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Holiday on Samui’s Rocky Shores at Baan Hin Sai

Karin Kloosterman
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Holiday on Samui’s Rocky Shores at Baan Hin Sai

baan hin sai

Think Wem Wenders meets Knots Landing at this natural cliff top resort on Koh Samui, Thailand. 

As I get older and find myself with the itch to get away, I am turning more and more to all inclusive holidays, especially the last minute deal sites to help me find a cheap, and simple holidays not far from home. But once and a while I like to journey a little longer, a little farther. To take my laptop and family on the road and travel for a month or more to laid back destinations – places where it’s not hard to find the sun, good food, and affordable and ecological minded hotels. While eco is definitely on my mind, it’s not the defining factor in where I stay. But when I travel to places like Thailand, I like a little bit of pampering. Because Thailand is the place to go to get knee deep in nature, and get spoiled at the same time on a reasonable budget. This past February I travelled to Koh Samui, an island in Thailand.

About halfway through our journey we found the Baan Hin Sai Resort and Spa. Easy to reach from one of the east island’s beaches, Chewang and Lamai, this place is a sea and nature lover’s dream.

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EcoReef Antlers For Coral Reef Restoration

Linda Pappagallo
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1
EcoReef Antlers For Coral Reef Restoration

eco reef ecoreef ceramic reefsInstalled already in Qatar, reef recovery time can be decreased from 50 to 100 years to 7 to 15 with these ceramic antler-like artificial reefs. 

One of the great dilemmas for marine protected areas is ensuring marine ecosystems overcome issues related to “shifting baselines”: the extent to which marine areas have been driven from their “natural baseline state” due to anthropogenic activity and natural changes. Unfortunately, conservation plans often select baselines that already represent a disturbed state. The result is a continuous decline in ecosystem integrity, as next generations of managers resets their baseline to even lower marine ecological states. A partial solution to this is restoration – an active form of conservation. However coral reef restoration (either as coral reef art or ugly electric cages) been no easy task given the lengthy period of time it takes for corals to grow – between 0.06 to 3.9 cm a year.

Thankfully, a new product called EcoReef has been on the market and it is showing to be an effective coral reef restorer that could work for the Middle East reefs in the Gulf and the Red Sea. 

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Simple Wave House is a Minimalist Summer Home for Turkey

Tafline Laylin
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0
Simple Wave House is a Minimalist Summer Home for Turkey

minimalism, daylighting, Turkey, architecture, prefab construction, modular designTurkish designer Gunes Peksen doesn’t say much about this concept for a minimalist summer retreat, but it is definitely reminiscent of the Prefab LoftCube in Lebanon that received so much attention earlier this year. Although we tend to favor earth architecture, like Nader Khalili’s wonderful earth bag homes fit for space, or Hassan Fathy’s mud structures in Egypt, Peksen caters to modern urbanites who seek contemporary design solutions to dwindling material and spatial resources.

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Ancient River Valley Reclaimed: Saudi’s Sweet Success Story

Tafline Laylin
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1
Ancient River Valley Reclaimed: Saudi’s Sweet Success Story

wetlands, Saudi, Wadi Hanifah, bio-remediation, river rehabilitation, waterFor hundreds of years, Saudi’s Wadi Hanifah River carved out a scenic valley extending from sand dunes and agricultural land pocked with date plantations into the heart of Riyadh before it seeped underground. But the city’s expansion into a thumping metropolis of 7 million people brought the 4500 sq km catchment area close to extinction as sewage and construction waste was dumped in the river.

As a result, the Arriyadh Development Authority commissioned the Canadian architecture and planning firm Moriyama & Teshima and Buro Happold – a UK engineering firm – to submit a Master Plan and Restoration Program to restore the area’s ecological health. One decade later and the Wadi is once again a thriving desert oasis.

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Textually Transmitted Conservation of Water

Faisal O'Keefe
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3
Textually Transmitted Conservation of Water

happy man mobile phone

Jordan’s mobile phone users will soon receive SMS tips on smart water use.

It’s part of a public awareness campaign to alert Jordanians to the vital need to protect against pollution and reduce water consumption. (Well, at least alert Jordanians with cell phones, or more accurately, those with cell phones and contracts with the Zain Group). Mobile users will get regular tips on how to conserve water.  The Ministry of Water and Irrigation, in cooperation with telecommunications company Zain, is aiming for radical transformation in national behavior. Here’s the plan:

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Hijab Ban Lifted for Women in Sport – Hats off to Prince Ali of Jordan

Faisal O'Keefe
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Hijab Ban Lifted for Women in Sport – Hats off to Prince Ali of Jordan

muslim athlete woman

Prince Ali of Jordan believes that Muslim women shouldn’t be disqualified from world-class sports because they wear the hijab, the traditional Islamic head covering. This youngest vice-president of the world football’s governing body Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is a vocal supporter in the campaign against the hijab ban. In 2007, FIFA, banned players from wearing hijab, citing safety concerns.

