How has Oil Performed During the COVID-19 Crisis?

Energy

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May 8, 2020

How has Oil Performed During the COVID-19 Crisis?

saudi oil baron looks to oil field — Khaled al Otaiby, an official of the Saudi oil company Aramco watches progress at a rig at the al-Howta oil field near Howta, Saudi Arabia, on Feb. 26, 1997. Energy is the big strand in a web of U.S.-Saudi economic ties that has grown in the six years since an American-led army rolled back Iraqi aggression in the Persian Gulf. (AP Photo/John Moore)

Oil prices and oil products, including gasoline and diesel, have tumbled in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, and demand is far from ready to rebound. Most of the world is ready to begin the process of reopening their economies, but until consumers get on the road or in the air, oil demand will remain subdued. Generally, at this time of year, US gasoline demand is starting to push into high gear, peaking during the summer above 10-million barrels of demand per day. Ethanol production is experiencing a drastic slowdown in response to the market being flooded with fuel at a time that demand has disappeared.

What Happened?

The novel coronavirus started to spread in Wuhan China and made its way into Asia, and then western Europe. Italy experienced a major outbreak, and in early February the spread of COVID-19 moved into the east coast and the west coast of the United States. The US is the world’s largest consumer of oil, ingesting approximately 20-million barrels a day. As countries around the globe began to shut down, the consumption of petroleum started to drop. In the US, total consumption has declined by approximately 28%, with most of the drop seen in gasoline and jet fuel.

According to the US Department of Energy, the total volume of petroleum products consumed in the last 4-weeks is 14.5 million barrels a day, down by 28.0% from the same period last year. The breakdown is as follows. During the past month, gasoline demand averaged 5.3 million barrels a day, down by 43.7% from the same period last year. Distillate fuel, which includes heating oil and diesel averaged 3.2 million barrels a day over the past four weeks, down by 15.1% from the same period last year. Lastly, the Energy Information Administration reported that Jet fuel demand was down 61.6% compared with the same month last year

The drop in gasoline has harmed renewable fuels such as ethanol. US ethanol exports were already on the decline and the impact of the COVID-19 has made the issue even worse. US ethanol exports fell by 14% in 2019 even though the number of export destinations increased from 34 destinations in 2018 to 39 destinations in 2019. On the renewable front, the lack of gasoline demand has hit harder than diesel. The trucking industry has had to continue moving production and inventory while Amazon trucks have been busy filling everyone’s home shopping needs.

The Decline in Demand was Met with a Supply Cut

The drop in demand has been the catalyst for the decline in prices, but an initial crude oil war, between the Saudi’s and Russian’s, created an impetus to push prices even lower. In the wake of the spread of the virus, OPEC was looking for a solution that could counter the huge decline in demand. Their goal was to cut production, but Russia was uninterested, as they viewed the rise in US production as a major issue. The US has increased production by more than 1-million barrels a day over the past year. Russia wanted the US to cut production as well before it would come to the table.

Eventually, OPEC+ decided on a production cut that would remove 9.7-million barrels a day from global production. Norway recently followed and plans to reduce production in June. The US has not officially joined the production cuts but has been forced to shutter many rigs. The number of oil rigs that are in production in the US, has dropped substantially. In early April, Baker Hughes, the oil rig giant reported that the number of active US rigs drilling for oil dropped by 53 to 325. The oil-rig count has now declined for seven weeks in a row. The total active US rig count, meanwhile, also fell by 57 to 408. This compares to a 35-year high of 1,609 active rigs and a low of 98-active rigs. This has taken 700 thousand barrels a day off the market. The last time the US active rig count was at the current level, the oil production in the US was approximately 9-million barrels a day.

The Bottom Line

The upshot is that demand will need to come back for prices to rise. Companies involved in the production of oil or renewable fuels will remain under pressure until prices can rebound. Oil companies are cutting production and if the lack of demand persists, dozens will go out of business. While the world is slowly beginning to come back and undertake certain activities, without employees going to work, or people taking vacation it’s hard to see petroleum demand rebounding to prior levels.

If you think the Middle East is dramatic now, 2000 years ago it was a telenovela

Ancient

Saeb Rawashdeh

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May 7, 2020

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If you think the Middle East is dramatic now, 2000 years ago it was a telenovela

The relations between the Herodian Kingdom and the Nabatean Kingdom were very complex and involved political, economic and marriage ties. Through the institution of marriage with local dynasties, Herodians consolidated power in the southern Levant and later became Rome’s client state.

Intermarriage between religious groups was not uncommon, people were open-minded, until they were not. Here’s a little history of the way things were in the Levant, where major world religions brewed and fed each other:

The most prominent ruler of the dynasty, Herod the Great who ruled from 74/73 BCE to 4 CE, was a controversial figure according to historical sources, and one of main villains of The New Testament.

However, despite the popular tradition his rule was characterized by colossal buildings in Judea, including a renovation of the Second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, construction of the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, the fortress Masada on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert, the maritime port Caesarea Maritima, and monumental palaces like Herodium, 10 miles south of Jerusalem, and Machaerus, 18 miles southeast from the mouth of the Jordan River.

Although his father Antipater I Idumaean (100 BCE to 43 BCE) was an Edomite and his mother Cypros I, a Nabataean, Herod was raised as a Jew. How about that?

An ancient matchmaker

Herod used marriage to bring together different ethnic groups within his realm and making political alliances with other rulers in the same area. In the First Century BCE many members of the Judean elites were Hellenized, which was also the case with Herodians. The process of Hellenization enabled these elites to consolidate and expand their rule in the southern Levant.

The founder of the dynasty, Antipater I already designed a marriage strategy to boost his influence in the region and took a Nabataean noblewoman Cypros I as a wife. She was related to the Nabataean King Aretas III, also known as Philhellen which means Friend of the Greeks.

Kings as babysitters

Relations between them became so cordial that Antipater I would entrust the Nabataean king to take care of his sons while he was participating in the military campaigns against Hasmonean Aristobulus II (66 BC-63 BC).

According to Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian (37 CE to 100 CE), Antipater I used the Nabataean backing to contact Pompey and Roman generals in the east. Then Antipater I forged an alliance with Caesar, and for his ongoing support of Rome he was awarded with the prize of not having to pay taxes.

His ascendants automatically became the Roman citizens, therefore his marriage to Cyprus I is only one aspect of a much broader policy that sees Antipater I taking advantage of multiple social, religious and ethnic identities.

However, political relations were not always idyllic: when Cesar was assassinated in Rome in 44 CE the East entered a period of chaos and the Nabataeans mistakenly sided with the Parthians. After the Romans defeated the Parthians, the Nabataean Kingdom was obliged to pay tribute to Romans.

The Roman state used Herod I to punish the Nabataeans when they failed to pay the tribute on time and in 36 BCE Herod I expanded his realm at the expense of the Nabataean Kingdom taking its northern swaths. Wadi Mujib, the biblical Arnon Stream, was a border between Nabataean and Herodian states and, according to a Greek archaeologist Konstantinos Politis, the late researcher Taysir Atiat found a Nabataean temple and a watch tower on the mouth of Wadi Mujib.

Within a Herodian Kingdom there was a port on the eastern side of the Dead Sea called Ain –ez Zara, with rooms for shops as it was part of the incense trade route. Further up an ancient road connects Ain ez-Zara with Machareus fortress, a border stronghold and a palace of King Herod the Great. It was a part of the defensive line with a small settlement under the palace, which was a place where St. John the Baptist was beheaded around 29 CE.

