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.



Taipei Zoo's Veteran Giant Panda Celebrates 20th Birthday

Panda Yuanyuan enjoys her birthday cake for her 20th birthday at the Taipei Zoo in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
Panda Yuanyuan enjoys her birthday cake for her 20th birthday at the Taipei Zoo in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
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Taipei Zoo's Veteran Giant Panda Celebrates 20th Birthday

Panda Yuanyuan enjoys her birthday cake for her 20th birthday at the Taipei Zoo in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
Panda Yuanyuan enjoys her birthday cake for her 20th birthday at the Taipei Zoo in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

With politics set aside, well-wishers gathered to wish the Taipei zoo’s senior panda a happy 20th birthday.
Visitors crowded around Yuanyuan's enclosure to take photos of her with a birthday cake in the shape of the number 20.
Yuanyuan was born in China and arrived in 2008 with her partner Tuantuan. He died in 2022 at age 18 but not before fathering two female cubs, Yuanzai and Yuanbao, now 11 and 4 respectively and still living at the zoo.
Danielle Shu, a 20-year-old Brazilian student in Taiwan, said she found online clips of the pandas an enjoyable distraction. “And I just find it really funny and cute,” The Associated Press quoted Shu as saying.
Giant pandas are native only to China, and Beijing bestows them as a sign of political amity. Yuanyuan and Tuantuan arrived in Taiwan during a period of relative calm between the sides, which split amid civil war in 1949. China claims the island its own territory, to be annexed by military force if necessary.
Faced with declining habitat and a notoriously low birthrate, giant panda populations have declined to around 1,900 in the mountains of western China, while 600 pandas live in zoos and breeding centers in China and around the world.