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 […]
Fair is foul, but foul is not fair. A new technique for cleaning water using UV light. Does your drinking water smell foul, or are you worried that chemicals might be damaging your family’s health? Water treatment facilities currently use chlorine that produces carcinogenic by-products to keep your tapwater clean, but Tel Aviv University scientists […]
Genetically engineered animal tissue could spare millions of animals from the cruelty of experimentation. Image via likecool We green types are sensitive to animal suffering. We can’t stand it when we read that animals are going extinct (like tuna). We get excited to see videos about animal behavior (read about Isabella Rossellini’s new Green Porn […]
Designer Energy, a biofuel company, will be one of the 10 lucky Israeli companies to meet dream investors and strategic partners in California later this month. Looking for investment deals and strategic partners, the California Israel Chamber of Commerce has selected and announced the 10 Israeli clean tech companies invited to present at this year’s […]
No this grandmother isn’t wearing a plant on her head! It’s a green halo. Some ideas for Mother’s, and Grandmother’s day. Image via robertivanc It’s hot on our tracks. Yet again Mother’s Day. The time to celebrate lovely mothers all over the globe. Are you tired of giving your mother the same old flowering potted […]
Trees tell stories. And it’s not just because you can see and measure their rings. In Israel there are thousands of old trees with history. Serious history. Some have “seen” great battles, heard prophets, witnessed the advent of new religions and the rise and fall of different empires through the ages. The Jewish National Fund […]
Bats find no-man’s land makes a great “hang-out.” Image via Yuvalh. The song lyrics ask, “War — what’s it good for?” Well, conflicts between peoples may create new opportunities for displaced and endangered animals. Haaretz newspaper reports that Ph.D. student Eran Levin of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Zoology has discovered one of the most […]
An Israeli scientist has found a way to pull solar energy from pea plants. If harnessing the unlimited solar power of the sun were easy, we wouldn’t still have the greenhouse gas problem that results from the use of fossil fuel. And while solar energy systems work moderately well in hot desert climates, they are […]
Destertec and Masdar (above) are heating up solar energy opportunities in the Middle East. Tap into this new energy at the 2nd Annual MENASOL conference, this year in Egypt. Image via Masdar website. Green Prophet wants to remind you about MENASOL –– the major solar energy conference taking place in Cairo, Egypt this May. You can […]
Controversy loomed over coyote land, but now BrightSource with a US Gov guarantee will create largest solar energy project in the world, in Ivanpah CA. BrightSource Energy, a privately held company with operations in the United States, Israel, and Australia, announced today that the US Department of Energy has conditionally committed to provide $1.37 billion […]
Green Prophet’s Karin was at the Better Place public education facility opening in Israel a couple of Sunday’s ago, where she met Sara from ISRAEL21c who made a video of the public debut. A little video of the center’s opening and Sara is enjoying the ride, is featured above.
Israeli-built wind farm on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israeli Syrian expert skeptical that nature Peace Park on Golan Heights would bring peace. We’d reported last month on the Peace Parks conference hosted by Tel Aviv University. The idea is to create a nature reserve out of the occupied Golan Heights now under Israel sovereignty, and […]
New Tel Aviv University research investigates anti-fungal agents in the sticky “pitchers” of carnivorous plants. Biomimicry at its best. Image via Just chaos. In the tropics, carnivorous plants trap unsuspecting prey in a cavity filled with liquid known as a “pitcher.” The moment insects like flies, ants and beetles fall into a pitcher, the plant’s […]
Some animals, it seems, are going on a diet, while others have expanding waistlines. It’s likely these are reactions to rapidly rising temperatures due to global climate change, speculates Prof. Yoram Yom-Tov of Tel Aviv University, who has been measuring the evolving body sizes of birds and animals in areas where climate change is most […]
Dolphins “trawling” behind fishermen’s trawling nets are getting snared at sea. If you love fish, there is nothing like catch from the Mediterranean Sea. But extensive commercial fishing, a new study finds, is endanging the sea’ dolphin populations. This has been shown in a new study carried out at the University of Haifa’s Department of […]