A breakup that leads to war

Herod Antipas (20 BCE to 39 CE) was one of sons of Herod the Great and ruled the Galilee and Perea, where in the former province established a city of Tiberius named after his patron Emperor Tiberius. Continuing practice of his predecessors, he married Phasaelis, a daughter of the Nabataean King Aretas IV. The breakup of that marriage was a pretext for the war between Aretas IV and Herod Antipas as the former invaded Perea and defeated Antipas.

According to Josephus, Jews attributed the defeat of Herod Antipas in 36 CE to the beheading of John the Baptist.

A few generations earlier, the romantic relation took place between Salome, the sister of Herod I, and the Nabataean vizier Syllaeus, who came to Jerusalem in 20 BCE to negotiate a loan of 60 talents on the behalf of the Nabataean King Obodas III.

Afraid of the pagans at Petra

Despite the objections from Herod the Great, his sister continued to date the ambitious Nabataean deputy. Herod I had tense relations with Obodas III and paranoid, as he was, Herod I thought that Syllaeus would depose him and become the ruler of Judea. Several months later, when Syllaeus returned to Jerusalem to propose to Salome, Herod I added the condition that he had to become a Jew and undergo circumcision.

Fearing the reaction and potential stoning by his fellow pagans in Petra, Syllaeus backed off returning to the Nabataean capital empty handed, without love.

The identity of the Herodians was fluid and dynamic, transforming from one ethnicity, culture and religion to another. The choice of the spouse or partner depended on the constellation of power and relations with the Nabataean kings who were also politically submissive to the Romans.

When Jews rebelled in 70 CE, the Nabataeans joined the Roman army who crashed the uprising. However, the Nabataeans’ relative independence didn’t last for too long and Emperor Trajan annexed their kingdom in 106 CErenaming it in the province Arabia Petrea.

Planet of the Humans: there is also earth-friendly, local mining

Act
Energy

Karin Kloosterman

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May 7, 2020

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Planet of the Humans: there is also earth-friendly, local mining

Planet of the Humans, Michael Moore, director

Michael Moore’s explosive documentary, Planet of the Humans, full documentary can be seen below, shows how the renewable energy business can never be sustainable. Part of the reason is really about raw materials and where we source them from, like graphite. Lithium ion batteries in electric cars for instance are so energy intensive and have travelled thousands of miles before the owner drives it one, and the reason is because of where we source raw materials.

The production of rare earth metals is a global $4 billion annual market that continues to grow as renewables, solar panels, wind turbines, new electronics, computerized engines for aircraft, warships, electric automobiles, magnets and other critical products are developed that need rare earth metals to perform. The value of the products that require rare earth metals to function is valued at more than $4 trillion per year.

The current challenge is that just one country, China, owns the market on extracting and purifying this critical resource despite the fact that other global countries, including the US, are rich in such metals. The detrimental environmental impact of current acid based separation and purification of rare earth metals prohibits most companies across the globe from entering the market.

New environmentally friendly technologies promise to be “game changers” in this field and enable the US to create a more stable and reliable domestic source of these essential metals. Purdue University-patented extraction and purifying processes using ligand-assisted chromatography are shown to remove and purify such metals from coal ash, recycled magnets and raw ore safely, efficiently and with virtually no detrimental environmental impact.

“It’s a supply chain challenge with wide implications on the US economy and national security. We have a critically needed product and one dominant source for this product. This new patented process promises to enable US independence from the China near monopoly,” said Dan Hasler, founder of Hasler Ventures. “This technology has been researched and developed at Purdue University for more than a decade and has proven to be versatile and robust.”

Hasler Ventures has secured rights from the Purdue Research Foundation that grant the company first rights to commercialize the technology’s intellectual property.

The technology – developed and patented from the laboratory of Nien-Hwa Linda Wang, Purdue’s Maxine Spencer Nichols Professor of Chemical Engineering – has successfully shown to separate the rare earth metals without the devastating environmental effects of conventional acid based methods with high yield and purity.

“About 60% of rare earth metals are used in magnets that are needed in almost everyone’s daily lives. These metals are used in electronics, airplanes, hybrid cars and even windmills,” Wang said. “We currently have one dominant foreign source for these metals and if the supply were to be limited for any reason, it would be devastating to people’s lives. It’s not that the resource isn’t available in the US, but that we need a better, cleaner way to process these rare earth metals.”

According to Wang, after China reduced the export quotas for rare earth metals in 2010, the costs of rare earth magnets for one wind turbine increased from $80,000 to $500,000. After China relaxed the export restrictions 18 months later, the prices returned to lower levels than in 2010.

“Conventional methods for producing high-purity rare earth elements employ two-phase liquid–liquid extraction methods, which require thousands of mixer-settler units in series or in parallel and generate large amounts of toxic waste,” Wang said. “We use a two-zone ligand-assisted displacement chromatography system with a new zone-splitting method that is producing high-purity (>99%) metals with high yields (>99%).”

Wang’s ligand assisted method has the potential for efficient and environmentally friendly purification of the rare earth metals from all sources of recyclates, such as waste magnets and ore-based sources and helps transform rare earth processing to a circular, sustainable process.

“We continue to work diligently in the lab to learn how to adapt the ligand-assisted system to many variations we see in source material and are excited to collaborate with and assess the suitability of potential partners source material be it recycled magnets and batteries, coal ash or domestically mined ore.

Joe Pekny, a Purdue professor of chemical engineering said Wang’s innovation enables the U.S. to reenter the rare earth metals market in a significant way and sustainable way. “Linda’s method replaces a very inefficient process and replaces it with an earth-friendly, safe extraction process,” he says.

Middle Eastern vices

Lifestyle

Karin Kloosterman

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May 7, 2020

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Hookah pipe or shisha pipe, a dangerous middle east vice that can be addictive and make you sick — *Addictive shisha pipe smoking.*

The Middle East is synonymous with good food and over-zealous smokers. The poorer the town or village and the more you will see chain smoking in younger populations. You see it in the teeth. We know smoking is a vice that is not good to start.

But what if it’s too late for you? You started and you can’t stop? We know that pretty much any vice except watching kitten videos on the Internet isn’t going to be good for you.

I have friends in Tel Aviv that smoke one cigarette a day –– at the end of the day with a glass of wine –– and have done so for years without leaping to 2 or 3 or half a pack. I think that is a sensible vice. No doubt there are ways to enjoy a vice without it getting out of control.

Middle Eastern vices are not the same that you find in America or Europe. In the Middle East it’s about hashish. Americans and Canadians love cannabis now, and everywhere in Canada, and in more than half of the US States, you will have no problem with this vice. It is even being given out as medicine to help epilepsy, anxiety, pain from cancer.

woman smiling smoking cannabis — *Woman passing a cannabis joint with CBD and THC.*

We know Europeans, especially the french smoke too many cigarettes too, and Americans are busy making a good old healthy THC-less CBD tincture while out foraging for plants and mushroom chaga tea and living the #vanlife.

Smoking the hookah pipe

One of the most popular Middle East vices are hookah or shisha pipe smoking (nargila in Israel), which are those big Arabian-styled smoking pipes that look like they are from Aladdin’s cave. They get stuffed with a fruit flavored tobacco which is just as, even maybe more dangerous than regular cigarettes if you read some of our past articles. Don’t be fooled by the sweet smelling aroma.

What is ghat?

Ghat, khat or gat is another vice that started in Yemen, but if you look around the markets around the Middle East you will find ghat leaves for sale – even in Israel. They give a moderate to mild high, and the most addictive part of ghat might be behavioural as it might be the only activity some people in Yemen want to do. It’s been creating some environmental problems in Yemen too.

