When Green Prophet first wrote about the experimental Hydrophilis rebreather by Swiss inventor Oliver Isler, the internet reacted exactly the way the internet reacts to unusual design.

People compared the sleek underwater breathing device to a phallus. Others joked that divers wearing it would become “shark bait.” Some called it ridiculous. Others said it looked like science fiction. But underneath the mockery there was something else: curiosity. A lot of curiosity.

The original article on Hydrophilis, Isler’s radically streamlined underwater rebreather system, sparked strong reactions because the device doesn’t look like normal scuba gear. Instead of bulky tanks and hoses strapped awkwardly to the back, Hydrophilis wraps the diver into a smooth hydrodynamic shape designed to move through water more like a dolphin than a machine.

And while many commenters laughed, others were fascinated by the possibility of quieter, bubble-free diving with less drag and less physical effort. We reached out to Oliver Isler after the reaction online and asked him what he thought about the sudden attention.

We reached out to Oliver Isler after the reaction online and asked him what he thought about the sudden attention.

“Thank you for article, which explains very well the philosophy behind my prototype, designed to be as much as possible in symbiosis with its environment, moving easily with the least possible effort,” Isler tells Green Prophet.

“The greatest challenge was the miniaturization of everything that could be reduced in size, while still remaining comfortable from a breathing standpoint. I dive either on pure oxygen (0 – 6 m), with an autonomy of about 90 – 100 min., or on Nitrox 55 down to 20 m depth, with an autonomy of 45 – 50 minutes.

“I have completed 54 dives so far. My 2 mm freediving wetsuit is intended for warm water (above 18 degrees).”

The original article on Hydrophilis, Isler’s radically streamlined underwater rebreather system, sparked strong reactions because the device doesn’t look like normal scuba gear. Instead of bulky tanks and hoses strapped awkwardly to the back, Hydrophilis wraps the diver into a smooth hydrodynamic shape designed to move through water more like a dolphin than a machine.

“The goal was never to make something provocative. The idea came from a dream I had more than fifteen years ago where I was swimming peacefully among whales and dolphins.”

That dream eventually became Hydrophilis, a chest-mounted closed-circuit rebreather system that attempts to rethink how humans move underwater. Instead of treating diving like hauling industrial equipment into the sea, Isler designed the system around hydrodynamics and low resistance.

“The ideal shape for minimum resistance is the NACA airfoil,” he explains, referring to the aerodynamic forms developed for aircraft engineering. “Everything was built around that principle.”

The Hydrophilis rebreather currently weighs about 10 kilograms and integrates ballast, breathing equipment, and streamlined body shaping into a single form. Unlike traditional scuba tanks worn on the back, the breathing system sits on the chest. Isler says this decision was partly made “to avoid Immersion Pulmonary Edema (IPE), a dangerous affliction whose risk is higher when inhaling from a back-mounted counterlung.”

The device is still experimental. There is no commercial model yet and no announced certification process. Isler says he has completed several dozen dives while continuing to refine buoyancy, visibility, and breathing performance underwater.

Some divers online questioned whether the design is practical. Others wondered whether the unusual shape could attract sharks.

“Suddenly I feel a little inadequate, wrote one commenter.”

But for many underwater enthusiasts, freedivers, futurists, and marine technology fans, Hydrophilis represents something refreshing: an attempt to rethink scuba from the ground up instead of endlessly refining the same tanks and hoses developed decades ago.

Traditional scuba equipment made humans capable underwater. Hydrophilis asks whether humans can become more natural in the water itself.

That difference may explain why people reacted so strongly.

“There is still work to do,” Isler says cautiously. “It’s impossible to say whether it will become a model for the future.”

Still, the project has already succeeded in doing one thing rare in the diving world: getting people to imagine a completely different relationship between the human body and the ocean.

And maybe that’s why even the critics couldn’t stop talking about it.

Green Prophet looks forward to following Hydrophilis as the technology develops and hopes to speak again with Oliver Isler in future interviews about underwater mobility, silent diving systems, and the future of human interaction with the sea.

Background from Green Prophet’s original Hydrophilis feature.

The post Hydrophilis Rebreather: After the Penis Jokes and Shark Bait Memes, Oliver Isler Says His Underwater Dream Is Serious appeared first on Green Prophet.

