Ever have a salad that was out of this world?
Astronauts aboard International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 44 have. They just dined on the only lettuce ever cultivated without an atmosphere. The produce grew inside “Veggie”, a tiny greenhouse about the size of a computer monitor. Specifically designed for microgravity environments, the technology can potentially benefit food production across the Middle East.
The pressure for environmentally friendly energy solutions on the globe is now more than ever. With an increased demand for energy supply comes an equally high demand for sustainability and environmental responsibility. In 2013 the Center for Strategic and International Studies released a report that said global energy use will grow by 56% between 2010 and 2040 and that fossil fuels will continue to supply nearly 80 percent of world energy use through 2040.
There is a lot of potential for eco-friendly solutions to be developed in the UAE, which is a promising sign for businesses and the wider economy. The industry needs only to look at the work that Aggreko have done in San Diego. Aggreko is the world’s leading supplier of temporary power, which is always looking at ways to reduce emissions. The Gaslamp Quarter Association requested for the energy suppliers to use alternative fuel for this year’s Mardi Gras celebrations in San Diego as part of their mission to make the event green. One such solution was recycling cooking oil into fuel — a small but extremely effective step.
Director of Aggreko’s Environmental Health and Safety Department, Huey Bourque, said: “At Aggreko, it is our goal to minimize the impact on the environment through careful equipment design, from minimizing spills to implementing the latest emission-control technology.”
With the recent appointment of Dr Sixtus Mulenga as Non-Executive Chairman of Aggreko Zambia, there looks to be a focus on such dedicated projects in Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Mulenga, who has over 35 years of experience in the industry said: “As Zambia works to further develop its mining industry, along with the capacity and coverage of its electricity grid, Aggreko can play a key role in supporting these initiatives, while also supporting a growing and diversified industrial sector.”
As global companies take pivotal steps in helping to sustain energy sources, economies can both support and reap the rewards from any advances. The increasing use of technology to create energy only means more demand for an expansion of the field, meaning more employment opportunities and project opportunities. These are worrying yet exciting times for countries that want to show their potential in energy efficient energy sourcing.
Image by Señor Codo, used under Creative Commons license
Collaboration between business, law and design students from one of the world’s top universities is producing tiny houses that could revolutionize how we approach holidays, and green up tourism too. This summer, the Millennial Housing Lab launched Getaway, a rental concept for micro-homes for the millennial marketplace.
Harvard Business School student Jon Staff has racked up a resume of non-traditional living. He’s lived on a boat, in a frozen yogurt shop basement, a 26-foot-long Airstream trailer, and even did a stint of sleepovers in a Harvard library. No surprise that he was naturally drawn to the tiny house movement – a growing trend that advocates simply living in small spaces.
Last year, Staff co-founded the Millennial Housing Lab, an action lab composed of Harvard business, law and design school students with a mission to develop new housing ideas bespoke to the millennial generation (people born between the 1980s and early 2000s).
The Lab focuses on all aspects of the housing experience: architecture, neighborhood planning, financing, regulation and community-building.
Through its blog, email bulletins, and special events, the project also aims to incite vibrant conversation about millennial housing, and catalyze change in the residential building industry. Its wider goal is to incubate and launch new design-, business- and regulatory-related housing concepts. (Consider the build-your-own (anywhere!) WikiHouse we reported on last year!)
Tiny homes are everywhere. Photogenic and adorable, who hasn’t been curious what they’re like in 3-D? The differentiator with Getaway homes is that these micro-buildings are rentable. Situated on beautiful rural landscapes, they can be used as a hotel by city folks looking to escape for a digital detox, a bonding weekend with friends, a romantic anniversary, or a meditative retreat.
“Test driving” one with no long-term commitment might encourage users to adopt tiny-home practices in their regular lives.
The Boston-based business planted their first Getaway house in southern New Hampshire, and immediately began bookings. They plan on bringing Getaway units to more cities, and developing more housing ideas though the Millennial Housing Lab. Getaway houses sit on secluded, quiet land within two hours of a city. physically close enough to the city for easy access but “spiritually far” away to guarantee a refreshing recharge. All sites are leased from local property owners, putting dollars directly into the rural economies in which Getaway operates.
The houses provide the comforts of a standard home, including a comfy queen bed, and off-grid stove, toilet and shower. Rentals come with classic books and board games, barbecue grills – and the ingredients for s’mores!
Jon Staff and Pete Davis founded The Millennial Housing Lab, and designed the Getaway with Addison Godine, Wyatt Komarin, and Rachel Moranis. Go to the Getaway House website for more details on pricing and availability.
Quick! What’s the best wedding you ever attended?
