A few summers ago I found myself in a friend’s 1950 Bentley. The car wasn’t electric, back then they never heard the word sustainable. It certainly wasn’t digital. Yet as I sat inside, I couldn’t stop thinking about how luxurious everything about it felt. Not because it was expensive, but because it was craft by humans. Can luxury car developers take a cue from the Old World?

The wooden dashboard was carved rather than manufactured. A folding tray tucked neatly into the rear compartment unfolded to last generations. Perhaps it once held a map, a letter, or a glass of whisky. The polished wood had a warmth no touchscreen could replicate.

Now Ferrari has unveiled a new class of EV and luxury car, the Ferrari Luce, and it’s not meant to replace existing combustion engine cars in the line. But rather create a new class for collectors. At about $650,000 USD this isn’t an every day family car, although your family could fit inside its roomy interior.

Let’s look inside the Ferrari Luce EV interior, a glimpse into what the new electric Ferrari might become in an age dominated by screens and software. Critics are against its exterior saying it’s too basic.

Ferrari’s first electric Ferrari is expected to compete with the world’s most advanced electric vehicles, but what makes the Ferrari Luce EV interesting isn’t its battery pack or acceleration. It’s the interior. For years, luxury automakers have mistaken technology for luxury. Bigger screens and more menus. Lights and projections on the windshield as Mazda did one annoying summer when I rented their best in class car. I actually hate digital things in the cars I drive. There is enough with my phone and Google Maps. Instead of more digital layers i want more buttons and knobs.

The Ferrari Luce EV interior takes a different approach.

Created with the involvement of Jony Ive and Marc Newson’s LoveFrom design studio, the cabin uses physical switches, rotary controls, machined metal components and tactile surfaces that encourage interaction through touch rather than endless scrolling. We love that.

The steering wheel alone consists of 19 precision-machined recycled aluminum parts. Ferrari says many of the controls throughout the cabin also use recycled aluminum instead of plastic. In sustainability terms, that’s a small but meaningful shift. The luxury EV interior acknowledges that premium materials don’t have to come from virgin resources. When we saw the rollout and interest of Emirates luggage made from airplane interiors, we know that upcycled can also be a flex. In a smaller market, Pilsok beetle bags made from upcycled air bags are now a collector’s item.

For Green Prophet readers, this may be the most interesting aspect of the Ferrari electric vehicle. Luxury has always been a sustainability problem.

A sustainable luxury car should not merely use recycled materials but create something people want to keep.

The reason that a 1950 Bentley still exists today isn’t because it was environmentally friendly, it’s because somebody wanted to protect it in their garage and nobody wanted to throw it away.

The same principle applies to architecture, furniture, watches and clothing. Objects survive when they are loved. Ferrari appears to understand this.

The company says inspiration for elements of the Ferrari Luce EV came from classic Ferraris of the 1950s and 1960s, when steering wheels were often crafted from wood and interiors emphasized craftsmanship over electronics. Yet there is still room to go further.

Imagine a future Ferrari Luce EV featuring certified European walnut from responsibly managed forests. Imagine vegetable-tanned leather from small Italian workshops, regenerative wool textiles, natural cork composites, recycled brass details and hand-finished wood surfaces that gain character over time rather than becoming obsolete after a software update.

Electric vehicles offer a unique opportunity to rethink luxury.

Without the noise of a V12 engine competing for attention, drivers begin noticing subtler details: the grain of wood, the weight of a switch, the texture of fabric, the way afternoon light moves across a dashboard.

Those details matter and since EVs are quiet there is no roar to distract you. The Ferrari Luce EV may not be a fully sustainable luxury car yet, but it points toward something increasingly rare in modern transportation: a machine designed to age gracefully.

The challenge for Ferrari is no longer building a fast electric Ferrari. It’s building an heirloom.

If the new EV line succeeds Ferrari Luce EV interiors may be remembered not as a showcase for technology, but as a reminder that true luxury has always been handmade.

The post New Ferrari Luce EV Interior – Can the New Electric Ferrari Bring Back Handmade Luxury? appeared first on Green Prophet.

The humble frisbee may not look like a climate solution, but it could become a symbol of where the sports equipment industry is heading next.

Balena and Decathlon Pulse have introduced what they describe as the world’s first frisbee made from bacteria-fermented bioplastic, using Balena’s proprietary BioCir® X material. The launch signals something larger than a novelty sports product: it suggests that sustainable materials are finally becoming durable and scalable enough for mainstream sports equipment. And the best news: if it gets lost at sea it can just become one with the ocean, no damage done.

The global sports equipment market generates enormous amounts of plastic waste. Frisbees, balls, footwear, paddles, protective gear, yoga mats, and fitness accessories are typically made from petroleum-based plastics designed for durability but not for responsible disposal. Millions of sports products are lost outdoors each year, ending up in oceans, parks, lakes, and landfills where they can remain for centuries. Millions of flip-flops have landed on Seychelles islands interrupting turtle breeding grounds.

