According to the National Food Agency, a government body that seeks to advance food security, Indonesia produced 34.71 million tons of rice in 2025 -- exceeding annual demand of 31.19 million tons.

Haze from wildfires consuming forests and peatlands in Indonesia has blanketed neighboring Malaysia and Singapore for weeks.

Hot, dry conditions associated with the El Nino weather phenomenon have fueled the fires, which are also linked to land clearing.

The Mighty Earth advocacy group welcomed Hashim's announcement, AFP reported.

"This decision renews Indonesia's leadership in showing how to expand agriculture while protecting nature," the NGO's founder, Glenn Hurowitz, said in a statement.

"This decision creates an opportunity for large-scale investments in achieving President Prabowo's goal of restoring 12 million hectares of forest, peat, and other ecosystems," he added.