Watch Out for Falling Palm Trees Near You
The date palm is an important part of the religious, cultural, and economic heritage of the Arabian Peninsula and the rest of the Middle East. But now it is being decimated by a tiny invasive beetle.
Why You Should Keep Young Children Out of the Middle East Sun (New Research)
Wearing full body clothing might not be the thing for everyone in the Middle East: but cover up the very young – especially those with light skin. Middle East sun exposure in the young leads to higher rates of skin cancer later in life.
Jewish Girls Gone Wild? Marijuana Lab Found in Haredi School
When authorities discovered a lab full of marijuana plants in a bomb shelter beneath an all girls Orthodox Jewish school south of Tel Aviv, they proposed that outsiders must be responsible – because Haredim girls would never smoke pot, right?
The Real Jordan River Will Flow from the Sea of Galilee Once Again
The Lower Jordan River, the baptismal river of Jesus, has been dead at its source for some time. For the first time in ages, Israel is releasing native waters via a pump back to the historic waterway.
Nir Meiri’s Marine Light is a Sustainable Seaweed Lamp You Can Eat
Tel Aviv’s Nir Meiri recently unveiled Marine Light – a curious lamp shade made entirely of seaweed wrapped around a spindly metal frame. Eaten by coastal people all over the world and prized for its gelatinous and nutritional properties (see bottled algae superfood), and its use is being investigated for seaweed as biofuel, marine algae is harvested [...]
Turkey, Iran, Syria Top List for Worst Journalism Countries
The online ‘zine Foreign Policy posted its “worst countries for journalism” with the Middle East grabbing three of the Top Ten slots. As we scour the media, we already see how this fares for environmental reporting which is practically non-existent in the Middle East.
Spring Festival is in Egyptian Air Marked by Petrified, Stinky, Toxic Fish
Sporadic street violence, economic distress and political polarization were mostly put on ice this past Sunday as Egyptians of all classes and religions held picnics, took boat rides on the Nile and celebrated Sham el-Nessim, a holiday whose roots most believe date back to this land’s ancient inhabitants. The event features a stinky fish.
“Biggest Loser” Coach Builds a Recycled Materials Green Gym in Israel
When “Biggest Loser” coach Orly Hoffman Bar approached Toledo-Lifschitz Architecture & Design with an idea to convert a vacant space north of Tel Aviv into a sweet new gym, she offered two major constraints: time and money.
Common Sex Book for Orthodox Jews: Is it Kosher?
A quiet little how-to book has been translated into Hebrew offering basic sex education to Israel’s Orthodox Jews.
Enstorage Pioneers 50kW Hydrogen Bromine Storage in Israel
Energy storage company Enstorage Inc. connected a 50 kW Hydrogen Bromine flow battery to the grid at their test site in southern Israel. This began the world’s first large-scale deployment of this promising new energy grid technology.
SmarTap e-Shower Cleans You Green
Thinking about 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit: This is how Asaf Shaltiel, the CEO of SmarTap, came up with the idea for an electronic “smart” eco-showerhead that can talk with computers and smart home devices.
Mare Nostrum to Save the Mediterranean Sea from Coastline Development
Over the millennia, the Mediterranean Sea has become much more than a transport hub for empires that control the region: It links nations, feeds countries, and its shores hold some of the world’s most expensive real estate and natural beauty.
Arabs and Jews Cooperate in Israel to Get Drugs Out of the Water
Why should a Palestinian man care if an Israeli woman is taking birth control pills? A new Israeli peace project focusing on shared water resources answers this question.
Blind Shrimp Spared from Extinction at Bible Zoo in Jerusalem
When Noah was told by God to load two of all animals onto a special hand-built ark, there was no mention of the blind shrimp species found only in Israel. There probably was no need to protect the small crustacean living happily underwater – until now.
Renault Gives Up on Israel’s Swappable Electric Car Batteries
The Israeli EV company Better Place hasn’t been having an easy ride. Despite nearly a billion dollars in investment Better Place has failed to really convince the Israeli public that a swappable electric battery is the way to go. Its partner car and battery builder Renault have also lost the faith in Better Place
10 Best Beach Holiday Beaches in the Middle East
You might not be able to strut around in a thong or sun tan topless in the Middle East (unless you are at the Naked Dead Sea), but there are many beautiful beaches in the region that just don’t get enough fanfare. That’s why we have rounded up ten of the most sublime sandy destinations.