According to Balena, the brad that has worked with fashion icons like Stella McCartney, new frisbee is designed for impact resistance, long-term use, and responsible breakdown in compost, soil, and marine environments. More importantly, the company says the material is compatible with industrial-scale injection molding, which means it can theoretically move beyond prototypes into mass-market production – like today.

That matters because sustainability in sports has often stalled at the concept stage. Consumers have seen recycled shoes, algae foam sneakers, bamboo skateboards, and biodegradable phone cases, but few products have managed to combine real athletic performance with circular material science at scale. We know a frisbee isn’t much but it’s a start.

The sports industry is beginning to face the same pressure already reshaping fashion, packaging, and automotive manufacturing. Consumers increasingly want sports equipment that reflects environmental values without sacrificing performance. Brands meanwhile are searching for alternatives to fossil-fuel plastics as regulations tighten around waste and emissions. Also microplastics from yoga pants are getting into bodies through sweat. No one wants that.

The frisbee market alone is projected to reach hundreds of millions of dollars globally within the decade. But the bigger opportunity lies in what comes next: running shoes, cleats, shin guards, racket handles, yoga equipment, outdoor recreation gear, and eventually even automotive interiors or consumer electronics built using similar biobased thermoplastics.

For decades, “eco-friendly” products often carried a stigma of being weaker, softer, or impractical. The next generation of sustainable sports equipment is attempting to erase that distinction entirely.

“Breaking into the sports industry with a product that’s both high-performance and fully circular is a proud moment for us at Balena. This frisbee, made from our bacteria-fermented bioplastic, is proof that sustainable materials can go beyond concepts and prototypes, they can play, perform, and inspire” — David Roubach, Founder & CEO, Balena —

The post Sports equipment is entering the bioplastics era appeared first on Green Prophet.

For years, Green Prophet has followed the strange, persistent dream of harvesting energy from roads. Back in the early 2010s, Israel experimented with piezoelectric roads in Tel Aviv, when Innowwatech tested whether pressure from passing cars could generate electricity. Then in 2020 a pilot happened with Electreon and Dan Bus company and we haven’t had an update since.

Similar ideas appeared in Italy, California, and South Korea. Most never scaled beyond pilot projects because the technology struggled with durability, efficiency, or economics. There is cost of laying down new infrastructure, stopping traffic, and dealing with snow, rain and intense heat.

Now an Austrian startup called REPS says it has solved part of that equation.

This week the company announced a $23.6 million equity financing round to scale what it calls the Road Energy Production System (REPS), a “road power plant” that captures kinetic energy from vehicles and converts it into electricity.

Unlike solar panels or wind turbines, the system, according to materials the company sent Green Prophet, does not depend on sunshine, cloud cover, or wind speed. Instead it harvests energy already being wasted every day when trucks brake, slow down, or roll through heavy infrastructure zones.

“Roads are everywhere. Traffic is everywhere. What was previously wasted energy can now be transformed into clean electricity through REPS,” said Alfons Huber, founder and CEO of REPS. The old dream of piezoelectric roads is coming true.

Around 15 years ago, Green Prophet covered piezoelectric energy systems embedded beneath roads and sidewalks. The theory was elegant: when vehicles drive over specially designed materials, the pressure creates small electrical charges. Multiply that by thousands of cars a day and suddenly highways become power stations.

Israel was among the early experimenters. Tel Aviv explored pilot systems designed to capture the vibrations and weight of passing traffic. Similar trials emerged in Europe and Asia. The promise was enormous — roads that could light street lamps, power nearby infrastructure, or feed electricity back into the grid.

But the technology faced serious obstacles. Many piezoelectric systems produced only tiny amounts of electricity. Others wore down under heavy truck traffic. Some became too expensive to maintain once exposed to rain, heat, road salt, and constant vibration.

REPS argues that previous attempts failed because the converters themselves were inefficient and fragile. The company says its system “delivers 254x higher efficiency than the next-best alternative currently on the market.”

That is a bold claim, though one that will likely need long-term independent validation as deployments scale.

Hamburg becomes the first test case

The company’s first commercial installation has been running at the Port of Hamburg since November 2025. According to REPS, more than 115,000 trucks have already crossed the system, generating over 6,700 kWh of electricity.

The idea is simple in principle: Instead of laying entirely new roads, REPS installs modular systems directly into existing infrastructure, particularly in places where vehicles already slow down naturally: port entrances, loading areas, logistics hubs, toll areas, curves, or steep approaches.

In other words, the system works best where momentum is already being lost to braking traffic: “Where vehicles have to brake anyway, clean energy is recovered and can be used directly where we need it,” said Justin Karnbach, CEO of Hamburger Container Service GmbH.

That makes ports especially attractive. Heavy trucks create large mechanical forces, traffic patterns are predictable, and energy demand is concentrated nearby.

