Christ’s thorn jujube (Ziziphus spina-christi) also known as the sidr tree is a real, identifiable tree native to the Middle East, and it appears—directly or indirectly—in Islam, Judaism, and later Christian tradition. The connections between the three faiths are not theological agreements but overlapping uses, names, and symbolic associations rooted in the same landscape.
In Islamic tradition, there is a point where creation ends — a boundary that marks the limit of what any created being can reach. That boundary is called Sidrat al-Muntahā, often translated as “the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary.”
Air Tea is a new technology. Instead of drinking tea, you inhale herbal vapor through warm air extraction. There is no water and no combustion. The warm air releases essential oils that are often lost in hot water and digestion.
Health emerges from a continuous energy and material flow from water through food to human physiology. Technical energy systems support this cycle through water treatment, agriculture, and infrastructure.
Christ’s thorn jujube (Ziziphus spina-christi) also known as the sidr tree is a real, identifiable tree native to the Middle East, and it appears—directly or indirectly—in Islam, Judaism, and later Christian tradition. The connections between the three faiths are not theological agreements but overlapping uses, names, and symbolic associations rooted in the same landscape.
In Islamic tradition, there is a point where creation ends — a boundary that marks the limit of what any created being can reach. That boundary is called Sidrat al-Muntahā, often translated as “the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary.”
Air Tea is a new technology. Instead of drinking tea, you inhale herbal vapor through warm air extraction. There is no water and no combustion. The warm air releases essential oils that are often lost in hot water and digestion.
Health emerges from a continuous energy and material flow from water through food to human physiology. Technical energy systems support this cycle through water treatment, agriculture, and infrastructure.
Christ’s thorn jujube (Ziziphus spina-christi) also known as the sidr tree is a real, identifiable tree native to the Middle East, and it appears—directly or indirectly—in Islam, Judaism, and later Christian tradition. The connections between the three faiths are not theological agreements but overlapping uses, names, and symbolic associations rooted in the same landscape.
In Islamic tradition, there is a point where creation ends — a boundary that marks the limit of what any created being can reach. That boundary is called Sidrat al-Muntahā, often translated as “the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary.”
Air Tea is a new technology. Instead of drinking tea, you inhale herbal vapor through warm air extraction. There is no water and no combustion. The warm air releases essential oils that are often lost in hot water and digestion.
Health emerges from a continuous energy and material flow from water through food to human physiology. Technical energy systems support this cycle through water treatment, agriculture, and infrastructure.
Christ’s thorn jujube (Ziziphus spina-christi) also known as the sidr tree is a real, identifiable tree native to the Middle East, and it appears—directly or indirectly—in Islam, Judaism, and later Christian tradition. The connections between the three faiths are not theological agreements but overlapping uses, names, and symbolic associations rooted in the same landscape.
In Islamic tradition, there is a point where creation ends — a boundary that marks the limit of what any created being can reach. That boundary is called Sidrat al-Muntahā, often translated as “the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary.”
Air Tea is a new technology. Instead of drinking tea, you inhale herbal vapor through warm air extraction. There is no water and no combustion. The warm air releases essential oils that are often lost in hot water and digestion.
Health emerges from a continuous energy and material flow from water through food to human physiology. Technical energy systems support this cycle through water treatment, agriculture, and infrastructure.
Christ’s thorn jujube (Ziziphus spina-christi) also known as the sidr tree is a real, identifiable tree native to the Middle East, and it appears—directly or indirectly—in Islam, Judaism, and later Christian tradition. The connections between the three faiths are not theological agreements but overlapping uses, names, and symbolic associations rooted in the same landscape.
In Islamic tradition, there is a point where creation ends — a boundary that marks the limit of what any created being can reach. That boundary is called Sidrat al-Muntahā, often translated as “the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary.”
Air Tea is a new technology. Instead of drinking tea, you inhale herbal vapor through warm air extraction. There is no water and no combustion. The warm air releases essential oils that are often lost in hot water and digestion.
Health emerges from a continuous energy and material flow from water through food to human physiology. Technical energy systems support this cycle through water treatment, agriculture, and infrastructure.
Christ’s thorn jujube (Ziziphus spina-christi) also known as the sidr tree is a real, identifiable tree native to the Middle East, and it appears—directly or indirectly—in Islam, Judaism, and later Christian tradition. The connections between the three faiths are not theological agreements but overlapping uses, names, and symbolic associations rooted in the same landscape.
In Islamic tradition, there is a point where creation ends — a boundary that marks the limit of what any created being can reach. That boundary is called Sidrat al-Muntahā, often translated as “the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary.”
Air Tea is a new technology. Instead of drinking tea, you inhale herbal vapor through warm air extraction. There is no water and no combustion. The warm air releases essential oils that are often lost in hot water and digestion.
Health emerges from a continuous energy and material flow from water through food to human physiology. Technical energy systems support this cycle through water treatment, agriculture, and infrastructure.
Christ’s thorn jujube (Ziziphus spina-christi) also known as the sidr tree is a real, identifiable tree native to the Middle East, and it appears—directly or indirectly—in Islam, Judaism, and later Christian tradition. The connections between the three faiths are not theological agreements but overlapping uses, names, and symbolic associations rooted in the same landscape.
In Islamic tradition, there is a point where creation ends — a boundary that marks the limit of what any created being can reach. That boundary is called Sidrat al-Muntahā, often translated as “the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary.”
Air Tea is a new technology. Instead of drinking tea, you inhale herbal vapor through warm air extraction. There is no water and no combustion. The warm air releases essential oils that are often lost in hot water and digestion.
Health emerges from a continuous energy and material flow from water through food to human physiology. Technical energy systems support this cycle through water treatment, agriculture, and infrastructure.
Christ’s thorn jujube (Ziziphus spina-christi) also known as the sidr tree is a real, identifiable tree native to the Middle East, and it appears—directly or indirectly—in Islam, Judaism, and later Christian tradition. The connections between the three faiths are not theological agreements but overlapping uses, names, and symbolic associations rooted in the same landscape.
In Islamic tradition, there is a point where creation ends — a boundary that marks the limit of what any created being can reach. That boundary is called Sidrat al-Muntahā, often translated as “the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary.”
Air Tea is a new technology. Instead of drinking tea, you inhale herbal vapor through warm air extraction. There is no water and no combustion. The warm air releases essential oils that are often lost in hot water and digestion.
Health emerges from a continuous energy and material flow from water through food to human physiology. Technical energy systems support this cycle through water treatment, agriculture, and infrastructure.
In the volcanic highlands of northern Jordan, north of Amman engineers are mining a natural resource not for energy, but for agriculture. The material: crushed volcanic rock, now also processed into a mineral-rich soil that may hold the key to reducing water and fertilizer demand in arid regions.
The project is led by Watad, a Jordanian company founded in 2019. The firm processes volcanic rocks such as zeolite, basalt, and pozzolana into what it calls “volcanic soil”—a porous, salt-resistant substrate that improves water retention and plant growth in dry climates.
“There’s zeolite, like the one we have in the mine here. There is zeolitic tuff in one of the other mines we have. There are basalt and pozzolana,” said Ibrahim al-Manaseer, a mine engineer at the site near Mafraq in an interview with Reuters. “All of them are volcanic rocks that formed thousands of years ago.”
Watad currently produces around one million tons of volcanic soil annually, and its CEO, Mohannad al-Manaseer, says the company could scale up rapidly. al-Manaseer said the goal is to replace conventional fertilizers and soil additives with a more durable and environmentally stable alternative.
Wated, volcanic soil
Early field reports suggest volcanic soil may reduce irrigation needs by up to 60% and cut fertilizer use by 80%. That could have significant implications for Jordan, which ranks as the second most water-scarce country in the world, with per capita water availability under 100 cubic meters per year, well below the UN’s threshold for extreme water stress.
When we visited Jordan we learned that hotels and homes get fresh water shipped to reservoirs weekly. Some people keep second hidden reservoirs to avoid running out.
While long-term studies are still needed to assess environmental and agronomic impacts across diverse ecosystems, the use of volcanic material in soil enhancement is not new. Zeolites, in particular, have been studied for decades due to their ion exchange and adsorption properties.
What’s novel is the scale—and the urgency. In a region where desertification, rising temperatures, and resource stress are converging, Jordan’s push to mine its volcanic past could represent a rare alignment of geology and necessity.
Jordan has been working with water cooperation with Israel and the Palestinian Authority over the last couple of decades through Friends of the Earth, Middle East – Ecopeace. They are working to broker small-scale local projects in education, but also are working on larger water for energy swaps. The October 7 terror attack changed the political outlook for Israel and Jordanian cooperation, two countries that have a signed peace treaty.