Israel Arrests Ten 269life Animal Rights Activists, 300 Protest in Tel Aviv
As part of their campaign to make “the walls of slaughter houses transparent,” a guerrila animal rights group in Israel recently scattered the heads of decapitated animals in public places throughout Tel Aviv and surrounding neighborhoods. Last week police arrested ten 269life activists in connection with these rather visual public protests, which included dyeing the [...]
Chickpea Farmers Wanted in America for Hummus Invasion: Move Over Tobacco!
As hummus, a staple of Middle Eastern cuisine, gains popularity among Americans seeking healthful snacks, tobacco farmers open their fields to chick peas and Pepsico undertakes to develop new hummus food science with an Israeli company, Strauss. Both businesses see massive potential in developing American chick pea strains for a number of good reasons, some perhaps less good. [...]
Dogs Detect Cancer Cells in Petri Dish
Could woman’s best friend be the missing link in the diagnoses of agressive breast cancer types? Researchers at Ben Gurion University in Israel have conducted research proving that specially trained dogs can differentiate the smell of breast cancer cells from non-cancerous cells in cell cultures. The concept of using the sniffing ability of dogs to [...]
Seeking The Ecological Market At Machane Yehuda in Jerusalem
Miriam sees Israel’s most famous open-air market through new eyes. When I lived in Jerusalem, the Machane Yehuda shuk (market) was my grocery store. Vegetables, grains, fruit, chicken for Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest. There were nuts and sweets…everything we ate came from the shuk. (Read about 5 Israeli shuks here.) My kids grew [...]
Terra: Foot-Stomped Compost Furniture Returns to Earth at Lifecycle’s End
Inspired by an Indian tradition of serving chai tea in clay cups, Israel’s Adital Ela has designed Terra – an entire line of interiors made out of nothing but foot-stomped earth! A TED fellow with a love of nature and Iraqi roots, Ela told Fastco Design that she was fascinated that once tea is drained in [...]
Solar PV Demand Rises Sixfold in the Middle East and Africa
HH General Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi (left), HH Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan National Security Advisor for the UAE and Vice Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council visit Masdar City’s 10 MW PV plant in 2011. Proponents of environmental reform (renewable energy, greener economy) are racing [...]
Jordan Talks Plastic Waste: Action Wanted!
Random dumping and burning of plastic garbage, which constitutes a fifth of the Kingdom’s solid waste, are negatively affecting the environment and public health, said a Jordanian official. Good morning, Jordan! Glad to see you waking up to your plastic addiction and outrageously dirty dumping disorder. Plastics, widely introduced to world markets in the 1960′s, have [...]
Studio Sfog in Tel Aviv Makes Recycling an Art Form
We love the creative eco design coming out of Tel Aviv. Israel faces nationwide challenges of mismanaged waste and insufficient recycling infrastructure, but from the deserts of Morocco to the streets of Tel Aviv, artists like Yotam Shifroni and Gidi Gilam are seeking solutions through creativity. Around four months ago, Shifroni and Gilam opened Studio Sfog in Tel Aviv. Sfog means “sponge” [...]
Earth Day Events in Jerusalem
About a decade ago Israelis were much better at green washing and consumerism than caring for our planet through social green action. That’s all changed. The country has leaped into putting environmental awareness at the top of people’s concerns. This year there are dozens of events going on around the country to celebrate April 22, [...]
Israeli Poet Nitzan Mintz Makes Sustainable Art Stick To The Streets
Israeli street artist Nitzan Mintz writes her poems on the streets of Tel Aviv, using disregarded materials she collects from dumpsters and public spaces. “I use only recycled materials in my art,” she said.
CupsTelAviv: All You Can Drink Coffee for Under $50 a Month
Where in the world can you drink as much coffee as you like for less than $50 a month? In Tel Aviv, Israel, it turns out. CupsTelAviv has convinced 40 independent businesses in what is arguably the country’s most caffeinated city to allow members of their program to drink as many cups of coffee as [...]
Jordan Valley Boasts the Lowest Museum on Earth
Built at the lowest elevation on earth, and less than a year old, this jewel-box of a museum showcases the Dead Sea region’s rich past. After Israel, no nation has as many Biblical sites as Jordan. The Dead Sea gets several mentions in the Bible, and it’s where the Dead Sea scrolls were found. Jesus [...]