Youtube archives threaten to break the internet with flash mob proposals, bridal party dance antics, and epic fail toasts. Meet a young Turkish couple that refreshingly flipped their big day on its head, making a naturally narcissistic milestone into something all about others. They invited 4,000 Syrian refugees to their wedding feast!
Back in high school we bought a few acres of rainforest in Brazil – to save it. To stop illegal logging. To preserve biodiversity. Instead of buying just an acre or two or a few hundred, a researcher from Israel has a plan to save the world’s biodiversity – by buying 1.4% of the planet using crowdfunding.
Prof. Uri Shanas of the University of Haifa has launched an unusual new initiative: a massive, international, and democratic “purchase group” open to all that aims to save the Earth. “It is neither possible nor necessary to conserve the entire planet all the time,” Prof. Shanas explains.
“But if we manage to conserve even a small percentage that is home to an unusual diversity of plant and animal life in danger of extinction, we can go some way to halting the current process of species extinction.”
Prof. Shanas is using the crowdsourcing technique to raise the funds needed to launch the initiative.
He explains that many species of plants and animals already face extinction, and the list is getting longer due to global warming and the ongoing destruction of open spaces. “We can’t always predict the consequences of the disappearance of a single species from the ecosystem,” he admits, “but there are examples of systems that have collapsed to an extent that has influenced human life following the extinction of a single species.
“For example, the disappearance of the sea otter in the Pacific Ocean led to an increase in the population of sea urchins. The sea urchins ate seaweed that provided the necessary underwater habitat for development of fish and other sea life. The consequence was a collapse of fisheries that affected many fishermen and their families.”
Prof. Shanas’s plan for saving biodiversity is simple: 1.4 percent of the Earth’s surface is currently defined as “biodiversity hot spots” – areas with numerous plant and animal species on the brink of extinction.
Purchasing these areas and transforming them into nature reserves will save these species, and thereby save life on the planet.
If the necessary funding is raised to launch the organization – known as TIME (This Is My Earth) – anyone around the world, adult or child, will be able to join by making a payment of at least one dollar. Once a year, all the members will vote on how to invest the organization’s funds, based on a list of biodiversity hot spots prepared by an international team of scientists.
Every member will have an equal vote, no matter how much they pay.
Prof. Shanas emphasizes that the TIME group differs from existing efforts by groups and individuals to purchase land for the purpose of conservation. The difference lies in the democratic, international, and public character of his initiative, as well as in the fact that members in each country will be responsible for caring for the purchased areas. “The goal isn’t to engage in some kind of ‘green colonialism,’ but to enable local residents to manage their own natural resources.
“We are interested in founding an organization that can help educate people to involvement, environmental conservation, and democracy from an early age. And yes – to save the Earth in the process,” he concludes.
Great idea, but who will manage the purchased land and protect it into the future will be the bigger question.
Photo of damselfish at sea from Shutterstock
A massive sandstorm swooped down on Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, Jordan today – a small part of an extreme weather pattern descending on the region. Strong winds sent desert sand airborne, darkening skies across the kingdom and causing near blackout conditions in Jordan’s capital city.
Amateur drone pilot Jesse Peters flew an aerial quadcopter over Israel’s Apollonia National Park to capture a bird’s-eye perspective of its historical ruins and rugged limestone cliffs. His apparatus caught more than the park’s natural beauty; it also filmed an unusual cliffside dwelling crafted by an artistic Jewish hermit.
The park, popular with hikers, is just north of Tel Aviv, near Herzliya. Apollonia offers up architectural antiquities including a 13th-century fortress and the remains of a Roman villa. But a more recent addition is a self-built home carved into the cliff by artist Nissim Kahlon.
See the aerial video, link below:
Amateur drone pilot Jesse Peters flew an aerial quadcopter over Israel’s Apollonia National Park on the Mediterranean Sea to capture a bird’s-eye perspective of its historical ruins and rugged limestone cliffs. His apparatus caught more than the park’s natural beauty; it also filmed an unusual cliffside dwelling crafted by an artistic Jewish hermit.
In 1970, Kachlon – a divorced father of three – packed in his city life for a stint on the beach. His change of zip code veered off typical when he opted to live off the grid in tunnels he cut into the cliffs. “I decided that I didn’t want to live in the city, I love the sea, that’s how I came here. I don’t have to pay city tax because I don’t have garbage, I burn everything and use the ashes for concrete to build with,” he told Arutz Sheva.
“I have a well for water. I don’t have a washing machine, I don’t even have a telephone, I do everything by hand,” he continued.
His never-ending project stars in a 2014 film by directors Ilan Moskovitch and Dan Bronfeld titled “Sipur Aploni” (An Apollonian Story). Now Peter’s drone allows us to see the unusual homestead from a new perspective.
Over the years Kachlon’s cave on the cliff has become an impressive multi-story edifice. “A city engineer who came was shocked,” he said, “I like it here alone. I’m always busy doing things and building.”