Time for water cooperation?
The Wadi Araba Treaty established cooperation between Jordan and Israel on various matters, including water sharing. In November 2022, both Jordan and Israel signed a declaration of intent at the UN climate conference to rehabilitate and protect the Jordan River, aiming to reduce pollution and restore water flow.
A 2013 agreement involved developing a desalination plant in Aqaba, with potable water shared between Israel and Jordan, and increased water releases from Lake Tiberias to Jordan. But in November 2023, Jordan announced it would not sign a proposed water-for-energy deal with Israel, citing Israel’s actions in Gaza as the reason.
Jordan is currently advancing its own water security through the Aqaba–Amman Water Desalination and Conveyance Project, aiming to produce about 300 million cubic meters of clean drinking water annually. Jordan is landlocked except for a small strip of the Red Sea, where it is bordered by Israel and Saudi Arabia.
The Abraham Accords which is creating a peace treaty and regional cooperation between countries such as Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, will likely lead to water cooperation for a very dry Jordan.
In homes from rural Kenya to Tokyo high-rises, one universal thread connects us across culture, language, and belief: singing to babies. Now, a new study out of Yale University offers scientific validation to what parents and caregivers have known for generations—singing soothes babies, lifts their moods, and strengthens early emotional bonds.
Published in Child Development on May 28, the study reveals that even brief increases in musical engagement can lead to real health benefits for infants, particularly improved mood and emotional regulation. This is a timely reminder that amidst rising mental health concerns and parenting stress, some of the most powerful interventions are still the simplest—and the most ancient.
Singing in Waldorf Education: A Foundation for Emotional Intelligence
Boys at a a Waldorf school
In Waldorf education, which draws on the philosophies of Rudolf Steiner, singing is not simply entertainment—it’s a way of being. From infancy through grade school, Waldorf teachers and caregivers incorporate song into daily rituals, transitions, and lessons. The belief is that young children absorb the world through rhythm and melody, and that music helps them harmonize internally with their environment.
In a Waldorf pre-school class, you might see a teacher lighting a candle while softly singing a greeting song. Later, a lullaby might guide children into rest, or a playful tune might invite them into circle time. Even math and language learning are introduced through song.
“Singing carries warmth, and warmth is what the young child most needs,” says Karin Kloosterman, the founder of Green Prophet. “When we sing to babies, we offer them an emotional map of the world.”
Singing to babies isn’t exclusive to Waldorf or Western education. It’s a cross-cultural instinct deeply embedded in human caregiving. In Uganda, mothers sing lullabies called ebinyinyinya to soothe infants at night. In Arctic Inuit communities, families use ayaya songs—short, improvised melodies whispered to babies during long winters. In India, lori lullabies are passed down through generations as sacred maternal rites.
Anthropologists have found that infant-directed music has recognizable patterns across all human cultures: slower tempo, higher pitch, and repetitive phrasing. “Music is one of our species’ earliest and most reliable ways of saying, You are safe. You are loved,” says Dr. Samuel Mehr, director of The Music Lab at Yale.
Samuel Mehr, the Music Lab at Yale
Even in cultures where literacy is limited, music serves as a primary vehicle for emotional and social development. And now, science is catching up.
The Yale Study: A Closer Look
In the Yale study, 110 parents of babies under four months were divided into two groups. One was encouraged to sing more often, supported with baby-friendly songbooks, karaoke videos, and weekly prompts. After just four weeks, the babies in this group were consistently rated as being in a better mood compared to those in the control group.
Notably, many parents naturally used singing as a tool for calming fussy infants, even though the study didn’t instruct them to do so. “They intuitively reached for music, because it worked,” says co-author Lidya Yurdum.
In a previous study by Samuel Mehr, collaborator, Manvir Singh, conducted a listener experiment with a Mentawai shaman in Sumatra. The participant is listening to an example of music from another society and rating how much he thinks it is “used to soothe a baby”. Credit: Luke Glowacki
While the parents’ own moods didn’t show marked improvement over the short timeframe, researchers believe long-term singing might also support caregivers, potentially offering relief from stress and even postpartum depression. The study has now expanded into a longer eight-month trial, titled “Together We Grow.”
In a modern world saturated with overstimulation—from screens to synthetic noise—this research reminds us of the profound power of simplicity. Singing is free. It requires no batteries, no subscriptions, and no formal training. And yet, its impact is potentially transformative.
In fact, studies suggest that when caregivers sing lullabies, they regulate not only their child’s emotions but also their own. Heartbeats slow. Breathing deepens. A kind of co-regulation unfolds, tuning parent and child to each other’s rhythms.
“It’s the original language of connection,” says Waldorf educator and parenting coach Eliza Gold. “Singing allows us to meet our children in a space that words can’t reach.”
Want to Start Singing to Your Baby?
Keep it simple: No need for perfect pitch. Babies love the sound of your voice.
Create routines: Use the same song for waking, naptime, or bathtime.
Include siblings: Singing together strengthens family bonds.
Draw from yoru own family traditions. Ask your grandmothers, or parents or aunts. Use Waldorf inspiration: Sing instead of speaking during transitions—e.g., “Time to wash your hands” becomes a gentle chant.
In a time when parents are bombarded with products and programs promising better baby development, it’s worth remembering that our voices—and our presence—are still the most powerful tools we have. The science now confirms it. And the world’s mothers, grandfathers, and early childhood teachers have always known it.
In a disturbing discovery that should concern every skincare consumer, an independent laboratory has found dangerous levels of benzene—a well-known cancer-causing chemical—in common over-the-counter acne treatments. The FDA has since issued voluntary recalls of several top brands, including products from La Roche-Posay, Proactiv, and Walgreens. But for many experts, this action may have come too late.
Benzoyl peroxide (BPO), the active ingredient in many acne products, has long been favored by dermatologists for its ability to kill Cutibacterium acnes, the bacteria behind breakouts. But what most users—and even many doctors—didn’t know is that BPO can break down into benzene, especially when exposed to heat.
This risk was first flagged by Valisure, a Yale-affiliated independent lab in Connecticut. After testing 66 popular acne treatments, Valisure’s researchers discovered benzene levels as high as 35 parts per million (ppm)—dramatically exceeding the FDA’s temporary 2 ppm limit for unavoidable contamination in life-saving drugs. Acne cream doesn’t fall under that exemption.
“There shouldn’t be any carcinogens in any of our acne products,” says Dr. Christopher Bunick, a Yale professor of dermatology and independent consultant on the Valisure studies. “The recall is a victory for patient safety—but it’s also just the beginning.”
Benzene is a volatile compound found in gasoline, cigarette smoke, and industrial pollution. Its links to leukemia and other blood cancers are well documented. The idea that it’s showing up in personal care products is raising alarms across the dermatological and public health communities.
“This is not about one cream,” says Dr. Bunick. “It’s about cumulative exposure. Benzene is in your air, your shampoos, your sunscreens. The last thing people need is to be rubbing it into their skin daily.”
After publishing their findings in Environmental Health Perspectives and The Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Valisure submitted a citizen petition to the FDA. A few months later, the FDA launched its own testing—and found enough supporting evidence to justify pulling several products from shelves.
While some critics have challenged Valisure’s high-heat testing methods, a follow-up study at room temperature confirmed that 1 in 3 acne products still exceeded the FDA’s benzene limits.
Yale’s Chemical and Biophysical Instrumentation Center also confirmed the results, adding further credibility to Valisure’s data. This isn’t Valisure’s first time ringing alarm bells. Since 2018, the lab has triggered recalls of popular medications like Zantac, valsartan, and metformin—all due to contamination with carcinogens. Increasingly, the group has turned its attention to cosmetics and personal care products, where benzene contamination is becoming a pattern.
The problem, researchers explain, is often in the supply chain—with contaminated raw materials or unstable chemical combinations. But with BPO, it’s not just external contamination: the chemical itself breaks down into benzene, especially when stored in warm conditions, like a bathroom shelf.
If you use a BPO-based acne treatment, don’t panic—but be cautious. Here’s what experts recommend:
Check for recalls: Visit the FDA website to see if your product has been flagged.
Store cool: Avoid keeping acne creams near heat sources or in hot bathrooms.
Use fresh: Stick to unexpired products and consider rotating in alternatives like salicylic acid or adapalene.
Consult your doctor: Discuss risks, especially if you’re using BPO daily or over long periods.
And remember: no amount of benzene is truly safe unless the product is medically essential and no safer alternative exists—which isn’t the case for acne treatment.
