Iranian photographer Hossein Zare captures in photography what we can only see in our dreams – otherworldly land and cityscapes infused with an sense of eternal longing. A longing to reconnect with the land, with the heavens? Step in to see just a small handful of his incredible work.
Iran’s Hossein Zare captures our wildest dreams in surreal photographs
Rooftop garden blooms for Bethlehem refugees
A new project in a Bethlehem-area refugee camp seeks to help reverse a history of forced urbanization and revitalize connections to agriculture, simultaneously increasing Palestinians’ control over their food sources, especially organic vegetables. It’s not the first time we reported on Refutrees, but they project has been blooming over the past year.
Deadly MERS virus spreading fast out of Saudi Arabia, raising panic before Hajj
Deadly and debilitating viruses are no strangers to the Middle East; especially following the discovery of a SARS-like mystery virus in Saudi Arabia back in 2012. This virus, which since then has become known as the Corona or MERS virus (see photo above) has been said to be spreading fast in the Arabian Peninsula by bats and camels.
Find the wind in Iran with these handy energy maps
Iran is most known in global news for its nuclear ambitions. But the country has resources for wind energy, the international renewable energy organization IRENA has announced. The NGO which is headquartered in Abu Dhabi has just released wind maps which show where Iranian winds blow.
Reflective white paint on hot roofs could reduce cooling loads by 20%
It can get hot enough in the Middle Eastern sun to fry an egg outside. If you’ve spent even a small amount of time in either Abu Dhabi or any other Gulf countries in summer, you know that it’s stifling hot outside and freezing cold inside just about every building. New paint may be able to reduce cooling loads by 20 percent – at least according to research from Watergy International Group.
Related: SolCold paint cools cars and buildings passively
Watergy is working with researchers at Masdar Institute just outside of Abu Dhabi to test a new paint that is applied to rooftops.
They applied the paint, which contains titanium dioxide (a material that is used in sunscreen) to a 2, 120 square foot area of roof at the Masdar Field station. Areas of the same roof were painted grey and one area was left uncovered.
At 9:30am, when it’s already blazing hot outside, the researchers found that the areas painted white measured just 76.82 degrees Fahrenheit, whereas the uncovered areas were unbearable to walk on at 116 degrees Fahrenheit.
Peter Armstrong, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Masdar Institute, told The National that white paint makes the most sense, but that grey and black paint containing the same chemicals would also be effective if it is required for stylistic reasons.
“It is best to have white on the roof because no one can see it up there,” he said.
In addition to reducing the heat island effect associated with buildings that have soaked up a great deal of solar energy and then radiate that heat, alongside cars and other energy sources, the paint could reduce the need to cool homes with air-conditioning.
Armstrong says that uninsulated concrete villas would benefit the most from the paint.
“Villas would benefit greatly. In a typical villa the AC unit is up on the roof so when you limit the heat on the roof you improve the performance of the AC because now where the AC is, it is a lower temperature,” he told the paper. “The higher the temperature is where AC is trying to reject the heat the lower the performance.”
A hangar in Sharjah and a supermarket in Italy already benefit from the cooling paint.
The next step in Abu Dhabi, for which Watergy has signed a letter of agreement to the tune of nearly $3 million, is to test two 50,000 square meter areas in the city.
After that, the paint could be applied to a variety of surfaces in order to bring down over all temperatures – even roads.
White cars, likewise, hold more value in hot countries (link). But before you go out and buy cans of white paint, you might want to think about the climate. According to this research we covered in 2011, white paint on roof tops contributes to more global warming. The advice from 2011? Put solar panels on your roofs instead.
Saudi prince slaughters 2,100 nearly extinct birds – for thrills?
Saudi royals seem to be more hazardous to the world bird-life than wind turbines and skyscrapers! A Saudi prince poached thousands of protected birds during a 21-day hunting safari in Pakistan, so claims a new report.
Arab investors and land grabbers wanted by Egypt
Egypt plans to lease 25,000 hectares of agricultural land to Arab investors. Agriculture minister Ayman Abu Hadid made the announcement in Tunis recently. Egypt is hoping that sustainable farmers will apply.
Raw human sewage murders millions of fish in Iran
This is what millions of dead fish in Iran look like: Raw, human sewage has leaked into a dammed river in the Tehran region of Iran killing millions of fish, a local news report there shows.
Saharan refugees learn how to spin old plastic bottles into gold
London’s Victoria & Albert Museum just wrapped a stunning show of Arab-influenced artwork from ten contemporary artists selected as finalists for year’s Jameel Prize – 3. The work of French designer Florie Salnot is a standout as it quite literally creates something spectacular from near nothing.
An urban park that embraces its desert environment
How many times have you seen a big old patch of lawn in the middle of Abu Dhabi and cringed?
Pistachios could power an entire new “eco-city” in Turkey
Turkey is floating plans to build a new “eco-city” in the southeastern corner of the country, near the border of Syria, and green building experts from Gaziantep want to use energy from burning pistachio shells to keep it running.
IDE Technologies aims for a fleet of floating water desalination plants in three years
Barge-mounted desalination plants aren’t unique – the Saudis first deployed them in 2008 – but Israel’s IDE Technologies Ltd. and Japanese shipbuilders have a plan to take offshore floating desalination to a whole new level.
Qatar axes four of 12 solar-powered World Cup 2022 stadiums
Qatar plans to spend roughly $200 billion to prepare for the hundreds of thousands of fans who are expected to show up for the 2022 World Cup – a sum that appears to be four stadiums more than the Emirate can afford.
The 200 fruitarians who find this country to be their Garden of Eden
Vegetarians criticise meat eaters for giving the world cow farts (greenhouse gases) and for making animals endure unspeakable suffering. Vegawarians criticize both for not seeing the middle ground. Vegans take on all three groups saying that no animal products should be consumed by us humans, but there is another level of food piety:
“Driverless” Tesla electric car will test run on Israel’s Better Place grid
In the aftermath of the demise of Shai Agassi’s Better Place electric car network company, EV car purchasers in Israel feared they might become stranded due to not being able to recharge or exchange their car’s lithium batteries. Will Tesla, who said they wouldn’t, swoop in?