Charge Mobile Devices Through the Air
In a first of a kind device that will help us get rid of the tangle of cords: an Israeli company company called Wi-Charge says it can power up mobile devices through the air.
Free Beach Wifi to Tel Aviv Tourists and Locals
It’s an amazing way to democratize access to information and it means less headaches for tourists who don’t opt in to expensive data plans: the City of Tel Aviv-Jaffa has announced free WiFi hotspots throughout the city. On top of that and its rental bike program Tel-O-Fun, Tel Aviv is becoming a pretty cool city.
Divers Will Pay to Protect Coral Reef Biodiversity, New Study
With news that Red Sea coral reefs on the coast of Israel may be resistant against the changes of climate change, some more positive “reef” news swings our way out of Israel
Saudi Ministry of Health Sued Over Death of Obese Man
An 840 pound Saudi man died last week from complications associated with his weight and his passing is loudly being mourned online. Is it a sign of our digital times or a new awareness of the obesity epidemic in the Middle East?
Zaha Hadid Greens Tokyo’s 2020 Olympic Stadium Design
Japan has won the bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo and Zaha Hadid has been picked to retrofit its National Stadium. First designed for the 1964 Summer Games, this new stadium boasts a few green credentials. Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid has never shown a great deal of interest in designing healthy green […]
MIT Fog Harvesting Material Yields 5x More H20
Gulf countries like Abu Dhabi may lack freshwater resources, but they also have a lot of humidity. MIT’s new super efficient fog harvesting material could help countries with climates like this capture that moisture for drinking water.
The Christmas-izing of Ramadan and Eid
Recognizing our likenesses even in superficial traditions can chip away at the sense of “otherness” that prevents connection. With Syria on the brink, will anyone dispute that the West and the Middle East need better connection?
Parkinson’s disease can be seen in your handwriting
By the time a patient notices the symptoms, treatment options against the progression of Parkinson’s is limited. While some of us might rather live on in ignorant bliss until the disease hits us in the face in older age, a new tool from the University of Haifa finds that with Parkinson’s, the writing is on […]
Learn From London’s “Solar Death Ray” Tower
In London last week, a parabolic “death ray” of sunshine reflected off the city’s newest skyscraper burning cars and singing carpets in adjacent street level shops. It’s a cautionary tale for glass-clad towers in sun-intense Middle East, where robust assessment of a building’s impact on its environment is largely optional. This structure at 20 Fenchurch […]
The “Arabian Canal” is a Defunct Water Conduit in Dubai
In my last post I featured a photograph of an unused structure out in the desert near Dubai, a concrete amphitheatre. It turns out there was more to explore.
Aga Khan Awards Five in Architecture for Middle East and Muslim World
President of Portugal Aníbal Cavaco Silva and the Aga Khan presented this year’s Aga Khan Awards for Architecture at the Castle of São Jorge in Lisbon on Friday.
Shi Shaoping Depicts China’s Desert Scenes with Eggs
There is something so haunting about desert landscapes, and much as we love our own in the Middle East region, we are blown away by China’s desert scenes depicted through Shi Shaoping’s “The Eggs” art installation.
Is There a “Forest” Under the Desert Outside of Dubai?
Agricultural scientist Tony Rinaudo is behind one of the world’s most successful reverse desertification projects – in Niger, and now he thinks a similar underground forest might exist in the Arabian desert outside of Dubai.
SIWA Oasis Near Libya to Get Solar from the Gulf
For outsiders, SIWA oasis in Egypt is a wonderful place to visit precisely because “civilization” has been so slow to arrive there. But for locals, the gift of a new 20MW solar energy plant will be received like a mountain of gold.
Fascinating, Frustrating Morocco: a Tour in Photos
Severed goat heads, bloody and besieged by flies, lay side-by-side on a butcher’s slab. A dozen lethal serpents, coiled and poised to strike, wove back and forth before a snake charmer in the Marrakech souk.