AI may unintentionally become the economic engine that finally modernizes America’s aging grid. California is experiencing a massive AI data center boom, ranking 3rd in the U.S. with 227 operating centers and 54 more in development as of April 2026, according to Stanford.

AI is triggering a new energy panic in America. Across the US states of California, Virginia, Texas, Arizona, and Georgia, residents are pushing back against the explosive growth of data centers powering artificial intelligence. People are worried about rising electricity bills, water use, backup diesel generators, massive transmission lines, and entire landscapes being transformed into server farms. They worry about the expansion and the business around it and believe that AI data centers will exploit the land, and give back little to the people in the communities.

The energy demand from AI is unlike anything the internet economy has seen before. Goldman Sachs estimates data center electricity demand could rise more than 160% by 2030. Utilities that spent years planning for flat electricity growth are suddenly scrambling to build power generation again. In places like Northern Virginia, now nicknamed “Data Center Alley,” local resistance has become fierce. Residents complain about noise, visual pollution, water consumption, and fears that ordinary households will subsidize the AI boom through higher utility costs.

But there’s another side to the story that should be getting attention instead of fear. Renewable energy projects like SunZia — the giant new wind and transmission project connecting New Mexico wind power to California — may show how the AI boom could also accelerate the renewable energy transition.

SunZia is enormous:

• 3.5 gigawatts of wind energy
• a 550-mile high-voltage transmission line
• enough electricity for roughly 3 million people
• one of the largest renewable infrastructure projects in North American history.

And it’s arriving at exactly the right moment. The question is how does it scale without becoming an out of date boondoggle like the Ivanpah solar energy project? We interviewed Moshe Luz, one of the executives and founders of the company who has ideas up for grabs.

California already produces huge amounts of daytime solar energy, but AI workloads continue around the clock. Solar fades in the evening just as electricity demand rises. So the innovation doesn’t need to come in adding more solar panels, it’s the need for better battery storage and nighttime renewables. Wind, wave, and geothermal might help.

SunZia’s New Mexico wind profile helps solve that problem because wind often strengthens later in the day and overnight. Instead of relying entirely on natural gas plants after sunset, California can increasingly balance its grid using distant wind resources combined with battery storage.

The project is already beginning to send electricity into California while final testing continues. SunZia is not alone.

Across the American West, a quiet clean-energy arms race is emerging around AI infrastructure.

In California’s Kern County, the Edwards & Sanborn project combines nearly 900 megawatts of solar with one of the world’s largest battery systems. In Nevada, the Gemini Solar project near Las Vegas pairs utility-scale solar with giant batteries designed to stabilize evening demand.

Texas has become perhaps the most radical experiment of all. Massive wind farms, sprawling solar installations, and grid-scale batteries are now increasingly handling short demand spikes that were once served by gas “peaker” plants. Texas leads America in wind energy, boasting over 30,000 MW of capacity from over 150 wind farms as of 2020, often supplying over 20% of the state’s electricity.

Meanwhile, Google and Microsoft are investing in enhanced geothermal energy projects in Nevada and Utah. Unlike solar and wind, geothermal can run 24 hours a day, making it attractive for AI-driven electricity demand that never sleeps.

The bigger shift underway is that AI may unintentionally become the economic engine that finally modernizes America’s aging grid.

For decades, utilities hesitated to build large transmission systems because electricity demand grew slowly. Now AI companies, cloud providers, and electrification trends are forcing states to rethink energy infrastructure entirely.

Ironically, the same technology many fear could overheat the planet may also become one of the biggest drivers of renewable energy investment in modern history.

There are tradeoffs.

Projects like SunZia still face lawsuits from Indigenous groups who argue transmission corridors damage sacred landscapes and fragile ecosystems. It’s difficult to get ecological assessments across state lines. Renewable energy itself is now colliding with difficult questions about land use, mining prime materials, water, and who benefits from “green growth.”

The post AI data centers are triggering panic, instead of cleantech opportunities appeared first on Green Prophet.

There’s something quietly beautiful about what Rebloom Studio is doing, and it starts with waste. At wholesale flower markets, mountains of unsold blooms are tossed out at the end of each cycle. Perfect flowers, just not sold in time. Most of them are burned or dumped. Rebloom takes that moment and turns it into something else.

We know paper as something made from tree pulp, but in Asia, paper is made from rice waste, and in schools everywhere, kids are making paper with old paper –– and are adding flowers, leaves and other organic material to the mix. In Japan, they made newspapers with seeds embedded in the upcycled paper so when composted the waste turns into flowers.

