A team of Hebrew University researchers have successfully used genetic engineering as a first step to what one day may allow scientists to genetically repair damaged brain circuits. The process, which was performed in tiny translucent C. elegans worms, saw the introduction of synthetically engineered connections (or synapses), as a means for bypassing missing connections between neurons in an impaired brain.
The team, led by Dr. Ithai Rabinowitch, a Neurobiologist in the Faculty of Medicine at Hebrew University, applied the genetically engineered bypass to repair a failed odor response in the worms due to neuronal loss. With the synthetic bypass network in place, the worms successfully responded to the odor stimuli, a behavior that was diminished in the absence of the genetically engineered “fix.”
The study, published in Cell Systems was jointly led by Dr. Jihong Bai of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington.
“While this is a discovery that has so far been limited to a tiny worm, it opens the door for potential applications that may be relevant down the road to humans,” Dr. Rabinowitch said. “At present, various approaches are used for addressing human brain damage, including brain-computer interfaces that are based on external electronics rerouting information flow between intact brain regions.
This research indicates a new potential route for addressing brain damage, whether caused by direct physical trauma or stroke or other neurological disease, through genetically engineered changes in brain connectivity that can serve as biological neural bypasses.”
The researchers say that the species chosen, C. elegans, measuring about a millimeter long, is very beneficial for biological research. Compared to us, the worm has a very simple nervous system, and yet it is a multi-cellular animal sharing many similarities with us. According to Dr. Rabinowitch the next steps will involve deeper testing of the broader biological impact of genetically inserted neuronal connections and also applying the approach to other neural circuits and other organisms.
“In studying this tiny worm, we were able to advance our theory in an organism that has only several hundred neurons as opposed to the tens of billions neurons in the human brain,” he says. “Our great hope is that as this study advances and is applied more broadly in the worm’s nervous system and in other organisms, we will one day be looking at genetic therapies based on synthetic brain rewiring as possible treatments for devastating brain disease and damage.”
When it comes to relaxation, body massage is one of the oldest and most trusted ways to relax the body and mind at the same time.Massage therapy not only heals your body but also gives mental relaxation at the same time. Massage combined with the right type of serene music and oil can actually work wonders in terms of relaxation. It’s not only a good idea when your body actually needs it, but it is also a great way to relax and treat your body as well. Now a massage works on your muscles and releases tension between them and also increases the blood flow to relax them. However, this is not the only benefit that body massage has. Apart from physical relaxation, massage can do a lot more things for you. Let’s have a look at some of these benefits and how these can be good for you.
Back pain issues
The Best Body massage can help you deal with chronic or back pain and can also resolve issues that date back years. It has been seen that people having such back issues and getting regular massage have less back pain and a better posture as well. Back massage will not only stretch your back muscles but will also make them a lot stronger so that they could support the backbone. Once that happens, the pain in your back year slowly starts to reduce. Regular massage will make sure that your muscles remain active and give enough support to your backbone.
Improves circulation
One of the greatest benefits of getting a massage is that it improves blood circulation through the body. Blockage of flow in body parts can lead to serious muscle pain and getting relieved from that through a massage is one of the fastest ways available. Stretching and massaging of muscles will open any kind of blockage in the muscles by giving pressure on them and stretching them. If you are facing regular muscle soreness issues after exercise, then massage would be the best option for you to heal it.
Relaxation
We have already discussed that body massage is not only a way to heal your body physically but also a way to heal it mentally. When we get a massage our body muscles start to relax and release a hormone that relaxes our mind at the same time. Also, there are certain points in your body which when massaged, will leave you to complete peace and a great feeling of nothingness. The experience of mental relaxation is nothing less than what you get in meditation.
Good for joints and bones
There is no wonder how beneficial a massage can be for you. Apart from relaxing your muscles, it is also great for your bones and joints. Periodic massage of your bones and joints will not only help them to remain mobile and flexible but will also prevent any kind of bone and joint pain at the same time. It is especially beneficial for middle and old-age people who commonly suffer from issues related to joints and bones. So if you really want to keep your body flexible and pain-free, then do get a massage periodically.
Anxiety and Depression
We did discuss that massage is used to provide mental relaxation and it can go to an extent where it can also reduce issues like anxiety and depression. Since it releases hormones that provide mental relaxation, doctors often suggest their patients have such massage therapies regularly. Such therapies have proven positive results on patients that are suffering from depression and have actually helped a lot to recover.
Aleph Farms and its research partner at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, have successfully cultivated the world’s first slaughter-free ribeye steak, using three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting technology and natural building blocks of meat – real cow cells, without genetic engineering and immortalization.
Aleph now has the ability to produce any type of steak and plans to expand its portfolio of quality meat products.
Unlike 3D printing technology, Aleph Farms’ 3D bioprinting technology is the printing of actual living cells that are then incubated to grow, differentiate, and interact, in order to acquire the texture and qualities of a real steak.
A proprietary system, similar to the vascularization that occurs naturally in tissues, enables the perfusion of nutrients across the thicker tissue and grants the steak with the similar shape and structure of its native form as found in livestock before and during cooking.
“This breakthrough reflects an artistic expression of the scientific expertise of our team,” said Didier Toubia, Co-Founder and CEO of Aleph Farms. “Additional meat designs will drive a larger impact in the mid and long term. This milestone for me marks a major leap in fulfilling our vision of leading a global food system transition toward a more sustainable, equitable and secure world.”
The cultivated ribeye steak is a thicker cut than the company’s first product – a thin-cut steak. It incorporates muscle and fat similar to its slaughtered counterpart and boasts the same organoleptic attributes of a delicious tender, juicy ribeye steak you’d buy from the butcher.
Bibi Netanyahu tastes some Aleph lab steak
“With the realization of this milestone, we have broken the barriers to introducing new levels of variety into the cultivated meat cuts we can now produce.
“As we look into the future of 3D bioprinting, the opportunities are endless,” says Technion Professor Shulamit Levenberg, Aleph’s Co-Founder, Chief Scientific Advisor and a major brainpower behind the company’s IP. Levenberg is considered a global leader in tissue engineering and has amassed over two decades of research in the field at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in the United States and at the Technion, in Israel. Levenberg is also the former Dean of the Biomedical Engineering Faculty at the Technion.
Aleph Farms’ zealous plans to diversify its offering align with its mission to create a global platform for local production, leveraging a highly scalable technology to create culinary experiences that can be adapted for the different food cultures around the world.
Invasive biopsies can determine if a tumor is cancerous, when blood tests won’t do. But going in and cutting up a cancer tumor, with a skin like an orange often spreads the cancer. A new test looking at DNA might eliminate biopsies forever.