Toxic acne medicine begs for more natural, wholistic solutions
Both Dr. Bunick and University of Calgary dermatologist Dr. Fatemah Jafarian warn that this isn’t the last we’ll hear of benzene in skincare. Their latest pharmacovigilance study, using the FDA’s own adverse event reporting system, found links between BPO-containing products and reported cases of skin and breast cancer.
Though not conclusive, the findings suggest the urgent need for deeper epidemiological research and a complete safety review of BPO’s use in consumer products.
“The story is not closed,” says Bunick. “Understanding the health risk of benzene contamination is still needed—and it’s really important for us to be thinking forward about what to do next.”
In the meantime, those looking for acne relief may want to choose the path of least resistance—and least risk. We have asked our in-house herbalist Miriam Kresh to develop a natural alternative to help acne. While it might not be the golden solution everyone is hoping for, it might help some people avoid the pharma industry.
There is no regular power in Lebanon. People have turned to solar power out of necessity, not vision.
The United Arab Emirates is leading the Arab world by all measures of sustainability in terms of at least concept, if not practice. But their tolerance and ability to learn and pivot is the making of a great nation. Hoping to help Lebanon out of the rubble of a terrorist group takeover by the Hezbollah, the UAE says it’s reaffirming its longstanding commitment to international cooperation and sustainable development, so it sent members from the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) on a high-level visit to Lebanon, aimed at strengthening economic ties and advancing strategic partnerships.
The UAE President, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, met with President Joseph Aoun in a working visit to the UAE in May, the two leaders discussed ways to expand cooperation in economic, investment, and government sectors.
As part of this effort, the ADFD was tasked to send a delegation to Lebanon to assess potential joint projects, while the UAE’s Knowledge Exchange Office was tasked with visiting Beirut to share best practices on government performance and institutional excellence. Beirut can once again rise up and become the pearl of the Middle East if it lets go of terror and hate.
The Safadi Foundation in Tripoli, a structure that develops sustainable projects in Lebanon.
The three-day visit brought together senior UAE officials and Lebanese leadership to explore collaborative solutions that support Lebanon’s economic recovery and future growth. The delegation met with Aou where discussions centered around enhancing bilateral cooperation and supporting Lebanon’s economic development efforts.
ADFD also visited the Banque de l’Habitat (Housing Bank) in Beirut to explore cooperation on offering concessional loans to support housing solutions and enable citizens to access affordable housing. Both parties agreed to continue coordination, including upcoming meetings in Abu Dhabi to discuss project implementation and follow-up on proposed initiatives.
“The Fund’s participation underscores the UAE’s commitment to supporting friendly nations, continuing its leading role in fostering international cooperation. ADFD’s partnership with Lebanon spans over five decades, during which we have helped implement strategic development projects across vital sectors such as infrastructure, education, energy, and healthcare, saud H.E. Mohamed Saif Al Suwaidi, Director General of ADFD.
Fish from this Tripole market stall were analyzed to determine the ammonium content inside them in a Green Prophet investigation. The results revealed a very high concentration of ammonium. That means they were fished with dynamite, an ecologically destructive practice.
He added: “Our presence in Lebanon today reaffirms our deep commitment to supporting its government in tackling economic challenges and enhancing the quality of life for the Lebanese people. We aim to leverage our expertise and partnerships to help develop sustainable solutions that align with the country’s aspirations for recovery and reconstruction.”
During the Knowledge Exchange Forum, Lebanese Prime Minister Dr. Nawaf Salam praised ADFD’s instrumental role in supporting Lebanon’s development journey since the 1970s, describing the Fund as a trusted partner throughout various stages of national progress and an enabler of tangible improvements across key sectors.
COP29 in Lebanon
Site visits to the Port of Beirut, Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport, Beirut Governmental Hospital, and various public service institutions further underscored the delegation’s focus on identifying immediate priorities and potential areas of collaboration. Can Lebanon eradicate the Muslim Brotherhood and the Hezbollah ideology? Lebanon was founded as a Christian country, while Syria was intended for Islam. The future of the Middle East is at stake. Faith leaders from the Christian faith should be rising up to help the most important focal point for Middle East reform: Lebanon.
The Swiss village of Blatten, via Wikipedia, before the glacial mudslide
On May 28, 2025, the tranquil Alpine village of Blatten in Switzerland’s Lötschental Valley, about 75 miles west of Geneva, faced a catastrophic event. A massive section of the Birch Glacier, estimated at 1.5 million cubic meters, collapsed, unleashing a torrent of ice, mud, and rock that engulfed the village. Some 90% of the village was destroyed, and one man is missing. Climate change is to blame.
Blatten sheep grazing near the glacier in the summer.
Prior to the disaster, authorities had evacuated approximately 300 residents and livestock due to warnings about the glacier’s instability. Swiss Authorities here issued a warming, 6 days ago. You can count on the Swiss for being prepared. Despite these precautions, a 64-year-old man remains missing, and search operations involving drones with thermal imaging are ongoing hoping to find him.
Mudslide from Blatten, Switzerland
The landslide also buried the nearby Lonza River bed, raising concerns about potential flooding from dammed water flows. The Swiss army has been deployed to assist with rescue efforts and to monitor the evolving situation.
Having hiked the glaciers of the Italian area of the Swiss Alps, I recall the serene beauty and the sense of permanence these ice formations exuded. But I also sensed the danger when hiking on them. One wrong step could make me slide off a cliff. Passages are often intersected by glacial runoff. This tragic event in Blatten underscores the fragility of such landscapes in the face of climate change. The increasing frequency of glacier collapses is a stark reminder of the urgent need to address global warming.
Blatten before and after, captured by a village webcam
Switzerland, home to the most glaciers in Europe, has witnessed significant glacier volume losses—4% in 2023 and 6% in 2022. The collapse in Blatten is not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of glacial instability linked to rising global temperatures, Swiss glaciologists and scientists believe.
People go to Blatten bei Naters for its breathtaking views of the Aletsch Glacier, the largest in the Alps and a UNESCO World Heritage site. It’s a haven for hikers, skiers, and nature lovers, offering dramatic alpine scenery, tranquil trails, and access to the Belalp resort. The village also appeals to families and photographers drawn to its panoramic lookouts over the glacier.
Visitors could reach Blatten by taking a train to Brig or Naters, then a local bus or car up the winding mountain road. No doubt all tourism in the area should be avoided at this time.
Jeanne Mortimer, the Dianne Fossey of sea turtles. She changed everything in the Seychelles.
Assomption Island is the back door to one of the last unspoiled corners of Seychelles, the Aldabra Atoll. The Seychelles is a nation of people that control 115 islands scattered across the Indian Ocean. With just over 100,000 people and a heroin crisis afflicting nearly 10% of its population, this small country faces vast and complex challenges. But perhaps none are more pressing—or more invisible to the wider world—than the fate of its sea turtles.
At the center of this story is Dr. Jeanne A Mortimer, an American-Seychellois biologist who has been studying sea turtles since 1973 and working in Seychelles since 1981. Known affectionately as “Madam Torti” among locals, Jeanne is not an activist. She’s not leading protests or lobbying parliament. She is, as always, knee-deep in research—methodically documenting, measuring, walking the beaches at dawn, and then later at night when the turtles nest, and publishing what she finds.
And what she finds is urgent.
Assomption Beach Too Valuable to Lose
Assomption Island, view from a plane.
Assomption lies just 20 miles from the Aldabra Atoll, a UNESCO World Heritage Site world-renowned for its giant tortoises, sea turtles, and pristine ecosystem. But while Aldabra has enjoyed global protection since 1968, Assomption, once over-mined for guano, remains largely overlooked. Development on Assomption will directly threaten Aldabra Atoll, considered to be an outpost of evolution.
According to Mortimer, Assomption once had the largest population of nesting green turtles in all of Seychelles. The island’s seven kilometers of mostly uninterrupted beach and deep offshore approach make it ideal for both turtle nesting and tourism. “It’s a perfect green turtle beach,” she explains, “better than Aldabra’s in many ways.”
The scale and style of the project, suggest permanent disruption to this fragile ecosystem. No formal environmental survey has been conducted. No baseline turtle data has been published. And Mortimer, arguably the foremost authority on turtles in the region, has not been consulted.
Mortimer’s approach is neither alarmist nor oppositional. Her power lies in knowledge. After receiving her PhD under legendary sea turtle biologist Archie Carr at the University of Florida, she brought her expertise to Seychelles at the request of WWF and the local government. Her mandate: to study all turtle activity across the archipelago’s 155 islands.