How about flowers themselves turning into paper and clay?

Rebloom’s Petal Vase is made from discarded flowers, pulped down and mixed with Korean paper fibers and a natural binder. What you get is not a polished, perfect object, but something closer to the mushy, memory of a flower which is textured, uneven, a little unpredictable. Each vase carries the trace of whatever went into it: different tones, flecks of color, the ghost of the flower that was.

Related: make mushroom paper 

I’ve made a lot of paper with my kids and I’ve made frames to share with my loved ones so that they can make paper too. These flower vases turn what’s pulpy into a kind of moldable clay.

There’s a glass cylinder inside, removable, which holds the water and stems. That’s practical. It keeps the outer shell dry so the material doesn’t break down during use. The outside stays raw, untreated, almost fragile-looking, even though it holds its shape.

And when you’re done with it, really done, it can go back to the earth. No plastic, no long afterlife in a landfill.

Read related: how to make moss grafftti

What if the things we throw away — flowers in this case — are not waste but a missed material opportunity? Like these orange peels that are upcycled into candles?

There’s a design shift happening right now where imperfections are not hidden but exposed. For home decor, that could mean something. Instead of mass-produced sameness, objects tied to seasonality, to place, even to failure. A bad sales day at a flower market becomes a new product line.

For the floral industry, there’s a second life emerging. Unsold inventory doesn’t have to be a total loss. It can be aggregated, processed, turned into something with value.

The post Make paper mache with flowers to create stunning vase appeared first on Green Prophet.

In a studio in the DC Maryland Virginia area, ceramic artist Alison Kysia is working with clay in a way that feels both grounded and personal. She makes pottery and abstract Islamic sculptures, and one of her recent works focuses on the 99 Names of God in Islam, a concept borrowed from Judaism where there are 72 names for God. Christians have about 30 names for God.

Kysia, who shares her work as @786arts, identifies openly as a Muslim woman artist. Her practice includes handmade pottery, sculptural pieces, and socially engaged art projects that connect people through making.

A recent piece, Al Musawwir III: The Artist, is named after one of the 99 Names of God, often translated as The Shaper. The work includes 99 individual ceramic tiles. Each tile is painted by hand with teal bursts that look like small worlds or organic forms spreading outward. Together they sit in a single black frame, measuring about 17.5 by 21.5 inches.

Her idea is simple and strong. Each pottery tile holds its own pattern, but the full set builds something larger. It is repetitive but not uniform. You can stand close and look at one tile, or step back and take in the whole.

Kysia shared that the reaction from buyers has been emotional. One collector told her that the idea of living with a piece connected to the 99 Names gave them chills and felt deeply moving. She also recently sold a sculpture for a four figure price, a personal milestone.

Her work also carries a message about identity. She speaks directly about the way Muslims are treated and represented, and sees her art as a way to show something else. Not an argument, just presence through material and form.

Clay does a lot of quiet work here. It comes from the earth, it holds marks, it records touch. In Kysia’s hands it becomes a way to think about faith without needing to explain it too much.

She then went on to do the same with crafting seed pods. “My latest ceramic series explores the 99 names of God in Islam through 99 unique sculptures inspired by seed pods. Never forget the seeds planted by our ancestors that we can use now as sustenance and inspiration in a noisy and unjust world.

“What seeds are you planting that can nourish future generations in their times of trial and injustice? There are so many wonderful possibilities of what that can look like.”

::786Art

The post Muslim potter shapes the 99 names of God into clay appeared first on Green Prophet.

Pottery lovers are asking a surprisingly practical question: can clay jugs clean and filter water safely? The short answer is yes, but only under specific conditions. And if you’re a ceramics enthusiast, homesteader, or DIY natural living fan, the details matter.

Clay (earthenware/terracotta) has been used for water storage and filtration for thousands of years. From ancient Egypt to rural India, porous earthenware vessels like the one above made by Palestinian craftsmen helped cool and sometimes purify drinking water. But not all clay jugs are created equal, and not every handmade pot will filter water in a meaningful or safe way.

How clay jugs filter water naturally

Unglazed, low-fired clay is porous. That means tiny holes in the ceramic body allow water to slowly pass through or interact with air. This porosity can trap some sediment and particles, allow slow evaporation that cools water, and in specialized cases support filtration when combined with materials like charcoal or silver.