In diagnostic medicine, biopsies, where a sample of tissue is extracted for analysis, is a common tool for the detection of many conditions. It’s good news when the cancer is benign but often bad news if malignant because cancer tumors have shells. When ruptured tiny fragments of cancer can spill out and reinfect other parts of the body through the blood, spreading the cancer faster than ever.
There are other drawbacks – it can be painful, doesn’t always extract the diseased tissue, and can only be used in a sufficiently advanced disease stage, making it, in some cases, too late for intervention. These concerns have encouraged researchers to find less invasive and more accurate options for diagnosing diseases like cancer.
Professor Nir Friedman (who developed a rapid test for Covid) and Dr. Ronen Sadeh from Hebrew University in Jerusalem have published a study in Nature Biotechnology that shows how a wide range of diseases can be detected through a simple blood test. The test allows lab technicians to identify and determine the state of the dead cells throughout the body and thus diagnose various diseases including cancers and diseases of the heart and liver.
The biopsy research team
The test is even able to identify specific markers that may differ between patients suffering from the same types of tumorous growths, a feature that has the potential to help physicians develop personalized treatments for individual patients.
The test relies on a natural process whereby every day millions of cells in our body die and are replaced by new cells. When cells die, their DNA is fragmented and some of these DNA fragments reach the blood and can be detected by DNA sequencing methods. However, all our cells have the same DNA sequence, and thus simply sequencing the DNA cannot identify from which cells it originated.
While the DNA sequence is identical between cells, the way the DNA is organized in the cell is substantially different. The DNA is packaged into nucleosomes, small repeating structures that contain specialized proteins called histones. On the histone proteins, the cells write a unique chemical code that can tell us the identity of the cell and even the biological and pathological processes that are going on within it. In recent years, numerous studies have successfully developed a process where this information can be identified and thus reveal abnormal cell activity.
A new approach advanced by Hebrew University researchers, Professor Friedman and Dr. Ronen Sadeh is able to precisely read this information from DNA in the blood and use it to determine the nature of the disease or tumor, exactly where in the body it’s found and even how far developed it is.
The approach relies on analysis of epigenetic information within the cell, a method which has been increasingly fine-tuned in recent years. “As a result of these scientific advancements, we understood that if this information is maintained within the DNA structure in the blood, we could use that data to determine the tissue source of dead cells and the genes that were active in those very cells. Based on those findings, we can uncover key details about the patient’s health,” Professor Friedman explains. “We are able to better understand why the cells died, whether it’s an infection or cancer and based on that be better positioned to determine how the disease is developing.”
Along with the clear diagnostic benefits of this process, the test is also non-invasive and far less expensive than traditional biopsies. Dr. Ronen Sadeh said, “We hope that this approach will allow for earlier diagnosis of disease and help physicians to treat patients more effectively.
Recognizing the potential of this approach and how this technology can be so beneficial for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, we set up the company Senseera which will be involved with clinical testing in partnership with major pharmaceutical companies with the goal of making this innovative approach available to patients.”
Teeth are an underestimated part of the body and how they affect overall health. Western medicine and Chinese medicine agree that teeth health is a good start for general health.
The health of your mouth can indicate your overall health. Over time tooth decay has been linked to some health conditions, but are you aware that poor oral hygiene can affect your brain function?
Oral diseases may reduce the quality of a person’s life and increase the risk of developing other, worse conditions. Research has linked gum disease to increase the risk of heart disease by 20%.
Signs of Gum Disease
To be able to monitor and note that it could be possible that you have or are developing oral and gum disease, here are some signs that you can spot yourself:
Toothache
Bad breath
Swollen gums
Bleeding gums
Receding gums
Gum tenderness and pain
Having gum disease isn’t the end of the world. However, it can affect more than just your mouth and the health of your gums.
In this next section, you’ll learn more closely about how gum disease can impact brain function and how it can create both short-term and long-term adversary side effects.
Does It Impact Brain Function?
There have been studies that suggest that gum diseases can cause dementia. You might have heard of this if you are a dentist; however, results are just getting off the ground. If you have gingivitis, bacteria can enter the brain through nerve channels.
It can also get to the brain through the bloodstream. Experts have warned that it can cause dementia, while others believe it to be the one valid reasons for the awful brain disease.
Research done at Rutgers University, New Jersey, conducted a study to know if poor oral health can affect the brain. It was concluded that there is a relationship between memory and oral health, which can impact learning and complex attention. There was a link between stress and oral health that having a dry mouth is linked to high levels of stress.
The dental professionals at The Smilist Dental in Clifton emphasize the importance of practicing good oral health in older generations because it can lead to dementia, slower cognitive functions, or episodic memory loss. However, more studies need to be done before professionals and dentists can tell if oral health can impact brain functions.
Symptoms of Brain Infection from Teeth
As mentioned earlier, poor oral health can lead to some pretty nasty and significant side effects. You must pay close attention to how you are reacting, as this can be an indicator of a more underlying, harmful side effect like:
Reduced mobility
Vision changes
Lethargy
Fever
Vomiting and nausea
Headache
Increased confusion
Difficulty remembering
How Poor Dental Health Causes Dementia
You likely develop dementia if you suffer from gum disease. Studies have shown a connection between gum disease and cognitive decline as a direct link between dementia and periodontal disease. Some studies have also shown gum disease to be a catalyst for Alzheimer’s.
Tooth infection and memory loss: An infected tooth can cause memory loss when the infection spreads to the brain. Infection threatens the blood vessels and nerves when the cavity reaches the tooth’s root. These nerves connect directly to the brain. Maintaining oral hygiene and visiting the dentist will help stop the infection from spreading.
Tooth loss and dementia: Severe tooth loss is connected to dementia, as studies have shown. If you have lost most teeth, you are more likely to develop brain disease.
What Else Does Poor Oral Health Impact?
Gum disease can impact a lot. It can lead to infected and swollen gums and teeth. It does not just affect the brain but also has adverse effects on your heart. It can lead to cardiovascular disease in men.
Bacteria in the mouth naturally get swallowed and find their way to the heart leading to hardening of the arteries. It can also cause thickness of the blood, which leads to a blockage that can result in stroke or heart attack. The lungs could also be at risk since you breathe air that passes through the bacteria in the mouth.
How Can You Stop It?
Since experts have not found out how to yet, you cannot completely stop it. However, the first step is to assess your oral health methods because it might help you start better hygiene practices that could shield you against gum diseases. If you don’t know where to start, speak to your dentist to help you learn or adopt better methods to go about your daily dental hygiene. Some people in the East swear by the miswak, a natural toothbrush made from a tree. Maybe it’s a natural brushing approach worth a try?