He explains he used to source most of his food from the sea, but over the years catch has dried up – he blames commercial overfishing. Kachlon said he does not want to be famous, but that everyone is welcome to come and visit his creation.
A movie synopsis released by directors Moskovitch and Bronfeld states, “For years he lived without electricity or running water. Today Nissim continues to work on the home that he built out of rocks, trash, and sand, while the sea, which he loves dearly, constantly gnaws at the house. After years of estrangement, Nissim suggests that his 18-year old son, Moshe, move in with him and inherit the cave. A complex relationship between father and son is revealed.”
Certainly interesting, probably eco-friendly (although Green Prophet was unable to get details about construction methods and materials), and the artist’s home must command stunning sunset views. But how do you feel about one man laying claim to national parkland?
Update June 2023, there is a demolition order.
Lead image by Jesse Peters, others from City Desert
Apparently in the ant world it’s a few brains and a lot of braun, according to new research that can teach us about the power of crowdsourcing talent to get a job done.
Anyone who has ever watched a group of ants scurrying to carry a large crumb back to their nest has probably wondered how these tiny creatures manage the task.
New research at the Weizmann Institute of Science, explains how a balance of individual direction and conformist behavior enables ants to work together to move their food to in the desired direction.
To lug a large object, a number of ants surround it – the back ones lift, those on the leading edge pull. How do they stay on track, instead of simply pulling all around in a sort of tug-of-war?
Ofer Feinerman and his group in the Institute’s Physics of Complex Systems Department used video analysis to track the individual movements of ants in a group that was carrying a large food item toward their nest.
The more ants around the item (for, example, a breakfast cereal nugget) the faster they could move it. Although the bit of food always travelled in the general direction of the nest, its path was one of wrong turns and corrections.
In the videos, individual ants can be seen to help in carrying for a short while, after which new ants take their places. When these new ants mobilize, the other carriers, which have since become a bit confused as to the proper direction, defer to the newcomers.
As a new ant attaches, the steering of the object temporarily corrects, so that the trajectory becomes better aimed toward the nest. Newly attached ants continue to lead the motion for about 10-20 seconds. Thus informed ants take the lead, but they are also quick to relinquish it once their informational edge disappears.
Together with the group of Prof. Nir Gov of the Weizmann Institute’s Chemical Physics Department, a mathematical model was developed to describe this cooperative behavior. According to the model, the decisions of the “non-informed” carriers fit an intermediate level of behavioural conformism; the well informed individuals are then set to optimally steer the direction of the load.
This model describes a critical point between conformism and individuality that enables the group of ants to coordinate their work and adjust their direction as needed. The model is a variation on a so-called Ising model, which is more often used to describe emergent phenomena in statistical physics.
What can this study teach us about the role of individuality within a group of social animals? Feinerman: “In this system, the wisdom does not come from crowds. Rather, some individuals supply the ‘brains,’ and the role of the group is to amplify the ‘muscle’ power of savvy individuals so that they can actually move the load.”
Ants carrying food from Shutterstock
A crew of eco-minded entrepreneurs plan to mash-up modern vertical farming with decades-old hippie culture by fitting out an Airstream trailer with a mobile farm. Their plan is to bring hyper-efficient food production up close and personal to what they predict to be a receptive audience. “Isabel”, the souped up camper, will debut at Burning Man, a week-long cultural event held in Nevada every September.
Big agriculture is mainstream in the US, but growing our food has a long history. Until now, researchers believed farming was “invented” some 12,000 years ago in the Cradle of Civilization — Iraq, the Levant, parts of Turkey and Iran — an area that was home to some of the earliest known human civilizations.
A new discovery by an international collaboration of researchers from Tel Aviv University, Harvard University, Bar-Ilan University, and the University of Haifa offers the first evidence that trial plant cultivation began far earlier — some 23,000 years ago.
The study focuses on the discovery of the first weed species at the site of a sedentary human camp on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was published in PLOS ONE and led by Prof. Ehud Weiss of Bar-Ilan University in collaboration with Prof. Marcelo Sternberg of the Department of Molecular Biology and Ecology of Plants at TAU’s Faculty of Life Sciences and Prof. Ofer Bar-Yosef of Harvard University, among other colleagues.
“While full-scale agriculture did not develop until much later, our study shows that trial cultivation began far earlier than previously believed, and gives us reason to rethink our ancestors’ capabilities,” said Prof. Sternberg. “Those early ancestors were more clever and more skilled than we knew.”
Evidence among the weeds
Although weeds are considered a threat or nuisance in farming, their presence at the site of the Ohalo II people’s camp revealed the earliest signs of trial plant cultivation — some 11 millennia earlier than conventional ideas about the onset of agriculture.