Man chewing gat leaves in Yemen — *Hanging out, chewing gat in Yemen.*

It is estimated that people in Yemen eat as much as 500 grams of the stuff each day, and seem to be content to enjoy just sitting around and being mildly intoxicated by its effects, which many say are a substitute for the favorite vice of the west –– alcohol –– (officially banned in Muslim Yemen), tobacco, and certain mild narcotics like hashish.

What is Middle Eastern snuff?

A lesser known vice found in the Middle East is naswār or nas. It is a moist, powdered tobacco snuff used in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Russia and Uzbekistan. Stuff if into the floor of your mouth or the inside of your cheek for 20 minutes and feel the same high effect from snus or dipping tobacco. Naswar was introduced into Western Europe by Ramon Pane, a Spanish monk after Columbus sailed the Americas from 1493-1496.

Years later in 1561, Jean Nicot, a French ambassador in Lisbon, Portugal, sent naswar to Catherine de’ Medici to treat her son’s ongoing migraine headaches.

Is coffee a vice?

Vices, including coffee, all seem to start from a place where they help us all feel a little bit better. Whether they calm depression after a breakup (I started smoking after a really sad breakup years ago), or take the edge off a headache or a rough time at work, or not having work.

It’s all about moderation, my dear, my mother used to tell me. Although I think she also called cannabis devil’s weed. So take even Mom’s advice with a grain or salt.

Solar energy plants in the desert – a planning guide

Nature

Karin Kloosterman

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May 7, 2020

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Solar energy plants in the desert – a planning guide

solar power plant aora energy israel — Solar power plants in the desert make use of wasted land, right? Think again. The desert soil has a complex network of pores in its unique soil. This takes hundreds, maybe thousands of years to create. Disturbing the desert may have implications on desertification, flash floods and who knows what else.

While it might look like deserts don’t have soil, they do. It’s just very different from those kinds of soil found anywhere else. Extreme temperatures, very little water and limited plant matter to degrade on the surface make an unusual environment. With little dead plant material to decompose and create a rich layer of organic matter, desert soils are unique. And they need to be protected, finds new research. This is especially important for renewable energy installations being built in the desert, like solar power plants or military installations. For almost ever, people believed that deserts don’t harbor soil or life, but they really do.

It’s just different than what we know and the answers to keep deserts alive are in the pores of the desert soil.

Judith Turk researching fragile desert soil — It takes thousands of years to create and can be wiped out by one dump-truck. Desert soils are fragile eco-systems. Look to the soil. *Researchers measure soil infiltration in desert soils near Alkali Lake, NV. Credit: Judith Turk*

Judith Turk, an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the United States, studies the top layer of desert soils, called the vesicular horizon. This surface layer of the soil is common in deserts and contains pores – or tiny holes – of different shapes, called vesicles and vughs.

“These horizons are important because of their role in many processes,” Turk says. “Vesicular horizons determine how much water soaks into the soil and how much runs off. Since they occur in deserts, they control the distribution of the most limiting resource, which is water.”

Vesicular pores are spherical, look a bit like bubbles, and are not connected to each other. Vughs are similar but more irregular in shape, almost like a clump of bubbles that have not fully separated from each other.

Predict impact on floodwater runoff, flash floods

Turk wanted to learn how these horizons form across different desert soils. In their most recent experiment, they chose small plots of the soils and took samples. They then crushed the soil so the formation of pores would have to start from scratch. They checked the porosity of the soils over the course of a year to compare.

“First, we found that infiltration rates were lowered as a result of disturbance,” Turk explains. “This would normally not be surprising, since disturbance compacts the soil, reducing porosity, and breaking up the pore networks that water flows through.

“However, the pores in V horizons are different,” she says. “Most of the pores are not connected with each other and therefore contribute little to permeability of the soil. So, we weren’t sure how disturbance would affect these horizons.”

She adds that what did surprise them was how a soil’s texture determined how well its porosity in this soil layer came back. They assumed that a soil with more silt would be better for vesicle formation but found vesicles formed more rapidly in relatively sandy soils.

“The capacity for vesicular pores to reform within a year after the V horizon is disturbed is something that is interesting,” Turk says. “The post-disturbance V horizons being thinner with smaller pores tells us that what we observed in the undisturbed soils takes time to form.”

It is important to study these soils because semi-arid lands cover about one third of the planet’s land area. Soils with V horizons are often disturbed because populations of cities in arid environments are growing. There is construction of solar and wind farms, and these areas are popular for military exercises.

oman desert — Much of Oman is desert, but the Arabian Sea coast in the Dhofar region represents a startling difference in climate. This coastal region catches the monsoon rains, or khareef, during the summer months. Drenching rains fall primarily on the mountainous ridge that separates the lush, fertile areas along the coast from the arid interior, recharging streams, waterfalls, and springs that provide plentiful water supplies in the fertile lowlands for the remainder of the year.

It’s vital to take the researchers’ findings into account when planning to disturb the soil.

“Many people are surprised to learn that there are interesting soils in the desert,” she says. “When I moved to California for graduate school, I fell in love with the desert lands of the western US. In the desert you can see the land surface and it’s easy to imagine the processes that have built the soil landscapes that we see today.”

Beat COVID-19 boredom with a few free clicks

Lifestyle

Faisal O'Keefe

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May 6, 2020

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Beat COVID-19 boredom with a few free clicks

It’s now months into your hometown’s COVID-19 paralysis and you’ve exhausted ways to keep positive and productive. You need to replenish your toolkit of coping techniques, whether you’re cooped up solo, shacked up with a mate, or running a home school – slash – daycare center. Fear not! Green Prophet brings you point and click diversions, all free.

I’m in New York City. I’ve Marie Kondo-ed my apartment three times. Cooked weeks’ worth of new vegetarian meals, and shared them with neighbors. Sewn dozens of goofy face masks ’til my elastic stash ran dry.

I’m lucky in that I’m still working; hours of ZOOM and WebEx conferences where the new virtual office “bingo” is guessing who’ll talk the longest before realizing they’re on mute.

Netflix binging and the head-twist of switching between CNN and Fox News have lost their charms. And the 7 PM ringing of pots and pans and clapping and singing for our medical workers – while heartfelt – has me eyeing the rooftops for a good jumping off point.

So much for being positive and productive. What I need is a new diversion. Seems I’m not at all alone. Casting out a net via the internet – a digital call for help – and I caught a whopper. A list, ever-changing and expanding, of free experiential websites that surely contain something that appeals to you.

Check it out, and widely share. And if you have links to other sites that will take users on a much-needed break from current events – please drop them in the comments section. Wash your hands, don’t touch your face, and enjoy.

Drawing:

Drawing tutorials and live draw sessions

Design a Sketchbook

Create your Ideal Bookshelf

Art links – drawing, painting, etc.