The bigger story may not be about roads alone: It is about retrofitting infrastructure rather than rebuilding it.

Most cities cannot afford to tear up roads entirely to create futuristic smart infrastructure. But modular systems that can be inserted into existing roads could potentially make energy harvesting more realistic financially.

REPS says a large rollout across Hamburg’s port roads could generate around 10 GWh annually, while a hypothetical deployment across Dubai could recover roughly 3.2 TWh per year.

Those projections remain theoretical for now. But the interest is real. The company says it is already in discussions with more than 90 port-related organizations across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and North America.

One reason road-energy systems have struggled historically is climate. In northern countries, snow, ice, freeze-thaw cycles, and road salt can destroy delicate infrastructure beneath pavement. Any mechanical system embedded in roads must survive enormous pressure, moisture, corrosion, and temperature swings.

Ports like Hamburg are useful proving grounds precisely because they face harsh winters and heavy industrial traffic simultaneously.

Desert climates present a different challenge. Roads in places like Dubai or Saudi Arabia endure relentless UV radiation and extreme surface temperatures that can soften asphalt and stress electronics. That is why REPS’ emphasis on durability matters almost as much as efficiency. The company says its technology was designed to operate under “heavy traffic conditions for more than 20 years.”

If that proves true, the implications could be significant for Gulf countries already investing heavily in smart-city infrastructure.

Unlike solar farms, which require large land areas and cleaning regimes in dusty environments, road-harvesting systems could potentially piggyback on infrastructure cities already maintain.

Beyond the gold-plated supercar era of Dubai

There is also something symbolically interesting happening here. For years, Gulf car culture often revolved around spectacle: gold-plated Lamborghinis, chrome-wrapped Mercedes-Benz SUVs, fleets of exotic supercars baking beneath Dubai sun with cheetahs riding shotgun.

Now some of the same regions are becoming laboratories for infrastructure-scale sustainability experiments. Instead of merely celebrating traffic, the question becomes: can traffic itself produce value?

That shift mirrors broader changes happening across the Middle East, where governments are investing in energy transition projects, AI-driven infrastructure, desalination technology, and climate adaptation systems.

The road itself may be becoming part of the power grid.

Many road-energy concepts have looked promising in pilot phases only to stall under maintenance costs or real-world economics. But REPS is entering the market at a moment when cities and ports are under pressure to decarbonize rapidly without waiting decades for massive infrastructure rebuilds.

The company believes roads could become decentralized energy assets: “We spent six years developing the technology. Now the scaling phase begins,” said Huber.

Green Prophet has watched these ideas evolve for almost 20 years — from piezoelectric experiments in Tel Aviv to kinetic sidewalks that glow in Europe to now industrial-scale road harvesting in Hamburg.

But for the first time, the road-to-electricity concept appears to be moving beyond the science fair stage and into commercial freight infrastructure.

The post Collecting kinetic energy from roads; REPS turns traffic into a power plant appeared first on Green Prophet.

This is not an Onion article. I repeat. This is not an Onion satire piece. The Park Slope Food Coop in Brooklyn has voted to remove Israeli products from its shelves after years of pressure from BDS activists. What this means is that Israeli tahini, snacks, olive oil and frozen herbs were pulled almost immediately after the vote passed. The co-op has about 16000 members and of those that voted, more than half voted to boycott Israeli-sourced products. The co-op buys in bulk and offers members discounts to members with purchasing power and in exchange you need to work there for several hours a month. It’s been operating for about 50 years.

But the moral math here, as usual when it comes to Israel feels strangely selective. And when you read on you will see they boycotted an Israeli product once boycotted by Muslims for being “gay”. You can read that story here because we covered it.

The Coop still stocks products from countries such as Vietnam and Mexico, routinely accused of labor exploitation, child labor, environmental destruction and political repression. Where are the emergency votes over dragon fruit imported from Vietnam that use child labor? Where is the outrage over avocados or produce tied to cartel-controlled regions in Mexico? Goods linked to forced labor allegations in China? Why is the Israeli pepper suddenly the ethical breaking point in Brooklyn?

And what exactly is being boycotted here? Israelis? Zionists? Jews? Because one of the products reportedly targeted is tahini from Al Arz, an Israeli Arab-owned company. This is the same Israeli Arab-made tehini that was also boycotted by Muslims in Israel in 2020, for being “gay”, showing the hypocrisy of liberal activism eating itself. Al Arz is actually a minority-run business in Israel and the founder is Christian.

Related: tehini is a natual medicine, learn to make it here

The progressive movement once prided itself on nuance. On coexistence and on supporting minorities, workers and bridge-builders. Now even Arab Israelis making sesame paste can become collateral damage in ideological warfare.

