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KAUST Professor with Disabilities Begins Bicycle Journey Across Kingdom

Photo by SPA
Photo by SPA
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KAUST Professor with Disabilities Begins Bicycle Journey Across Kingdom

Photo by SPA
Photo by SPA

Associate Professor of Applied Mathematics and Computational Science at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Matteo Parsani began on Sunday his hand-bike journey from the east to the west of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
His 30-day journey aims to promote physical activities and sports, raise awareness about people with disabilities, showcase KAUST research, and highlight the beauty of the Kingdom’s regions and the hospitality of the Saudi people, SPA reported.

Parsani said that through the journey, he seeks to promote the importance of physical activity for a healthy lifestyle among various segments of society, and not only for people with disabilities. It also aims to study the effect of intense physical exercise on the musculoskeletal system and mental health of people with limited mobility.

Parsani will hand-cycle through Dammam, Riyadh, Qassim, Hail, AlUla, Red Sea Global, Madinah, Makkah, Jeddah and KAUST, over a distance of more than 3,000 kilometers, at a rate of some 150 kilometers per day.

During his ambitious journey to traverse Saudi Arabia from its east to west, Parsani will make use of innovative products aimed at ensuring his safety and tracking his health and physical status in real time.

The products include helmet, jacket and shirt embedded with advanced biosensors that have been developed by a team of KAUST researchers and scientists at their cutting-edge lab.

The sensors will monitor Parsani's heart rate, dopamine and energy levels, sweat secretion rate, and body motion, among others.

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A Zoo Elephant Dies in Indonesia after Being Swept Away in a River

The carcass of an elephant is covered with a blue tarp after it was found dead on a riverbank after being swept away by the river's current the previous evening, in Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia, 17 December 2024. (EPA)
The carcass of an elephant is covered with a blue tarp after it was found dead on a riverbank after being swept away by the river's current the previous evening, in Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia, 17 December 2024. (EPA)
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A Zoo Elephant Dies in Indonesia after Being Swept Away in a River

The carcass of an elephant is covered with a blue tarp after it was found dead on a riverbank after being swept away by the river's current the previous evening, in Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia, 17 December 2024. (EPA)
The carcass of an elephant is covered with a blue tarp after it was found dead on a riverbank after being swept away by the river's current the previous evening, in Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia, 17 December 2024. (EPA)

An elephant that lived at the zoo on Indonesia’s tourist island of Bali was found dead on Tuesday after being swept away by a strong river current.

Molly, a 45-year-old female Sumatran elephant was one of two being guided by a mahout to a holding area outside of the zoo grounds through a river on Monday afternoon. The activity was part of their daily routine of mental and physical stimulation.

The first elephant had made it across and Molly was in the river when the current suddenly increased due to heavy rain upstream, the zoo said in a statement.

"In this situation, Molly lost her balance and was swept away by the current," it said. The mahout was uninjured.

A team from Bali Zoo and Bali Natural Resources Conservation Agency conducted an intensive search. The dead elephant was found Tuesday morning in Cengceng river in Sukawati subdistrict in Gianyar district, Bali.

"The entire team at Bali Zoo is deeply saddened by the loss of Molly, a female elephant who has been an important part of our extended family. Molly was known to be a kind and friendly elephant," the zoo said.

"This was an unavoidable event, but we are committed to conducting a thorough evaluation of our operational procedures and risk mitigation measures, especially during the rainy season, to ensure the safety of all our animals in the future," said Emma Chandra, the zoo's head of public relations.

Seasonal rains from around October through to March frequently cause flooding and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands.

Sumatran elephants are a critically endangered species and fewer than 700 remain on Sumatra island. This subspecies of the Asian elephant, one of two species of the largest mammal in the world, is protected under an Indonesian law on the conservation of biological natural resources and their ecosystems.