Coronavirus Reward Stickers

Shoes to Color

Museums:

The Metropolitan Museum

Google Arts & Culture

1200 museums online

Musee d’Orsay

Boston Children’s Museum

Cooper Hewitt “Digital Mansion”

NYC Museum List

Books:

Download free books from New York Public Library

Outdoor Destinations:

National Park Virtual Tours

Tour the Great Wall of China

Virtually Tour Famous Gardens

Georgia Aquarium Live Feed

Explore Yellowstone National Park

Farm Tour

Tour Mars with the Curiosity Rover

New York Botanical Garden at Home

Home Workouts;

For Beginners

15 min beginner workout

20 min – no equipment needed

28-day challenge

Low impact cardio

Additional Resource: The Best Deadlift Bar and Deadlift Brands

Yoga:

Dance:

Caribbean Dance Fitness

Belly Dance Basics

Dance Fitness

Zumba

Scientific 7 Minute Workout

Bollywood Dance Basics

Hip Hop Dance Basics

Debbie Allen dance lessons

Music:

Online Music Education

Billboard magazine live stream concerts

Marie’s Crisis Live Piano Bar

Public Broadcasting S 13 Play Recordings

Opera:

The Met Live Streams

Vienna Opera

Puzzles:

Japanese crossword puzzles

Mental Health:

Free Online Classes

Comedy:

Comedy Cellar live stream shows

Animals:

Baby Goat Cam

San Diego Zoo Cam

Aquarium Cam

Smithsonian National Zoo Cam

Sewing:

Learn to Sew

Sew Face Masks

Free films:

Stream curated shorts from Tribeca Film Festival

Free films online

Jewish films and television

Documentaries from Field of Vision

Public Broadcasting free films

Free cultural and educational content

Theater:

15-Broadway-plays-and-musicals-you-can-watch-on-stage-from-home

Streaming Musicals and Theater

More Free Theater

National Theater streaming

Links to streaming theater that’s available now

Cooking:

Cooking with Massimo Bottura

Cooking with Antoni Porowski

Food Network Kitchen App

Kids:

Live Doodling with Mo Willems daily

Teaching Kids to Sew

Virtual Field Trips for Kids

Tuesday story telling with the Moth and activities for kids

Educational Netflix Shows

Engineering activities for Kids

Scary Crime Stories:

True Crime – listen read, watch

Find something you liked? Know some links we missed? Please drop your info in the comments section. We all need more positive diversion.

Pregnant as a global nomad

Krista Nieuwstraten

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May 5, 2020

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pregnant #vanlife nomad — *Not having a stable home or the advice of other cultures are a couple of the challenges, and maybe advantages.*

My life, for the past few years, has been anything but common. So when I found out of was expecting a baby – roughly 32 weeks ago – I knew my pregnancy wouldn’t go by the book either.

Any pregnancy is a rollercoaster ride of hormones and emotions, causing amazing and unexpected changes to your body and mind. Add to that some extra ingredients, like a foreign daddy and a nomadic lifestyle, and you’re in for a wild ride. This is the story of my pregnancy and how my lifestyle influenced the way I prepared for the birth of my baby boy.

New life: chapter one

The story started roughly four years ago when I gave up my regular 9-to-5 existence and decided to travel the world. I quit my job and home, sold my belongings, and bought a one-way ticket to Asia. Little did I know my adventure would forever change my world views and turn into a lifestyle. I was planning on traveling for six months. I never quit. After years of happily roaming around, I found love in Indonesia and temporarily settled down there. Then, life took another unexpected turn and announced a new phase: I was pregnant and to become a first-time mommy.

krista with muslim friends — *Me and new friends in Indonesia.*

A few months into my pregnancy, I felt the need to go home and see my family and friends. And so it happened that I spent the first half of my pregnancy in Indonesia and the second one in my home country, the Netherlands. As a result, I got to experience a whole range of cultural practices related to pregnancy. Like any cross-cultural learning experience, it has been confusing at times but enriching in the end. Ultimately, it enabled me to see and pick the best of both worlds.

Staying healthy while pregnant

pregnant wand walking as a global nomad — *Here I am taking a walk in a forest in Holland.*

During the first half of my pregnancy, I went to an Indonesian hospital for my monthly check-ups. After I arrived in the Netherlands, the regular check-ups were performed by a midwife. Not much of a difference there. Bigger differences appeared in the way Indonesian and Dutch society treat pregnant women an expect them to stay healthy during those nine months.

In Indonesia, people were generally pretty relaxed about the whole thing – as they are about everything. Their pregnancy rituals are guided by traditional beliefs and customs. Some of those made a lot of sense to me (pregnant women have to walk a lot and cover their heads from the sun), while others just didn’t (pregnant women can’t wear a wristwatch or sit on the doorstep). Lucky for me, as a foreigner I wasn’t expected to abide by all the cultural rules.

pregnant woman Indonesia — *Cover your head, don’t wear a watch. Some of the pregnancy customs in Indonesia.*

Life in the Netherlands, on the other hand, tends to be very organized and structured. As I found out, this applies to pregnancy as well. After having spent years in Asia, arriving back home meant I experienced some sort of reversed culture shock – in my own country.

Pregnant women in the Netherlands receive lists with baby items they should purchase, get overwhelmed with books and magazines, and are more or less expected to take some kind of pregnancy course to prepare for childbirth. More than anything, it made me feel nervous, as if giving birth and taking care of a baby wasn’t a natural thing that I should be able to do without having studied for it.

Fortunately, I had a pretty down-to-earth midwife, who assured me I would be fine with or without pregnancy yoga. I decided to simply take things as they came. I skipped the opinions of Internet experts and ignored my mom’s well-meant but counterproductive advice. Instead, I chose to trust in the strength of my own body and mind to guide me through it all. I did my own at-home yoga, went for nature walks, and made sure I ate healthy food and got plenty of rest. Listening to my body and staying calm were my main mantras.

Baby stuff overload

Back in the Netherlands, I was also confronted with another reality that had not been part of my world for a while: that of a society built around consumerism. While abroad, I learned to appreciate a simple life, free of most materialistic possessions. I watched my partner’s little nephew grow up with few toys, but endless opportunities for playing on the beach. I’m convinced he’s no less happy for it.

The Dutch way of life is different though. A visit to a baby store left my mind dazzling. There were just so many products to choose from. I saw baby strollers the price of small second-hand cars – and people were actually buying them. Future parents apparently feel like they have to get their baby top-of-the-line products, in order to fulfill their parental duty to the best of their ability. Or maybe they just like being fashionable.

Whatever the reason, I had opted out of that mindset long ago and wasn’t planning on going back to it now. Many baby products have an ultrashort lifespan and get tossed after having been used for a short period of time. As I’m planning to go back to Indonesia after the baby is born, I would only really be using them for a couple of months. Nope, my baby wouldn’t be showered with stuff, but with love.

Getting ready for the baby, minimalist-style

In practice, making green and sustainable pregnancy choices turned out to be easy. I’m at that age where all my friends have babies and young kids. Many of them were more than happy to get rid of the baby furniture they no longer needed. Presents from family and friends did the rest. Within a few weeks, I managed to gather all the necessities for a complete second-hand baby room, including a closet bursting with perfectly fine used baby clothes.

As I moved in with family, I don’t actually have a separate baby room, by the way. The baby’s crib is standing right next to my own bed. While born out of necessity, I feel good about having my baby close to me for the first few months. And guess what: I found out it’s what the experts recommend too.

I figured it was no use investing in a baby stroller, as I won’t be able to bring it on a plane or use it on the island in Indonesia. Instead, I invested some money in good quality, ergonomic baby carriers, which are convenient when traveling and can be used anywhere.

When I picked up one of those very Dutch checklists to check if I really had everything I needed, I took a practical approach. I resolved to buy the remaining items that seemed essential to me, but skip the items I wasn’t sure I would need. I could always buy those later, if necessary.

After all the essentials were in place, it was time to think about baby cards. I decided to not send any traditional paper cards. Instead, I designed my own virtual cards online, which can be sent through Whatsapp or e-mail. The designing process was a lot of fun and honestly, the end result is more personal than any ready-made card could be.

Finally, there was the diaper issue: reusable diapers, yay or nay? My green heart bled but lost the battle. The traveler in me decided to go with the most practical solution. In Indonesia, I won’t have a proper washing machine at my disposal and washing diapers by hand won’t get them clean. Disposable diapers it is. If I were to stay in the Netherlands, I would probably have decided differently.