The Park Slope Coop says this is about human rights. Supporters compare it to past boycotts against apartheid South Africa and Pinochet-era Chile. But many Jewish and Israeli members inside the Coop say the atmosphere surrounding the campaign has become hostile, radicalized and frightening. Reports describe accusations of “Jewish supremacism,” intimidation claims, heavy security and members fearing retaliation for speaking openly.

When I spoke years ago with an Israeli in Brooklyn — then a member of the Coop and one of Israel’s and New York’s most respected jazz musicians (he lives in Brooklyn and owned a club there) — he described the Coop as a great place for all. His business, a nightclub, was later targeted with buckets of red paint because he is Israeli. New York has become increasingly hostile to Jews, and the Brooklyn Coop story is just another example of the hypocrisy.

This is the irony that liberals refuse to confront: the movement increasingly resembles the kind of purity politics it once warned against. Homes and businesses vandalized with red paint. Businesses singled out because they are Israeli. Public shaming campaigns and loyalty tests.

Some activists insist criticism of Israel is not antisemitism. Fair enough. Governments should be criticized but if so, then ALL governments.

But when the world’s only Jewish state is treated differently from every other nation on earth — when Israeli peppers are morally radioactive while products tied to far worse labor systems pass unnoticed through organic checkout lines, people must ask uncomfortable questions, especially when Jewish members say they no longer feel safe inside a liberal institution they helped build.

Interestingly, one reader pointed out, the Coop changed the rules of numbers required for voting the day before the boycott was sealed. He sent us this:

On May 26 the group decided to repeal the need for a supermajority of 75% to pass a vote, similar to quorum. The very next day the boycott was passed without a supermajority.

The tragedy is that this kind of activism rarely builds peace. It builds tribes instead of humanity. It rewards outrage over dialogue. Once an enlightenment group starts deciding which nationalities are acceptable to boycott publicly, history suggests the line rarely stops where activists think it will.

According to its mission statement, “We are committed to diversity and equality. We oppose discrimination in any form. We strive to make the Coop welcoming and accessible to all and to respect the opinions, needs and concerns of every member.”

The post Park Slope food coop boycotts “Gay Tahini” already boycotted by Muslims in Israel appeared first on Green Prophet.

Wearables are having a moment and when it comes to babies, would-be parents will spare no expense. While I was pregnant I decided to participate in the minimum, as some research suggests that even the sound wave pulses created by ultrasounds can be harmful to a developing fetus. But for high-risk pregnancies, some scientists believe round-the-clock monitoring might be good for mom and baby.

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have created a soft, wearable ultrasound patch that can continuously monitor a fetus for hours at a time — and it can do so consistently even as the fetus and umbilical cord constantly move during pregnancy.

The technology could help doctors detect complications earlier in high-risk pregnancies. In one case during clinical testing, the patch detected prolonged abnormal fetal signals that prompted medical intervention through an early Cesarean delivery, which researchers say may have helped save the baby’s life. The technology could also expand access to prenatal care in low-resource settings, or in rural areas, where skilled ultrasound technicians and continuous, long-term monitoring are often limited or unavailable.

“Wearable ultrasound technology has the potential to enable continuous prenatal monitoring and improve pregnancy outcomes in ways that were previously not possible,” said study co-first author Geonho (Tom) Park, a chemical and nano engineering PhD student at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. Park co-led the study with fellow UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering co-first authors Yizhou Bian, Hao Huang and Sai Zhou.

Currently, most prenatal ultrasounds typically provide only brief snapshots of fetal health and require trained sonographers to operate the equipment. The new wearable ultrasound patch is designed to stay on the body and continuously track a baby’s anatomy and blood flow in real time, without requiring someone to manually guide the ultrasound probe.

“To comprehensively monitor mothers and babies over the amount of time needed to catch complications like preeclampsia, you need a system that can work continuously and largely on its own,” Bian said. “That is why the sensing depth, functional capabilities and autonomy of this ultrasound technology are critical.”

A major challenge in continuous fetal monitoring is that both the fetus and the umbilical cord are constantly moving. To address this, the researchers developed autonomous tracking algorithms that automatically identify and follow the umbilical cord as it moves. This enables the device to maintain consistent measurements even while the mother or fetus changes position.

“With continuous monitoring, we were able to observe dynamic fluctuations in blood flow that would likely be missed with conventional ultrasound exams,” Huang said.

“Our system even detected an abnormality during one of our clinical visits,” Park added. “That pregnancy later resulted in a delivery at 29 weeks, and it demonstrated how continuous monitoring could help identify complications much earlier than we can today.”

This project builds on over a decade of research at UC San Diego in the laboratory of chemical and nano engineering professor Sheng Xu. His team has led development of wearable ultrasound technology for a range of healthcare applications, including non-invasive monitoring of central blood pressure as well as mobile heart monitoring and efforts to use everyday gestures to reliably control robotic devices. This research was conducted in the Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.