Final Thoughts
Practicing daily hygiene can help you combat gum diseases—brushing after every meal, not just morning and evening.
Ensure to get good toothpaste, preferably something with fluoride in the mix, use mouthwash after cleaning, and don’t forget to find an interdental brush to be able to reach hard-to-reach places. It will help kill bacteria that are building up in your mouth. If you are experiencing anything extraordinary, visit your dentist.
Salmon is sometimes called a super-food because of how much benefit consuming it has for your overall health. But what are the specific benefits of eating salmon over all the other sources of protein that are available? Here are the 6 health benefits of salmon for your brain, your heart and your skin.
It Enhances Brain Function
Omega-3 fatty acids are a vital nutrient, but they are something the body cannot manufacture itself. That’s why you must manage your intake to make sure you get enough. Omega-3 fatty acids are an essential building block of the brain. They are so important, in fact, that they’re added to baby formula to make sure babies and toddlers get enough of it. For older adults, a lack of omega-3 increases your risk of dementia. Note that taking omega-3 supplements or eating more salmon won’t help you if you have a healthy, fully formed brain. It is simply the deficit that is harmful, though a surprisingly large number of adults have it.
It Improves Your Mood
We have already mentioned how omega-3 is a key building block of the brain. Studies have found that a lack of this nutrient can contribute to everything from brain fog to depression.And one serving of salmon contains half your daily requirement of B12. If you don’t have enough B12, your body can’t turn iron into red blood cells. That is why B12 deficiency can cause anemia no matter how much red meat you eat. All of this is why you should try to increase your intake of salmon and similar fatty fish before you assume you need anti-depressants.
It Protects Your Heart
The antioxidants in salmon are associated with a lower risk of heart attack and stroke. At the same time, it is a healthy source of protein. Salmon contains lean protein necessary to maintaining your muscles without the fats that can clog your arteries. If you already have heart disease, the high levels of selenium and essential fatty acids in salmon can help bring it back down.
It Reduces Your Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
We’ve already mentioned how salmon reduces your risk of heart attack. However, that’s not the only benefit. It reduces your risk of general cardiovascular disease. Hardening of the arteries can contribute to everything from kidney failure to varicose veins to stroke. If you have salmon leftover, find ways to use the leftovers from stir-fry to soups to casseroles rather than throwing it out. And if you’re eating salmon in place of more calorie-rich foods, you’re maintaining a healthy weight and thus reducing your risk of cardiovascular disease.
It Maintains Your Skin
Salmon contains vital nutrients thought to reduce the risk of systemic inflammation. That’s a risk factor in heart disease. It can also contribute to your skin becoming puffy. Another point in favor of salmon is that it is a natural source of vitamin D. That vitamin is necessary to maintaining strong bones. The benefit of salmon consumption is that it lets you get this vitamin without spending a lot of time outside, while prolonged sun exposure can accelerate the aging of your skin.
Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) announced that the BMW Group is the first customer for EGA’s CelestiAL aluminium, made with the power of the desert sun.
EGA has supplied metal to BMW Group since 2013 for use in the German carmaker’s engines and other parts. EGA will supply 43,000 tonnes of CelestiAL aluminium to BMW Group per year.
Using solar aluminium from EGA will reduce BMW Group’s emissions by 222,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
BMW Group’s annual supply contract with EGA is worth a three-digit million-euro sum. EGA’s CelestiAL metal will cover almost half the annual requirements of Plant Landshut, the BMW Group’s only production facility for light metal casting in Europe.
Last year, Plant Landshut produced 2.9 million cast metal components including engine parts such as cylinder heads and crankcases, parts for electric drive trains, and vehicle body parts.
EGA’s CelestiAL aluminium is made using electricity generated at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, located in the desert outside Dubai and operated by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority. EGA began production of CelestiAL earlier this month, the first time solar power has been used to produce aluminium commercially worldwide.
Producing aluminium is energy intensive, and generating electricity accounts for some 60 per cent of the global aluminium industry’s greenhouse gas emissions. The use of solar power significantly reduces the emissions associated with aluminium smelting.
Abdulnasser bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of EGA, said, “We are delighted that the BMW Group is the first customer for EGA’s low carbon CelestiAL. Aluminium is lightweight, strong and infinitely recyclable, and that is why it has an important role to play in developing a more sustainable society and making modern life possible. One key example of this is by improving the efficiency of vehicles through reducing their weight.
“But it also matters how sustainably aluminium is made. Solar aluminium is a step forward – using a natural and abundant source of energy in our desert environment to make a metal that is vital to our planet’s future.”
Dr. Andreas Wendt, BMW AG Board Member for Purchasing and Supplier Network, said, “In EGA, we have found a strong partner who values sustainable development just as much as we do. It is a special honour for us to be the first customer to receive aluminium produced using solar electricity. Aluminium plays an important role in e-mobility and using sustainably produced aluminium is tremendously important to our company.”
Rio Tinto smelts aluminium
Another aluminium producer, Rio Tinto, announced this week that they will make sustainable aluminium as well and they will put the traceability part on the blockchain.
Your eco business was already running on a dream and a prayer. How can you make it sustainable and secure as any other kind of business? A great accountant can help. Find one that works paperless too.
Just like how you carefully manage your business to make sure everything is ticking over properly, you should also pay the same attention to the person who is looking after your books too. There are plenty accountants near you. Learn more here on how to find the right person to help your business succeed.
Here are 5 signs it’s time to find a new accountant to tell you more.
You Are Paying Too Much
Your solar panel business needs an accountant. But how much is too much?
Hiring an accountant will incur some expense, but it shouldn’t be the case that they are costing you an absolute fortune. If in doubt, it’s worth shopping around. Have a look at what other accounts charge for the same services to see if what you’re paying is about right or an absolute rip off.
Alternatively, if you want to stay with the same accountant, ask for a breakdown of their charges. It could be you are signed up to services you aren’t aware of but are actually integral to the running of your business. Don’t settle for anything that’s not, though.
They Baffle You With Complicated Jargon
Accountancy is an industry full of complex language and as such, you are going to hear quite a few terms that might go over your head at first. Here’s the thing though, it’s your accountant’s job to deal with the complicated matters relating to your financial affairs – not you.
While they of course need to explain certain procedures to you, it shouldn’t be the case you leave a meeting with them feeling completely exasperated. If your accountant doesn’t break everything down on a human level, it might be time to switch to someone who does.