Riding the waves of change

With eight weeks to go, I’m pretty much ready for my baby boy to arrive. The countdown has started. Throughout the past seven months, I have been going through all kinds of emotions, ranging from happiness to panic. Perhaps the most prominent emotion has been uncertainty. Uncertainty about the future and my own capability to be a mom, provide for my baby and give it everything it needs.

The way I see it, it is all part of the nine-month process of becoming a mom. Whenever major life changes occur and require you to transform, this is accompanied by a certain amount of uncertainty. Becoming a mom is definitely a major life change, requiring a major transformation. Becoming a mom in a non-standard situation demands even more flexibility and adaptation. But in the end, the principle is the same. It’s all about learning to ride the waves of change. No matter how big the waves. And there’s nobody who can tell you how to do it. You have to do it your own way.

10 breastfeeding products you do not need to buy

The thing about pregnancy and becoming a mom is this process of change is designed by Mother Nature herself. Because you’re a woman, everything you need to know is already there inside you. So I only have one piece of advice to other moms-to-be: stay true to yourself. Don’t let other people pressure you into buying stuff you don’t need and don’t let so-called experts talk you into doing things that feel unnatural to you. You know what is best for you and your baby. Have faith in that.

Latest Advancements in Green Seed Tech

Food
Health

Bhok Thompson

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May 5, 2020

2

When the average consumer thinks of seed tech, his or her thoughts usually wander immediately to GMO crops. Thankfully, today’s innovators are coming up with more than just ways to genetically enhance crop plants to increase pesticide tolerances. Read on to find out about a few of the latest advancements in green seed tech that show promise for ecologically conscious gardeners and growers.

Improved Medical Cannabis

Evogene has recently branched out into the growing field of medical cannabis. Their recently developed subsidiary Canonic plans to focus on addressing current market roadblocks like genetic stability, yield, and metabolite composition using Evogene’s Computational Predictive Biology (CPB) platform. With the legal cannabis market poised to continue its current growth trajectory worldwide, medical growers are constantly looking for the next great thing. They can order seeds for the coming season if they need more from i49.

Non-GMO Seed Breeding

Equinom is a non-GMO seed breeding startup whose work focuses on tech-driven breeding methodologies for a greener future. This Israeli startup will be using the $10 million it raised recently to figure out how to harness natural genetic variation in plants instead of altering their genomes. They plan to revolutionize the way consumers think about plant-based protein by creating “smart seeds” that re more nutritious than ordinary market varieties. Consider that you can grow plants to boost certain elements of a plant personalized to you, like molecules that enhance aspects of the plant, like CBD for making your own melatonin gummies.

AI-Powered Container Farms

Indoor container farming and growing have been around for a while, but Seedo Corp. plans to revolutionize the industry by introducing one of the world’s first commercially viable, fully automated indoor growing machines. The machine is designed for use in commercial-scale, pesticide-free farms and grow ops, which the company’s CEO Zohar Levy believes will be the future of farming. The machine leverages the power of AI to provide optimal growing conditions in airtight, stackable containers to increase usable space and reduce environmental footprints.

Naturally Increased Outdoor Yields

Kaiima Agro-Biotech focuses on increasing yields in outdoor farms, gardens, and grows using a completely different methodology. Kaiima focuses on naturally doubling plant chromosomes to increase photosynthesis and improve plants’ adaptability to field conditions, increasing yields by as much as 10 to 50%. While other companies have attempted to induce artificial polyploidy or chromosome doubling, Kaiima is one of the first companies to successfully employ natural methods that don’t damage the plants’ DNA.

Combating Climate Change-Induced Yield Reductions

At this point, there is little doubt in most experts’ minds that climate change is the planet’s new reality. That doesn’t just mean increasing temperatures. It also creates perfect conditions for more frequent and more intense inclement weather events, ranging from flooding to periods of extreme drought.

Some ag-tech companies are already developing solutions for what most assume is now an inevitable problem. These solutions include advances in drip irrigation and fertilization, reclaiming of marginal water, and new methods for restoring degraded soil. Given that the world’s population is only continuing to rise, it’s a good thing so many established companies and startups are focusing on finding a way to feed everyone sustainably.

The Bottom Line

Gone are the days when seed tech companies focused exclusively on creating genetically altered crops and more powerful pesticides. Today, green seed tech is on the rise and plant breeders, tech experts, and innovators across the world are jumping on board with this trend. Only time will tell which of the innovative crop and seed technologies now in development will prove commercially viable, but there’s no denying that it’s an interesting time for farmers, gardeners, and growers.

A Bright Future for Impossible Foods and OSI Group

Food

Bhok Thompson

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May 4, 2020

0

A Bright Future for Impossible Foods and OSI Group

Meatless burger startup Impossible Foods and major food processor OSI Group are poised to continue on their path toward financial success even in the face of a massive downturn in the global economy. As the younger generation continues to seek alternatives to traditional food sources such as beef, pork, and chicken, new research, new funding, and a vision for a healthy future spur this partnership forward.

OSI Group and Impossible Foods Secure Partnership

In April 2019, Impossible Foods continued to expand its product placement through a partnership with Burger King that brought its meatless patties to over 7,000 restaurants nationwide. Faced with a sudden increase in demand, Impossible Foods struggled to fill orders while maintaining a focus on research for new product development. The answer to the problem came in the form of partnering up with OSI Group, the operator of massive food processing plants around the world. This allowed Impossible Foods to continue to meet surges in demand without sacrificing quality or turning all of its home office employees into factory workers.

Demand for Meatless Burgers Soars as Supply Increased

Even as Impossible Foods reaped the rewards of its successful fast food rollout, its major competitor, Beyond Meat, further fueled the love for everything plant-based as it went public. 2019 turned into a golden era for the alternative food businesses as larger segments of the population tested out the new burgers and discovered that grilling in the backyard did not require red meat to be tasty. The impossible Burger saw increases in demand in the double digits. Meanwhile, OSI Group lost no production in its Mid-West facilities as the company was able to shift production time from beef to the newer meatless product.

Why the Global Demand for Meatless Burgers Now?

Just before the headlines were flooded with the global pandemic, a widespread infection of China’s pig population with African Swine Flu was reported. As the largest pork producer in the world, pork prices were prepared to skyrocket in European and American supermarkets for the 2020 year, if pork was exported from those geographies to China in order to meet consumer demand. Every year reports of e-coli, bird flu, and other food contamination grab the average consumer’s attention. Meanwhile, those supporting a more eco-conscious way of feeding the world have determined that turning plants into meat-substitutes is far less toxic to our environment. Ultimately, shoppers looking for a safer, competitively priced, and greener option for their meals are grabbing more and more meatless options for the dinner table.

Fresh Infusion of Cash Provides a Buffer Against Uncertain Economy

In the early days of 2020, the whisperings of a pandemic closing down China and many European nations began to filter through the media. Focused on future growth, Impossible Foods took vital steps to ensure that the fledgling food manufacturer could weather the impending economic storm. The company worked quickly to secure an additional $500 million in further investment funding, bringing its total investments to $1.3 billion since it was founded, and guaranteeing it could continue to produce and distribute its meatless burger during the crisis. Before the federal government determined which businesses would be considered essential, OSI Group and Impossible Foods were positioned to reap the rewards of an entire nation seeking variety when faced with cooking at home for an extended period.

Impossible Foods and OSI Group are Positioned for Future Success Even in the Aftermath of COVID-19

Once the storm clouds recede, what else is on the horizon for this new segment of the food industry? Impossible Foods earmarked a significant portion of its investment funds for research as consumers around the globe begin to look for better alternatives to other animal-based proteins such as fish, pork, and poultry. Impossible Foods will also want to rapidly expand its product line as the public will be hypersensitive to illnesses caused by food-borne contaminants. Plant-based and processed foods like the meatless burger can reduce the chances of dangerous bacteria reaching the consumer’s table.