Modern ceramic water filters are usually made from a mix of clay and combustible materials such as sawdust. When fired, the sawdust burns away, leaving micro-pores that can physically block some bacteria.

A basic clay jug from your local pottery studio? It won’t do that on its own.

Can handmade pottery actually purify water?

Here’s where pottery fans need to be careful.

Most decorative or functional clay jugs are not designed to remove bacteria or viruses. They may also contain glazes or underglazes that are not food-safe if poorly made, and they will not reliably filter contaminants such as heavy metals, pesticides, PFAS, or industrial chemicals. So while your handmade jug can store water beautifully, and it may even keep it cool, it is not a reliable water purification system.

You can make a clay cooling jug using terracotta clay, fire it to about 1050 degrees C, and keep it unglazed. Rest jug on glazed plate to collect condensation.

How to turn clay into a real water filter

If you’re a ceramic artist or experimental potter, there’s a growing niche in the United States around DIY ceramic water filters. These are especially popular among homesteaders, off-grid communities, survivalists, and eco-conscious makers. To make a functional ceramic water filter, you need a clay body mixed with organic burnout material such as fine sawdust, or paper clay, controlled firing to create uniform porosity, and often a colloidal silver treatment to inhibit bacterial growth.

This is closer to engineering than craft pottery, and it requires testing. A handmade clay jug should not be used to make unsafe water drinkable unless it has been designed and tested as a water filter.

Best use of clay jugs for water at home

Even without true filtration, clay jugs still have real value. They can keep water naturally cool through evaporation, reduce the need for plastic bottles, and make water storage feel more human and beautiful.

Some people also say water stored in clay tastes better. That may be because clay jugs avoid the plastic taste that can come from bottled water or cheap storage containers. Some say that clay turns water from the tap, which is dead water to “living water”.

For actual water filtration, make sure you pair your clay jug with a certified filter system.

There’s a quiet revival happening. American potters are blending ancient water storage techniques with modern sustainability goals. Searches such as “DIY ceramic water filter USA,” “natural clay water purifier pottery,” “off grid ceramic water filter,” and “handmade clay jug drinking water safe” are part of this new maker movement. Others just buy a stainless Berkey filter or a reverse osmosis machine to make sure they are drinking the cleanest water.

So, can clay jugs filter water?

Yes, clay jugs can help with water by cooling it, storing it naturally, and in specially engineered cases filtering it. But your average handmade pottery jug will not make unsafe water safe to drink. If you are serious about using clay for water filtration, think like both an artist and a scientist. Test your materials. Understand porosity. And never assume that beautiful handmade pottery is the same thing as a certified water filter.

A well-made clay jug might not save your life, but it can make your water taste like something older, quieter, and a little more human.

The post Can Clay Jugs Really Filter Water? A Potter’s Guide to Natural Water Filtration at Home appeared first on Green Prophet.

Abortion pills, often confused with Plan B (the morning-after pill), and historically referred to as RU486 (mifepristone), are part of a broader category of reproductive health medications that women have been using for decades. But they are not the same thing.

Plan B is emergency contraception used shortly after unprotected sex to prevent pregnancy from occurring. Abortion pills, by contrast—typically a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol—are used to terminate an early pregnancy after it has already begun. These medications have become the most common method of abortion in the United States.

Related: scientist shows how her brain changes on birth control

While there are documented health effects if misused, these pills—both emergency contraception and medication abortion—have significantly increased sexual freedom and reproductive autonomy for women. And these effects catch on in the Middle East, where abortion is illegal for for the most part. Most women in the Middle East, and increasingly now in parts of America, if you can believe it, do not have reliable access to abortion pills or even Plan B.

Years ago, I worked with writer Loolwa Khazoom researching a piece for Vogue or Harper’s on an abortion boat, a Dutch-flagged ship that operated off the coast of countries like Spain when abortion was illegal. Women would be taken into international waters where Dutch physician Rebecca Gomberts could legally perform abortions on her floating clinic. She said, “I figured we would sail from country to country and help X number of women per day.”

It was a workaround that was creative, controversial, and telling.

Today, the workaround is digital and under threat.

I am not arguing here whether abortion should or should not be offered on moral or religious grounds. That is a private decision. But the fact that the United States is now moving to restrict the mailing of abortion pills like mifepristone means that some states that have outlawed abortion may end up with women’s lives on their hands.