For this new work, the team evaluated the wearable ultrasound patch through a multi-center clinical study conducted at Jacobs Medical Center at UC San Diego Health and the John Radcliffe Hospital at the University of Oxford. In tests, the patch produced measurements that closely matched those from standard handheld ultrasound devices. Researchers also collected continuous monitoring data for hours at a time across 62 pregnancies, including healthy pregnancies as well as pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, high blood pressure and abnormal fetal growth.

Next, the team plans to integrate the patch into a compact electronic system that could eventually allow the patch to operate wirelessly.

The post A wearable untrasound for high-risk pregnancies appeared first on Green Prophet.

For generations, feeding a baby meant pureeing what you had at dinner, or if you were in a pinch opening a jar of Gerber, a small glass jar and scooping out mashed pears or applesauce with a spoon.

Today, many babies around the world skip the spoon entirely and suck pureed food directly from plastic pouches marketed as convenient, organic, and safe. These pouches are sold at organic stores, and Trader Joe’s as healthy options and they are put in McDonald’s Happy Meals so parents don’t feel guilty about junk food.

But a disturbing new report that Greenpeace sent to Green Prophet suggests that what babies may also be swallowing is plastic. A Greenpeace International investigation commissioned in 2025 found microplastics in every baby food pouch tested, including products from Gerber and Happy Baby Organics. Researchers estimate that a single Gerber pouch may contain more than 5,000 microplastic particles, while a Happy Baby Organics pouch may contain over 11,000. You can download the report here.

This is among the first studies to examine the food itself, not just the packaging.

Babies and microplastics

Microplastics are now everywhere. Green Prophet has reported on them in the air we breathe, the food we eat, and even in orthodontic products such as Invisalign. Scientists have detected microplastics in human blood, placentas, lungs, and breast milk.
Now they are showing up in baby food.

Babies are uniquely vulnerable. Their brains, immune systems, and hormones are still developing. According to Dr. Leo Trasande of NYU, early exposure to plastic chemicals is associated with obesity, reproductive disorders, and neurodevelopmental problems that can last a lifetime. ADHD, depression in kids? Maybe this is microplastics.

The Greenpeace report also identified plastic-associated chemicals, including 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol, a compound linked to endocrine disruption.

From glass jars to squeeze-and-suck

Plastic pouches have exploded in popularity. Sales in the United States rose roughly 900% between 2010 and 2023, and pouches now dominate baby food shelves worldwide.
Parents were sold a vision of convenience: organic fruits and vegetables in BPA-free packaging.But “BPA-free” does not mean chemical-free.

And feeding directly from a pouch may create other problems. Health professionals warn that sucking purees can contribute to tooth decay, dental alignment issues, overeating, and delays in oral and sensory development.

The healthiest option may be the oldest one: Buy local, fresh, organic apples. Steam them. Mash them into applesauce. Store them in glass jars. Feed your baby with a spoon.
It is slower, yes. But childhood was never meant to be optimized for adults in a hurry.

Using a spoon teaches patience. There is texture, eye contact, conversation. Not sucking from a pouch while watching YouTube. And unlike plastic pouches, it doesn’t add thousands of invisible particles to lunch.

Until manufacturers prove these products are safe, parents may want to return to what worked for generations before us: real food, in real containers, prepared with love.

“For nearly a century, Gerber has been one of the most trusted names in feeding American babies. That trust has been shattered. They’re serving babies microplastics with every pouch. Gerber promises ‘anything for baby.’ We’re asking for one simple  thing: stop serving microplastics for lunch,” says Lindsey Jurca, Senior Plastics Campaigner at Greenpeace USA.

Greenpeace is filing a report on studies that have taken place earlier. In 2023 Kuzi Hussein from the University of Nebraska─Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska and colleagues looked at microplastics in the home, in food pouches and all kinds of plastic containers.

They looked at the release of microplastics and nanoplastics from plastic containers and reusable food pouches under different usage scenarios, using DI water and 3% acetic acid as food simulants for aqueous foods and acidic foods.

The results indicated that microwave heating caused the highest release of microplastics and nanoplastics into food compared to other usage scenarios, such as refrigeration or room-temperature storage.

It was found that some containers could release as many as 4.22 million microplastic and 2.11 billion nanoplastic particles from only one square centimeter of plastic area within 3 min of microwave heating. Refrigeration and room-temperature storage for over six months can also release millions to billions of microplastics and nanoplastics. Additionally, the polyethylene-based food pouch released more particles than polypropylene-based plastic containers.

Exposure modeling results suggested that the highest estimated daily intake was 20.3 ng/kg·day for infants drinking microwaved water and 22.1 ng/kg·day for toddlers consuming microwaved dairy products from polypropylene containers.

The post Baby fruit pouches ejecting microplastics into every serving appeared first on Green Prophet.

I did not go looking for Oskar Schindler. But he found me. One day, while wandering through an old cemetery near Zion Gate in Jerusalem with my mother—who had come to the Holy Land to feel the Bible—I came across his grave.

