Saudi Science and Engineering Team Gears up for Regeneron ISEF 2024 in Los Angeles

The Saudi Science and Engineering Team is undergoing an intensive four-day training program in preparation for the upcoming Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF 2024) competition. (SPA)
The Saudi Science and Engineering Team is undergoing an intensive four-day training program in preparation for the upcoming Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF 2024) competition. (SPA)
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Saudi Science and Engineering Team Gears up for Regeneron ISEF 2024 in Los Angeles

The Saudi Science and Engineering Team is undergoing an intensive four-day training program in preparation for the upcoming Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF 2024) competition. (SPA)
The Saudi Science and Engineering Team is undergoing an intensive four-day training program in preparation for the upcoming Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF 2024) competition. (SPA)

The Saudi Science and Engineering Team is undergoing an intensive four-day training program in preparation for the upcoming Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF 2024) competition, the Saudi Press Agency said.
During the program, team members will acquire skills related to showcasing and refining their scientific background. They will also participate in training sessions with experienced former judges familiar with the fair.
Additionally, the team will engage in various training sessions to address questions related to their projects.
A total of 35 male and female students will represent the Kingdom at ISEF 2024, the world's largest pre-college STEM competition, competing against 1,700 students from 70 countries worldwide.
The Kingdom's participation is facilitated by the King Abdulaziz and his Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity "Mawhiba" and the Ministry of Education.
This year marks the 18th consecutive participation of the Kingdom in the fair since 2007, as part of an annual program organized by Mawhiba in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.



Google-Backed Coalition to Help Scale Ocean, Rock Carbon Removals

A Google logo is seen at a company research facility in Mountain View, California, US, May 13, 2025. (Reuters)
A Google logo is seen at a company research facility in Mountain View, California, US, May 13, 2025. (Reuters)
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Google-Backed Coalition to Help Scale Ocean, Rock Carbon Removals

A Google logo is seen at a company research facility in Mountain View, California, US, May 13, 2025. (Reuters)
A Google logo is seen at a company research facility in Mountain View, California, US, May 13, 2025. (Reuters)

A coalition backed by Google, Stripe and Shopify will spend $1.7 million to buy carbon removal credits from three early stage firms on behalf of the tech giants to help scale up the nascent markets, an executive told Reuters.

The world is expected to need to suck between five and 10 billion tons a year of carbon emissions out of the atmosphere by mid-century to reach its climate goals, yet at the moment most technologies are small scale.

The coalition, called Frontier, is also backed by H&M Group, JPMorgan Chase and Salesforce, among others.

The group, which aggregates demand from its members, will spend $1.7 million to buy credits from US-firm Karbonetiq, Italy-based Limenet and Canadian firm pHathom.

By contracting to buy early, the firms are better able to hire, raise finance and get the technologies off the ground, said Hannah Bebbington, head of deployment at Frontier.

"It allows companies to demonstrate commercial viability," she said.

Frontier's support for these early stage firms, which aim to lock emissions away in the ocean or in rocks and industrial waste, marks its fifth series of commitments.

Frontier, which was set up in 2022, aims to invest at least $1 billion in carbon removal credits between 2022 and 2030. It has already committed $600 million, some on the series of pre-purchases and the bulk on a series of off-take agreements with larger firms. Last week, it agreed to pay $41 million for 116,000 tons from waste biomass firm Arbor.

For oceans, the aim is to increase the alkalinity of the water, helping it to lock away more carbon emissions. This is often done by adding "quicklime", made from limestone.

For the mineralization technologies, meanwhile, projects attempt to speed up the process whereby rocks and industrial waste naturally absorb carbon dioxide, for example by crushing up the material to create a larger surface area.

Bebbington said both technologies had the potential to be impactful because they could be scaled quickly and cheaply.

"We think (they) are extremely compelling from that really cheap at really large scale perspective."