See our talk with Jeanne Mortimer:
To reach remote islands like Cosmoledo, she traveled aboard supply ships like the Cinq Juin, slept on the floor of yacht galleys during high monsoons, getting soaked with water, and sometimes posed as a cook just to gain passage. Guests aboard the cabin caught on that she knew too much about Biology to be a standard cook.
Once, she stayed five months on Cosmoledo atoll among a dozen Seychellois turtle hunters, documenting the precise dynamics of a community reliant on harvesting turtles, sharks, and fish. When camping at night she wore socks on her feet and keep her hair wrapped in cloth so island rats wouldn’t nibble on her toes or collect her hair for making nests. She even ate turtles because food choices, those days, were slim.
In the early 80s: Fishermen cleaning and salting their catch at Grand Ile at the end of the day. Salt and fish are stored in the empty turtle carapaces on the ground. Image via Jeanne Mortimer.
Her presence changed them. “When I first arrived, the men were worried I would interfere,” she later wrote. “But by living with them, working alongside them, they developed a new perspective.” She never asked them to stop; she simply watched, listened, and recorded. That data formed the foundation for Seychelles’ 1994 decision to ban turtle hunting entirely.
She laments those days even, because they had a culture around hunting sharks and fishing and turtles, citing a fondness for Mazarin as the fisherman of fishers. She didn’t judge as it was their income and way of life. There are even times when she helped salt the fish for fear it would spoil before reaching the market.
“Turtles were harpooned from the small fishing boats. I sometimes went turtle hunting with the men. Photos show Mazarin ready to throw the harpoon, and then pulling the turtle up to the boat.”“Shark Fishing at Cosmoledo in 1982. Sometimes the men, especially Mazarin, went out in their small boats and fished for shark all night long. A single night’s catch might comprise as many as 10 large sharks,” says Jeanne Mortimer. Image supplied by Mortimer.
Assomption: A Mirror of the Past
She says that what happened at Cosmoledo in the 1980s is relevant today on Assomption. The threat has shifted—from salted meat and tortoiseshell to artificial light and luxury development—but the stakes remain the same.
“Turtles are most vulnerable when they’re nesting,” Mortimer explains. “And we now know that females may take 30 to 35 years to reach sexual maturity. When they do, they return to the same beach again and again—sometimes for decades.”
These are the turtles that Assomption once hosted in abundance. And thanks to early signs of recovery, they are starting to return. If left undisturbed, Mortimer believes Assomption’s green turtle population could rival or exceed Aldabra’s.
But the Qatari villa development underway presents a new kind of threat. “The biggest issue is lighting,” she says. “Turtles won’t nest if there’s light on the beach. Hatchlings get disoriented. It’s one of the most studied impacts we know.”
And it’s not just turtles. Assomption hosts rare insect communities and bat populations, many of which could be wiped out by light pollution alone. Developers have reportedly promised a 1% footprint—but Mortimer warns that artificial light knows no boundaries. She also knows how devastating pesticides against bugs will harm the insects and the bats that feed off them. She once wanted to be an entomologist and knows how delicately all parts of island nature is connected.
In over five decades of work across more than 20 countries, Mortimer has seen conservation succeed. The many long-term monitoring programs she has coordinated in Seychelles—at places like Cousin, Aride, D’Arros and Aldabra—are now scientific goldmines. They prove that when science and policy align, recovery is not only possible, it is inevitable. Save Our Seas Foundation has been very helpful to her research, she says.
Jeanne Mortimer with a sea turtle
But Assomption is different. No formal turtle survey has ever been published for the island. No environmental management plan is in place. And development is already underway. Educating locals is one thing but now with international investment it’s a beast she has no experience in tackling and is letting environmental activists do the job.
It is, says Mortimer, “a very valid concern.”
She’s not fighting it. But she’s watching, documenting, and—when asked—offering solutions. “Turtle-friendly development is not a metaphor,” she explains. “It’s a science. Setback lines. Blackout curtains. No visible light from the beach. We know how to do this.”
The problem, as she puts it, is not science right now —it’s politics. “I don’t know why they haven’t asked me to help. But I would.”
Despite everything, Mortimer remains focused on what can still be saved. She invests where she can have impact. And she believes in young people—especially the children of those with power.
“If a Qatari child sees a turtle nesting and says, ‘Hey Mom, Dad, we should protect this,’ that might do more than any scientist,” she told me.
Her advice to the next generation isn’t to give up plastic straws. It’s to demand structural change. “The real responsibility lies with governments and corporations. Not individual guilt. We need investment in alternatives—seaweed-based plastics, smart design, policy change.”
Levy says that Mortimer’s encouragement and science-first approach inspired him when he met her on Aldabra and shaped his philosophy of protection through data and experience. She is the grandmother of sea turtle research, and leads the conversation globally in the annual sea turtle conference.
Meanwhile, Mortimer isn’t slowing down, but rather speeding up so the science gets published. She continues to write papers, to walk beaches, and to document what others might overlook. Assomption, for now, remains a question mark—a fragile bridge between two possible futures.
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Karin Kloosterman is a former biologist and works as a science journalist and founder of Green Prophet. She interviewed Dr. Jeanne Mortimer for this story in Seychelles and is actively investigating the conservation status of Assomption Island.
An ancient Qanat system in Persia. Spread throughout the arid Middle East, these systems predated Roman aqueducts but the historical narrative isn’t told
As tensions over water intensify across Iraq and the wider Middle East, the 5th Baghdad International Water Conference has cast a timely spotlight on the country’s fragile water future—and its ancient hydrological past.
Held in the heart of Mesopotamia—where early civilizations once mastered the art of water management—the conference drew regional experts and leaders to Baghdad to confront a crisis that’s becoming more urgent by the year: water scarcity. With rivers running dry and modern agricultural systems straining under the pressure, Iraq finds itself at a crossroads between its hydraulic heritage and an increasingly parched present.
The Aflaj Irrigation Systems of Oman are ancient water channels from 500 AD located in the regions of Dakhiliyah, Sharqiyah and Batinah. However, they represent a type of irrigation system as old as 5000 years in the region named as Qanat or Kariz as originally named in Persia.
The land between the Tigris and Euphrates was once a wellspring of invention. Thousands of years before modern irrigation, the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians carved canals, engineered flood basins, and developed qanat systems—ingenious underground channels that carried water from mountain springs to distant farms.
These systems weren’t just technical achievements; they were the lifeblood of cities, temples, and trade. Water determined everything—from the rise of empires to the poetry etched into clay tablets.
Iraq marsh people know how to live with water
But today, the once-mighty rivers that sustained those ancient cultures are shrinking. Dams upstream, salinization, climate shocks, and mismanagement have left Iraq’s water infrastructure overburdened and outdated. Agriculture now consumes over 90% of Iraq’s water, yet crop yields are falling. Some estimates suggest that without reform, wheat and barley yields could drop by half by 2050.
How a qanat works
These aren’t just numbers. Iraq’s rural communities—many of whom still rely on traditional farming—are already being uprooted by water shortages. Marshlands, once teeming with biodiversity and cultural life, are evaporating. The disappearance of water from ancestral lands threatens to sever ties to history, religion, and identity.
This has ignited conflict—not just between nations sharing river systems, but within Iraq itself. Disputes over water rights are rising, and in some areas, violence has already erupted. A younger generation, particularly women and smallholder farmers, are being left with few options: adapt or leave.
The Persian Qanat: Aerial View, Jupar
Despite the severity of the situation, Iraq isn’t without solutions. The country is rediscovering the value of its past while cautiously embracing modern technologies. Sometimes, like in Afghanistan the outcome can be dubious. Opium farmers now use solar powered water pumps to cultivate poppies.
Solar panels are a boon for the planet but they are now fueling bumper crops of poppies for the opium trade. Via the NY Times.
Remote sensing tools, such as those used in the WaPOR programme, are helping farmers monitor water use and optimize irrigation. Solar-powered systems, being piloted in neighboring Egypt and Tunisia, offer hope for regions where diesel pumps are no longer viable. Community-led water user associations—reminiscent of ancient collective water governance structures—are being revived to restore trust and accountability.
Dr. Aubrey de Grey: people can live for 1000 years.
In the prestigious halls of biogerontology—where scientists untangle the mysteries of human aging—a curious silence persists when it comes to discussing timeframes. Ask most aging researchers when we might defeat aging, and they’ll quickly pivot to discussing incremental progress or the complexity of their work. This isn’t mere scientific caution; it’s a carefully calculated strategy shaped by the brutal realities of research funding.
“I actually wrote a paper on this called “The duty of biogerontologists to discuss time frames publicly”, and I wrote it in 2004,” says Dr. Aubrey de Grey, founder and Chief Science Officer of LEV Foundation. “So it’s been a real problem.”