A recent federal appeals court ruling has moved to block the mailing of abortion pills and require in-person dispensing, challenging long-standing FDA guidance that allowed telehealth prescriptions and pharmacy access. Medication abortion—often prescribed online and delivered by mail—accounts for the majority of abortions in the U.S., and about one in four had been accessed via telehealth.

Related: Turkish woman first to receive womb transplant 

US states where abortion is illegal

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Idaho
• Indiana
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Oklahoma
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• West Virginia

Like I said, there are a variety of reasons why women seek abortions.

In the Middle East, except in countries like Turkey and Israel, premarital sex is not socially accepted. Of course people have sex secretly and then deal with the consequences according to local customs and doctors who often work quietly behind the scenes. In Egypt, for instance, social pressures have led to practices like hymen reconstruction surgeries. These realities exist regardless of the law. Read here about the creative ways Muslims stay virgins in Arab countries.

In Turkey, many parts of the country are conservative and if you are renting a hotel with a man you do need to say you are married and use his last name. Honor killings still happen. In a shocking case, an 18-year woman Oya Budak was murdered by her fiance after he discovered she was pregnant by her rapist. She was raped by someone familiar to her and did not disclose this fact prior to them making an arranged married.

Women in conservative societies can face severe consequences for pregnancy outside marriage, including violence. The stakes are high. I know a doctor whose patient was killed after not receiving an abortion in time.

Restricting access to abortion pills does not eliminate abortion—it pushes it underground or across borders.

In the U.S., people are already finding ways around restrictions. Some travel across state lines to access care. Others rely on telehealth providers in states with legal protections, or order abortion pills online from international services operating in legal gray zones. Some use misoprostol-only regimens, which are widely recognized as safe and effective. Information networks, encrypted consultations, and nonprofit support systems have become part of the new infrastructure of access.

Restricting access to abortion pills will not stop abortions. It will only make them harder, riskier, and more unequal.

While I do believe marrying young and having children young might be a stable path for some (something I wasn’t taught), I will leave my kids with that decision to make.

If your are connected to the Palestinian cause, where abortions are not legal, maybe you can use some online warrior energy and help women EVERYWHERE get access to abortion pills. Here are the countries in the Middle East with access to abortion pills:

Middle East abortion access (updated)

The post Abortion Pills, Plan B and Mifepristone and what the new US mail ban means appeared first on Green Prophet.

A vast and largely untapped lithium reserve may be hiding beneath one of North America’s oldest landscapes, the Appalachian Mountains, offering a surprising twist in the global race for clean energy materials. According to new findings from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), as much as 2.5 million tons of lithium could be buried across the region, stretching from the Carolinas up through New England.

For a world scrambling to electrify everything from cars to power grids, that number is staggering. At current consumption levels, this reserve could replace more than 300 years of US lithium imports, which is used in the energy sector for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries in electric cars, future Tesla freight trucks, in battery storage systems and in laptops.

Scientists estimate it could supply enough material for millions of grid-scale batteries or tens of millions of electric vehicles; these are technologies essential for transitioning away from fossil fuels.

What makes this discovery particularly compelling is its origin story. The Appalachian Mountains formed roughly 480 million years ago during ancient continental collisions that created intense heat and pressure deep underground. These conditions gave rise to pegmatites which are coarse-grained rocks known to host lithium-rich minerals such as spodumene and lepidolite, widely used in modern battery production.

Researchers have identified up to 18 lithium-rich districts along the mountain chain. Some areas are already known, like the Carolina tin-spodumene belt, while others such as deposits in Maine, contain massive crystals and show strong potential for future extraction. The study also divided the region into three “domains,” with one standing out as especially promising due to its high likelihood of undiscovered deposits.

But while the scale of the resource is exciting, the path forward we know will not be simple. It took Sunzia years to get approvals for their wind turbines mapped out. Indiginous tribes, animal rights organisations, ecologists.  Mining lithium, especially in ecologically sensitive and densely populated regions like the Appalachians, raises serious environmental questions. No one wants mining in their backyard or running close to their streams or groundwater. Water use, land disruption, and the impact on local communities will all need to be weighed carefully against the benefits of domestic supply.

Lithium is entering our food chain with untold future consequences. Lithium batteries are a growing source of pollution in the US.

