The crescent moon is a symbol of Islam. Muslim, Jewish and Christian holidays revolve around cycles of the moon. So it’s no big surprise that an ancient structure, devoted to the moon, has recently been uncovered in Israel.
Row, kayak and SUP for the sea!
Part of International Coastal Cleanup Day 20 kayakers will paddle from Caesarea to Jaffa, Israel this weekend September 18 to 20.
The team of kayakers are supported by the Mare Nostrum Project, which aims to raise awareness of the need to protect the Mediterranean Sea and its coastlines.
The Israeli event “Rowing for a Clear Sea” is part of the activities of International Coastal Cleanup Day on September 20. If you love such events, get your kayak on and learn how to choose the right one for your body and body of water! Top kayaking guides can be found wherever you roam if you are looking to buy one. There are inflatable versions too, like SUP boards.
Participants from the Jaffa Port-based kayaking club Kayak4all and the Mare Nostrum Project will distribute bags and materials to the public to help clean up the beaches, while the kayakers will meet with different citizen and student groups to discuss the importance of keeping the Mediterranean Sea and beaches clean. This is the tenth year that the kayakers have gone out to raise awareness.
“The sea is a valuable resource that belongs to the public as a whole. Public awareness is key for the protection of the beaches and the sea. The Mare Nostrum Project, a leading Mediterranean-wide project, is happy to take part in the initiative as part of International Coastal Cleanup Day events taking place around the world,” says Prof. Rachelle Alterman.
On the day, sailboats from the Herzliya Sailing Club will join the kayakers for a spectacular sailing flotilla.
Coastguard volunteers will also take part under the aegis of Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection, with top kayaking guides.
International Coastal Cleanup Day is the world’s largest volunteer effort to clean up the oceans and beaches. Get on board and grab your paddle!
Jordan bans plastic bags, joining Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE
The Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) announced plans to ban the use of plastic bags starting next year. The ruling also applies to plastic containers that come in direct contact with food products (think take-away and deli counter sales).
GMOs explained through an historical lens
Are grandma’s heirloom tomatoes Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)? What about Lebanese cucumbers or the maize that Native Americans transformed from a meager ankle-high grass into long-eared mazes of golden corn? What is so scary about GMO?
Why Nutrasweet is making you fat
New research from Israel suggests that artificial sweeteners may be making us fatter, and leave us more prone to diabetes. Here’s the scoop:
Building my Internet of Things for smart city farms
I’ve started a small water farm. But unlike my attempted and horridly failed attempts at soil farming, where worms, weeds and beetles have taken over on my small plot and my brain, I’ve seen some impressive progress on water.
China goes Internet of Things for the farm by buying Israel’s AutoAgronom
China’s economy is growing exponentially. So is the needs of its population. To keep ahead of the food curve, China’s Yuanda Group just bought the Israeli company AutoAgronom for $20 million.
An expert’s guide to buying LED lights
Free from UV light, mercury and pollutants LED lights can also save you up to 90% of the energy used by regular halogen light bulbs. But to get the most out of LED lights you need to pick the right ones for the right conditions – outside or in – hallways or rooms. Go through these 4 points provided by electrical expert to make sure you’ve chosen correctly. And check out the big infographic below!
Al Maktoum Dubai airport gets green light for $33 billion expansion
Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central (DWC) was recently approved for a $33 billion expansion making it the largest airport project on the planet – another world record for the booming emirate.
Iraq-born Zaha Hadid’s new towers on former radiation zone in Australia
Just about every week UK-based and Iraq-born architect Zaha Hadid unveils new plans for eloquent but often outrageous skyscrapers and building projects around the world. The latest is a $420 million trio of skyscrapers for Brisbane, Australia, in her words, with “design [that] tapers each structure to minimise their footprint and open the riverfront to the public; creating a vibrant civic space for Toowong within a new riverside park.”
According to the developer, each of the three towers will have a multi-layered design with a glazed curtain wall with glass reinforced concrete. Called the Toowong development, the towers will include 486 apartments and eight “villas”
This result is feminine and organic, emulating organic forms like flower petals. Zaha Hadid has been criticized in the past for developing a stadium in Qatar that looks like female genitals.
The proposed building project would be located on land four kilometers west of Brisbane’s Central Business District, and will include parks space of about 7,300 meters.
The site has a poor environmental footprint. The area was occupied by Australia’s ABC Radio and after 17 women who worked there contracted breast cancer, the building was sold and vacated due to radiation levels. BY 2010 authorities declared the zone radiation free. The source of radiation appeared to from uranium.
As the Brisbane Times reported in 2008, “The site housed a uranium processing plant between 1911 and 1916, which produced products used to paint luminous clocks, watches and instrument dials.”
From mosque to mosque by bike at Tour de Salah eco event
British Muslims went green this past Saturday, as Muslims from all over London took part in a 100 km cycle ride from Mosque to Mosque. Muslims pray 5 times a day from dawn until dusk, and each “Salah” prayer constituted a different stop at some of London’s most iconic houses of worship, from the East London Mosque, all the way to the al Manar Mosque in West London.
New 50MW solar park near Israel’s Timna copper mines seeks partners
The Eilat-Eilot Renewable Energy Initiative announced yesterday that a tender will be issued to set up and operate the Timna Solar Park, a new 50 Megawatt PV Tracker solar energy field in southern Israel. This is expected to be the first phase of a 170MW project.
Arabs and Jews jump on (surf) board for peace in Tel Aviv
It’s known that if you bring people together with a common interest – music, food, or sport – everything else between them (tensions, family feuds, etc) evaporates and is secondary to the shared passion. I was lucky one day this past August to see such passion and peacemaking: there could have been sirens at any moment but Arabs and Jews were together to surf.
Read and believe what you want in the mainstream news. On the ground, and in the water Jews and Arabs can be and are friends.
Big green building conference in Tel Aviv tomorrow
Building green, thinking green, wanting to be green? Israelis from the who’s who in green building architecture, design, policy and everything else will be seen at the David Intercontinental Hotel tomorrow September the 9.
The conference is run by the Israel Green Building Council or ILGBC which was established in early 2007 as a non-profit organization and has a broad support base in industry, government and academia, as well as leading professional, social and environmental organizations.
Within a short time, the council has managed to develop into a robust and influential organization, due to its cross-sector representation and widespread recognition of the urgent need for initiatives in this field.
The council now has 130 member organizations, representing all of the sectors involved in the green building field in Israel. In 2011 the ILGBC was also proud to be recognized as an Established Green Building Council by the World GBC, reflecting the council’s leadership in the green building field in Israel and its ongoing international cooperation.
More here in Hebrew.
With killer virus Ebola out of control, Israel’s Protalix shares surge
Ebola was suspected to have spread to countries like Saudi Arabia and even by plane to the United Arab Emirates. Wishful thinkers believe it could kill 20,000 people before it’s contained. Pessimists believe that this killer virus could be a worldwide problem if it’s not stopped in its tracks.