Arabs & Arabian Records Aggregator. Chronicler. Milestones of the 25 Countries of the Arabic Speaking World (official / co-official). AGCC. MENA. Global. Ist's to Top 10's. Records. Read & Enjoy./ www.arabianrecords.org
Officials in Saudi Arabia have announced a joint project to establish the largest coral garden in the world at NEOM, the futuristic mega-city being built in the Kingdom’s northwest.
NEOM and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) said that the project that will cover 100 hectares on Shusha Island on the shores of the Red Sea.
The Shusha Island Coral Park will become a global center to showcase innovations to protect and restore coral reefs and accelerate conservation solutions, helping to reduce the effects of climate change, a statement issued by Saudi Press Agency said.
Shusha Island is home to more than 300 species of coral and 1,000 species of fish.
The project is scheduled to be completed in 2025, making NEOM a world leader in restoring and developing coral reefs.
source/content: arabnews.com
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A picture shows coral reefs at the Obhor coast, 30 kms north of the Red Sea city of Jeddah, 20 December 2007. AFP PHOTO/HASSAN AMMAR (Photo by HASSAN AMMAR / AFP) / pix: arabnews.com
It was commissioned for construction by Al-Mu’izz li-Din Allah of the Fatimid dynasty in the new capital of Egypt in 970 and built by the builder of Egypt, Gawhar El-Seqelly. Construction began on April 04th, 970.
Cairo’s historic Al-Azhar mosque was the first artistic architectural building constructed by the Fatimids, the Islamic dynasty that ruled Egypt, North Africa and parts of the Arabian Peninsula from the tenth to the twelfth centuries.
Previously called ‘Cairo’s Mosque,’ Al-Azhar was named after the Prophet Mohammed’s daughter Fatimah al-Zahraa.
Because it was the first mosque and the first Islamic university to be built in Cairo, the city was named since then “The City of A Thousand Minarets”. After Al Karaouine in Idrisid Fes, which is a university in Morocco, Al-Azhar has developed to be the second most important university in the world.
Al-Azhar mosque was later turned into a university under the ruling of a senior Fatimid Islamic scholar Al-Aziz Billah. The university included 37 scholars who carried out religious teachings and dormitories to accommodate students.
After operating as an educational platform, Al-Azhar mosque was shut down in 1171 for 100 years under the auspices of the Ayyubid caliphate.
The historical mosque was later reopened by Mamluk Sultan al-Zaher Baybars in 1266.
Al-Azhar was first renovated following an earthquake in 1302.
Archaeological teams discovered 16 settlements, which contained around 2,000 stone tools, such as knives, hammers, arrowheads along with other polyhedral and spherical tools
Recent excavations have revealed that Shuweihtia Village in Jouf is the oldest human settlement in the Arabian Peninsula, dating back 1.3 million years.
Located 45 kilometers north of Sakaka city, the administrative capital of Jouf, Shuweihtia extends to Wadi Wasseh in the north of the village.
The village goes back to the Paleolithic era in the Old Stone Age.
H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council, today unveiled the Majesty 175, the world’s largest composite production superyacht, at its world premiere at Dubai Harbour.
Pushing the boundaries in superyacht production through its lightweight material that enables effortless cruising in low-draft waters, the Majesty 175, fully manufactured in the UAE, is the flagship superyacht by Gulf Craft, one of the world’s premier shipbuilders
Manufactured at Gulf Craft’s integrated in-house production facility in the UAE, the Majesty 175 successfully completed a series of sea trials before its global premiere. The yacht will soon venture on voyages across the world, taking the UAE flag to global yacht events, marinas and exotic destinations, placing the country prominently on the world yachting map.
Built to the specifications outlined by the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) for yachts over 500 gross tonnage (GT), the 55-metre long superyacht with a beam of 9.6 metres has a gross tonnage of 780. It has the ability to effortlessly cruise low-draft areas, drawing just 2.05 metres of water, as it was built using advanced composite materials such as carbon fibre and vinyl ester. This enables close beach access, a key consideration for many marine lifestyle enthusiasts.
Formerly – President Sadat’s Scientific Advisor (1978-1981)
Founder – Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, National Museum of Atmospheric and Space, at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
Dr. El Baz played a pivotal role for the Apollo mission where he served as the secretary for the Apollo landing board on the moon, and was responsible for leading the astronaut training team in general science, particularly in moon imaging
So pivotal was he to Apollo that in Tom Hanks’ HBO TV-series, From the Earth to theMoon , El-Baz’s role as an Apollo scientist and astronaut trainer was featured in a segment entitled, “The Brain of Farouk El-Baz,” and a shuttle craft named El-Baz soared through the popular TV-series Star Trek : The Next Generation
Awards:
He has won over 31 awards, including achievements in science, in NASA, incl:
Golden Door Award of the International Institute of Boston
Nevada Medal of the Desert Research Institute
The Pioneer Award of the Arab Thought Foundation.
The Apollo Achievement Award
Honour:
Asteroid 7371 El-Baz, discovered by American astronomers Eleanor Helin and Schelte Bus at Palomar Observatory in 1978, was named in his honor. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 27 August 2019 ( M.P.C. 115893).
