Drinking three to four cups of coffee a day can positively impact health more than it can harm it, according to a recent study published in The BMJ British medical journal. Pour yourself a cup, and read on.
The soaring architectural sets featured in the blockbuster Black Panther were inspired in large part by the sensuous designs of Zaha Hadid, according to the film’s production designer Hannah Beachler.
Bike-sharing programs are big right now. Designed for quick trips with convenience in mind, bike-sharing is a fun and affordable way to get around. A Dutch designer has devised a bike kitted up with air infiltration equipment that can eat smog and spit out clean air, helping to protect the lungs of individual riders. Now he‘s […]
Animal lovers in India are knitting sweaters for elephants at the Wildlife SOS Elephant Conservation and Care Center located in Mathura, northern India. The wildly colored garments will help the rescued pachyderms, several of whom are handicapped, brave the region’s freezing cold winter weather. Green Prophet has a soft spot for knitting and crochet, and the […]
The Middle East was in the house at this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC), one of the largest startup gatherings on the planet, showcasing intelligent technologies and human ingenuity that are transforming every business and every process. Sponsored by PC Magazine, and held February 26 through March 1 in Barcelona, MWC pop-up pavilions housed innovations from around the […]
Dubai’s first 3D-printed villas will open in April. The project is part of the city’s 3D Printing Strategy which aims to recast Dubai as the world’s 3D printing hub by the year 2030. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, launched this unique global initiative […]
Plans were announced today for the new Deira Mall in Dubai, which will be the largest in terms of leasable space in the entire United Arab Emirates (UAE). Development of the largest mall in the Middle East presents a blank canvas on which the developers could paint a green masterpiece, but there is not a […]
Dubai-based designer Siba Mohtadi is using social media to open minds and hearts to her war-weary homeland, the Syrian Arab Republic. Mohtadi posts images on her Instagram account #FollowMeToSyria that illustrate still-beautiful Syria, where hotels and cafes are open for business, people go about their daily lives, and nature thrives, in spite of war and […]
Cards Against Humanity, a cocky card game company known for its attention-seeking pranks, has purchased land on the U.S.-Mexico border to block President Trump from building his wall. The holiday promotion, which invited customers to purchase $15 US of products from its website – money to be used in part to acquire the land then […]
Vogue Knitting Live! is a three day event that occurs annually in several US cities. It is the Burning Man for fiber enthusiasts, a high energy festival featuring classes and lectures and fashion shows. Anchored by the Marketplace, an enormous and spirited souk selling buttons, patterns, organic handcreams, every knitting and crochet accessory on the […]
French architects Ateliers Jean Nouvel designed the complex shell of Louvre Abu Dhabi, a project under development for over a decade before finally opening to the public earlier this month. A new timelapse video from EarthCam captures the eight-year-long construction process from groundbreaking to completion, from the enormous earth moving enabling works to the final […]
The global resistance against genetically modified (GM) crops is growing at an exponential rate, with as many as 35 nations now completely banning GM food and the pesticides that go with them, or have severely restricting their use. Now Mexico joins the anti-GM movement, after a group of beekeepers succeeded in stopping the agricultural biotech giant from […]
The sun’s out, a blinding wintry white. Cold wind is whipping up leaves and paper coffee cups. I am tucked deep inside the hood of an ancient pea coat, walking briskly along a mostly empty Queens, NYC avenue on the last day of the American Thanksgiving weekend. Four days of bacchanalian feasting and I’m hungover […]
Coincidental with millions of Americans mummifying their leftover Thanksgiving turkey in cling film, a new study by researchers from Israel’s Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) says treated excrement from turkeys and chickens can provide an alternative source of energy when converted into combustible solid biomass fuel. Poultry poop biomass fuel can also reduce greenhouse […]
Heavy rain pummeled Jeddah this week, a Saudi Arabian city on the Red Sea, flooding streets, submerging cars, and closing schools. At least two people died, and hundreds were left stranded. Critics credit poor urban planning for the city’s inability to cope with unusual precipitation. Others argue that the event is a wake-up call to […]
The Australian government is investigating the case of a 95-year-old Perth woman accused of looting artefacts from Middle Eastern countries including Egypt. Joan Howard – now dubbed “Indiana Joan” – lived in during the 1960s and 70s with her husband, a senior official with the United Nations.
In the wake of the 2016 American presidential election, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) observed an unusual and muscular increase in online political action by people concerned about conservation and the environment. Especially noteworthy is an uptick in financial support to environmental NGOs by citizens willing to back their beliefs with cash.
The idea that Brits love their tea is proving to be full of beans. The average Londoner drinks 2.3 cups of coffee a day, and the resultant spent coffee grounds end up in landfills which damage the environment, and – given the British landfill tax – is a costly means of waste disposal. Now those grinds […]
Clothing swap and resale businesses allow you to shed formerly favorite clothes and accessories and – in exchange – refill your wardrobe with affordable “new” treasures. They offer an environmentally responsible alternative to dumping old duds into a charity box or trash can. Want to change up your wardrobe without damaging your wallet and the world? Check […]
I’m fresh back from a week in Iceland. Hard to enter a room these days and not have at least one other person claim the same; it’s the touristic destination du jour. A tiny nation where sheep outnumber people is bound to be an environmental nirvana. Go there for the Northern lights, active volcanoes and […]
According to the International Coffee Organization, people wordwide consumed more than 11 million US tons* of coffee beans between October 2015 and September 2016. (Consumption is far outpacing production, due to climactic fluctuations.) Those beans depend on a sea of fresh water to convert them into the beverages we love. Now a team of Italian scientists have developed […]
Pressure on women to marry young is not unique to the Middle East, but in this region, once a woman turns 25 she is commonly considered past her sell-by date. A Saudi woman defied peer pressure by publicly celebrating her singleness, and – with her story spiraling on social media – her online exposure may […]
On Monday, August 21, a total solar eclipse will sweep in an elegant arc across the entire width of the continental USA. The event, described as the “Great American Eclipse” as it will be visible in totality only from the United States, is being honored by a new postal stamp whose unique qualities may eclipse […]
Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a mobile robotic system that can build a dome-like habitat in half a day. It’s a new spin on 3D printing that could revolutionize homebuilding, allowing for faster, cheaper and more adaptable construction compared to traditional building methods.
America has quit the Paris climate agreement and today’s newsfeeds are bloated with global reaction. Shell Oil CEO Ben van Beurden joined green industrialists Elon Musk and Richard Branson in denouncing Trump’s action. The Vatican lobbed a complaint, saying, “”Saying that we need to rely on coal and oil is like saying that the earth […]