There’s also a broader geopolitical angle. Today, China dominates much of the global lithium processing and battery supply chain. A significant US discovery could shift that balance once and for all, strengthening domestic energy security and reducing reliance on foreign sources.

Up until now this is just a promise and a bargaining card the US can wager in future car manufacturing and energy negotiations. For now, the Appalachian Mountains, the ones John Denver sang about, and known for coal and timber, may be quietly holding the keys to a cleaner energy future.

Meanwhile Afghanistan is holding a large reserve of lithium.

The post Appalachian lithium could supply America with EV batteries for 300 years appeared first on Green Prophet.

All air conditioners release water. That’s Physics. Cities like Los Angeles pour billions of water down the drain every year. And while home owners who are savvy to water reuse are finding ways to use AC water in the garden (here are 5 ways to use air con water at home), or in art studios (it’s basically free distilled water), cities could save water in meaningful ways by using creative ideas. These are solutions you can send to urban planners and those running smart city accelerator programs. Pick one of them and you might win the grant!

AC condensate for public urinals and washrooms

In high-traffic areas of parks, beaches, and transit hubs, air con condensate can feed overhead tanks for continuous urinal flushing. Or imagine a new kind of urinal that connects to condensate and greywater ponds? It’s a perfect non-potable use for air con water and pairs naturally with greywater systems. In hot climates, the flow is steady enough to make a real dent in municipal water use.

AC water for street cleaning crews

Why are we washing sidewalks with drinking water? I see street cleaners in my town connecting to fire hoses to fill up the tanks they are using for street washing. Condensate can be captured at the building level and fed into local tanks for street cleaning and sanitation. It’s low-cost, decentralized, and immediately deployable in dense neighborhoods. I bet it’s healthier to add to machines than tap water full of calcium carbonate.

AC-powered street cooling in heat zones

This is my idea and you can credit Green Prophet on pitch day: On extreme heat days, cities could release stored condensate onto pavement or through cooling strips along sidewalks. As it evaporates, it drops surface temperatures and makes streets more livable. Think of it as micro-climate management, not just water reuse.

Public misting systems using AC water
You see this in Paris on hot summer days: the city sprays a fine mist, cooling people in public squares. Condensate can power these systems without touching potable supply. In a heatwave, this becomes a public health tool, not a luxury. We bet it could also be used in splash pads, which anyway are full of chlorine.

AC condensate in urban irrigation networks
Trees, medians, and rooftop gardens really don’t need drinking water. Just imagine in dry cities like Amman where people get their household water delivered by truck every week. Condensate can be integrated into drip irrigation systems, especially in commercial zones where AC output is highest. It’s a quiet way to green cities without increasing water demand at all. And more green makes cities cooler.

Building-scale greywater integration
Condensate should be treated as part of a broader greywater mix. Combined with shower and sink runoff, it can supply flushing, irrigation, and cooling systems in cities and regions where these kinds of water may be seperated. Smart buildings can manage this automatically with minimal retrofitting. Can AC water generate energy as it’s running down the pipes of huge apartment buildings? We bet it can.

Cooling towers topped up with AC water

Think Desert Coolers meet the Wind Catchers of Yadz. Large buildings already use water for cooling towers. Feeding them with condensate closes the loop within the HVAC system itself. It’s one of the easiest wins for commercial properties.

Free distilled water for municipal maintenance
Condensate is low in minerals, which makes it ideal for cleaning glass, equipment, and vehicles without leaving residue. Cities could use it for maintenance fleets or public infrastructure cleaning. It’s a small shift with instant efficiency gains.

Wildlife hydration in urban heat zones

Cities get brutally dry during heat waves. Redirecting condensate into small basins or green corridors can support birds, street cats, pollinators such as bees, and urban wildlife. It’s a low-cost biodiversity intervention that fits naturally into park design.

AC water for eco-materials and circular construction

Condensate can be used in mixing lime plasters, clay, and other low-impact materials. Any potter knows that glazes and terra sigalattas are best made with distilled water. Using it, connects modern buildings with older, more sustainable construction methods. In large projects, even this small substitution adds up to quality and results.

The post 10 Surprising AC Water Uses Cities Are Ignoring appeared first on Green Prophet.