They Condone Bad Practice
Tax evasion schemes are no laughing matter. In fact, taking part in one could land you in prison or at best with a hefty fine because they are strictly illegal. Tell-tale signs your accountant condones them are that they suggest adding personal items to your business expenses. Or if they tell you to pocket cash ‘off the books’.
A good way to check if you are dealing with a reputable firm is to see if they are registered with any relevant trade bodies. For example, ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales), or ACCA (Association of Chartered Accountants).
Outdated Practices
The basics of accountancy are that more money should be coming in than is going out so that your books look healthy. However, there are so many rules, regulations and practices that are constantly changing that your accountant needs to be aware of. Otherwise, you could be given the wrong information or even subject to HMRC fines.
These days with the number of webinars, trade shows, newsletters and blogs out there, there’s really no excuse not to be in the loop. So, look out for an accountant who is constantly training their staff, rather than a firm who refuses to embrace the present day.
Careless Mistakes
We’re all human so mistakes will happen even with the best of intentions. But given this is your accounts we are talking about, there’s only so much you can forgive. For example, forgetting to submit your tax return after filling it out. Or even recording the wrong expenses. The list of potential errors is endless, and if they happen to be pretty careless ones, you need to question whether you have the right person for the job or not.
If you don’t have absolute confidence in your accountant, then your business output could suffer as a result. There’s really no excuse for messing up what they are specifically hired for, especially if it’s become a regular occurrence. That’s why a fresh pair of eyes is probably needed in the form of a new accountant.
To Sum Up
The best accountants are highly trained, professional individuals. They work efficiently and confidentially to manage your business finances. Their advice and actions should be something that promotes the health of your business, not jeopardise it. If any of the above sounds familiar, then it’s time to find a new accountant who can restore good working order to your books to give peace of mind.
Tracking and tracing a box of shoes with a barcode on its shipping journey from China to America is easily done with a hand scanner. But tracking and tracing every element that makes a shoe a shoe from its laces to the rubber sole, to the cloth and leather to the little bits that make the eyelets, well, it is a feat near impossible. Manufacturers know this and easily slip in exploitive labor and materials from unsustainable –– even polluting –– sources before your lace up those shoes.
But what if there could be a better way? What if you want to buy items like smart phones, cars and even your favorite can of drink, knowing that they’re made from ethically and sustainable sourced materials? It’s about to become a reality with a radical new idea in the raw materials manufacturing space, started by a leading mining and metals company that deals in diamonds, copper, iron ore and aluminum. The metals industry knows consumers are asking for more information on sustainable supply chain and Rio Tinto plans on drastically reshaping accountability in its aluminum business using the power of the blockchain. It’s an initiative aimed at empowering customers and consumers with the information to make informed decisions.
The blockchain known as a powerful and transformative idea for currency, famously, Bitcoin or Ether, can also be applied for logging and securing data for any array of industries from agriculture –– tracking seed to table to any raw material including metals. Rio Tinto has stepped up to create a new standard in transparency and traceability for the aluminium industry with the launch of START. They are calling it a ‘nutrition label’ for responsible aluminium. But the idea can easily be applied to any metal or raw material the same way the Fair Trade labor tracks organic, fair wage coffee around the world. It’s the only kind of coffee I drink now. And I look for these labels.
START launched by Rio Tinto will help customers meet the demand from consumers for transparency on where and how the products they purchase are made.
Rio Tinto aims to empower end-users to make informed choices about the products they buy, enabling them to contribute to a sustainable future, and to differentiate between end products based on their environmental, social and governance credentials.
Tracking 10 ESG elements in the label
With any aluminum manufacturers buy to make products (such as a can of beer, a tin of Coke, your smart phone and lap top, that car you’re driving and the planes we fly in) they will receive a digital sustainability label – similar to a nutrition label found on food and drink packaging – using secure blockchain technology. Rio Tinto’s vision is this information will be passed through the supply chain to become available directly to the end consumer – you and me.
The data in the label will include a carbon footprint – but much, much more. “Green” aluminium is not just low carbon aluminium – as we may have thought about it going back five or more years. Green aluminium should be responsible aluminium, produced with all the ESG credentials and considerations. In fact, the same is true for every industry. Consumers now demand traceability from the cradle to the grave, and in the best cases want to see cradle to cradle initiatives, where products can be made to be recycled easily or upcycled. This is especially true in the mining industry with minerals such as graphite and lithium, highly in demand for the electric car industry.
The label if scanned by a phone or QR code will provide key information about the site where the aluminium was responsibly produced, covering ten criteria: carbon footprint, water use, recycled content, energy sources, community investment, safety performance, diversity in leadership, business integrity, regulatory compliance and transparency. This helps you know that the materials you are using, not only the products you are consuming, are taking a leading edge on being responsible for people and planet. Look at Estée Lauder’s chain of businesses all aiming to go carbon neutral by 2030. If companies don’t start now they will be left behind.
Tolga Egrilmezer, Rio Tinto Aluminium vice president, sales and marketing told Green Prophet: “We are the first in our industry and are setting a new standard for transparency, traceability and responsible production from mine to market. Cradle to Cradle, we hope. Our vision is that customers and end users will be able to showcase the sustainability of the aluminium they purchase from Rio Tinto to their consumers. This will help to put information, data in the hands of customers and consumers so they can make informed decisions about using responsible aluminium, as a sustainable, fully recyclable alternative to other materials like plastic.
Egrilmezer explains that the concept, while a radical step for the industry, is straight forward: “If you think about the nutrition label we’re all used to seeing on a can of drink. START is a ‘nutrition label’ for responsible aluminium, that sets a new standard in transparency and traceability for the industry,” he tells Green Prophet.
“And as an upstream producer, we are the first point in the supply chain. Hence, it has to start with us. Our vision is that customers can showcase the sustainability of the aluminium they purchase from Rio Tinto to consumers. This can deliver full value from our responsible production and empower consumers to make responsible decisions about the materials and products they use every day.”
When you look at companies that rely on aluminum such as the beer and beverage industry, they need products now in a time like this. Even companies making healthier drinks like hard kombucha. They need to know how to sell their princess and packaging. Egrilmezer agrees: “And it can deliver value for our customers with their conversations with their investor/shareholder base about sustainable supply chains and ESG,” he notes.
Offering education and training
The START sustainability label is now available for aluminium purchased from Rio Tinto’s managed operations globally. Through START, Rio Tinto will also provide technical expertise through a sustainability advisory service and support for customers looking to build their sustainability offerings, benchmark and improve performance, support sourcing goals and access to green financing.