The plant material was found at the site of the Ohalo II people, who were fisher hunter-gatherers and established a sedentary human camp. The site was unusually well preserved, having been charred, covered by lake sediment, and sealed in low-oxygen conditions — ideal for the preservation of plant material. The researchers examined the weed species for morphological signs of domestic-type cereals and harvesting tools, although their very presence is evidence itself of early farming.
“This uniquely preserved site is one of the best archaeological examples worldwide of the hunter-gatherers’ way of life,” said Prof. Sternberg. “It was possible to recover an extensive amount of information on the site and its inhabitants.”
“Because weeds thrive in cultivated fields and disturbed soils, a significant presence of weeds in archaeobotanical assemblages retrieved from Neolithic sites and settlements of later age is widely considered an indicator of systematic cultivation,” according to the study.
Early gatherers
The site bears the remains of six shelters and a particularly rich assemblage of plants. Upon retrieving and examining approximately 150,000 plant specimens, the researchers determined that early humans there had gathered over 140 species of plants. These included 13 known weeds mixed with edible cereals, such as wild emmer, wild barley, and wild oats.
The researchers found a grinding slab — a stone tool with which cereal starch granules were extracted — as well as a distribution of seeds around this tool, reflecting that the cereal grains were processed for consumption. The large number of cereals showing specific kinds of scars on their seeds indicate the likelihood of those cereals growing in fields, and the presence of sickle blades indicates that these humans deliberately planned the harvest of cereal.
The new study offers evidence that early humans clearly functioned with a basic knowledge of agriculture and, perhaps more importantly, exhibited foresight and extensive agricultural planning far earlier than previously believed.
Israeli rabbi and kabbalah teacher Ilan Ashkenazi can intellectually explain the workings of faith and religious practice, but it is in his role as artist and sculptor that he unravels spiritual mysteries through physical form. He emigrated to America in 2005 to focus solely on his sculpture, large pieces where shapes embody symbolism and spirituality.
Due to political unrest, Cairo’s subway had been closed for two years. Now it will be closed for an indefinite amount of time.
Tahrir Square’s Sadat metro station was closed this month after Egypt’s prosecutor-general Hisham Barakat was assassinated. This is another clear example of how conflict and violence seriously impedes any environmental progress in Cairo – a city clogged with traffic and fumes from vehicles.
Cairo’s main central metro station had re-opened at the start of the Holy Month of Ramadan on 17 June.
Barakat had died late June after sustaining serious injuries in a blast which targeted his motorcade in Heliopolis.
Researchers from Oregon State University’s (OSU) Hatfield Marine Science Center have created a new strain of seaweed with potential to grab the title for World’s Top Superfood. The newly patented strain of the red-leafed algae dulse, a lettuce-like plant that grows in the wild along Atlantic and Pacific coastlines. It’s packed with protein and minerals, but the commercial money-card is that this subaquatic crop tastes like bacon!
“Dulse is a superfood, with twice the nutritional value of kale,” Chuck Toombs, an OSU College of Business staffer and part the team working to develop the product into food said during a press conference. The project initially explored how dulse might feed farmed abalone, but researchers quickly realized its potential in the human-food market.
“There hasn’t been a lot of interest in using it in a fresh form. But this stuff is pretty amazing,” said chief researcher Chris Langdon. “When you fry it, which I have done, it tastes like bacon, not seaweed. And it’s a pretty strong bacon flavor.”
Supported by the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the researchers are working with the university’s Food Innovation Center and “research chefs” from as far away as Norway to concoct recipes using dulse as a main ingredient. They’ve patented this new strain of succulent red algae, anticipating forward demand – so far creating dulse-infused salad dressing and crackers. The seaweed can be used fresh or dried.
The appeal of dulse is multi-layered. It’s protein-rich (about 16% of its dried weight), and loaded with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. It grows quickly and inexpensively in natural or farmed settings. To date, no one has attempted to grow it on a commercial-scale for human consumption. But now that this new variety replicates the taste of artery-clogging, salt-laden, Big Food-produced bacon, seaweed farming is a new game.
Photographer Nathan Miller shows another side of Arab/Jew relations in “Somewhere in Jaffa”, a striking book of black and white images taken in this ancient Mediterranean city. His portraits of everyday living illustrate that for the different ethnicities that claim Jaffa as home – despite headlines and heated rhetoric – life goes on.
Solar Impulse 2, the aircraft attempting to circumnavigate the world fueled only by sun power, will be grounded in Hawaii until next April for battery repairs. On July 3, the plane completed the longest leg of its global flight – a record-breaking (non-stop, solo piloted) five-day, five-night journey from Nagoya, Japan, to Hawaii – during which its storage batteries overheated, sustaining “irreversible” damage, according to a statement from the team.
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