What are the UK’s Most Popular Quit Smoking Campaigns?
Shisha pipe is a massive addiction in the Middle East. What can we learn from the UK about quitting bad habits?
Green Prophet Guest
Regenerative Agriculture is our only hope for saving the planet
What is regenerative agriculture and how can it be applied to solve so many planetary problems?
Join the American national day of unplugging in March
Reboot’s National Day of Unplugging, an annual call for a 24-hour tech break, was launched as the smartphone was just emerging into popular use. Now celebrating its 10th year on March 1-2, the National Day of Unplugging has been a leading voice for the unplugging movement and is needed more than ever. “Unplugging from your phone and computer […]
7 days Israel itinerary for the Hiking Family
The most striking feature of Israel’s landscape is its variety. This tiny area has a dramatic desert in the South and the green Galilee mountains in the North. Two areas that are so different, but you can drive from one to the other in less than 3 hours. Israelis love their country and love to […]
$50 million in funds for renewable energy in developing nations
Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) and The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) are inviting applications for more than US$50 million in funding through the IRENA/ADFD Project Facility. The ADFD-financed initiative is available to government-guaranteed renewable energy projects in developing countries that seek to increase energy access, improve livelihoods and advance sustainable development. ADFD has […]
Jerusalem in writing, the oldest inscription found!
An exciting find from Jerusalem was presented for the first time today (Tuesday) during a joint press conference of the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Israel Museum: a unique stone inscription dating to the Second Temple Period (First Century CE), mentioning Jerusalem, written in Hebrew letters, and using the spelling as we know it today. […]
Katch the Keto Kraze? You can still have your shaksuka!
I was introduced to shakshuka on my first trip to Jerusalem, when a young woman slapped a flyer in my hand promising the Best Traditional Israeli Breakfast for fewer shekels than I’d been dropping on coffee drinks. Shakshuka, a traditional dish claimed by Israel and North Africa (particularly Tunisia), features eggs poached in a flavorful sauce […]
Israeli and Palestinian fashion entrepreneurs unite as a single brand
Aren’t you sick of negative news? Does information that pushes us back into our respective corners on any topic serve any positive purpose? Bear with me on this. It explains why I like stories as promised in this headline. I’d like to learn if you feel the same.
Maryland man knits postcards from the Middle East
A middle-aged man with a yen for travel is documenting his wanderlust in wool, designing and crafting dozens of unusual sweaters which he proudly wears in the exact places that inspired them, posing for photographs that are endearing and bizarre.
Rodent bones tell the story of a blooming desert
Researchers have uncovered a large quantity of bones belonging to Tristram’s jird, a common rodent in Israel whose body length does not exceed 15 cm, providing the first biological evidence of the agriculture that flourished in the northern Negev region some 1,500 years ago. The bones were found near ancient fields tended by Byzantine farmers […]
Heart attack survivor inspires 1,300 colleagues to pass on meat
More than 1,000 teachers and school administrators in upstate New York have accepted a 10-day challenge to eat a plant-based diet, inspired by a colleague who transformed himself after a heart attack. Perhaps he will inspire you to ditch meat too, at a minimumn challenge you to trial Meatless Mondays.
Impact of technology on a business environment
Business needs if we are required to run any kind of the business in the world we may need lots of the technology factors along with it. Business technology in the small businesses can also mean different things can be interpreted in various ways of doing it normally. But it will always come down to […]
Ktak drum is a snare you can wear!
A few years ago, a professional drummer friend came to my husband, Shachar, asking if he could build him a cajon. The friend had tried umpteen cajons, and none of them had the quality of sound he was looking for. My husband co-owned a carpentry, and at the time his work was divided between designing […]
Israeli woman unites Hebrew and Arabic in a unique new typeface
An Israeli designer with roots in Haifa has developed a new script that bridges a basic cultural divide between Israeli Jews and Arabs. Liron Lavi Turkenich (pictured below), instructor of graphic design from Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy of Art, was raised in a Haifa, a city with a blended ethnic population where Hebrew and Arabic are spoken. […]
The subliminal subtext of the 2016 Rio Games
The 2016 Rio Olympics are history, but a hindsight review shows a surprising sideshow of contemporary human issues running through the international athletic games. We’re not talking about substandard construction in the Olympic Village, contaminated water, or violent crime. Instead, we spotted elite athletes using the event to broadcast personal agenda. It makes perfect sense […]
Meet Dubai’s eco-warrior…who’s just 9 years old!