While remarkable progress continues in labs worldwide, the culture of avoiding predictions has created what de Grey considers a dangerous disconnect between scientific potential and public awareness. This strategic silence might be protecting individual careers, but at what cost to humanity’s battle against its oldest enemy?
The Politics of Prediction in Scientific Funding
The term “Longevity Escape Velocity” (LEV) has become the linchpin of a growing scientific and philosophical debate. (CREDIT: Bryan Johnson)
The reluctance to make predictions isn’t unique to aging research, but it’s particularly pronounced in this field. At a 2010 NIH meeting, the consensus among senior researchers crystallized around a simple concept: “principled researchers cannot stoop to discussing time frames, because research is intrinsically so unpredictable.” [Woah, where did you find this?]
When de Grey first proposed that biogerontologists have a duty to discuss timeframes publicly, the reaction from leading scientists was “thoroughly lukewarm.” In academic culture, making concrete predictions is viewed as a career-limiting move.
The reason? Self-preservation within a hyper-competitive funding landscape.
“The reason they don’t is because they think that it will endanger their funding,” de Grey states bluntly. Unlike de Grey, who has navigated primarily through philanthropic channels, most aging researchers “get their funding from the government through a process of peer review, where other scientists are forced to make choices between their colleagues’ grant applications and they never have anything like enough money to divvy up.”
This creates a brutally efficient system where scientists are “constantly looking for reasons to say no” to their colleagues’ grant applications. One reliable justification for rejection is claiming a researcher made irresponsible public statements.
“A great ass-covering way to say no is to say, ‘Well, this person said something irresponsible on television,'” de Grey explains. “Whether or not the thing they said on television actually was irresponsible, if it could be characterized as irresponsible, like over-promising and under-delivering or getting the public’s hopes up or whatever, then that’s good enough.”
The Reputation Risk That Silences Scientists
Dr. Aubrey de Grey
Many researchers claim that their real reason for silence is that “over-selling and under-delivering” is irresponsible. They’ve witnessed the swift and merciless backlash that comes when a researcher becomes too optimistic in public.
A cautionary tale emerged recently involving Harvard scientist David Sinclair, who faced “a barrage of rebukes from fellow longevity researchers” after making headlines with claims about “age reversal” in animal studies. The professional consequences were severe—Sinclair ultimately stepped down from a prominent research leadership position.
This public execution sends a clear message to other scientists: make bold claims at your peril.
But predictions are not the same as claims. Historical disappointments—like the “War on Cancer” in the 1970s failing to deliver promised cures—have not made funding bodies hypersensitive to ambitious timelines: the budget of the National Cancer Institute has never once been cut year-on-year. But this has failed to reassure a research community that has mastered the art of promising incremental progress while carefully avoiding any specific commitments about when breakthroughs might occur.
The Vicious Cycle of Funding and Progress
De Grey points out that this caution creates a destructive catch-22: without articulating timeframes, researchers struggle to convey urgency to policymakers and funders. While scientists only “dangle the carrot” of curing aging but “without mentioning time frames,” public and political enthusiasm will remain weak.
“Political will to support biogerontology research depends utterly on… perception of how likely it is that this research will succeed,” de Grey notes. If that perceived likelihood is zero, “funding will be zero.” This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where insufficient resources slow progress, confirming the pessimistic outlook.
The stakes could hardly be higher. As de Grey explains, “Every day that I bring forward the defeat of aging, it’s 30 World Trade Centers. It’s 110,000 people, and it’s very easy to get out of bed for that.”
Yet the funding pitch often stumbles at the moment of truth:
“If you come to somebody and you say, ‘Hello, I’d like some money, please,’ and they say, ‘What are you going to use it on?’ And you say, ‘I’m going to do this research,'” de Grey explains, “And they’re going to say, ‘Yeah, and what will that achieve?’ And you say, ‘Oh, it’s going to achieve this greater understanding and greater progress, and keeping people healthy for a long time.’ And then the person says, ‘Right, how soon is that going to happen?'”
The critical moment comes next: “And if you say, ‘Oh, I have no idea, it’s research,’ and you run away very fast from the idea of actually putting a number on how soon you think you’re probably (not even certainly!) going to make this all [happen], then they will say, ‘Fuck off.’ They will basically say, ‘You’re just trying to swindle me. You know perfectly well this research is basically going to be futile and you just enjoy doing it, and you want my money.’ And so they won’t write you a check.”
The Hidden Costs of Conservatism
De Grey argues that the “no predictions” norm actively harms biomedical progress and, by extension, public health. In his view, scientists’ reluctance to discuss timelines puts “self-interest (reputation protection) over humanity’s collective interest in medical progress,” which he considers “reprehensible.”
The field faces a delicate balancing act. On one hand, credibility with funders and the public requires honest assessment. On the other hand, excessive conservatism can hamper progress by failing to attract sufficient investment.
As one observer noted regarding de Grey’s approach, “People don’t donate to Aubrey de Grey because they want the work they fund to be timid.” His bold messaging attracts donors who want revolutionary progress, whereas traditional grant agencies prefer more measured claims.
Finding a Path Forward in the Funding Maze
De Grey calls for scientists to “say what they actually think” about timelines, arguing that transparency could accelerate progress. The key challenge is navigating what he describes as the strategic dilemma between “money now versus reputation later.”
Whether individual scientists choose caution or boldness in their predictions, de Grey’s central argument remains powerful: aging research’s impact on human welfare is too significant to let funding politics dictate its pace.
He contends that predictions, even probabilistic ones, demonstrate belief and credibility: “If you do put a number on it, even though the number has to be probabilistic, you have to say there’s a 50% chance that I’ll reach this amount of progress in this amount of time if you give me this amount of money, then you’re showing self-belief. You’re making a prediction… if you don’t make a prediction at all, you have no credibility at all.”
In this high-stakes game of scientific funding, the reluctance to make timeline predictions may be protecting individual careers, but it’s also potentially slowing the most important medical revolution in human history. As millions continue to suffer and die from age-related diseases, de Grey’s challenge to the scientific establishment becomes more urgent. The politics of prediction in aging research isn’t just an academic debate—it’s a matter of life and death on an unprecedented scale.
Jaks shoes make as slow fashion from Portugal out of apple waste and leather
In 2025, sustainability is no longer a luxury or a greenwashed afterthought—it’s a business imperative. Consumers around the world are making purchasing decisions based not just on price or style, but on how products are made, what they’re made of, and what happens after they’re used. Enter a wave of bold startups building circular, ethical, and regenerative models for everyday items—from sneakers and smartphones to menstrual pads and incense sticks.
Here are seven standout startups proving that sustainability and innovation go hand in hand.
1. Akyn (UK) – Redefining Ethical Fashion: Founded by British designer Amy Powney, Akyn is more than a clothing label—it’s a quiet rebellion against fast fashion. Built on the principles of transparency, timelessness, and traceability, Akyn uses organic cotton, regenerative wool, and natural dyes. Every piece is designed to last beyond seasons, with full supply chain traceability back to the farm. As the UK rethinks fashion’s carbon footprint, Akyn leads with substance and style.
Akyn
2. Rothy’s (USA) – Turning Bottles Into Ballet Flats: Based in San Francisco, Rothy’s is famous for transforming recycled plastic bottles into sleek, washable shoes and accessories. With 3D knitting technology that minimizes waste, Rothy’s has repurposed more than 179 million bottles and over 20,000 used shoes to date. Their latest push in 2025? Fully circular retail stores, where worn-out Rothy’s can be dropped off and reincarnated into new designs.
Rothys
3. Fairphone is flipping the script on electronics with a modular smartphone that’s easy to repair, upgrade, and recycle. The Dutch startup sources fair-trade gold, conflict-free tin and tungsten, and recycled plastics. In a world awash in e-waste, Fairphone is leading the “right to repair” movement—and showing big tech how ethical hardware can still turn a profit.
Fairphone
4. LastObject (Denmark) – Saying Goodbye to Single-Use: Copenhagen-based LastObject produces reusable alternatives to everyday personal care items—cotton swabs, tissues, and even makeup pads. Their signature product, LastSwab, replaces 1,000 disposable Q-tips. The brand’s minimalist design and bold messaging have resonated with a new generation of climate-conscious consumers. It’s not just zero waste—it’s zero nonsense.
Last Objects
5. Bamboo India – A Green Toothbrush Revolution. Plastic toothbrushes are one of the most common items found in landfills. And the microplastics get into our bodies when we brush. Pune-based Bamboo India is changing that with biodegradable bamboo toothbrushes, earbuds, and eco-gift items. What started as a small social initiative has become a household name across India, with a rapidly expanding global presence. Their mission: eliminate single-use plastic from your morning routine.