The processing power that OSI Group maintains combined with the cutting-edge food technology brought to the table by Impossible Foods leaves them both ready to meet a surge in demand while the world recovers from the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Combined with the waning interest in traditional fast food choices like fried beef burgers, Impossible Foods can anticipate continual growth, a profitable first public offering, and a future bright with promise with partner OSI Group by its side.

Time to pull the plug? Sniff test predicts life after coma

Health

Karin Kloosterman

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May 4, 2020

0

Time to pull the plug? Sniff test predicts life after coma

blond woman in green sweater smelling white flowers, sky background — *When is it time to pull the plug when in a coma? When in doubt, use the sniff test, say researchers*

Should you pull the plug or keep ralliyng for hope? The sniff response can predict who will regain consciousness, and will say with about 90% accuracy who will survive for at least three years.

If an unconscious person responds to smell through a slight change in their nasal airflow pattern – they are likely to regain consciousness. This is the conclusion from a new study conducted by Weizmann Institute scientists and colleagues at the Loewenstein Rehabilitation Hospital, in Israel.

According to the findings, published in the journal Nature, 100% of the unconscious brain-injured patients who responded to a “sniff test” developed by the researchers regained consciousness during the four-year study period.

The scientists think that this simple, inexpensive test can aid doctors in accurately diagnosing and determining treatment plans according to the patients’ degree of brain injury. The scientists conclude that this finding once again highlights the primal role of the sense of smell in human brain organization. The olfactory system is the most ancient part of the brain, and its integrity provides an accurate measure of overall brain integrity.

smell test f — *Stinky fish or flower shampoo. Will some smells wake a patient from a coma faster?*

If you have ever had to face the consequences of how to help make a decision about a loved one following a traumatic brain injury, some new clues from science might help you and the doctors get out of making tough decisions. Following severe brain injury, it is often difficult to determine whether the person is conscious or unconscious, and current diagnostic tests can lead to an incorrect diagnosis in up to 40% of cases.

“Misdiagnosis can be critical as it can influence the decision of whether to disconnect patients from life support machines,” says Dr. Anat Arzi, who led the new research. “In regard to treatment, if it is judged that a patient is unconscious and doesn’t feel anything, physicians may not prescribe them painkillers that they might need.”

Arzi commenced this research during her doctoral studies in the group of Prof. Noam Sobel of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Neurobiology Department and continued it as part of her postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Psychology.

The “consciousness test” developed by the researchers – in collaboration with Dr. Yaron Sacher, Head of the Department of Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation at Loewenstein Rehabilitation Hospital – is based on the principle that our nasal airflow changes in response to odor; for example, an unpleasant odor will lead to shorter and shallower sniffs. In healthy humans, the sniff-response can occur unconsciously in both wakefulness and sleep.

The study included 43 brain-injured patients in the Loewenstein Rehabilitation Hospital. The researchers briefly placed jars containing various odors under the patients’ noses, including a pleasant scent of shampoo, an unpleasant smell of rotten fish, or no odor at all. At the same time, the scientists precisely measured the volume of air inhaled through the nose in response to the odors. Each jar was presented to the patient ten times in random order during the testing session, and each patient participated in several such sessions.

“Astonishingly, all patients who were classified as being in a ‘vegetative state’ yet responded to the sniff test, later regained consciousness, even if only minimal. In some cases, the result of the sniff test was the first sign that these patients were about to recover consciousness – and this reaction was observed days, weeks and even months prior to any other signs,” says Arzi. Moreover, the sniff response not only predicted who would regain consciousness, it also predicted with about 92% accuracy who would survive for at least three years.

“The fact that the sniff test is simple and potentially inexpensive makes it advantageous,” explains Arzi. “It can be performed at the patients’ bedside without the need to move them – and without complicated machinery.”

A mindful tennis game

After a severe head injury, patients may fall into a comatose state – their eyes are closed and they do not have sleep-wake cycles. A coma usually lasts for about two weeks, after which there may either be a rapid improvement and return to consciousness, deterioration leading to death, or it could lead to a condition defined as “disorder of consciousness.” When spontaneous eye opening occurs but there is no evidence that the patients are aware of themselves or their surroundings, they are then diagnosed as being in a “vegetative state.” Alternatively, if a patient displays consistent signs of awareness, even if they are minimal and unstable, the patient will be classified as being in a “minimally conscious state.”

The gold standard diagnostic tool for assessing the level of consciousness is the Coma Recovery Scale (Revised), which examines responses to various stimuli: eye movements while tracking an object; turning the head toward a sound; response to pain, among others. Since the rate of diagnosis errors may reach up to 40%, it is recommended to repeat the test at least five times.

However, misdiagnosis may also occur when the test is conducted repeatedly. “In a well-known study, a patient diagnosed as being in a ‘vegetative state’ following a car accident was scanned in an MRI machine. While in the scanner, the researchers asked the patient to imagine that she was playing tennis and observed that her brain activity was similar to the brain activity of healthy people when they also imaged playing a tennis game. Suddenly, they realized: ‘hold on a minute, she’s there.

“She hears us and is responding to our requests. She simply has no way of communicating’,” says Arzi. “There are also known cases of people who were diagnosed in a ‘vegetative state,’ but when they regained consciousness, they were able to recount in detail what was occurring while supposedly vegetative. Diagnosing the level of consciousness of a patient who has suffered a severe head injury is a major clinical challenge. The sniff test we have developed may provide a simple tool to tackle this challenge.”

Jerusalem cyclists protest lack of bike lanes

Transportation

Karin Kloosterman

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May 3, 2020

1

monks in brown robes, Jerusalem — They are not trying to change the holy order of things. Surely not in the Old City but Jerusalem cyclists want a few dedicated lanes to make cycling in any situation, plague or the good times, easier around Jerusalem.

Jerusalem. Not a dream city for cycling. It’s many hills, random intersections, cobbled roads, virtually inaccessible Old City, I tried. I really did. I cheated on Tel Aviv and lived in Jerusalem for 2 years. But I could never get around by bike. Despite its difficulty, there are plenty of people who do like to ride and build their calf muscles and they are protesting this Friday to the city, with the message:

“While cities in Israel and across the world are taking advantage of the current pandemic to improve their bicycle infrastructure, the Jerusalem Municipality is doing… nothing.”

According to the group Bicycles for Jerusalem, they say that coronavirus times should have shown the City Hall how lack of public transport puts a strain on people and services. And that cities around the world understood this and made cycling a more important part of getting around the city.

https://www.facebook.com/cyclejerusalem/videos/2425611734342070/

“While we are big fans of public transportation, and firmly believe that it is a critical component of a well-functioning city,” announces the group, “we understand that many people will in the near future be trying to find alternatives. If the only alternative is a private car, our city will become more congested than ever, and will grind to a stand-still. The Municipality needs to take swift and definitive action to provide a better alternative.”

One of the most popular alternatives to the bicycle in Israel is the dockless e-scooter, like from the companies Wind Mobile based in Europe. Networks were shut down over the peak of the COVID-19 crisis here, so the bicyclists of Jerusalem have a pont.

The cyclists of Jerusalem say that they aren’t asking for the moon, but just some strategic bike lanes along main arteries, a move that would require some paint and traffic cones: “We want the Municipality to organize bicycle acquisition groups to encourage people to get on bicycles – starting with its employees and then residents. We want the municipality to install ramps to make the numerous steps across the city more accessible. We don’t need everything to be perfect, we want the city to start,” the group adds.