Green Prophet was bowled over by the teen rapper whose environmentalism got him a ticket to COP21, now an even younger eco-warrior has gotten our attention. A nine year old Dubai boy, annoyed by streetside litter, decided to pick up some trash. A good deed, that. But it’s where he took that action that makes […]
Egyptian strawberries linked to US Hepatitis A outbreak; over 80 sick
If a tree falls in the woods, does it make a sound? If a food worker in Egypt fails to properly wash his hands, does it cause an epidemic in another nation? More than 80 people in seven US states have been infected with food-born Hepatitis A, and at least 32 people have been hospitalized. The […]
Israeli designer creates device that sterilizes milk – off-grid!
Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy of Art and Design – Israel’s oldest institution of higher learning – is a prolific incubator of brilliant ideas, with its post-grads serving as the school’s best advertising. They move on to produce beautiful artifacts, while kicking forward the antique design credo of “build a better mousetrap”. Now one student has developed a […]
This fact about figs is sure to bug you!
Flavorful figs are Middle East natives. Green Prophet Linda Pappagallo wrote about this in a swell story about the versatile little foodstuff. Did you know they come in more than 750 varieties? They also come with a little surprise tucked inside – a secret ingredient that will delight and disgust you in equal measure.
Who needs a maid? Houseplants are powerful cleaners.
The brainiacs at NASA conducted a long-ago study on the impact of common house plants on indoor air pollution. Their findings are as relevant today as when first released in 1989: easily grown indoor gardens can work wonders in filtering airborne toxins. Green up your home and clean up your airways with some easily acquired, […]
DuoSkin smart tattoos turn your skin into a touchpad
Mash-ups of tech with temporary tattoos are not new. Versions are currently used to measure blood alcohol levels and detect exposure to ultraviolet rays. Designers from MIT Media Lab have teamed with Microsoft Research on a project to develop “smart tats” able to interface with remote technology. They can also report on their users health […]
Jordanian-born chef cooks with pot. Yup, THAT pot.
Legalization of recreational marijuana in American states is on the upswing, spurring entrepreneurs to devise new ways to use the flowering psychoactive herb as an ingredient in retail food products. California-based chef Christopher Sayegh is taking Arab haute cuisine even higher, cooking up traditional Middle Eastern fare infused with cannabis.
Beirut architect designs bulletproof Kevlar keffiyeh
People are often defensive when it comes to headscarves, which have strong links to specific religious and cultural beliefs. Now a Beirut-based architect has designed a headwrap that uses defense as the justification for wearing it: this updated version of the classic Arab keffiyeh (allegedly) deflects bullets! Functional fashion takes a remarkable turn in the hands of […]
Arab world’s “Banksy” murals 50 buildings in Egypt slum
Green Prophet loves eL Seed, the French-Tunisian artist is the Arab world’s Banksy. He specializes in what he calls ‘calligraffiti’, a brilliant mashup of spray paint techniques and traditional Arabic calligraphy on an outsize scale. eL Seed painted Tunisia’s tallest minaret and covered hoarding that wrapped Paris’s Pont des Arts “love lock” Bridge. He’s collaborated with Louis Vuitton on […]
#OnlyInDubai can you get the world’s most expensive bottled water
Water is an essential commodity, especially in the arid Gulf states where it surpasses oil in liter-to-liter price comparisons. Now a Danish designer has pushed the wet stuff into the luxury goods category, proposing to hawk his H2O in crystal water bottles shaped like the tallest tower in the world, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.