Cannes Film Festival is in full swing this week, but here in Jordan every day is a film festival thanks to vendors who hawk bootleg DVDs for a dinar apiece. That’s less than two bucks for a new release that would otherwise set you back $20 in a Manhattan theater. The downside with Amman’s cheap movies […]
Animal trafficking is not just for the rich and the weird like the Tiger King. The Middle East has a history. Learn about how you can stop it.
Most people in the developing world need to produce their own food, and most of these people do it inefficiently, making food security far out of reach. People buy a cow, or camels for milk, goats or even sheep to get a daily, fresh supply of dairy. There is virtually no way to preserve it […]
World population will balloon from 7 billion today to more than 9 billion in 2050, with associated food demand predicted to increase by 70% in that same time-frame. How will the agricultural sector meet that demand without stressing natural resources and further accelerating climate change? Take a look at SFFs, a food production solution based on […]
Hookah, shisha, or smoking the nargila is a staple of any Middle Eastern experience. But more and more research suggests that this form of smoking is more damaging than regular cigarette smoking. Send this one to all your pipe smoking friends. Hookah pipes don’t use filters so you are potentially inhaling a lot more particulate […]
What if you could turn on the sun when and where you wanted? Lighting pioneers at a company called CoeLux developed an artificial light that accurately simulates natural sunshine. Stunningly realistic, the technology can replicate light hues and intensities of specific regions, including Mediterranean, Tropical and Nordic. Since winning the Lux Awards 2014 Light Source Innovation of […]
You might have been introduced to the seemingly odd combination of watermelon and feta cheese through my Green Prophet recipe article here. Now, there’s a new food pairing in town: avocado and grapefruit as a salad. The bright citrus of the grapefruit perfectly complements the warm creaminess of the avocado. This colorful salad works well with seafood, and […]
Feral dogs are commonplace in Istanbul, but a sharp-eyed American noticed a particular surge in the number of pedigreed golden retrievers on the streets. She observed that the breed was increasingly popping up in shelters too. Thanks to her networking with a US-based rescue center, three dozen of the dogs have now been saved and are now […]
Scandinavian saunas are so yesterday. UAE trendsetters can now literally chillax in indoor “snow rooms” that create real snow using a snow-making system like that used for the interior ski slopes in Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates. It’s costly to be cool, prices start at $109,000. But our planet pays the real bill.
Threats of potential extreme geohazards against humanity became partial reality this month, following the spectacular eruption of the Calbuco volcano in southern Chile (photo above); and the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in northern Nepal. The Nepal earthquake, occurring in one of the poorest countries in the world, has so far killed more than 7,400 people, made thousands homeless; […]
Mayors from 114 North American cities entered into an agreement to rehabilitate an endangered river halfway across the world. Launched at the recent Water After Borders (WAB) summit in Chicago, the partnership brings expertise in transboundary water system management to the Jordan River, a waterbody long embroiled in regional politics.
Two leaders in renewable technologies are collaborating on a home battery solution that will enable individual solar power producers to store surplus energy at point of generation for later reuse. Electric car maker Tesla Motors and SolarEdge Technologies, manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) inverters, have teamed up to create an inverter solution that will allow for grid and […]
Oil prices have fallen considerably over the past two years. But this isn’t the first time the price of a core society resource has dropped so drastically. The economic history of salt is an interesting lesson for our time. Middle Eastern countries spend millions of dollars and consume more than one hundred million kilowatt-hours of […]
Take four minutes to get smart about what happens when you fail to recycle plastics. Emphasis intended on the word “fail” because you know better than to toss the stuff in with regular trash. You also know what a plastic ocean gyre is. And you’ve seen the stomach-turning photo of that turtle whose adult shell […]
Spectacular images of a mosque in Iran have been flying around the internet of stunning Islamic architecture washed in rainbow-bright hues. The forms are familiar – pointed arches, vaulted ceilings, surfaces covered with dazzling tiles. But the magic occurs at daybreak, when sunlight streams through stained glass windows, turning the interiors into a stunning kaleidoscope. […]