It flies over mountains and through valleys, taking in the vast landscapes and diverse wildlife beneath it. Only this isn’t a bird, it’s a drone. They’ve had some bad press and the public has been slow to embrace them but after the final of what’s been dubbed “The World Cup of Drones,” things might be […]
Green Prophet’s own Laurie Balbo has spearheaded relief efforts to warm Syrian refugees in Northern Jordan. She and her partner Virginia Nitz (wife of Green Prophet’s Brian) have single-handedly collected tens of thousands of hand-made hats and winter items to warm the bones and souls of displaced Syrians. In times of trouble, Israelis too are […]
Two Egyptian banks are moving into green lending with an initiative to finance rooftop solar power systems for residential consumers. National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr are offering loans within specific areas of Cairo, with plans to expand into Egypt’s other governorates. How will that work in a mostly Muslim country, where interest payments are forbidden […]
Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities reported a new discovery of several Greco-Roman era mummies near Minya in northeastern Egypt, 250 kilometers south of Cairo. The new discoveries occurred when police found two wooden sarcophagi floating along a village waterway in a pool of raw sewage.
I didn’t mean to go to pot. But after of researching urban food movements in a bid to save the world from hunger, cannabis clearly emerged as the answer. Cannabis and what’s happening now in Canada, the United States, and Israel will be the answer to global food shortages. Mark my words: Marijuana will feed […]
Last year, Green Prophet broadcast the alarming news of a Saudi prince who poached thousands of protected birds during a 21-day hunting safari in Pakistan. Nearly a year on, the Sindh High Court has revoked a federal notification that allowed issuance of permits to Arab dignitaries for hunting endangered species – (including the houbara bustard, pictured […]
Tesla CEO and Founder Elon Musk is shocking his fan base with a special feature more likely to appeal to drag racers and Middle East “drifting” aficionados than the usual suspects attracted to his stylish and environmentally excellent electric cars. Press the “Insane Button” and his all-wheel-drive Model S P85D rockets from 0-60 miles per hour (mph) in just over […]
Working out with no results? Health professionals in Dubai have a counter-intuitive solution to consider: eat more! So you’re trying to make good on your New Year’s resolution to put down the shawarma and pick up some weights. But after a month, you can’t see results (nor your toes). Fear not, the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) […]
Finding ways to augment supplies of fresh drinking water have been around for years. These ideas vary from basic “low tech” ones like a Yemenite funnel water cone to extract fresh water from saltwater to using water created by aircon units. Purifying sewage systems to create safe, drinkable fresh water are also being tried; and have received visible […]
Everything is coming up green in Israel. At least that’s how it seems in the medical cannabis space. We’ve recently interviewed Dr. Alan Shackelford (Charlotte’s Web) then there is Canna Tech next week. Just in: Yissum, the technology transfer company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, just announced that it will work with PhytoTech Medical […]
There’s plenty of cold weather still to come if you live in the Middle East, but the University of Haifa is preparing for the sun, with a new study that examines whether solar electricity panels and green roofs can work well in tandem. It is basically the question can 1+1=3? The Kadas Green Roofs Ecology […]
Since humankind has discovered healing properties of herbs like cannabis, inhalation through smoke has been the delivery method of choice. Smoking cannabis makes the molecules go straight to the blood and brain. It’s great for some people, but for those using cannabis medicinally –– and want to work, drive and tend to their children –– […]
It’s a dream for some and a reality that can come true if you plan in visiting Israel this year. The country some say is an open archeology site. You can literally find ruins everywhere. But let’s say you want to participate in a formal dig and even possibly earn school credit. If this tickles […]
The night before the Israel Defense Forces’ 1976 mission rescuing over 200 hostages from hijackers in Entebbe, Uganda, Tel Aviv University’s Prof. Pinhas Alpert, then head of an Israel Air Force base forecasting unit, provided intelligence that was critical to the success of the operation — the weather conditions commandos were likely to encounter en […]
Oil spills are bad enough themselves. When they occur in fragile ecological regions like Israel’s Arava desert, they can be catastrophic. Such is the case of the recent Negev Arava oil spill, which occurred as a result of a break in a large oil pipeline during renovation work. This spill, occurring in early December, caused an estimated […]
Winter storms hammered much of the Middle East last week with strong winds that rose seas and dropped snow from Egypt all the way to Turkey. Meteorologists claimed it was the most severe December storm since 1953 to hit Israel, northern Lebanon’s roads were paralyzed, and the Sea of Galilee rose 10 centimeters in a day. But […]
Big demonstrations have spread from the Sahara to Algiers, after Algerian authorities announced the drilling of the first shale gas well in the country. With world’s oil prices plummeting people are starting to wonder: why frack? Can the environmental cost outweigh the benefits of energy security now that prices are falling and renewables within reach. […]
Cyanide – a highly-toxic chemical compound – is being used by mining companies in the extraction of gold from the soil. While the compound is safe for humans wearing protective coverings, the same cannot be said for the environment that absorbs traces of the chemical that are left in the process of extraction. The hazardous […]
The experimental flying lab better known as Solar Impulse 2 was launched today in Abu Dhabi. The groundbreaking airplane will circumnavigate the world flying both day and night without using a single drop of fossil fuel. Said co-pilot Betrand Piccard, “You can achieve miracles with renewable energy and clean technologies.”
Thirty-five years ago an Israeli researcher documented the case for medicinal cannabis to treat epilepsy. It was one of these studies by a Prof. Raphael Mechoulam that Denver-based physician Dr. Alan Shackelford read when he was debating one of the hardest questions of his career: Should he, could he? give a 5-year-old pot? That girl, […]
Asbestos poisoning, exposure to chemicals or dangerous situations at work which put you at risk, or worse in the hospital and out of work. In the United States laws are pretty defined on how people can approach the law and their rights. In the Middle East our basic rights to be protected from environmental […]
I woke up to find an email from Cameron Sinclair thanking me for “designing like you give a damn.” Sinclair is the executive director of the Jolie-Pitt Foundation and, yeah, celebrities and politicians email me all the time. I’m also popular with Nigerians who need help cashing checks. I need to figure out how to […]
An unnamed client hired London-based Baharash Architecture to design a luxury home that could fully function off the energy grid. That’s a tall order for any residence in Abu Dhabi, now consider the challenges for one sited in the punishing clime of the hyper-arid Liwa Desert where summer temperatures top 100°F. The star-shaped structure is modestly […]
Today’s another official “city-shut-down” day for government offices and many businesses in snowy Amman, Jordan; even the US embassy issued alerts to stay off the roads. My teen’s been attending online classes, and the internet allows me to work from home – but what about events that demand we be somewhere specific? This storm dropped on […]
A winter storm is banging around much of the Middle East. Precip’s teamed up with gale force winds, causing first-world headaches like clogged transport, school closures, power outages and the promise of steep heating bills. But mostly people are rocking a few days respite from the usual grind, and – judging from the flood of […]