Great Guacamole With Israeli Avocados
Israeli avocado season has arrived. Plump, green avocados are grown from the north of Israel down to Jaffa in the center, all the way to agricultural communities in the southern Negev, such as Neot Semadar. It is both a local favorite and a major national export. In 2010 the pear-shaped green fruit’s sales reached one-third of [...]
Sea of Galilee Reveals Mysterious Underwater Ancient Mound
Israeli archaeologists are baffled by a giant cone-shaped structure submerged beneath the waters of the Sea of Galilee. Twice the diameter of Stonehenge and weighing more than ten elephants, a mysterious cone-shaped structure on the bottom of the Sea of Galilee is challenging archaeologists to determine its purpose and age. The mound was first detected [...]
Israeli Wildflowers Show Environmental Education Can Inspire Change
Today there are a dizzying variety of wildflowers blossoming across Israel, welcoming the months of spring. Fifty years ago some of these plant species were on the verge of extinction.
Jerusalem Launches World Pilgrimage Conference for People of Faith
Green Pilgrim Jerusalem hosts a week-long international symposium on greening pilgrimage, with major religious leaders from around the world. Faith and community leaders from around the world will be speaking on ecological, urban and social development as influenced by mass pilgrimage. Our report on the massive urban sprawl that Mecca is becoming illustrates the ecological [...]
Ormat to Provide 330 Megawatts of Geothermal Energy in Sumatra, Indonesia
Indonesia has 40 percent of the world’s exploitable geothermal energy potential. A big congratulations to Ormat technologies of Yavne, Israel for signing a $254 million deal for providing geothermal energy in Indonesia! The first phase of the 330-megawatt Sarulla geothermal power station in Sumatra is due to begin operating in 2016. Sumatra lies in one [...]
Shark Visits Red Sea Bathers in Eilat
Is the Red Sea shark spotted at Eilat beach, Israel escaping illegal hunters in Egypt? While it’s rare to find sharks in the Mediterranean Sea (they are almost extinct), they are not so uncommon in the Red Sea. Its warm waters and ample food source bait sharks who sometimes get personal with bathers and divers. [...]
Lupini Beans, Traditional Middle-Eastern Snack Food RECIPE
Known as turmos in the Levant, lupine beans – poor folk’s food - are a tasty Middle-Eastern snack in need of more recognition. Except in some South American countries, the Western world doesn’t give lupines much regard. Chickpeas get much more publicity (like our vegan chickpea and artichoke salad). Maybe it has to do with the long [...]
Israel’s Phinergy Boosts EV Travel Range with Aluminum Air Battery
People who own cars want to at least have the option of taking an extended road trip, which has been a major barrier to the success of electric vehicles to date. Limited driving range and long battery charging times are two challenges that EV industry leaders have been working furiously to overcome, and a company [...]
269life Activists Etch and Burn White Calf Branding Number Into Skin
This is not just “pretend.” Animal activists in Israel have started a movement where people are branded just like cows destined for slaughterhouse. Animal rights activism has taken a radical turn with a virulent new movement that has roots in Israel. Sasha Bojoor, 27, started 269life in order to create solidarity with a white calf [...]
Ancient Wine Press for “Pauper’s Wine” and Vinegar Unearthed in Israel
An ancient Christian wine press 1500-years-old was uncovered in Israel, telling more about the customs of the people in the Holy Land of days gone by. It may not have yielded a prize-winning bottle, but excavators in Israel are excited about uncovering an ancient wine press, probably used for making low quality wine and vinegar, [...]
Bill Gates Seeks Next Generation Condom
Build a Better Rubber, They will Come? The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will grant $100k to the inventor of the next generation condom. Condoms have been around for 400 years, with very little improvements over the last 50 years, according to Grand Challenges in Global Health, a research foundation established by the Bill and [...]
Dusting Off Solar Panels With an Electric Charge
Dubai is prone to frequent dust storms. A new solar panel dust particle remover made in Israel boosts power and cleans off dust at the same time Solar voltaic panels, which at their best only have about 25 percent efficiency for converting direct sunlight into electricity, have even less efficiency than this when dust and [...]