Bamboo India
6. Nirmalaya (India) – From Temple Waste to Sacred Scents. Every day, Indian temples generate tons of floral waste. Nirmalaya saw an opportunity in the problem—transforming discarded flowers into incense sticks, essential oils, and organic colors. Based in Delhi, the startup combines tradition with innovation, tackling waste while preserving the spiritual significance of its raw materials. It’s an elegant fusion of circular design and cultural reverence.
Nirmalaya
7. Eco Femme (India) – Menstrual Health Meets Social Impact: In Tamil Nadu, Eco Femme is producing washable, organic cotton menstrual pads and distributing them through education-focused programs across rural India. This women-led social enterprise is helping reduce the mountains of plastic waste created by disposable pads—while empowering women and girls with dignity and information. Their pads have reached thousands, but their model is reaching minds.
Eco Femme
These startups aren’t just selling products—they’re selling a new way to live. Each is proof that consumer goods can be high-quality, beautiful, and regenerative at the same time. From fashion and tech to wellness and waste, they’re building a future where sustainability isn’t a niche—it’s the norm. Now all of these are global products. Take an idea from this list and make it local.
Once whispered about in underground circles and jungle clearings, the psychedelic brew known as ayahuasca is now a global phenomenon—and in 2025, its reach shows no sign of slowing. From Silicon Valley executives to trauma survivors, the call of the vine continues to draw seekers from all corners of the world. But the practice, steeped in centuries of Amazonian tradition, is facing new pressures as demand grows and legality shifts across borders.
The spiritual and medicinal use of ayahuasca originates with Indigenous peoples of the Amazon basin, particularly in Peru, Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador. In places like Iquitos and Tarapoto, ayahuasca ceremonies are still held in malokas (circular huts), guided by shamans who sing icaros—healing songs meant to direct the energies of the ceremony.
Nihue Rao shamans
Retreat centers such as Temple of the Way of Light and Nihue Rao continue to host international guests seeking healing, insight, or deep spiritual transformation. These centers often blend tradition with modern therapy models, including pre- and post-ceremony integration sessions.
Rising Centers: Costa Rica and Portugal
Ayahuasca tea being prepared. Wikipedia
Outside of the Amazon, Costa Rica has emerged as a popular and well-regarded destination for ayahuasca work. Retreat centers like Rythmia Life Advancement Center offer week-long experiences that combine plant medicine with yoga, breathwork, and Western-style psychological support.
Portugal, too, is becoming a hub, largely due to its relaxed drug laws and growing psychedelic community. Though not legal per se, ceremonies often operate in a gray area with minimal interference from authorities.
In the United States, ayahuasca remains federally illegal due to its DMT content—a Schedule I substance. However, several religious organizations, such as the Santo Daime Church and União do Vegetal (UDV), have received legal exemptions to use ayahuasca in sacramental ceremonies.
Beyond these groups, underground ceremonies have proliferated, particularly in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York, where local decriminalization movements have deprioritized the enforcement of psychedelic drug laws. These events are often invite-only and framed as “healing circles” rather than religious rites. It is also believed to be quite popular in Israel as well, where you can find a healing ceremony –– much needed in this intense time of conflict.
Who’s Drinking Ayahuasca in 2025?
The profile of the typical ayahuasca participant has shifted. While still attracting spiritual seekers and New Age devotees, today’s ceremonies are increasingly attended by:
Tech and creative professionals seeking clarity, focus, or emotional breakthroughs.
Military veterans looking to address trauma and PTSD.
Therapists and healers incorporating the experience into their own personal development.
Women and mothers exploring ceremony as part of rites of passage or ancestral healing.
Ayahuasca is also becoming a tool for psychedelic integration therapists, many of whom now have firsthand experience with the medicine as part of their training or personal exploration. While the effects can feel transformative, it is important to do the real work on yourself after the experience.
But with popularity comes complexity. Indigenous leaders and activists have raised concerns about cultural appropriation, overharvesting of ayahuasca vines, and the commercialization of sacred traditions. Some Amazonian communities are pushing back, creating frameworks for reciprocity and ethical sourcing.
Organizations like The Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund are advocating for fair compensation, intellectual property protection, and cultural sovereignty for the original stewards of the medicine.
Is It Safe?
Ayahuasca is not a party drug. The brew often leads to intense physical purging (vomiting, shaking, crying) and emotional processing. While many report life-changing insights, others have experienced psychological distress, especially when ceremonies are held without proper guidance or integration support.
In rare cases, ayahuasca can be dangerous—especially for people with certain psychiatric conditions or those taking antidepressants or SSRIs. That’s why screening and aftercare are now standard practice at reputable retreat centers. This should be said about cannabis, which is now banned in Florida. Canada is allowing all cannabis to be legal for recreation use, making it accessible to very young teens.
Blue City, smart city, renewable energy city: Rotterdam has it all
Back in the day when we started Green Prophet, “circular design” was a new buzzword and mostly just a slide in a PowerPoint deck—something sustainability consultants pitched people who knew nothing. In 2025, it’s different. Circular design isn’t just theory now—it’s practice. It’s policy in some of the boldest companies, cities, and thinkers who are reshaping the future.
The idea’s simple, at least on paper: instead of designing products that end up as waste, we design them to stay in circulation. You don’t throw it out—you fix it, rework it, compost it, or break it down for parts. But circularity today goes far beyond recycling. It’s about designing out waste from the very beginning—and building systems that restore, not just reduce.
Here’s what circular design actually looks like now—and where it’s heading.
We start with taking things apart: Literally. In a world full of glued-shut gadgets and planned obsolescence, modularity is the quiet revolution. Look at the Fairphone 5, made in the Netherlands. It’s not flashy. But if your camera breaks or your battery dies, you can swap them out with a screwdriver. That’s the whole point. No Genius Bar. No landfill. Dutch common sense. That’s my ancestry.
Fairphone
Designers in 2025 are choosing materials based not just on what they do now—but on what they’ll become next. Fashion is leading the charge. Stella McCartney’s working with Mylo, a mushroom-based leather you can compost. Pangaia’s printing T-shirts from seaweed and dyeing them with bacteria. It sounds like science fiction, but it’s already in stores.
Vegan mushroom leather, Mylo
Architecture might be the most exciting space for circular innovation. In Brussels, the government built the Circular Pavilion using 95% reclaimed materials. That’s right—steel beams from old train stations, floors from shuttered schools. In the UK, a startup called Biohm is creating wall panels and insulation out of mushrooms that clean your air and return to soil when you’re done with them.
Ehad Syed creates Biohm for circular design products
Biohm is a biomanufacturing research and development company founded by Ehab Syed in 2016 to create regenerative construction materials and packaging by growing mycelium into food waste or processing difficult-to-reuse or recycled by-products.
Biohm uses orange peel, cocoa husks, and other food waste, to develop and design construction materials such as mycelium-based insulation panels, plant-based concrete alternatives, and sustainable replacers for wood-based construction sheets.
Space. Yes, even space: Circular design is going orbital. The European Space Agency is prepping a mission called ClearSpace-1 that will grab dead satellites and haul them back down to Earth. Meanwhile, modular satellite “swarms” are being tested—think space Legos that can swap parts and repair each other, reducing the need for constant rocket launches (and space junk). Read our latest on sustainable aviation fuel for space.
Milan is tackling food waste with logistics instead of guilt: it rescues over 130 tons of edible food every year and reroutes it to people who need it. Israel does this as well. Non-profits and volunteers collect tons of food after weddings and large catered events supplying it to those who are hungry.
Here’s the honest take: circular design is not a magic fix. It’s messy. It takes time. But it’s starting to change systems, not just products. When major cities, aerospace agencies, and fashion giants start asking: What happens to this at the end of its life?—that’s a shift. That’s design thinking that looks more like ecology than industry.
A sustainable aviation alternative that enables intrepid luxury travel, OceanSky Cruises’s airship is a 100-metre-long hybrid aircraft, combining buoyancy from helium with aerodynamic lift created by the shape of its hull. Driven forward by four propellors, the vehicle can fly continuously for days. Can it run on SAF?
In the skies above Britain and across the Asia-Pacific, a green revolution is accelerating—not in the fields, but in the jet streams. Two major international moves this month signal that Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is no longer a niche technology but a critical pillar of the future of flight. And as Earth-bound aircraft start to go green, a tantalizing question arises: can space travel do the same?
