Your Weight is Worth Gold in Dubai
The government of Dubai government will pay gold to health-conscious residents for dropping some weight over the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. It’s part of Dubai’s “Your Weight in Gold” initiative.
Mediterranean Net-Zero Home Based on 3,500-Year-Old Israeli Design
Team Israel is all pumped up to show off their design skills at the upcoming 2013 international Solar Decathlon competition in China with All [e] Land – a Mediterranean net-zero prefab dwelling based on a 3,500-year-old archetypal Israeli design.
Egyptians Hunt Down Migratory Birds for Natural Viagra
It is a little known fact outside of conservation and hunting circles, Sherif Baha el Din from Nature Conservation Egypt told The Guardian, but Egyptian hunters will destroy thousands of migratory birds in the coming weeks as they make their way from Europe back to Africa for the winter.
King David’s Palace Discovered
The ruins of a fortified complex at Khirbet Qeiyafa, west of Jerusalem, are the remains of one of King David’s palaces, says Dr. Yossi Garfinkel, archeologist from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Working together with Saar Ganor of Israel’s Antiquities Authority, Garfinkel has worked to uncover the site for the past seven years. According to […]
Kazakh Children Keep Ramadan Caroling Alive
Children in Central Asia practice a tradition in the lead-up to iftar (the evening breaking of the Ramadan fast - read our green iftar guide here) that has a decidedly Western resonance: they go Ramadan caroling.
Gulf Countries Fear Leaks from Iranian Nuclear Plant
Representatives from six Arab Gulf countries that form the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) recently expressed concern about the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Southwest Iran after an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 on the Richter scale struct the region earlier this year.
Tunisian Desert Dunes Threaten Darth Vader’s Tatooine Home
Star Wars fans lovingly restored Luke Skywalker’s Tatooine home in Tunisia recently, but the former home of young Anakin, who would eventually become Darth Vader, is about to be engulfed by fast-moving desert sand dunes.
Abu Dhabi Five-Star Leisure at Saadiyat Island Puts Ecology First
A five star hotel will offer chefs, tennis and golf pros, hairdressers and masseuses, but the Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi just upped the ante by adding a marine biologist to its permanent staff. The resort’s resident marine expert will be organizing workshops and eco-excursions to educate and entertain guests, but her primary mandate is to […]
Israel’s Itay Kirshenbaum Grows Backyard Furniture
What is up with Israeli designers? On the whole, they’re an eco-conscious group that use their creative genius to churn out groundbreaking designs, but two young students seem to be heading in the wrong direction. We recently featured Yariv Goldfarb’s Bezalel graduation project with 3d printing technology called “Play with Poop.” In order to deviate […]
Tapping Middle East Biogas Potential in Lebanon and Pakistan
Lebanon and Pakistan have each announced new biogas projects, tapping into a sustainable energy source that, unlike other renewable energy streams, solves two municipal problems – energy creation and waste processing. Biogas, primarily a mixture of carbon dioxide, methane, and hydrogen, is produced by decomposing organic matter. Add oxygen and create a high-efficiency fuel for […]
Yariv Goldfarb Uses 3D-Printing to ‘Play with Poop’
We've seen a lot of really useful applications for 3D printing, but Yariv Goldfarb's graduation project for the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem is not one of them: printing plastic molds in order to "play with poop."
Arsenic In Your Food? Consumers Push Regulation
When I first thought of arsenic in my food, I remembered “Arsenic and Old Lace,” a movie from the 1940s where two old ladies nonchalantly poison their elderly suitors with a little arsenic in their elderflower tea. We’re not keeling over from the levels of arsenic in our food – yet – but the concern […]
Qoros Electric Vehicle: China and Israel Partner with USA
After losing the Better Place electric vehicle company, Israel Corporation moved forward with a different holding in the same industry. Qoros Auto Company Ltd., a 50:50 joint venture between Israel Corp and China’s Chery Automobile Co. Ltd., has agreed to purchase EV and hybrid parts from American Axle Manufacturing Inc. (AAM).
Bulldozers Raze Ancient Urban Farm in Turkey
The Yedikule neighborhood of Istanbul is on edge as bulldozers recently razed two gardens that have been cultivated for the last 1,500 years, The Atlantic Cities reports. This is taking place in tandem with the ongoing Gezi Park saga despite a court’s ruling that the latter should not be cleared to make way for a shopping […]
Zayed Prize-Winning School Inches Closer to Zero Carbon
The school was the first in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates to scoop the prestigious $100,000 Zayed Future Energy Prize in the Global High School category and they have already put the money to good use. The Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Bangladesh Islamia School installed an 11.52 KW rooftop solar array.