The cemetery sits just outside the Old City walls. It is simple and unadorned. Before me lay a modest grave slab covered with piles of stones, as Jewish people do when they visit a loved one. This grave had more stones than any other. The name belonged to a man who was not Jewish, yet chose the Jews when it mattered most.

Before his death in 1974, Schindler asked to be buried in Jerusalem. He rests there because he risked everything to save Jewish lives during the Holocaust. For his moral courage, he is remembered as one of the Righteous Among the Nations. The Talmud, compiled roughly 1,800 years ago, teaches that righteous people from any nation or faith are granted a share in the World to Come. In Judaism, the olam ha-ba is not simply heaven. It is the world you help create through your actions.

Schindler chose to build his place in that world. Standing by his grave, I hoped that some of his righteousness might rub off on me. I feel the same way when I think about those who stand with Jews today, even when doing so brings isolation, financial loss, and threats to their safety.

Douglas Murray speaks openly about rising antisemitism in the West. Luai Ahmed challenges antisemitism in the Arab world and supports Israel despite the personal cost. Goldie Ghamari, an Iranian Canadian politician, has spoken forcefully against antisemitism and has received death threats.

Then there is Paul Finlayson. “I said I stood with Israel, and I was called a criminal,” he told me. Paul is a Canadian educator whose life changed after he compared Hamas to the Nazis. He says the statement led to his dismissal from his teaching positions and devastated his career and family.

According to Paul, he went from earning $300,000 a year to $24,000. “My income has been reduced by 90%,” he said. “My family is shattered.” These are his claims. Whether one agrees with him or not, his story raises important questions about free speech, due process, and what happens to people who publicly support Israel.

I did not grow up Jewish. By the time I was eighteen, I had met only a handful of Jewish people. But over the years, getting close to Jews and to Israel changed me. My family comes from Europe, where too many people stood by while their Jewish neighbors were taken away. That history still echoes through generations. The thread runs from Oskar Schindler to the present day.

Supporting what is right requires action. Who will stand up for Paul? If not me, then who?

The post I Went Looking for Jerusalem. I Found Oskar Schindler appeared first on Green Prophet.

Japan is a country that builds 100-year companies; while 50 years ago Made In Japan implied an inferior mass-manufactured product, the quality of Japan today says Switzerland of the East. Tokyo might fool you: it is a city that was so far ahead in the 90s that it still looks high-tech today but most of Japan is built on traditions of hand craft and a quality of design.

While so much has changed since the Iran war started, the stark image of a package of a once very colorful snack brand now in monochrome black and white in Japan throws us back to the feeling of Victory Gardens, and World War I and II when items were rationed and old flour sacks were turned into clothing.

The move comes in response to “supply instability affecting certain raw materials amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East,” the company said in a statement. “This measure is intended to help maintain a stable supply of products.”

Calbee stresses that what’s inside the bag remains the same and they say the black-and-white change will apply to 14 products sold in Japan. The new packaging will start appearing on May 25 and won’t affect product quality.

A spokesperson from the Japanese government said it had “received no reports of immediate supply issues regarding printing ink or naphtha, and we recognize that the necessary volume for Japan as a whole is being secured.”

Naphtha is a byproduct of the petroleum industry and sometimes used in parts of the ink manufacturing process.

Beyond fuel, crude oil is the foundation for thousands of everyday products. Petrochemicals are used to make plastics, synthetic fabrics such as polyester and nylon, printer and pen inks, paints, detergents, cosmetics, medicines, tires, asphalt, fertilizers, pesticides, and many components in electronics and medical devices.

The packaging around food, the foam in mattresses and car seats, the insulation in buildings, and even items like lipstick may contain oil-derived ingredients. In practical terms, if something is made of plastic, synthetic fibers, rubber, or industrial chemicals, there is a good chance it originated from the oil and gas industry.

Did you know that chewing gum is made from plastic and releases an estimated 3000 pieces plastic particles in a 10 minute chew?

The post Japan’s packaging turns black and white from Iran oil shortage appeared first on Green Prophet.

A retired Swiss biology teacher has built one of the most unusual diving devices ever featured on Green Prophet: a sleek, fish-shaped underwater breathing system called Hydrophilis. Inspired by the hydrodynamics of marine animals and refined through dozens of test dives, the compact rebreather allows its inventor, Oliver Isler, to glide underwater with dramatically less effort than conventional scuba gear.

When Green Prophet first wrote about Hydrophilis, readers were fascinated by its futuristic form and almost mythical appearance. Some compared it to a dolphin, others to a torpedo. Later, commenters made some funny and crude jokes about the diving gear.

Since then, Isler has continued testing and refining the prototype in Swiss lakes and warm-water seas, completing 54 dives and proving that his idea is far more than a whimsical experiment.