If you’re anywhere near Sri Thanu on Koh Phangan, Thailand, around the yoga centers: Zen Beach, Haad Yao, or Salad Beach—make time for Street Vegan. It’s vegan and so satisfying that one meal might convince you that eating plant-based is not a compromise. I suggest for any vegan restaurant owner or chef to come to this modestly-priced venue to learn from a master.

I’ve been to Koh Phanghan a handful of times but things there change fast. Street Vegan was recommended through our musician friend Harel Shachel, who spends a lot of time on the island performing (and eating), and it turned out to be one of those easy, memorable family meals you don’t overthink, you just go back.

Street Vegan is right on the main road and easy to reach by car, scooter or the shared taxi trucks. Inside, the vibe is relaxed but special. The upper floor feels like a treehouse, looking down onto the kitchen and you can actually see the food being prepared, which gives you confidence that nothing rushed, and everything made with care. You can say that about Thai food in general but this place is a cut above.

We went around midday, the hottest month of the year, with the kids and ordered a mix from the menu to share.

The tofu cubes topped with fried onions were a hit—crispy, savory, simple but really well done. Another standout was the sautéed tofu served in cabbage leaves, fresh and nicely balanced. My daughter ordered dim sum, which was light and well made and filled with mushrooms I believe, and we also tried the sweet potato gnocchi with pesto which surprisingly good. Everything in the restaurant is gluten-free and meat and animal-product free.

The highlight for everyone was the chocolate cake. Which I do have have a picture of, sadly because we attacked it.

I’ve made vegan cakes with coconut butter and tofu but this was hand-down taking the cake. I might reach out for the recipe. The cake was creamy, rich, with a delightful crust made from coconut and nuts, and honestly hard to believe it was vegan. One of those desserts you end up finishing even when you’re full.

The guy beside us ordered the Buddha bowl and he looked like a satisfied regular.

What stands out at Street Vegan is the quality of ingredients. Thailand has incredible produce—fresh fruits, vegetables, coconut oil, palm sugar—and you can taste it here. But it’s also the effort behind the food. You can see the kitchen working, step by step, and it shows in the final dishes. The chef told me it’s endless work when I thanked her.

Street Vegan not trying to be fancy or trendy. Just solid, flavorful vegan food in a great setting. It’s open many hours until the night. I hope the owner can hold her stamina because it’s a place worth protecting and sharing. I remember years ago telling everyone to eat at Mama Poos. Now it’s the mama at Street Vegan.

If you’re on Koh Phangan, especially around Sri Thanu, this is a must-stop.

Getting to Street Vegan

Street Vegan House is located on the west coast of Koh Phangan in the Hin Kong area (near Sri Thanu), known as a major vegan hub. It is situated along the main road, easily accessible by scooter or songthaew taxi from Thong Sala or Sri Thanu and offers Vietnamese-style plant-based street food (open Mon-Sat, 1 PM-10 PM).

The post Street Vegan in Sri Thanu is a must-stop family lunch spot on Koh Phangan, Thailand appeared first on Green Prophet.

An argument for not dusting the house – ever. It might actually make your plants healthier.

New research published in New Phytologist shows that plants can acquire nutrients not only from the soil but also from atmospheric dust that settles and dissolves on their leaves, releasing elements such as phosphorus and iron. This goes against what many plant owners assume: that dusty leaves impair respiration and growth.

In a Mediterranean field study simulating dust events—common during dust storms—dust application increased plant macronutrient and micronutrient concentrations through the plants’ mildly acidic leaves.

By integrating field observations with dust-deposition estimates and soil nutrient data from different regions, investigators found that during dust events, daily nutrient inputs via foliar uptake can match or even exceed soil-derived inputs.

“This suggests a shift from the traditionally soil-centric view of nutrient acquisition toward a vegetation-mediated pathway, where the plant canopy acts as an active interface for capturing and processing atmospheric particles,” said Dr. Anton Lokshin, a postdoctoral researcher at BGU where the research took place. “In nutrient-limited ecosystems, this leaf-based nutrient pathway may represent an important and currently overlooked contribution to plant nutrition and ecosystem functioning.”

The study was conducted by Anton Lokshin in the laboratory of Dr. Avner Gross, in collaboration with Dr. Daniel Palchan (Ariel University), Prof. Marcelo Sternberg (Tel Aviv University), Tom Goren (Bar Ilan University), and Andre (Mahdi) Nakhavali (IIASA).

The post Plants can eat dust and grow – should we stop dusting them? appeared first on Green Prophet.