Rio Tinto aims to be the world’s most responsible aluminium producer. Across its aluminium operations, Rio Tinto’s greenhouse gas emissions intensity is 60% lower than the industry average. In 2016, Rio Tinto launched RenewAl, the world’s first certified low CO2 primary aluminium brand. It has helped to pioneer responsible production standards for the global industry as a founding member of the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI), becoming the first producer to offer ASI Aluminium in 2018.
Among Rio Tinto’s clients are Apple and Michelob Ultra beer. They just started a pilot with Anheuser Busch InBev to launch of a sustainable, low carbon can in a pilot for Michelob ULTRA.
“Through all of this our focus has been on working closely with customers, end users and supply chain partners to drive real, meaningful change for the industry,” Egrilmezer notes, “We need to do more help our end users stack up our credentials against that of plastic to show how much more environmentally friendly we are as a material. That’s what START is, a massive step forward in articulating the good stories we have and help our end users with the material decision making process. It’s radical transparency and it all STARTs here.”
Cycling, e-biking or walking can help tackle the climate crisis – even if you swap the car for active transport just one day a week – according to a new study led by researchers from the University of Oxford’s Transport Studies Unit.
Emission targets are unlikely to be met without a significant move away from motorised transport, according to the researchers, and shifting to active transport could save as much as a quarter of personal CO2 emissions from transport.
Published in the journal Global Environmental Change, this is the first study of the carbon-reducing impact of city-based lifestyle changes and it reveals that increases in active mobility significantly lower carbon footprints, even in urban European contexts with a high incidence of walking and cycling.
‘By following nearly 2,000 urban dwellers over time, we found that those who switch just one trip per day from car driving to cycling reduce their carbon footprint by about 0.5 tonnes over a year, representing a substantial share of average per capita CO2 emissions,’ says the lead researcher, Oxford’s Dr Christian Brand. ‘If just 10% of the population were to change travel behaviour, the emissions savings would be around 4% of lifecycle CO2 emissions from all car travel.’
Dr Brand says, ‘Our findings suggest that, even if not all car trips could be substituted by bicycle trips, the potential for decreasing emissions is huge.’
Researchers found active travel substitutes for motorised travel – and increases in cycling, e-biking or walking over time independently lowers mobility-related lifecycle CO2 emissions. And swapping the car for a bike or e-bike for just one day a week – or going from ‘not cycling’ to ‘cycling’ – drastically lowers mobility-related lifecycle CO2.
The analysis comes as UK, and the world, enters the 2020s – what needs to be a ‘decade of action’, if global goals to limit rising temperatures are to be met. Ahead of this November’s COP26 UN climate summit in Glasgow, countries are expected to submit enhanced pledges to tackle emissions.
To put this into context, for the cities in this study, average per capita CO2 emissions from transport (excl. international aviation and shipping) ranged between 1.8 tonnes of CO2 per person per year in the UK to 2.7 tonnes of CO2 per person per year in Austria. According to the Global Carbon Atlas, average per capita CO2 emissions from all activities were eight tonnes per year in the UK (on a consumption basis).
The largest benefits from shifts from car to active travel are for business travel, followed by social and leisure trips, and commuting to work or place of study. The finding that those who already cycled had 84% lower CO2 emissions from all daily travel than non-cyclists further shows the population benefits of travelling actively that already exist.
The study collected primary data on daily travel behaviour, journey purpose, as well as personal and geospatial characteristics in seven European cities and derived mobility-related lifecycle CO2 emissions over time and space.
Statistical modelling of longitudinal panel data of 1,849 study participants was performed to assess how changes in active mobility, the ‘main mode’ of daily travel, and cycling frequency influenced changes in mobility-related lifecycle CO2 emissions.
Dr Brand says, ‘A typical response to the climate crisis is to ‘do something’, such as planting more trees, or switching to electric vehicles. While these are important and effective, they are neither sufficient nor fast enough to meet our ambitious climate targets.
‘Doing more of a good thing combined with doing less of a bad thing – and doing it now is much more compliant with a ‘net zero’ pathway and preserving our ‘perfect planet’s’ and our own futures.
‘Switching from car to active mobility is one thing to do, which would make a real difference, and we show here how good this can be in cities. Not just for the climate but also for reducing social inequalities and improving public health and quality of urban life in a post-COVID-19 world.’
Cities across the world will need to increase investment in high-quality infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists and incorporate policy and planning concepts that require a fairly radical rethink of our cities and is likely to reduce inequalities because the concepts involve mixing different population groups rather than maintaining the model of residential zoning by socioeconomic status currently used.
The earliest evidence found to date concerning the production of olives for eating, dating back some 6,600 years, has been found at the submerged chalcolithic site Hishulei Carmel, off the coast at Haifa, Israel. The world’s oldest olive trees were found nearby in Lebanon.
The discovery is described in a new study published in the prestigious journal Scientific Reports by researchers from the University of Haifa, the Technion, Tel Aviv University, the Hebrew University, the Volcani Institute, and other research institutions in Israel and abroad. This discovery predates by around 4,000 years the oldest evidence of the production of olives for eating uncovered until now.
“This latest discovery completes the chain of use of olive trees, beginning with use of the wood for burning, through the production of oil some 7,000 years ago, and on to our finding, where the fruit was used for consumption,” explains Dr. Ehud Galili of the Zinman Institute of Archeology at the University of Haifa, who led the research.
What makes olives a fruit
Olives are, indeed, small fruits that grow on olive trees (Olea europaea). They belong to a group of fruit called drupes, or stone fruits, and olives are related to mangoes, cherries, peaches, almonds, and pistachios.
Olives are very high in vitamin E and other powerful antioxidants. Olives are a key component of the human diet, culinary culture, and economy of the Mediterranean region. Archeological findings and written testimony shows that olive oil was used extensively for consumption, lighting, worship, hygiene, and cosmetic purposes in ancient times. However, the date when olives began to be eaten has remained a mystery.
“Historical documents attribute the first consumption of eating olives in Europe to the middle of the first millennium BCE, and in Egypt to the classical period following the conquest of Alexander the Great, so that all the evidence until now centered on the middle of the first millennium BCE,” notes Dr. Liora Kolska Horwitz of the Hebrew University.
The current study was undertaken at the Hishulei Carmel site (named after a nearby factory), which is situated approximately 500 meters south of the southernmost beaches of Haifa. The site dates back to the Middle Chalcolithic period, some 6,600 years ago. Remnants from this period are now found from the shoreline and to a distance of 120 meters, and at a depth of up to four meters under the sea.
