News

Saudi Scientists From KAUST Find New Way To Store CO2

The new method for storing and transporting carbon dioxide in solid form could have a huge impact in fighting climate change.

Published

3 years ago

May 8, 2023

Nour Nasir

KAUST

Scientists from Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have discovered a novel way to store and transport CO2 in the form of a powder.

The breakthrough discovery was made by a team of scientists led by Professor Cafer T. Yavuz of KAUST. The researchers created a mesh-like clathrate structure, which can physically trap molecules of one component within the crystal structure of another.

This clathrate structure proved to be a more energy-efficient way to trap and store greenhouse gasses, as it requires no refrigeration, making it much more energy efficient than current systems.

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“Our team made it possible to carry CO2 in a solid form without the need for refrigeration or pressure. You will be able to literally shovel CO2-loaded solids from now on,” explained Professor Yavuz. “The impact is wide and strong, as the global fuel industry and the kingdom entities are actively looking for ways to capture, store and transport CO2 without significant energy penalties”.

News

Samsung And Spotify Offer Free Premium Deal In MENA

Nearly seven in ten streams in the region come from 18-to-34-year-olds — the audience Samsung is hoping to entice into its ecosystem.

Published

5 days ago

August 7, 2026

Nour Nasir

Samsung

Samsung has announced a partnership with Spotify spanning the Middle East, North Africa, and Türkiye, bundling Spotify Premium with select devices across its ecosystem. The headline offer — up to four months of Premium for free — is a first for the region.

Customers in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Türkiye who buy any OLED or 98-inch television, or any Galaxy S or Z series mobile device, get four months of Spotify Premium. The offer, tiered by market and device, is available at retail and on Samsung.com, and redeemed through the Samsung Promotion and Samsung Members apps.

For Samsung, the strategy is less about free music than about lock-in. The Korean tech giant’s pitch is continuity: a track starts on a Galaxy smartphone through Galaxy Buds on the commute, moves to a Samsung TV and soundbar in the living room, and stays controllable from a Galaxy Watch. The more seamlessly music travels between those devices, the harder it becomes to swap any one of them for a rival’s.

“Technology should bring people closer to the things they love, and few things connect people the way music does,” said Omar Saheb, Regional VP of Marketing and Online Business at Samsung Electronics MENA. The partnership, he added, gives customers “a genuine reason to choose Samsung for the experience, not only the product”.

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For subscribers, Premium brings the usual package: ad-free listening, offline downloads, richer audio quality on Galaxy Buds and Samsung sound devices, and Jam, which lets friends build a shared queue.

“At Spotify, we are always working to make every listening moment feel more personal, meaningful, and worth it,” said Rami Jamal, Head of Partnerships at Spotify for South Asia, Middle East, and Africa.

The demographics go a long way to explaining the strategy. Across MENA, Türkiye, and Pakistan, nearly seven in ten Spotify streams come from listeners aged 18 to 34, according to the company — precisely the audience Samsung wants inside its hardware ecosystem before buying habits harden.