“This is not an issue of religious symbolism. It’s simply a case of cultural modesty. And I’m tackling this because it is a big issue for many, many women all across the world. It’s not an issue which will go away,” said the prince in a statement to Yahoo Sports recently. The Prince’s pitch to grant everyone equal rights to play soccer has United Nations backing. Sports are good for heart health and we’d be thrilled to see more religious Muslim keeping fit through Sport. The ban is an obstacle to Muslim women athletes. 

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Better Place Electric Car Network Begins in Israel

Brian Nitz
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Better Place Electric Car Network Begins in Israel

better place revs up its enginesBetter Place revs up its charge spots in Israel

Shai Agassi hopes Israel is ready to embrace the efficiency and economics of electric cars.  His company Better Place rolled out four electric car charging stations in northern Israel.  He plans to quickly grow this network so that every place in Israel with be within range of one of their network stations.  This is intended to eliminate, the “range anxiety” which frightens some consumers out of considering electric cars.  Better Place contracted with French automaker Renault to produce a customized version of their Fluence electric car.

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Why Solar Cookers Should Spread Like Satellites in Morocco

Tafline Laylin
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1
Why Solar Cookers Should Spread Like Satellites in Morocco

solar power, solar cooking, desertification, clean tech, renewable energy, clean energy, MoroccoWomen in rural Morocco are often responsible for the grueling task of trekking miles to collect fuel for cooking, which requires not only energy but also time that might have been used developing or applying other skills. Lacking access to natural gas, these villagers have had no choice but to burn biomass to produce the family’s meals –  a situation that also has grave environmental consequences.

But a new initiative brought to our attention by Hicham Semlali has already profoundly improved the quality of life for residents of Ouffi Ait – a small, sunny village southeast of Marrakech. The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECI) introduced 150 new solar-cookers, which allow women to spend time on cottage industries and give the surrounding forests a much-needed break.

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What Can Rio+20 Do For The Arab World?

Arwa Aburawa
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What Can Rio+20 Do For The Arab World?

rio brazil sculptureWe speak to Mohamed Abdel Raouf, a green researcher who will be attending the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) about what it could do for the Arab world

According to the latest reporting, the preparatory talks ahead of the Rio+20 summit have been inconclusive and raised real concerns that the conference will be a complete failure. Many delegates are frustrated at the lack of progress made around the global plan of action, entitled The Future We Want, which they hope world leaders will sign up to in Brazil in June. But Mohamed Abdel Raouf, remains hopeful that some progress will be made and also wants to encourage the Arab world to take a stronger position in favour of a Green Economy.

An independent environmental researcher, Abdel Raouf insists that “even if there is just tiny progress at Rio+20, it will be better than nothing” and it’s only through small steps that big progress can be achieved. The Rio+20 summit will be a follow-up to the landmark 1992 Earth summit in Brazil, at which international treaties to tackle climate change and conserve the Earth’s diversity of plants, animals, and other life forms were agreed.

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Israeli Military Uses Biomimicry to Design Butterfly Drone

Tafline Laylin
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Israeli Military Uses Biomimicry to Design Butterfly Drone

cleantech, science, biomimicry, military, Israel, butterfly drone

Biomimicry is one of the smartest contemporary approaches to design, so it was inevitable that Israeli researchers would apply this science to their military designs. Like the Iranian home that mimics a snail’s form in order to stay cool and a bottle inspired by the Namib desert beetle that can harvest water in one of the driest places on earth, Israel Aerospace Industries’ (AIA) latest insect drone, their smallest to date at only 20 grams, takes its intelligence, form and other properties from one of nature’s finest creatures: the butterfly.