It is believed that in this period the sea level was around three to four meters lower than today, and the coast was some 200-300 meters west of its current location, so that the site was situated on the coast in its day. No remains of residential homes have been found at the site, but the excavations have uncovered round utensils with a diameter of 1.5 meters, made from collected stones.
According to the researchers, these utensils were used as wells or storage pits. During the underwater surveys, the researchers found two oval stone structures containing thousands of saturated olive pits, most of them complete and excellently preserved. In order to identify the use made of the olives, research was undertaken by a multidisciplinary team of archeologists and botanists from 11 research institutions in Israel and abroad.
“As soon as we found the olive pits, we could see that they were different to those used to produce olive oil. In debris from oil production, the pits are mostly crushed, whereas most of the ones were found were whole,” explains Dr. Dafna Langgut of Tel Aviv University. The researchers compared the findings to pits and utensils found by Dr. Galil several years ago at another underwater site – Kfar Samir, off the coast by Dado Beach. Kfar Samir is an older site, dating back 7,000 – 7,500 years, and situated some 1,800 meters from Hishulei Carmel.
The utensils found at Kfar Samir contained crushed olive pits, as well as olive peel, and were identified as debris from the production of olive oil. As noted, the pits found at the Hishulei Carmel site were mostly whole, and no peel or other evidence was found suggesting the production of oil. Moreover, in the remnants of the pits at Kfar Samir the researchers found grains of olive pollen, which is also found today in debris at olive presses. This pollen was not found in the utensils uncovered at the Hishulei Carmel site.
Another factor supporting the assertion that the utensils were intended for the production of olives for eating is the proximity of the sire to the sea. As noted, at the time the site was on the coastline. A coastal location does not permit the storage of olives, due to high humidity which leads to the rapid development of mold.
The researchers believe, it is not logical to suggest that the facilities were used for the storage of fresh olives. Conversely, the coastal location could have provided access to vital ingredients used in the pickling of olives, such as seawater and sea salt. As part of their study, the researchers undertook a controlled examination in a food laboratory at the Technion and managed to cure olives using seawater. “The pickling of olives in the utensils discovered could have taken place after the fruit was washed repeatedly in seawater in order to reduce the bitterness, and then soaked in seawater, possibly with the addition of sea salt,” suggests Prof. Ayala Fishman of the Technion.
“The lack of olive pollen grains in the utensils, which are usually found in olive debris, supports the hypothesis that the olives were washed repeatedly, as is customary to this day when pickling lives,” adds Prof. Mina Weinstein-Evron of the University of Haifa. Wild olives from Mt. Carmel, and possibly olives grown in ancient groves, probably provided the raw material for the production of olive oil and olives for eating,” comment botanists Dr. Simcha Lev-Yadon, Dr. Oz Barazani, and Dr. Arnon Dag.
“We did not find any residential buildings at the Hishulei Carmel site or at Kfar Samir, but we found pits, round utensils, stone grinding basins, sieves made of twigs – and now the olive production facilities. These sites may have served as ancient “industrial zones” for the settlements along the Carmel Coast in the Chalcolithic period, beginning to produce olive oil around 7,000 years ago and olives for eating 6,600 years ago,” concludes Dr. Galili.
Our minds may be affected by winter’s long nights or spring flowers, but what about our bodies? A new study at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel reveals that our hormones also follow a seasonal pattern.
By analyzing the data on several kinds of hormone from millions of blood tests, the researchers discovered that some hormones peak in winter or spring, and others in summer. This research, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), USA, provides a broad, dynamic picture of hormone production – covering those connected, for example, to fertility, but also hormones such as cortisol, which are mostly short-lived and not thought to be seasonal.
Alon Bar led the study together with Avichai Tendler; both are research students in Prof. Uri Alon’s group at the Institute’s Molecular Cell Biology Department.
Alon and his group have developed mathematical tools for uncovering patterns in big biological data, so when a study they had undertaken that focused on a single hormone – cortisol – started to reveal a surprising seasonal pattern, the research team decided to see whether other hormones might also fluctuate seasonally.
They turned to Prof. Amos Tanay of the Computer Science and Applied Mathematics Department, who has access to a database maintained by the Clalit health maintenance organization. Clalit is the largest HMO in Israel and a leader in creating a database that enables researchers to conduct large-scale biomedical studies while fully preserving the subjects’ anonymity. This is the same kind of data that was accessed to understand the impact of Pfizer’s Covid vaccine on immunisation rates.
The team analyzed the hormone levels in males and females between the ages of 20 and 50, in millions of blood tests sorted according to the months of the year. The team estimated that they had ultimately analyzed 46 million person-years; the results for each hormone were averaged from up to six million different blood tests. The researchers tracked 11 different hormones, including cortisol (a stress hormone released by the adrenal glands), a thyroid hormone, reproduction and sex-based hormones and a growth hormone produced in the liver.
Hormones bring babies, not spring flowers
On average, all of these hormones exhibited peaks and dips over the year with a seasonal variation of around 5 percent, but the surprise was the ways in which certain ones peaked at different times. For example, the hormones testosterone and estradiol – one more prevalent in men, the other in women – were mirror images of one another.
That is, in men testosterone peaked in January and again, a bit lower, in August; and in women, estradiol followed the same pattern. In contrast, testosterone in women and estradiol in men peaked closer to April and dipped in the summer.
So the fact that more children are conceived in certain seasons may have more to do with hormone balances than the blooming of flowers in the fields, says Bar.
The difference between hormones that peak in winter-spring and those that wait for summer was more confusing, especially as the ones that peak later in the year – in summer – tend to be the hormones that control the first kind. These hormones are produced in the pituitary, at the base of the brain, and they send messages to the reproductive organs, adrenal glands and others organs that then affect or control bodily functions or reactions.
The researchers call these second hormones effector hormones – that is, the hormones that act directly on the body – and they devised a mathematical model to explain why these two kinds of hormones, which are directly related, should have different high and low seasons. Effector hormones such as cortisol and the pituitary hormones, explains Bar, affect not just the body’s metabolism and functions, but the masses of the organs themselves that secrete the hormones.
That is, the pituitary hormones that stimulate the adrenal glands to produce cortisol also cause these glands to grow. But the cortisol produced in the adrenals causes the pituitary to shrink, thus eventually reducing the amount of stimulation to the adrenals, which shrink back down, and so on in a continual loop.
The dynamic growth and shrinkage of such glands is a known phenomenon, and the researchers were able to link studies measuring the glands to the hormone fluctuations they had observed. Because the entire process takes place gradually over weeks and months, it creates a time lag from winter to summer and back again, and this explains the differences in peaks between the two groups of hormones.