Book:
Deserts and Arid Lands , Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, ISBN 90-247-2850-9
Global Village teamed up with Skydive Dubai to break a new Guinness World Record title, with 20 skydivers jumping from an altitude of more than 4,570 metres, lighting the skies with 78 fireworks, representative of the 78 cultures that were present at Global Village during its 25th season.
Visitors were treated to a rare and spectacular showcase, as the venue celebrated its silver jubilee season finale.
The initiative was in line with Global Village’s aim to break 25 Guinness World Records over the course of its 25th season, which ran from October 25 to May 2.
The stunt broke the Guinness World Record title for “highest altitude fireworks display”.
Tunisia launches its first 100% Tunisian satellite.
The Tunisian telecommunication company Telnet Holding and the Russian space agency Roscosmos succeeded, on Monday, March 22, 2021 at 7:07 am, the launch of Challenger One, the first satellite of the country entirely manufactured locally.
Carried by a Russian Soyuz-2 launcher from the base of Baikonur (Kazakhstan).
According to the agreement, Challenge ONE is going to be a precursor for a constellation of 30 satellites to be launched by 2023.
Part of the agreement also involved SPUTNIX, a Russian private company, manufacturing high-tech microsatellite components and technologies. SPUTNIX’s involvement was to facilitate the development of the satellites and the establishment of R & D services for satellite components.
The “Courtyards Dialogue” design submitted by eight Egyptian architects has won the UNESCO competition to rebuild the historic Al-Nouri mosque complex mostly destroyed in Iraqi Mosul.
The Egyptian design was selected by an international jury from among 123 entries in the global competition as part of the UNESCO’s project to rehabilitate the ancient city of Mosul, the UN wrote on its website.
The winners of the competition are Salah El Din Hareedy, Khaled El-Deeb, Sherif Ebrahim, Tarek Ali Mohamed, Noha Ryan, Hager Abdel Ghani, Mahmoud Saad Gamal and Yousra El-Baha, the UN said.
Winners at the competition, the Egyptian team, has been awarded the contract for the complex as well as $50,000 prize.
A woman has made history in the United Arab Emirates as the country’s first female astronaut.
Noura Al-Matrooshi is one of two new astronauts in the UAE’s Mohammed Bin Rashid (MBR) Space Centre astronaut program, UAE vice president and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced on Twitter .
She was chosen with Mohammed Al-Mulla, two of over 4,000 candidates who applied to the program, Sheikh Mohammed, the ruler of Dubai, said.
In 2019, Maj. Hazzaa al-Mansoori became the UAE’s first astronaut in space, spending an eight-day mission aboard the International Space Station.
Ahmad bin Majid Al Sa’adi (aka) Ibn Majid (aka) Shihab ad-Din “Star of the Faith” and “The Lion of the Sea”. Poet and Writer of 44 books. Inventor of the Magnetic needle.
The manuscript is loaned from the Al Assad National Library in the Syrian Arab Republic.
The manuscript was loaned to the National Museum-Oman, for two years under the purpose of preservation and conservation and coordination was maintained with the National Records and Archives Authority, Oman – to restore this document to its original state, through the implementation of an integrated program for preservation, conservation, indexing and revision.
This manuscript was written in the 11th century AH / 16th century CE, under the ruling of Al Nabhani dynasty. It is compiled (175) sheets, (350) pages and (23) lines per page. Texts were written by “Naskh” script using black ink and headlines in red. The body of the manuscript is surrounded by two red frames.
This manuscript is one of few preserved copies of the manuscripts of Ahmed bin Majid Al Sa’adi around the world, the oldest among them is the one which is preserved in the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts in St. Petersburg Russia”.
This compiled collection includes the most important and best known of the works by Ahmad bin Majid`s. It is divided into three parts: al-Fawāid fī ilm al-bahr wa-alqawāid or (The Book of the Benefits of the Principles and Foundations of Seamanship), completed on 17 Rabi al-Thani 984 AH/ 13 July 1576. This part is dedicated to 18 benefits related to marine sciences and some proverbs. The second collections: Hāwīyat al-ikhtisār fī usūl ilm al-bihār, it is the longest section and includes 11 chapters.
The third collection consists of 14 proses, in addition to eight chapters in marine sciences.
Ahmad bin Majid Al Sa’adi was an Omani navigator and cartographer. Born in Julfar, he was educated in his early years by his father Majid bin Mohammed al-Sa’adi, who was a renowned marine captain and navigator.
Ibn Majid is one of the best-known navigators in the Indian Ocean and among the finest scholars of the art of navigation and its history among the Arabs.
He was the inventor of the magnetic needle (magnetic compass), which is used for navigation and orientation at sea.
He was also the author of nearly forty works of poetry and prose. Among his many books on oceanography, Fawā’id fī-Usūl Ilm al-Bahr wa-al-Qawāid or (The Book of the Benefits of the Principles and Foundations of Seamanship), which was compiled in the year (880-895 AH / 1475-1490 CE) at the end of his life, which is considered as one of his best.
He is remembered as Shihab ad-Din “Star of the Faith” and “The Lion of the Sea”.