Isler is not an engineer. Before retirement, he taught biology in a Swiss secondary school. His ambition was not to launch a company or disrupt the diving industry, but to create a device that would allow him to move through the water as effortlessly and quietly as possible. “The search for symbiosis — to blend into the marine environment — means seeking ease of movement and discretion, in order to disturb the local fauna as little as possible,” he tells Green Prophet in an exclusive interview.

To achieve this, he adopted a NACA airfoil profile, the same aerodynamic geometry used in aircraft wings and submarine bodies. The result is a streamlined shell that dramatically reduces drag.

Faster Than Conventional Scuba

Traditional scuba equipment places cylinders, hoses, and buoyancy devices across a diver’s back and sides, creating significant resistance in the water on the back side of the diver.  Hydrophilis was built different.

At age 75, using a soft monofin designed for endurance rather than speed, Isler reached 2.2 meters per second in a swimming pool. By comparison, he says that conventional scuba divers rarely exceed 0.7 meters per second even under intense effort. This reduction in drag means less energy expenditure, less noise, and a more meditative experience underwater. You can become one with the water instead of being pressured to maintain buoyancy.

How the Hydrophilis System Works

Hydrophilis is a miniature closed-circuit rebreather. Instead of releasing bubbles with every breath, the diver reuses exhaled gas after carbon dioxide is absorbed by soda lime.

The prototype Isler built includes:

A 1-liter, 300-bar cylinder
A custom 3-liter counterlung
Integrated soda lime scrubber
Modified mouthpiece
Compact helmet and fairing
Weighted belt using dense cobalt shot

Isler dives with pure oxygen to depths of 6 meters, with 90 to 100 minutes of autonomy, or with Nitrox 55 to 20 meters, where he achieves 45 to 50 minutes of dive time.

He says it’s safety through simplicity: Unlike commercial rebreathers, Hydrophilis has no redundant backup system. If anything fails, Isler removes the helmet and ascends directly to the surface while exhaling. This is the nature of the system. Using traditional systems, a diver would face nitrogen poisoning requiring a decompression chamber.

“With pure oxygen or Nitrox 55%, even from 20 meters, no decompression stop is required,” he says. The philosophy is radical miniaturization rather than electronic complexity.

Will Hydrophilis Ever Be Sold?

Probably not, he says. But would Cousteau be happy? Hell yeah!

Certification standards currently require a counterlung volume of at least 5 liters, while Hydrophilis uses only 3 liters, which Isler says is entirely sufficient. He also questions whether there is a large commercial market for a device requiring soda lime and specialized training.

“My primary goal has always been to explore this hydrodynamic concept and enjoy the experience myself, without aiming for commercialization.”

Hydrophilis is not intended to replace scuba: “I see Hydrophilis as a freediver who does not need to hold their breath,” Isler says.

That may be the best description of this extraordinary invention: a personal experiment in biomimicry, engineering, and underwater grace.

For those who dream of moving like a fish, Oliver Isler has shown that sometimes the most compelling innovations come not from corporations, but from curious individuals willing to challenge convention.

Below is our Q&A interview with Oliver Isler, in his own words:

Green Prophet: Your design seems inspired by fish, dolphins, and the natural shapes of marine animals. Was your goal to mimic nature, or was the streamlined form primarily driven by hydrodynamic engineering?

The goal was to achieve a streamlined shape with minimal drag (resistance to forward motion). While I did want to disturb marine animals as little as possible, the constraints of physics led me to adopt a NACA profile. So it was primarily a technical constraint.

Green Prophet: You are a retired biology teacher, not a professional diving engineer. How did your background in biology shape the concept of Hydrophilis?

I am not a diving engineer. Before retiring, I was a biology teacher at a secondary school. The search for symbiosis — to “blend into” the marine environment — means seeking ease of movement and discretion in order to disturb the local fauna as little as possible.

Green Prophet: Scuba diving equipment has remained largely unchanged for decades. Why do you think there has been so little innovation in underwater breathing systems?

That is a broad question! Indeed, there have been relatively few changes. That said, the basic equipment is functional, and for a standard diver who simply wants to observe the underwater world, it is sufficient. In addition, a second regulator has very often been added, which has further improved safety.

Green Prophet: What are the main performance advantages of Hydrophilis compared with traditional scuba gear?

The original idea was truly to achieve the best possible penetration through the water. Dive duration is not greater than with traditional scuba equipment, but it is very good considering the extremely compact size. Improved hydrodynamics inevitably result in a major reduction in drag, while also allowing faster movement.

I conducted a speed test in a swimming pool. At 75 years old, using a soft monofin (stiffness 3 on a scale of 8), intended more for endurance swimming than pure speed, I was able to reach 2.2 meters per second, which is not bad for my age! With traditional scuba gear, it is difficult to reach even 0.7 m/s under intense effort.