While the exact cause of this cycle was not the subject of the study, the team believes that melatonin – a hormone made in the brain that is triggered by light and dark – is most likely the “hand” that sets this year-long clock in motion.
And assuming that this is the case, they would expect the patterns they found in the Israeli population to be six months earlier (or later) in the Southern Hemisphere, and that stronger peaks and valleys would be found in the population living farther North, where day length between seasons, and thus melatonin production, differs by much more than in Israel. “If we saw a 5 percent difference in Israel, that could be over 15 percent in Northern Europe,” says Bar, and the team did, indeed, find some evidence in the literature on cortisol from the UK, Sweden and Australia to support this idea.
“It is not so surprising that our hormones have seasonal cycles,” adds Alon. “Many animals living in temperate climates have strong cycles, for example, all giving birth in the same season. We think that our hormonal systems have ‘set points’ that produce peaks, for example, in stress or reproductive hormones, and these may be adaptations that evolved to help us cope with seasonal changes in our surrounding environment.”
Maybe you are makers like these guys from Havie. You spend so much time in your craft and money too – should you offer free shipping through platforms like Etsy?
With the development of modern business techniques, many organizations have revamped their strategies to stay relevant to the global market. In the era of digital marketing, websites and ecommerce stores are playing a strong role in providing an online market to the consumers. These platforms provide premium quality products to their customers at a reasonable price, which makes them popular among the digital audience.
Nowadays, free shipping has become extremely common amongst businesses as well. Companies view this as a great marketing strategy. Free shipping has indeed shown great results as 9 out of 10 buyers are attracted to those markets which offer free shipping. Free shipping has a positive psychological influence on the customers, as more than half of the customers look at the shipping fee before they proceed with their shopping spree.
Is the ‘Free Shipping’ Strategy Worth it?
Many businesses have taken on this strategy. It has become so ubiquitous that now customers expect free shipping almost every time they shop from any online platform. Hence, this strategy makes the online business market more competitive and upholds the customer’s requirements. With many brands opting this strategy, it is wise for small businesses to adopt it as well, in order to compete at the highest level. Nonetheless, even if no company has taken on this strategy, then it is a great opportunity for one’s business to utilize. With renowned platforms like Amazon making use of this strategy, the customers have become accustomed to free shipping hence, one’s business needs to stay competitive to be relevant in the market.
Though high numbers and good results can get one excited, companies often fail to understand that this is just one of the many promotional strategies and if the business is not able to handle such extra expenses, they can always opt for another way to promote their business. Many factors may prove that this strategy can become unsustainable for them. There is a high shipping fee over international orders, therefore, companies have to devise a blended strategy accordingly. But they cannot disregard such offers as well since they play a big part in the growth of the company.
Increasing Volume of Sales Through Free Shipping
If a business plays its cards right, it can tremendously increase its sales. Offering free shipping during the season of your top or best selling products can be profitable for the company. Next, set a threshold for free shipping, this will incentivize the customers to shop more till that mark is reached. However, make sure that the threshold is not set too high. Additionally, offer free shipping on returns, only if one’s business rarely gets returns. This tends to build trust between the two parties.
Another good technique would be to mention the amount of money that they have saved from free shipping. Once a company learns how to effectively play out this strategy, they will surely see ascending numbers in their sales. To get free shipping at checkout, customers can make use of online coupons, like Newegg promotion codes to acquire major discounts on a range of products. They provide a list of companies offering free shipping to make life easier for the customers.
Houseplants filter air pollution. But there are other things you can do to make sure your indoor space is healthy.
Indoor air quality is often worse than that of the outside air. That’s tragic that we may spend half or more of our time inside of our homes. Yet we consume energy trying to maintain the comfort of our homes and opening a window to let in fresh air wastes electricity. What is the solution? First start with hacks to make your air conditioner work better because these also improve indoor air quality.
Regularly changing out the air filters in the AC won’t just improve your indoor air quality. It will reduce the wear and tear on the air conditioner motor, extending its life. Cleaning the vents and the condenser coil will improve your permanent or portable unit’s efficiency. This will help you lower your energy bill while keeping cool.
More importantly, it will allow technicians to inspect for coolant leaks. They can fix refrigerant leaks before they result in a hot compressor burning out, and it minimizes the environmental impact such leaks can cause.
What can you do if you aren’t having the AC checked out once a year? Call out an air con repair service as soon as your AC is having problems, so that the minor issues can be addressed before they become expensive failures. We suggest being part of a local WhatsApp group to get the best and current recommendation near you.
Take Care of Your Ductwork
Air conditioning ducts are visible in this cafe. In American homes they are hidden in the walls and floor.
In many homes, heated and cooled air is distributed through the home via ductwork. Dust may stick to the inside of the ductwork. This won’t necessarily get into the air if you turn up the fan, but it can impair the proper flow of air inside your home. The ducts may be trapping moisture. If there is mold growing on the inside of the ducts, you need to have them professionally cleaned to get rid of the mold.
That has the side benefit of reducing respiratory problems airborne mold can cause. Have the ducts inspected periodically. Gaps and breaks in the seal let air-conditioned air escape. That is always a waste of energy, and these breaks in the system provide pests a way into your home.
Invest in HEPA grade filters
Always try to resolve the root cause of a problem, instead of resorting to temporary fixes. For example, you should have your ducts cleaned or the water leak contributing to mold growth fixed rather than spraying deodorizer in the air. You may need to remove the bushes intended to hide the air conditioner from view so that the unit has adequate air flow. A clogged drain in a furnace or air conditioner unit can result in the whole house smelling like mold and mildew.
On the other hand, a bad smell that starts every time you turn on the AC could be due to mold growing in the HVAC filter you haven’t gotten around to changing. If you have bad allergies, or are worried about worsening air pollution, invest in HEPA grade filters and change them regularly. Use a fan to
Replacing the filters more often so that the AC doesn’t have to work as hard to pull in air will lower your electric bill and reduce wear and tear on the equipment. Ask a local serviceperson what they recommend in terms of replacing HEPA filters.
We keep a stand alone HEPA filter in the room to work alongside the air conditioner. It keeps track of the amount of dust and particulate matter in the air and helps us understand when to open the windows and even dust the room.