If you want to cycle or be part of a movement that does, jump on two wheels and pedal around the Holy City this Friday with a distance of a few yards between your buddy. And a helmet. Cycling safe.

More details about the ride here.

How tech can help you make spring cleaning easy

Act

Bhok Thompson

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April 28, 2020

0

robotic innovation — Robots can help us with ecological building, like 3D squirting recycled materials into new walls. Are there other ways tech can help us out? Maybe for spring cleaning?

Have you been spending the last few weeks on lockdown thinking ‘Wow! My house is messy!’? It might only be natural given 50% of Brits still see April as the perfect time to get the rubber gloves on and scrub the house with natural cleaners until it gleams.

If the thought of a deep clean fills you with dread, could there be a better way? Here we look at how technology has evolved to help you get your home in tip-top shape.

Vacuums that do the job for you

Fans of ‘Breaking Bad’ will remember the Roomba that would chug around Jesse Pinkman’s house. While that robot was fighting an uphill battle to keep the floors tidy, investing in a robot vacuum cleaner for your home could be a smart way to keep things clean. The device has sensors that mean it won’t bump into walls or furniture, with a vacuum underneath drawing up dust and dirt from the floor as it takes a tour of whatever room you choose for it.

Why not get the mopping done too?

From the same company that brought you the Roomba, why not take a look at the Braava to finish the job on your hard-floor surfaces? This robotic mop will cover the ground in your room, spraying the floor before passing over it with a microfibre cloth. It might look like a desktop printer, but it does so much more. Gleaming floors without lifting a finger – what’s not to love?!

Breathe the best air

If you struggle with dust allergies, have you considered investing in an air purifier? There are premium and more affordable options out there to suit all wallets, but consider your finances before making a purchase. Once you find one that suits, however, purifiers will extract dust, allergens and odours from the air with the added bonus that you’ll spend less time dusting.

Scrub no more

If you have an electric toothbrush, did you know something similar exists for your kitchen surfaces? The SonicScrubber gives you extra elbow grease for those tough-to-shift stains in the kitchen – from worktops to the hob to the terrifying inside of your oven. They’re cheaper than you might think, too, although you might need to invest in several changeable heads if cleaning your kitchen is a big job!

Do a professional job on your windows

If you’ve noticed that your windows are looking a little grimy and the window cleaner’s on lockdown, you can do the job yourself with a window vac. With steam breaking down the dirt on the glass and the vacuum sucking it away, you’ll be left with sparkling clear windows in no time.

Whatever your situation, have a happy spring clean!

The Medicinal Plant Extinction Crisis Explained by Dr. Bomi Joseph

Health

Bhok Thompson

-

April 28, 2020

0

folium medieval blue — Folium used for medieval blue. Also a medicinal plant.

Outside of developed Western countries, many people’s health and survival depends on access wildcrafted plant medicines. In Africa, where infectious diseases and parasites are still a major threat, up to 80% of the population is are more likely to get their medicine from a tree or farmer’s market than from a sealed blister-pack at pharmacy. Natural plant medicines are not unsubstantiated folklore; they are being increasingly proven by scientists, extracted and mass marketed by pharmaceutical companies.

This is because nature produces fantastically complex molecules that no medicinal chemist could ever dream of. Botanical drugs tend to be naturally in sync with our bodies because humans evolved from plants, and we share much of the same basic DNA. Out of 177 drugs that have been approved worldwide for cancer, more than 70% are based on natural plant compounds or mimetics – synthetics that were directly inspired by plant compounds.

There is a huge problem with deforestation in many developing countries, and sadly, some of the places that have the richest botanical diversity are hit the hardest. In countries where many people don’t have access to modern amenities like electricity and natural gas, there is a urgent daily need for firewood. An estimated 90% of the forests in Haiti have been chopped down by people who needed charcoal to cook for their families. On the Southeast Asian island of Borneo, where half of all households subsist on less than $120 USD per month, the temptation to clear forests for plant palm oil plantations, timber or paper pulp is simply too strong to resist.

Locals know that their forests are dwindling but oftentimes they just can’t stop the highly determined & organized ‘mafia’ of poachers and loggers. This has caused current plant extinction rates to skyrocket to least 100 to 1,000 times higher than the natural background extinction rate, which is the rate at which species naturally go extinct without human intervention.

This means that 25% of the world’s conifer trees and as many as 15,000 known medicinal species are now endangered. “A vast majority of the plants in the world have not yet been explored for medicinal potential by scientists” says Dr. Bomi Joseph, a plant researcher and Director of the Peak Health Center in California. “It is especially tragic that plant species are so rapidly disappearing at the same time that research & analysis tools are finally becoming more powerful and accurate,” he says.

The Pacific Yew (Taxus brevifolia) tree bark is the original source of paclitaxel, a potent botanical chemotherapy agent that can is used to kill ovarian, breast and lung cancers. It was discovered in an exploratory plant screening program sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. It works by inhibiting a natural compound that allows cells in the body to divide, thus preventing the cancer from growing. It is a complex molecule that is extremely difficult to make from scratch in a chemistry lab, but the Pacific yew tree makes it effortlessly in its bark out of soil nutrients, CO2, water and sunshine.

paclitaxel molecular formula

(Image: Wikipedia, Creative commons)

From 1967 until 1993 almost all the paclitaxel produced was derived from the bark of wildcrafted Pacific yew trees. The process of harvesting the bark kills the tree and in 2011 the tree was placed on the endangered species list. Finally, but a bit late, a method to make the drug semi-synthetically out of liquid plant cultures that don’t require destruction of the tree is now used.

Himalayan Mayapple

The Himalayan mayapple plant (Podophyllyum hexandrum) produces podophyllotoxin, which is a key compound used to produce etoposide – a chemotherapy medication that is used against lung, testicular and ovarian cancer.

Wikipedia image credit

The plant has been over-harvested while at the same time its natural habitat in the Himalayas has been heavily deforested. It is currently listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The Calophyllum Story

In December 1986, the arboretum at Harvard University got involved with a project sponsored by the National Cancer Institute to find antitumor plant compounds in Asian forests. They wrote to a state government in Borneo and got permission to collect plant specimens. Research associate Dr. John Burley and a forest officer set off into the tropical forests and swamps and collected all the flowering and locally-revered medicinal plants that hadn’t already been screened and catalogued.

Years later, one of the plant specimens from a calophyllum tree, labeled Burley #351, was analyzed and found to stop the HIV virus from replicating. In 1992 scientists returned to the area where the sample had originally been collected, accompanied by local botanists, and the tree was nowhere to be found – presumably cut down. They tried to locate trees of the same species in the nearby areas but the closest ones they found did not contain the same active compounds as Burley’s original sample.

After a long and difficult search a calophyllum tree with the same active compound, which became named calanolide A, was eventually located at a botanical garden in Singapore. The Borneo state government formed a pharmaceutical company to develop calanolide A into a drug and in 2016 they announced successful completion of Phase I clinical trials on humans. A structural analog named F18 was created in 2017 that is believed to have even more potent anti-HIV activity than the original molecule.

Only half of Borneo’s forests remain standing today, and those that still remain are disappearing at a breathtakingly brisk rate of 130,000,000 acres per year. The plants described above are just a handful of examples out of thousands of species with equal or greater potential.

“There is no telling how many botanical drug breakthroughs or desperately-needed cures go up smoke or down with the stroke of a chainsaw every year,” says Dr. Bomi Joseph. “Seeing that we can’t control & protect every forest on earth – we need to make plant specimen collection and analysis a top priority while we still have the chance to.”

