Israeli Researcher Finds Earth Cracks May Contribute to Global Warming “Fractures breathe, and this process has direct relevance to the question of global warming,” says Dr. Noam Weisbrod –– With the ever increasing shortage in the world’s water resources and dire warning of Israel’s own ongoing drought, research to reduce contamination of existing water resources while […]
No matter how sophisticated modern medicine becomes, common ailments like fungal infections can outrun the best of the world’s antibiotics. In people with compromised immune systems (like premature babies, AIDS victims or those undergoing chemotherapy for cancer) the risk is very high: contracting a fungal infection can be deadly. Now Tel Aviv University zoologists are diving deep […]
Green Prophet received a press announcement that ZenithSolar, an Israeli start-up company that will license revolutionary solar energy technologies, will be launching its first “solar farm” in April 2009 based on Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) systems. The technology was developed by ZenithSolar based on the technology of Prof. David Faiman working with Dr. Andreas Bett, head […]
I love to cook with my microwave. Sure, it’s possible to manage without it, and there are better ways to defrost food. However, there are environmentally sound reasons for preferring it to conventional cooking: It only heats the moisture in food, so more energy is retained. Microwave cooking preserves nutrients in vegetables. And since many […]
Imagine being able to place an entire farm, complete with crops and livestock, in the same space as is required for one of today’s modern urban skyscrapers. A Columbia University professor, Dickson Despommier, has been involved in such a project that could turn a 30 story glass faced building into a vertical agricultural enterprise capable […]
(A photograph of the female C. echinata coral, expelling its eggs into the water around it.) Research from TAU unlocks the secret of coral survival during global warming Trees do it. Bees do it. Even environmentally stressed fish do it. But Prof. Yossi Loya from Tel Aviv University’s Department of Zoology is the first in […]
For centuries, animals have been our first line of defense against toxins. A canary in a coalmine served as a living monitor for poisonous gases. Scientists used fish to test for contaminants in our water. Even with modern advances, though, it can take days to detect a fatal chemical or organism. Until now. Working in […]
As anyone can see from this video taken at the Eilat Energy conference in Israel last week, Leviathan Energy‘s Wind Lotus kicked in at extremely low winds of 1.6 meter/sec and at the high winds rotates competely quietly. In Hebrew the word leviathan roughly translates to a “whale” – and describes the great sea creature […]
Two things were clear from attending the International Renewable Energy Conference that took place in Eilat this week. The first is that Israel is now a world leader in clean energy. The second is that there is a small but growing group of players in the field who see this not just as a huge […]
As the resting place of the Abraham and (unfortunately) a hot spot for conflict, the West Bank city of Hebron (or Hevron or al-Khalil, depending on who you ask!) is pretty notorious. Soon, this city will also become an important part of the Middle East’s ongoing clean energy revolution! Last week the European Commission signed […]
Use of plants of various kinds to produce biofuels is a topic of ever-increasing importance in the world as a means to combat an energy crisis and to deal with increasing concern over atmospheric pollution from the use of fossil fuels. Scientists the world over are involved in advanced research aimed at discovering and developing […]
Over the past few months companies are joining Twitter or consulting advisors about joining Twitter in droves. If you haven’t heard of Twitter, it is a micro-blogging tool that lets you share publicly what you are doing. It’s similar to the status updates on Facebook and instant messaging, but unlike either, is generally available to […]
(Thousands of small mirrors called heliostats focus the sun’s ray onto a tower. Thermal energy focused onto the tower heats up water that generates electricity through turbines.) An Israeli company and a Californian one are making solar power history: Southern California Edison (SCE) and BrightSource Energy from Israel have signed the world’s largest solar energy […]
I am currently writing from the Jerusalem Twestival You’ll notice in the right sidebar there is a new widget. From there, I’ll be tweeting the people I meet so that those who aren’t here in Jerusalem can enjoy the experience as well. You can also follow us straight from our twitter page as well. Follow […]
“Water, water everywhere/Nor any drop to drink…” Those immortal words in the poem “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” by 18th century English romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge only help the emphasize the reality of the water crises that countries in the Middle East and other arid regions are now facing. As annual rainfall amounts become […]
As we’ve been telling you on Green Prophet, Israel is a hot spot of clean and green technologies. But you don’t have to take our word for it. In a couple weeks you can see for yourself. Thanks to the first national professional exhibition of green and smart technologies for structures, devices, and factories to […]
Driving 22 East from Somerville I saw an industrial zone I had never seen before. I made a right, which took me past the county sewage plant to the Somerset County Recycling Center. Massive trucks that I only used to see on Tuesdays in my hometown were lined up to dump their day’s collections. I […]
If you haven’t caught on to the supremely contagious micro-blogging phenomenon known as Twitter, now’s your chance to Twitter for the environment. This year, on February 12, 2009 over 140 cities worldwide will be hosting Twestival 2009 to raise money for Charity:Water, which provides clean drinking water to villages in Africa. Jerusalem’s Twestival is unique […]
As you sit in front of your computer now, reading the latest from Green Prophet, we challenge you to hark back to all of your former computers, printers, phones, batteries… you name it. Could you say where they are right now? Unless you’re a pack rat, you probably got rid of them when they stopped […]
A Bangladesh developer in the alternative energy field won the coveted Zayed Future Energy Prize at a recent competition held in the United Arab Emirates State of Abu Dhabi. Dipal Barua’s non-profit company Grameen Shakti was founded in 1996 to provide alternative energy solutions to one of the world’s poorest nations, where most of the […]
The Israeli town of Tsfat (or Safed) is typically associated with the colour blue, owing to the tint that many of its buildings are painted with. But modern Tsfat, famous for being a centre of Jewish mysticism, its graves of tsadikim and art galleries, could just as easily be associated with brown. Since 1956, Israel’s […]
It’s one thing to buy a hybrid car, but another to understand and know how to use it wisely. Ford has a solution: Ford Motor Company’s Smart Gauge with EcoGuide educates drivers to maximize fuel efficiency on the 2010 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan Hybrids. The technology uses two digital dashboard LCD screens on either […]
If you’ve ever had the pleasure of living in or visiting Turkey, you’ll find it’s very hard to get lost off the beaten trail. The public transportation system there is so well oiled; bus owners of private buses or the smaller minibuses –– the dolmus –– are so well organized, you can literally scoot across […]
We were too distracted by the war with Gaza over the last few weeks to take notice that Shai Agassi from Better Place, the Israeli electric car guru, is now working on a deal with Canada. Those Canadians love their SUVs, and trucks to plow through Canadian winters, but maybe some Torontonians and yuppies that […]
People love their cars, even environmentalists. In the Middle East, it’s less so, but in America, people and own more cars per capita than anywhere else on earth — some 765 for every 1,000 people. But turbulent financial times everywhere threaten both the automotive industry and the ability to put gas in the tanks of […]