Diana Babish with a puppy she has rescued from the streets of Bethlehem | Photo: Catholic News Agency
If you’ve traveled to India, Mexico, Amman –– you see that dogs don’t have it so good. They are kicked, wounded, abused, and in some places poisoned or shot on sight–– nursling puppies killed in front of their mothers and then left to rot in a garbage dumpster. Maybe you have heard about litters of puppies and kittens tossed out of the windows of speeding cars? Or puppies kicked around like soccer balls. This is what happens in holy cities like Bethlehem, says Diana George Babish, a devout Catholic who cries about the state of animal rights in her home city, run by the Palestinian Authority.
Diana has taken it upon herself to save every furry or feathery life she can. And it’s a a challenge when kids there prod donkeys with plastic chairs until their intestines fall out of their anus. That’s what happened the first week of February, with the donkey recovering nicely after an operation in Israel, Babish reports.
With no stretch of the imagination Diana is the Patron Saint of puppies, dogs, kittens, lame donkeys and even chickens. She has stood up for animals who can’t speak for themselves.
A donkey on IV, rescued from a secret operation outside of Bethlehem
Her organization Animal and Environment Association Bethlehem Palestine finds homes for about 150 puppies every year, and 70 dogs in Israel by transporting them across the green line in a taxi, but save the lives of thousands more, offering them life-saving treatments before they are put back onto the streets or adopted into homes in the West Bank. The horrific details of abused donkeys, puppies, and cats can be seen on her Facebook page here.
I met Diana through a few of a friend of a friend when I was looking for puppies this past summer. Within an hour she was sending me photos on Whatsapp of scrappy but plump, well-fed puppies. They were all born in backyards of people in Bethlehem or Ramallah, but they were people concerned enough to alert Diana that the animals were there.
We picked two from a pile scrambling around in a pile of garbage in someone’s backyard. A day later Diana arranged the difficult process of sending a taxi to a city she wasn’t at in the West Bank, working as a matchmaker for puppies and people that want them in Israel.
She would find a taxi to pick up the puppies who would cross the Green Line with the driver to bring them to Israel where people are eager to adopt puppies –– and mature dogs. Diana’s dogs come from the West Bank cities and villages around Bethlehem, Ramallah, Hebron, Jenin and Jericho. In some harder cases she can send them to Israeli vets or hospitals for treatment in Israel. But it’s expensive.
She’s currently raising money to build a shelter on land she has already secured outside of Bethlehem.
The day my puppies arrived, Zuckerberg and Shemesh (sun in Hebrew), there was a bit of a mix up and hoping to help bring a wounded dog in our ride to a pet hospital in Israel, the dog died not reaching the veterinarian in time.
Diana was bawling on the phone, and I thought to myself –– if we all could feel this way about the lives of dogs we could surely build an entirely peaceful Middle East. And in the framework of “peace” we could say that Diana’s initiative is creating peace through puppies.
My vet in Israel says that I am lucky to have received puppies from Ramallah who are generally in much, much better condition than the ones rescued from Bethlehem.
Diana is not alone in her rescue mission. She is growing a team of volunteers and spotters around her, locals in the West Bank, neighboring Israelis and internationals who all want to get animals off of the streets.
Since our puppies arrived from Ramallah, it turns out that I have several friends who also have Palestinian dogs. The Covid lockdown has definitely increased the interest for puppies in Israel. Having pets around surely increases the love in any home. Mine are below.
My Palestinian puppy, Zuckerberg
My husband, an Israeli, said what’s happening today in the West Bank –- Ramallah and Bethlehem was how dogs were treated in Tiberias, Israel when he was a kid. The dogs were wild and a local butcher had the job of poisoning them. When the poison didn’t work he would smash the dogs heads in with a rock, sometimes in front of horrified children. As graphic and terrible as it was, this was the reality of the times and place then –- the reality that Diana is living with now, in the less developed Palestinian Authority.
A picture of Jesus, no doubt her inspiration, graces her Facebook. What would Jesus think of abused donkeys in his birthtown Bethlehem? His hands outstretched to welcome all animals.
Diana sees her mission as God’s work.
There are plenty of passages in the Bible that talk about animal rights. When Balaam was torturing his donkey who wanted to protect him from the Angel of Death. There is another passage about not taking away the eggs from a nest when a mother is watching, or not cooking the meat of a calf in the milk of its mother.
Despite her abhorrence for animal cruelty and her fight against it, Diana is getting death threats in Bethlehem for her plan to build an animal shelter in the outskirts of the city. There is fighting at home too: Her father does not welcome the nine dogs she has brought home with her, and it’s a major cause for friction in the home.
Diana’s pets at home
Diana barely sleeps and is free to answer any message I send her, no matter the time of day: “Many people appreciate me and think I am a saint, but I go to sleep drained of energy, with back pain. The puppies –- they need vaccines against diseases and these cost a lot of money with I cover with my own money if the donations don’t come in,” she says.
Our second puppy Shemesh
Her work life is now mixed with her animal rescue efforts –– the need for more resources has meant that Diana had to take on a job managing a bus station, which is not unlike fielding the dozens of calls and text messages she gets every day between found homeless dogs and people who could save or adopt them. The day when my puppies came I think we exchanged 10 calls and about 50 messages. Diana clearly needs more resources to do this important job and we want to help spread the word so she can focus on it full-time.
Diana has a Master’s Degree in International Cooperation and Development and a Bachelor Degree in English Literature. She speaks 6 languages, and probably also the secret languages of animals
A calling from God
“Good people call me or reach out to me on Facebook when they find dogs with broken legs, covered in ticks, burned with acid. Nablus is lucky that they have an amazing vet who saves a lot of puppies for us in the entire West Bank it’s not enough,” she explains.
“What we do is a fight here. It’s really a war. These are difficult times.
“Most of the local authorities support fundraising European Union money for building infrastructure but never do they think about approaching the EU for helping put a stop to stray dogs and taking care of them. Some of my work has been to convince the municipalities that they need to invest in space, land, a clinic, vets.
“I found some land, a big piece of land and I started building a shelter and people there started threatening my life because they didn’t want me to build an animal shelter near them, but if we had it with the help of my volunteers we could find forever homes for all these dogs in Israel.
“Thousands of dogs are shot and killed by the police every year. Whatever they shoot they just throw in the trash. I’ve found puppies shot and they are terrified and crying and it’s horrible,” says Diana on the verge of tears.
I can hear men calling her to work in the background.
“We need awareness here for animal rights. And Covid is making everything worse,” she stresses. “I see more abuse and now have to rescue birds, rabbits, donkeys. Many of these animals I can send to a vegan farm sanctuary in Israel.
“Legally animals are not allowed to cross into Israel. But animals,” stresses Diana, “should not be involved in any human-based conflict. Period.”
“God is pushing me to do this work. I believe it is something sacred,” she concludes.