Regarding safety, the only real advantage is the reduced effort required to move forward. Otherwise, in case of a problem, the procedure is simply to return to the surface. With pure oxygen or Nitrox 55%, even from a depth of 20 meters, no decompression stop is required. Therefore, in the event of a breathing-system failure, ascent is normally straightforward.

Without going as far as meditation, the pleasure of effortless movement is obviously present on every dive.

Green Prophet: Switzerland has a history of precision engineering and unusual inventors. Do you think there is something in Swiss culture that encourages independent experimentation?

Difficult to answer. Does the serious — sometimes overly serious — and orderly Swiss mentality encourage people to break free from that psychological framework by attempting somewhat unconventional experiments? Perhaps, but that is only a hypothesis, and I am not sure it is something specifically Swiss.

Green Prophet: Some people on social media have mocked the appearance of Hydrophilis. How do you respond to criticism and jokes about your invention?

With social media, one must expect every possible reaction: supportive or mocking. Comparing my prototype to a penis is not particularly flattering. My hypothesis is that those who reacted that way did so emotionally, without even taking the time to read my article in In DEPTH. Or are they frustrated? Perhaps.

My response to that kind of reaction is this: people who never attempt anything, who have no projects or challenges in their lives, certainly avoid failure. That is true. But I do not envy them, because I find such an existence somewhat dull.

I also believe that any innovation may first be rejected before eventually being accepted.

Green Prophet: Without a traditional backup air source, how do you manage safety if the breathing system fails underwater?

As I explained earlier, safety does not depend on someone else. I trained to simulate a failure scenario. In such a case, I remove the helmet (see photos) and ascend, freediving if necessary, while exhaling slightly to avoid pulmonary overexpansion. Once at the surface, I simply swim back to the boat, for example.

A different protocol would be incompatible with miniaturization, since there is no room for a backup system.

Green Prophet: Do you see Hydrophilis as a replacement for scuba diving, or as an entirely different category of underwater experience?

I see Hydrophilis more as a different approach. Something like a freediver who does not need to hold their breath!

It will never compete with traditional scuba diving, but rather offer a different way of diving and moving through the marine environment.

Green Prophet: What was the greatest engineering challenge in building such a compact underwater breathing system?

For optimal penetration through the water, the fairing had to occupy the smallest possible volume. Miniaturization therefore became an obsession, while still respecting breathing-hose diameters and mouthpiece dimensions compatible with effortless breathing.

For example, I had to modify a mouthpiece so that it would take up the least possible space. The miniature cylinder (1 liter / 300 bar), with its optimal shape, the soda lime filter integrated into the body of the prototype, and the counterlung specially built to conform as closely as possible to the interior of the fairing were all part of this process.

The weighting system as well, using cobalt shot (18 g/cm³), is worn underneath the freediving suit.

Green Prophet: Could Hydrophilis ever become a commercial product?

I honestly have no idea.

The major issue with certification is that the required counterlung volume is at least 5 liters. Mine is about 3 liters, which is entirely sufficient. So it would first require convincing certification experts to change their mindset so that such a design could be recognized. Not simple.

Then there is the question of whether there would even be a market for Hydrophilis. That is uncertain as well, because the use of soda lime means it will never become a true mass-market product.

Personally, my primary goal has always been to explore this hydrodynamic concept and enjoy the experience myself, without aiming for commercialization.

Could it inspire similar projects in the future? Time will tell.

The post Hydrophilis rebreather, an interview with Oliver Isler appeared first on Green Prophet.

A decade ago, we met Shimrit Perkol-Finkel in a startup incubator in Tel Aviv. She was one of those unforgettable founders who combined scientific rigor with a deep sense of purpose. As a marine ecologist and co-founder of ECOncrete, she challenged the idea that seawalls, ports, and breakwaters were destroying marine ecosystems.

Her vision was to redesign concrete so that infrastructure needed around cities and harbors could protect coastlines while creating habitat for fish, oysters, and other marine life. Her invention has been installed in breakwalls all over the world from New York to Tel Aviv.

In 2021, Shimrit was killed in a tragic scooter accident in Tel Aviv. She was just 43 years old. Her death sent shockwaves through Israel’s environmental and startup communities.

But her vision did not end there.

This week, ECOncrete announced a $14 million funding round led by Builders Vision, with participation from Barclays Climate Ventures, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation’s ReOcean Fund, BDT & MSD, DCP, and Open Road Impact.

Now led by co-founder and CEO Dr. Ido Sella, the company is scaling globally. ECOncrete’s biodiversity-enhancing concrete has already been used in marine infrastructure projects from Rotterdam and New York to San Diego, the Mediterranean, and New Zealand.

Over the past 18 months alone, the company has delivered more than 20 projects and created over 90,000 square meters of marine habitat.

Shimrit believed that infrastructure should heal rather than harm. We are happy to see the dream is still alive.

The post Econcrete makes built coastlines richer in marine life with new investment appeared first on Green Prophet.