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A P­erfect Beach Holiday at Green Papaya in Thailand

Karin Kloosterman
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1
A P­erfect Beach Holiday at Green Papaya in Thailand

green papaya thailand pool haad salad

Even Green Prophets need to get out of the Middle East once and a while. Although you can find the world’s most perfect sand and beaches on the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea in Sinai, or pristine beaches in the Gulf, sometimes we just want something a little different. This February we took one of our beach holidays to Thailand for a month. As best as we could we looked around for resorts that catered to the green traveler and found a few that fit our fancy. We’ve already featured our slow boat ride from Bangkok, and the luxurious hotels on Koh Kamui like Zazen. After leaving Samui, we decided to go to the quieter island of Koh Phangan. Note to readers: Phangan is only quiet a week before or after a full moon party. So plan a trip around the full moon if you want to avoid the crowds. My parents love to party so they took off to the full moon while we chilled back at the resort.

Getting to Green Papaya is a bit of adventure. And that’s what makes it extra fun. Once you are there, tucked away on a secluded beach, you can be almost sure that most full moon partiers won’t find you except for the occasional one that gets shipwrecked or lost.

After an hour drive from Hadran Beach (Full Moon Party Headquarters) we wound up a dirt road to be greeted by the Green Papaya sign. Since traveling to Thailand, I’d be promising my mom an Avatar experience, sites with lush green vegetation, overgrown flowers, butterflies galore, and Green Papaya helped me fulfill the promise. 

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Loch Ness, Whale Placenta? A Lava Lamp? Mysterious Deep Sea Creature from UK is Revealed

Linda Pappagallo
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Loch Ness, Whale Placenta? A Lava Lamp? Mysterious Deep Sea Creature from UK is Revealed

deep sea creature Deepstaria EnigmaticaIt’s called Deepstaria Enigmatica, but what is it?

A very cool video of a mysterious creature filmed during deep-sea drilling 5000 feet below sea level near the United Kingdom on April 25, has created much clamor amongst scientists. Theories about the species of this animal ranged from a jellyfish to an unknown marine version of the Loch Ness monster to a whale placenta. Mind you, a new undiscovered species would also be a likely conclusion- especially given that ocean depths remain one of the least explored and understood places, in fact we know more about the moon than our own oceans. Click below to see the video and to find out what it is.

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Could America’s 250 Percent Tariff on Chinese PVs Help the Mideast?

Brian Nitz
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1
Could America’s 250 Percent Tariff on Chinese PVs Help the Mideast?

yen china solar panels

The United States Department of Commerce ruled yesterday that Chinese photovoltaic panel prices were below production costs and therefore their sale constituted dumping.   Proposed antidumping tariffs ranged from 31 percent to 250% and would come into force sometime after October 2012.  The tariff is expected to significantly increase the cost of solar installations in the US.  This ruling was widely praised by struggling US photovoltaic manufacturers, several of which are on the brink of bankruptcy as solar panel prices dropped below $1 per watt.  Others, such as Tom Gutierrez, chief executive officer of GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (GTAT) have a different view.  In a recent interview he said, “The war we are fighting is a technology war.  If we get stuck protecting low level assembly jobs, we lose on the future.”

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Venus to Cross Mideast Sunrise on June 6, 2012

Brian Nitz
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Venus to Cross Mideast Sunrise on June 6, 2012

sunspot venus sun middle eastThere’ll be a little black spot on the Sun today… (in June). Watch out for Venus come sunrise.

A rare transit of Venus will be visible at local sunrise throughout the Mideast on the morning of  Wednesday June 6, 2012.   A transit occurs when one celestial body passes in front of another from an observer’s point of view. A solar eclipse is a kind of transit. The most familiar kind of transit is a solar eclipse, where the moon– or much more frequently, a portion of the moon, transits the sun.  Several solar eclipses can occur with in a year, but total solar eclipses are much rarer (and from personal experience, much more beautiful!)  Because totality can only be seen from a narrow strip of land, 50 to 100 miles across, each location on earth sees a total solar eclipse only about once every 300 years.  Parts of the Mideast witnessed a total solar eclipse in 1999 and 2006 (I saw the 2006 one from southern Turkey.)  The next solar eclipse in the Mideast wont arrive until August 2, 2027. But there’s always Venus.

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Maurice Sendak Sails Off for Night and Day

Faisal O'Keefe
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0
Maurice Sendak Sails Off for Night and Day

where the wild things are max monsters book illustration

Jewish American writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak died last week, at age 83. 

The acclaimed master of kid-lit once said, “I don’t write for children. I write. And someone says, ‘That’s for children.'” Best known for his 1963 book Where the Wild Things Are, Sendak spoke through guileless prose and vivid imagery. Simple messages beautifully imagined: the essence of all his works. His books seem variations on a theme. Characters transcend negative feelings of rage, jealousy and envy; they experience change; and ultimately, they survive. Think Dostoyevsky, but with better pictures.

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