Proven bacterial technology can clean up the oil that BP’s cleaning crew leaves behind Prof. Eugene Rosenberg and Prof. Eliora Ron of Tel Aviv University are using naturally occurring oil-munching bacteria, grown in the lab, to clean the hard-to-reach oil pockets that occur when oil mixes with sand and organic matter on beaches and forms a thin […]
When sanitation pipes break, or they don’t exist at all, the Pee-Poo solution could alleviate risks from faecal pollution in the Middle East. “Flying toilets” are common in slums worldwide: Residents unable to reach a latrine due to crowding, distance or insecurity, defecate in a plastic bag and then sling it over the rooftops. But […]
Hotter summers, intense irrigation and threats of losing their Nile, Egyptians are under quota for water compared to other Arab nations. They take to the streets. Looking at Google Earth (above) truly shows how Egypt is a fertile crescent of the region. But in the face of losing water from the Nile, tens of thousands […]
Natural disasters are expected to rise in the coming years in the Middle East. The UN supplies a quick DIY list of tips to keeping developing communities risk-free from floods. While it’s not exactly flash flood season in the Middle East, now is the time to prepare: Floods have got bigger, droughts in countries like […]
A new research project aims to create an early warning system to save lives of people who take the train. Trains are one of favourite means of public transportation. See how Europe does it. Trains are fast, affordable and in the right country, they run on time. But as new tracks are laid down, new […]
A group of Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian environmentalists have put politics aside to fight a $15 billion World Bank plan to revive the Dead Sea, which is dropping by about three feet a year. The bank’s plan proposes building a canal or tunnel to link the salt-laden sea to the Red Sea in the south. […]
America gives more than half a million dollars to Israeli and Palestinian water researchers to clean water in the West Bank. Ben Gurion University researcher Dr. Moshe Herzberg (above) and Prof. Mohammed Saleem Ali-Shtayeh of the Biodiversity & Environmental Research Center in Nablus, have received an American USAID-MERC grant of $659,410 to increase the clean water […]
Policy makers, water experts and peace lovers might be interested in the Strategic Foresight Group’s research on water as a means to resolve conflict in the Middle East. Read about their latest efforts in Jordan. WANA, a North Africa and West Asia forum convened not long ago in Jordan to discuss the environment, a green […]
New studies looking at evolution sees nothing extra-ordinary about island communities. The Middle East region, particularly around Egypt, Israel and Jordan out East to Iraq is known as the cradle of civilization. It is no wonder then that much evolutionary thinking and discoveries are made from this region. More whale bones (and a fossilized whale […]
Family values, and having children are important in the Middle East. Here is a simple test done during pregnancy that if paid close attention to can help make women more health-smart in the long run. We know that pregnancy can be the elixir of life, and fountain of youth, but anyone who’s been pregnant knows […]
Add a dash of cumin and you’ll get some “green cake” falafel? This wonder food, from algae is being grown by the UN to solve hunger crisis. It could work in the Middle East. We know that kids in Gaza and Cairo aren’t getting enough high quality nutrients. And many other oil-less nations, like Syria, […]
All the forecasts about water causing the next major Middle East conflict has started. An Iraqi government employee in the irrigation department, along with his family, are murdered – over water. In the early hours of 18 June, gunmen broke into Faisal Hassan’s west Baghdad home killing him, his wife and their two young children. […]
It’s hard to think green, when you’re thinking about your next dinner. A UN story documents the lack of protein in Egyptian children, and that a whopping 16% of all kids living there are malnourished. For seven-year-old Ahmed Yasser, it is normal to have just a crust of bread to munch on throughout the afternoon […]
Can Mr. Potatohead outrun the Energizer Bunny? Researchers in Israel and California develop a potato battery, 50 times cheaper than the Energizer equivalent. Here’s one for potato lovers: the Hebrew University in Jerusalem has developed a solid organic electric battery that uses potatoes for energy. The simple, sustainable device, they say in a press announcement, […]
The Bedouin village of Um Bateen, just outside Beersheba in southern Israel, has no paved roads – which makes it the perfect place for a new mountain bike club. Now the Bikes4All project sponsored by the Israel Cycling Federation and funded by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, has distributed free bikes to more […]
WANA, a North Africa and West Asia forum recently convened in Jordan to discuss the environment, a green economy, sustainable development and the revival of Hima, an Islamic environmental conservation practice. The West Asia – North Africa WANA Forum is a long-term initiative that brings together decision-makers, civil society orgs, religious leaders, researchers, business owners, […]
The Israel-Asia Center gives Green Prophet a podcast transcript of their interview with the Chinese Ambassador to Israel. Lots can be gleaned about China’s sustainability vision from the interview. The Israel-based Israel-Asia Center recently conducted an interview with the Chinese Ambassador to Israel, Zhao Jun, on what the World Expo means for China, the challenges […]
Cases of the swine flu have died down, now avian flu scare resurges in Israel and the West Bank. Image via todds-gallery Animal cases of avian flu in Bala village in the Tul Karem area of the West Bank, Palestinian Authority northeast of Tel Aviv, have been confirmed, and some 250,000 chickens culled, according to […]
Looking at the proteins that “talk” between shoot and root of plants, Tel Aviv University unlocks a new tool for the biofuel industry. Plant geneticists are on a quest: they want to find out how to control auxin, a plant growth hormone which is very powerful. Auxin tells plants where to lay down roots, how […]
Coming for a 5 month internship, learn more about the students and people from the ecological and organic farm, Hava ve Adam (Adam and Eve) Ecological Farm outside Modi’in, Israel. They grow their own food, use compost toilets, sleep in geodesic domes. The whole nine yards. ::Hava ve Adam website
Microfinance loans help Syrian farmers meet their water needs to grow crops like this tasty spread at a market in Damascus. While severe drought in eastern and northeastern Syria is seriously affecting lives and livelihoods, farmers may draw some hope and comfort from an irrigation success story in the central district of Salamieh. An experimental […]
Students in Tel Aviv propose business “net” – work for peace. Left to right: David Welch, Ohad Kot, Danielle Angel, David McGeady and Osher Perry from Nets of Peace. As one of the largest seafood producers in the Middle East, Israel’s innovative fish-farming industry is booming. Just a few miles downshore in Gaza, though, fishermen […]
Builder of Jerusalem and Israeli solar energy company Brightsource. Meet Arnold Goldman. Image via NYTimes. Serious philosophers rarely make good businessmen. But solar energy innovator Arnold J. Goldman is no navel-gazer. Goldman heads Jerusalem-based BrightSource Industries and its California-based parent, BrightSource Energy, which is contracted to deliver more than 2,600 megawatts of solar electricity in […]
Farmigo aims to improve day-to-day operations for small organic farms. More and more Israelis are joining the worldwide move to buying their fresh produce from small, organic farms (and CSAs – see our list). But because they’re farmers, and not necessarily businessmen, most of these family-run businesses aren’t being run on the most optimal level. […]
Prof. Colin Price suggests link between volcanic ash, cloud formation and global weather patterns. Native Americans used smoke signals to indicate danger, and a white plume is sent up by the Vatican when a new Pope is chosen. A new research project by Tel Aviv University and Weizmann Institute researchers has shown that where there’s […]