Cannabis for COVID-19 medical trial starts in Israel

Health

Karin Kloosterman

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April 27, 2020

3

syqe — The Israeli cannabis company Syqe which creates cannabis dosing systems, is laying off employees from the corona crisis, while novel drug developers like Stero start clinical trials.

Cannabis news is high on our radar for coronavirus, as Israel is a medical cannabis pioneer dating back to the 60s thanks to Prof. Raphael Mechoulam. The Tel Aviv hospital Ichilov has already gone ahead started using CBD or the non-psychotropic parts of the cannabis plant against the novel coronavirus in a new study. And now we are told of a second study using CBD by a company called Stero – developing CBD into a novel therapy.

All cannabis plants have CBD and THC molecules in them, and about one hundred or more other active ingredients. Some parts of the natural plant can be isolated or simply synthesized for therapeutic effects. And this is how drug developers hope to make new inventions and make money.

The second study on COVID-19 is now being initiated by Stero Biotechs, an Israel-based, clinical-stage company focused on Cannabidiol (CBD) formulation research and development, in a collaboration with its main partner and shareholder, Mor Research Applications, the commercial arm of Israel’s largest health provider, Clalit.

Steros applies CBD and makes CBD products to help calm down lung and tissue inflammation in corona patients, reducing the use of and improving the efficacy of steroids. Steroids are critical for reducing inflammation in hospitals. I saw how they helped my dad when he was fighting cancer pain. Steroids are used to reduce inflammation. They reduce pain and make pain meds work better.

But extended use of steroids creates serious side-effects, like fragile bones or osteoporosis. One day my dad stood up and his femur just crumbled. His bones were disintegrating. If Steros gets fast-tracked for CBD use in inflammation in hospitals for corona specifically and later for cancer, that’s a silver lining.

Medical cannabis in Israel

Touted as a wonder drug by the medical cannabis industry, even though the well-funded medical cannabis company Syqe is starting to lay off employees, we will start to see more cannabis in hospitals as physicians scramble to assess how to treat COVID-19 with tools they have on hand. Cannabis is one of them.

Largely approved for medical use in the general population in Israel (it is not exactly easy to get a permit though), cannabis is widely accepted, if only quietly in the establishment. It is known that pain doctors treating cancer patients in Israel prescribe it. Or at least whisper to patients on how to find it.

Raphael Mechoulam, TCH, medical cannabis, CBD — *Raphael Mechoulam, discoverer of THC, CBD in medicinal cannabis. Israel’s grandfather of medical cannabis.*

The problem is that few doctors if any at all know how to prescribe medical cannabis correctly (take 3 gummies and call me in the morning?) and this is why we need novel drug companies who can understand dosing and therapeutic methods.

That’s what Stero aims to do. Their unique application is to enhance the effects of steroids, widely used to reduce inflammation of all kinds. There is a limit to how long steroids can be taken, as long term steroids are very destructive to the body. Physicians would like to use them less. Stero might have the way, using CBD.

Stero’s new 10-patient study, which is starting now will be a small-scale clinical trial taking place at the Rabin Medical Center in a Tel Aviv suburb called Petach Tikva. Pending final approval by the final Helsinki Committee the study will be a PoC or proof of concept study, a study that happens before wider clinical trials are initiated. PoC studies are the first step between a go and no go in a clinical study.

In the PoC Stero Biotechs aims to benefit and help hospitalized patients with COVID-19 infection. The treatment cycle will be for a few weeks with a subsequent follow-up period of the same length, the company reports.

“We estimate that our CBD-based treatment can enhance the current treatment of those patients who are in life-threatening conditions,” says David Bassa, the CEO of Stero Biotechs.

“Hospitalized COVID-19 patients are mostly being treated with steroids and our study is planned to demonstrate the benefit of a combined solution with Steroid treatments. We are hopeful that this study will lead to faster benefit for the growing number of COVID-19 patients in Israel and around the world.”

After the initial PoC, Stero plans to scale up and expand to a Phase IIa multi-center clinical trial, with an additional 40 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 Infections, under the usual US-governed FDA clinical trial guidelines and regulations. The FDA is based in Maryland and Israel has been working with the US in clinical trials for decades.

Stero was founded in 2017 to enhance the effects of steroid treatments. The company reports having a wide patent on CBD applications, covering over 130 autoimmune and inflammatory diseases by name, CBD from any source (synthetic or botanic), CBD in any combination, CBD in any dosage and in any delivery system.

Steroid treatment is usually the first or second line of treatment for hospitalized patients. CBD enhances the therapeutic effect of steroid treatment and treats the bio-mechanism affected by the virus.

The initial study will evaluate the tolerability, safety, and efficacy of the CBD treatment, for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 Infections.

While you could theoretically plants some high CBD cannabis strains in your garden and self-medicate, you may or may not know how to dose or take the treatment. For that you would need to ask an expert, still very hard to find in the science of cannabis as medicine. That’s why novel drug companies developing solutions get my support.

If you are interested in the first study on coronavirus and cannabis we reported on, you can find it here.

In other medical news from Israel, Israel’s Pluristem using stem cell treatments, seems to bring patients back to life.

Corona creates urgency for healing hemp CBD products

Health

Karin Kloosterman

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April 24, 2020

1

Corona creates urgency for healing hemp CBD products

CBD. THC. Some people including myself say these words as loosely as CNN or TLC. For anyone who has been exposed to the medical cannabis industry, or the recreational one, THC and CBD are the key words that anyone who is self-medicating wants to know.

Cannabis oil, drops, tinctures, patches. CBD patches, or CBD oil in your cola. In your morning cereal? THC for pain relief? Where are you to start? Cannabis or hemp? If you are not from Canada or a State where cannabis is legal, it’s better to ask a friend what this all means and how you might be able to obtain medicine that can alleviate a range of symptoms and conditions. From the extreme, like treating the corona virus, or epilepsy, to just helping you chill out. If you have doubts, just stick to products sourced from hemp.

In States where legislation is not clear or to be determined, people are finding an easier and simpler way to get some relief from the marijuana plant using healing products that only contain CBD. CBD stands for cannabidiol and it is one of at least 100 healing molecules in the cannabis plant, but it’s also in the hemp plant too. The reason cannabis has been demonized is not because of CBD, it’s because of THC, the part of the cannabis that gives you the high, along with other therapeutic benefits.

To stay on the safe side and to give people the unique benefits of CBD, some companies, like a new one in New York called Healist Naturals just uses 100% hemp-derived CBD in their products. The company uses an organic broad-spectrum CBD component of hemp, related to the cannabis plant which is 100% free from THC. So if it’s allowed or not (see New York Times on cannabis legalization) is out of the question. It is.

Healist’s products are designed for calm, relief, sleep and well-being. The company tells me that they are designed to help consumers restore their body’s innate capacity to heal.

Did you know that there is hemp CBD and CBD that comes from a full spectrum cannabis plant? There are differences. Know them before you buy,

“The combination of natural yet potent ingredients backed by science, rigorous testing, a commitment to sustainability and a consumer-first mindset, are what set us apart from those who have come before us and those who will follow,” says Michael Bryce, co-founder at Healist.

Home-Grown Benefits

The formulations contain a blend of natural active ingredients and are US grown
All products are clean and natural, triple lab tested, vegan, cruelty-free, non-GMO, and contain 0.0% THC
Each of the CBD products is packaged using sustainable materials including ocean waste plastic, with plans to have 100% of its plastic Ocean Waste Certified (OWP) by the end of 2020.

As a New York City based business, Healist says they want to do whatever it can to help the local community (read about our writer’s corona experience in NY) which has been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. The company says it will donate one dollar for every order you make to the to the NYC COVID-19 Response and Impact Fund with a minimum of $5k donation until the end of May.

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