Industry players like BP and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have applauded the move, highlighting that SAF produced under these standards meets rigorous global aviation fuel benchmarks such as ASTM D1655. This isn’t a backdoor greenwashing scheme. It’s vetted, safe, and compatible with existing jet engines.
The UK’s action sends a powerful signal to the global market: SAF isn’t tomorrow’s promise—it’s today’s policy.
GenZero
Meanwhile, Singapore’s GenZero, in partnership with the World Economic Forum, has launched the Green Fuel Forward Initiative, aiming to scale SAF across the Asia-Pacific region. This initiative unites airlines, aerospace manufacturers, and financiers to create a self-sustaining SAF market—one that can meet the demand of one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation hubs.
Where the UK is setting standards, GenZero is building ecosystems. Together, these initiatives create a transcontinental roadmap for clean flight.
Despite the momentum, experts caution against declaring SAF a silver bullet. While SAF can reduce lifecycle emissions by up to 80% compared to conventional jet fuel, this is contingent on the sustainability of feedstocks, regional production capabilities, and carbon accounting accuracy. Feedstock availability, economic viability, and infrastructure bottlenecks all remain significant hurdles.
In short: cleaner skies are coming—but we’re not off the hook yet.
Companies like Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, and SpaceX are pushing commercial spaceflight into the mainstream. But their environmental footprint is enormous. One rocket launch can emit hundreds of tons of CO₂ and black carbon, which lingers in the stratosphere, disrupting climate systems more than emissions at lower altitudes.
Some progress is being made. Blue Origin uses liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen—fuels that, when combusted, emit only water vapor. But hydrogen’s production is often energy-intensive, and other space companies still rely on kerosene-based propellants.
Startups and research labs are quietly experimenting with green rocket fuels made from bioethanol, renewable methane, or even algae-based feedstocks. But these remain in early stages, with limited commercial uptake.
Could SAF tech inspire the next leap? Perhaps. SAF producers like Gevo, Neste, and Velocys are already investing in Fischer-Tropsch and gasification technologies that could be adapted for high-energy rocket fuel equivalents.
For investors with one eye on Earth and the other on the stars, SAF is emerging as one of the most promising clean tech sectors. Here are a few companies at the forefront:
Neste (Finland): The world’s largest SAF producer, partnering with airports and airlines globally.
Gevo (NASDAQ: GEVO): A US-based innovator turning agricultural waste into renewable jet fuel.
Velocys (UK): Converts municipal and forest waste into aviation-grade hydrocarbons.
XCF Global (NASDAQ: XCF): Set to become the only pure-play SAF producer on the US public market after acquiring New Rise Renewables.
SkyNRG (Netherlands): A pioneer in SAF deployment, collaborating with airports and corporate clients.
Shell and World Energy: Though fossil giants, both are investing heavily in SAF R&D and infrastructure.
Flying sustainably is no longer science fiction. But guilt-free air travel—let alone guilt-free space tourism—isn’t as simple as swapping fuels. It requires layered transformation: regulatory reform, feedstock innovation, public-private collaboration, and bold investment.
Neste’s SAF biofuel tested in Boeing Emirates flight in 2023
The United Kingdom has taken a significant step in advancing sustainable aviation by approving an increase in the co-processing blend limit for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) from 5% to 30%. This decision, endorsed by the UK Ministry of Defence and incorporated into Defence Standard 91-091, aims to accelerate the production and adoption of SAF within the aviation sector.
Safety is paramount in aviation fuel standards. The updated Defence Standard 91-091 ensures that SAF produced through co-processing meets stringent aviation fuel specifications. This standard aligns with global benchmarks, such as ASTM D1655, guaranteeing that the fuel is compatible with existing aircraft engines and infrastructure. Industry stakeholders, including BP and the International Air Transport Association (IATA), have collaborated to achieve this milestone, emphasizing the fuel’s safety and performance.
Britain’s Leadership in Sustainable Aviation
Virgin Galactic astronauts. Will space travel be sustainable? Sustainable Space Fuels?
It’s not just Virgin Atlantic or the hope for sustainable space travel: By increasing the co-processing blend limit, the UK positions itself as a leader in sustainable aviation. This move allows for the integration of renewable feedstocks, such as waste oils and fats, into existing refinery processes, facilitating a faster and more cost-effective path to SAF production. The approach reduces the need for constructing new facilities, thereby accelerating the availability of cleaner aviation fuels.
While the adoption of SAF represents a significant advancement in reducing aviation’s carbon footprint, it’s important to recognize that SAF is not a complete solution. The production and use of SAF can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80% compared to conventional jet fuel, depending on the feedstock and production methods.
However, challenges remain, including feedstock availability, production scalability, and economic factors. Therefore, while SAF contributes to more sustainable air travel, achieving guilt-free flying will require a combination of technological advancements, policy support, and broader systemic changes in the aviation industry.
Looking for a green and principled investments in SAF?
Several companies are actively involved in the research, development, and production of sustainable aviation fuels. Some prominent examples include:
Neste: A Finnish company known for its renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel production. Neste is one of the largest producers of SAF globally and has partnerships with various airlines and airports.
Gevo is a NASDAQ-traded US-based company that focuses on developing bio-based alternatives to petroleum-based products. They are actively working on producing SAF from renewable feedstocks such as corn, wood waste, and other sustainable sources.
Velocys is a British company specializing in sustainable aviation fuels and renewable diesel. They use gasification and Fischer-Tropsch technology to convert waste biomass into fuels suitable for aviation.
World Energy: This company, formerly known as AltAir Fuels, is based in the United States and produces renewable diesel and SAF from various feedstocks, including waste fats, oils, and greases.
Shell:While primarily known as an oil and gas company, Shell has been investing in renewable energy and alternative fuels, including sustainable aviation fuels. They are involved in various projects and partnerships aimed at developing SAF technologies.
SkyNRG: A Dutch company dedicated to developing and supplying sustainable aviation fuels. They collaborate with airlines, airports, and other stakeholders to promote the adoption of SAF in the aviation industry.
The NASDAQ-traded XCF. XCF Global aims to be a leading producer of SAFs with an initial annual production capacity of 38 million gallons following the acquisition of New Rise Renewables, which owns a flagship plant and adjacent site in Reno, Nevada.XCF will be the only pure-play public SAF producer in the US market, with competition mainly coming from legacy crude oil providers.
In an industry where temperature control is critical and energy consumption typically high, Cyprus-based pharmaceutical manufacturer Medochemie has achieved notable efficiency improvements through an innovative atmospheric air cooling system that reduces energy consumption by 15% while maintaining the exacting standards required for pharmaceutical production.
The system, developed by the company’s engineering team, has earned recognition with the Cyprus Innovation Award and represents an important advancement in sustainable manufacturing practices for the pharmaceutical sector.
Medochemie’s Energy Innovation Addresses Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Challenges
Pharmaceutical manufacturing presents unique energy challenges, with strict temperature and humidity requirements necessary to ensure product quality and stability. Cooling systems typically account for a significant portion of a pharmaceutical facility’s energy consumption, making them a prime target for efficiency improvements.
Medochemie’s solution addresses this challenge by cooling atmospheric air by 10°C before it enters the facility’s air-cooled chiller system. This pre-cooling significantly reduces the energy load on the chiller, resulting in a 15% reduction in electricity consumption while maintaining the precise environmental conditions required for pharmaceutical production.
Dr. Christakis Sergides, Director of Research, Development and Innovation at Medochemie, explains: “Temperature control is non-negotiable in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Our challenge was to reduce energy consumption without compromising the strict environmental parameters our products require. This innovative system achieves that balance, delivering significant energy savings while fully maintaining our quality standards.”
The technology has been implemented across Medochemie’s nine manufacturing facilities in Cyprus, with plans to extend it to the company’s international operations, including its facility in the Netherlands and five plants in Vietnam.
The atmospheric air cooling system represents just one component of Medochemie’s broader environmental strategy. Industry analysts note that pharmaceutical manufacturing has traditionally been energy-intensive, with temperature-controlled environments, specialized equipment, and strict cleanliness requirements all contributing to high energy consumption.
The company has implemented several additional energy-saving technologies across its facilities, including:
Variable-speed drives for motors across all factory operations, which maintain consistent motor voltage while optimizing the efficiency of cooling systems with lower energy consumption
Voltage stabilization systems that maintain steady voltage across all three phases, reducing thermal losses and achieving energy consumption reductions
LED low-energy lighting and motion-activated sensors throughout their facilities, reducing CO2 emissions from power generation
These initiatives are part of a comprehensive approach to environmental sustainability that extends to water conservation, waste reduction, and renewable energy generation.
