From urbanisation in Morocco to lake shrinkage in Iran, these shocking NASA photos prove how this region is in dramatic ecological flux. Unless you have been living in a consumer-induced coma, it will not have escaped your attention that the world is under serious environmental stress. And a large chunk of that stress has been human-induced. […]
Turkey has started exploratory drilling for oil and gas in the town of Iskele in northern Cyprus (red arrow), angering the government of the Greek-controlled southern region. The Turkish Petroleum Corporation began onshore drilling operations on April 26 at a 3,000-meter-deep well, named “Türkyurdu-1” (“Turkish Homeland”), which Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız called a “force for […]
Few ideas are more absurd to me than this: because people refuse to cut back on beef consumption, catastrophic levels of methane are being released into the atmosphere each year. Even Forbes wrote in a recent report that cutting back on meat is one of the fastest ways we can slash our carbon emissions and […]
Black smoke billows out of Karantina dump tire fire, near Beirut this weekend. Green groups think the fire was set to pull metal from the rubber tires. Landfills and garbage dumps in Lebanon have had their share of environmental issues. This reality is an ongoing problem for environmentalists there, and involves giant, smelly garbage mounds […]
Twelve new UAE graduates have been employed to work with the Masdar Institute. In 2010, Emiratis made up only 13% of their own country’s population. The oil industry and Dubai’s construction boom attracted millions of foreigners, including Indian laborers that just two years ago comprised a whopping 50% of the population, resulting in a tragic […]
Researchers in Israel have developed a new green plastic for irrigation pipes Drip irrigation is currently one of the most effective ways for farmers and gardeners to save water. But the method relies on plastic pipes and routinely creates non-recyclable waste. Recently Israeli scientists and professors from the Plastics Engineering department of Shenkar Art School […]
Ukranian president Viktor Yanukovych dedicates construction of new protective cover for damaged Chernobyl reactors To mark the 26th anniversary of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant accident, Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych presided at a ceremony at the site of the ruined nuclear plant in which a new construction project is being launched. The country will build a […]
A recent Israeli Supreme Court decision has temporarily barred the shipment of 90 monkeys to research labs in the United States. Mazor Farm, where the monkeys are being farmed, must now provide documentation proving it operates within Israel’s legal framework for captive animals. Many people imagine the typical Israeli farm as a peaceful, lush, agrarian […]
Spencer Tunick is one of the world’s most celebrated and controversial photographers with no fewer than 75 large-scale nude photo shoots under his proverbial belt. The New York-based artist has amassed thousands of volunteers to pose nude in dozens of symbolic locations across the planet, from Brazil to Ireland and most recently in Israel. To […]
DIY, make your own chemical-free hand and body lotion. At the end of our post on 5 natural ways to keep your skin beautiful, we note how important it is to moisturize. Now, take a good squint at the ingredients on your moisturizer’s label. There’s petroleum in one form or another. Alcohol. One or more […]
It has been three decades since Jordan’s national grid has seen substantial infrastructural changes, but the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has recently donated $1.15 million to the kingdom so that it can explore the option of implementing a “smart” upgrade. As new renewable, nuclear and oil-shale power plants are slated to come online […]
For years, the goldmine for Israeli cleantech companies has been the American economy. And as Israel deploys innovative technologies across the Atlantic, it is increasingly breaking ground and gaining profits ahead of American companies. Just last week, shares of the Reno, Nevada-based unit of Israeli geothermal company, Ormat Technologies (NYSE: ORA), rose more than 2.7 […]
Math helps us understand how people flow, and just maybe it could help Hajj pilgrims stay safe. A Californian jogs to the beach. Coming towards him on the sidewalk is a Texan. Unless one steps aside they’ll collide. Quick: which way does the jogger move? If this is in Europe or the USA, heavy odds he […]
As part of the 1979 peace treaty with Israel, the Sinai Peninsula was restored to Egyptian control – an event that the country celebrated with some fanfare on April 25th, 2012. On that same day, the Egyptian Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri witnessed two separate development plans that were signed between the Social Development Fund (SFD) and governors […]
What the Middle East will look like with a 9 meter raise. Play God with the online map to see what we’ll lose. When you click around NASA’s online flood maps you can instantly view impacts on the world’s coastal communities. A single meter increase soaks Alexandria and Basra, and rattles the nerves of eastern Saudi […]