Quantifiable Environmental Impact Across Operations
Environmental sustainability reporting from Medochemie reveals measurable benefits from their energy efficiency initiatives. The atmospheric air cooling system alone prevents approximately 120 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually across the company’s Cyprus facilities.
When combined with other energy initiatives, the company has achieved a total reduction of over 500 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually – equivalent to removing approximately 100 passenger vehicles from the road for a year.
The company’s 150KW Photovoltaic Park produces 1,650 kWh per KW annually, further reducing CO2 emissions by 201.5 tonnes each year. This solar installation supplies approximately 18% of the electricity requirements for Medochemie’s administrative buildings.
Water conservation measures have also yielded significant results. The company installed a system to collect water produced by air conditioning units during the cooling of atmospheric air. This captured water is then reused for irrigating plants on the company grounds, saving an estimated 250,000 liters of water annually.
Recognition and Industry Implications
Medochemie’s environmental initiatives have earned recognition beyond the Cyprus Innovation Award for their cooling system. For the fourth consecutive year, the company has received the “Gold Environmental Protector” award at the Cyprus Environmental Awards for Organizations and Businesses – the highest honor in this competition.
These achievements come as pharmaceutical manufacturers face increasing pressure to reduce their environmental impact. European regulatory trends indicate that environmental performance may become a more significant factor in pharmaceutical manufacturing compliance in coming years.
Dr. Andreas Pittas, founder and Executive Chairman of Medochemie, views these initiatives as integral to the company’s identity: “Since our founding in 1976, we have recognized that our responsibility extends beyond simply manufacturing medicines. Our motto of ‘Growth with a human face’ reflects our commitment to balancing business success with environmental stewardship.”
The company’s approach to environmental sustainability has potential implications for the wider pharmaceutical industry, particularly for generic medicine manufacturers who operate in highly competitive markets with tight margins. Medochemie demonstrates that environmental initiatives can deliver both ecological benefits and economic advantages through reduced operational costs.
Integration with LIFE PHARMA-DETOX Project
Medochemie’s energy efficiency innovations complement its leadership role in the LIFE PHARMA-DETOX project, an EU-funded initiative focused on developing methods to remove pharmaceutical compounds from wastewater. This four-year project aims to demonstrate an innovative method for detoxifying pharmaceutical wastewater directly from manufacturing facilities.
The project recently reached a significant milestone with the installation of a pilot system at Medochemie’s facilities. This system is designed to operate using 100% renewable energy sources, with excess hydrogen produced by the system used as an energy source during night hours. Demand Response also plays a role in the system’s design, shifting electricity usage away from peak hours.
Challenges and Future Directions
Despite these achievements, challenges remain in furthering energy efficiency in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Industry-specific requirements for cleanrooms, air exchange rates, and precise temperature controls limit how far energy reduction can go without compromising product quality and regulatory compliance.
Medochemie’s engineering team continues to explore new frontiers in sustainable manufacturing. Current research focuses on advanced energy storage solutions to maximize the utilization of renewable energy and artificial intelligence applications to optimize environmental control systems.
“The next frontier for us is the integration of AI into our environmental systems,” noted Dr. Sergides. “We’ve already begun implementing smart systems that can predict energy needs based on production schedules and optimize accordingly. Preliminary results indicate that we could achieve an additional 7-10% energy reduction through these advanced controls.”
The company is also investigating heat recovery systems that would capture and repurpose waste heat from production processes, potentially reducing energy consumption for water heating by up to 30%.
Industry-Wide Implications
For the broader pharmaceutical industry, Medochemie’s achievements demonstrate the potential for significant environmental improvements without compromising the stringent quality standards required for medicine production.
With a portfolio covering 10 therapeutic categories and distribution to 122 countries, Medochemie’s implementation of these technologies across diverse product lines shows their versatility and potential for wider adoption.
As health systems globally face budget constraints, pharmaceutical manufacturers must find ways to reduce costs while maintaining quality. Energy efficiency measures can help address this challenge by reducing operational expenses.
For a sector that has sometimes been viewed as reluctant to embrace environmental innovation due to regulatory constraints, Medochemie’s example suggests that significant progress is possible. The company’s holistic approach – encompassing energy efficiency, renewable generation, water conservation, and waste reduction – provides a potential roadmap for other manufacturers seeking to improve their environmental performance.
As the pharmaceutical industry continues to face scrutiny over its environmental impact, Medochemie’s cooling system innovation represents a tangible example of how technical ingenuity can deliver both ecological and economic benefits in this essential but energy-intensive sector.
Smart maintenance meets sustainability — a technician uses a cloud-based CMMS to help build and monitor green infrastructure, reducing downtime and environmental impact.
Implementing a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) can feel overwhelming. You’ve got legacy systems, skeptical team members, and limited time to get it right.
But don’t worry—this CMMS implementation guide will walk you through the entire process, one step at a time. Whether switching from paper logs or upgrading outdated software, this guide will help you move on confidently. Let’s break it down.
Step 1: Define Your Goals
Start with clarity. Why do you need a CMMS? What problems are you trying to solve?
Common goals include:
Reducing equipment downtime
Tracking maintenance costs
Automating preventive maintenance
Improving technician productivity
Write down your goals. Make productivity a priority. Make sure they’re measurable. That way, you’ll know if the implementation is working. Get input from your team. Your team’s insights will help you set realistic and relevant objectives.
Step 2: Build a Cross-Functional Team
Don’t do it alone.
Form a small team that includes:
Maintenance managers and technicians
IT support
Procurement or Finance
Operations staff
Each group brings a different perspective. Maintenance knows the workflows, IT understands the infrastructure, and finance cares about costs. Together, they make better decisions. Assign a project lead. This person keeps the team focused, tracks progress, and communicates with vendors.
Step 3: Choose the Right CMMS
There are many options out there. Don’t just go with the most popular or the cheapest.
Here’s what to consider:
Ease of use: Will your team use it?
Mobile access: Can technicians update tasks from the floor?
Customizability: Does it fit your workflows?
Support and training: Will the vendor help you succeed?
Request demos, ask questions, test the interface, and ensure it aligns with your goals and your team’s daily tasks.
Step 4: Clean and Prepare Your Data
A CMMS is only as good as the data you feed it.
Start by gathering:
Asset lists and specs
Maintenance schedules
Work order history
Spare parts inventory
Vendor and warranty details
Then, clean it up. Remove duplicates. Fill in the missing information. Standardize naming conventions. Yes, it’s tedious. But doing it now will save you headaches later.
A quick tip: If you’re moving from an outdated system, export the data early and give yourself time to review it.
Step 5: Configure the System
Now, it’s time to set up the system. This part is the crucial stage where everything comes together.
Tasks include:
Creating user roles and permissions
Setting up assets and locations
Importing preventive maintenance schedules
Organizing spare parts and inventory
Linking vendors and warranties
Work closely with the vendor or implementation specialist. Use this time to tailor the system to your specific needs. Avoid overcomplicating it. Start simple. You can always add more features later.
Step 6: Train Your Team
A powerful CMMS is useless if no one knows how to use it.
Plan training sessions for different user groups:
Technicians: How to open, complete, and close work orders
Managers: How to assign tasks and review reports
Admins: How to configure and manage settings
Make it hands-on. Let people practice actual tasks in the system. Encourage questions. Set up quick reference guides or cheat sheets. Training is not a one-time event. Offer refreshers and updates as needed.
Step 7: Go Live (and Start Small)
You’re prepared for launch but avoid activating everything at once.
Start with a pilot. Choose one site, one department, or a small group of assets.
Monitor how it goes:
Are work orders being completed in the system?
Are there any technical glitches?
Are users comfortable?
Collect feedback. Adjust as needed. Once things are running smoothly, expand the rollout. A phased approach reduces risk and builds confidence.
Step 8: Monitor, Measure, and Improve
Once your CMMS is live, the work isn’t over. It’s just beginning.
Use your original goals to track progress:
Is downtime going down?
Are PMs completed on time?
Is the team using the system daily?
Review reports regularly. Look for trends. Share successes with your team. Use the insights to tweak schedules, rebalance workloads, and optimize inventory. Keep evolving. A trustworthy CMMS will grow with your team and improve your maintenance program.
Final Thoughts
Implementing a CMMS is one of the best moves a maintenance manager can make. It boosts efficiency, cuts costs, and gives you better control over your assets.
However, success does not occur by chance. Follow this CMMS implementation guide step by step. Involve your team. Start small. Learn as you go.
And most importantly—stick with it.
A well-implemented CMMS can transform your maintenance operations from reactive to proactive. It’s not just a system; it’s a more innovative way of working.
