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. Facebook Comments
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: Facebook Comments
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? Facebook Comments
Some people make injured sea turtles human-engineered solutions like this turtle that got new flippers but most sea turtles are just getting caught in fishermen’s nets or choking and dying from plastic without us even noticing. World sea turtle populations are steadily declining, but at some amazing sites in Abu Dhabi we still have hope. Facebook […]
Dubai International Airport (DXB) switched off all non-essential lights across its three terminals for 24 consecutive days to mark this year’s Earth Hour. It’s sister airport, Dubai World Central – Al Maktoum International, located 20 miles south west of Dubai, did the same. Facebook Comments
Masdar CEO Sultan Al Jaber is moving on to “greener” pastures, according to a statement released by Abu Dhabi investment giant Mubadala. The firm has appointed Al Jaber as its chairman; Masdar’s new CEO has been identified as Ahmad Belhoul. Facebook Comments
Many conferences end in handshakes and no action, but Powering the Middle East aims to close deals. This two day summit in Amman hosted by HRH Prince Assem Bin Nayef from Jordan will connect energy and water players in the private sector with government officials capable of turning words into real projects. Facebook Comments
New York’s REX architecture studio has designed a pair of skinny media towers that feature ‘blooming’ Mashrabiya sunscreens that protect against excess solar gain. Mashrabiya is an old Arabian architectural practice to passively cool hot desert buildings. Facebook Comments
Coming up on my fourth year of taste-testing my way through Jordan – where the seasonal foods of the Levant pack a triple punch of being delicious, healthy and affordable – I amp up the smart-eating quotient by always avoiding desserts, filling up on marvelous mezzes and entrees because regional sweets leave me flat. Facebook Comments
Want to see a city on “speed” grow? This time lapse video captures Doha as it expands rapidly for the 2022 World Cup in soccer. Facebook Comments
Restaurants and cafes in Jeddah have posted signs warning women that if they want to be served sheesha, their mahrams (male guardians) must be at their side. Facebook Comments
Glow-in-the-dark roads recently debuted on a 500 meter stretch of Netherlands highway! Brought to you by the guy behind glow-in-the-dark trees. He’s been burning the candle at both ends – not so much to increase light levels, more to roll out new applications of his natural luminescence designs. Facebook Comments
An Israeli costume designer has created a series of hats that look good enough to eat, serving up 3-course millinery that pretty much covers soups to nuts. File this under “silver linings” – Maor Zabar cooked up his headpieces after being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. Facebook Comments
Dubious developments allow us to print 3-D guns, grow “hamburgers” in a petri dish, and design environmentally responsive haute couture. Now a new application of technology radically transforms the human experience! Four women have had new vaginas surgically implanted; organs fully lab-grown. Facebook Comments
A turtle that washed up on a beach in Israel was found with his two left flippers dangling hopelessly by his side – they had been severed by sharp fishing lines. The Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in Michmoret named him Freedom and kept him for four years. Facebook Comments
The ‘historical imagery’ function on google earth is particularly helpful in tracking changes to landscapes since about the turn of the millennium when satellite imagery became commonly available. Facebook Comments
Three lamp-shaped towers make up the new Aladdin City that is being constructed in Dubai as part of an effort to boost the city’s profile ahead of the 2020 World Expo. I wonder what the genie thinks? Facebook Comments
A Siege of Salt and Sand (trailer), a new documentary film about Tunisia, promises to be an important motivator in redefining the current political agenda towards adapting to climate change and mitigating environmental issues in Tunisia. Facebook Comments
Whales, the earth’s largest marine mammals, have had more than their share of ecological problems in all parts of the world’s seas and oceans. One of their biggest risks is noise in marine habitats caused by drilling for oil and gas. Facebook Comments
Until you have babies, the true awfulness of diapers doesn’t really set in. But ask the modern parent, who will buy up to 2,800 mostly non-biodegradable diapers in their baby’s first year. Then they will chuck most of them in the trash. Cine’al has at least one solution: hyper-absorbent diapers made with jellyfish. Facebook Comments
Decorative taxidermy reaches new heights in the United Arab Emirates! Dubai developer Emaar has shelled out big bucks for the remains of a 150-million-year-old dinosaur which will be permanently displayed in the world’s largest shopping venue, Dubai Mall. Facebook Comments
A new investigation by Mother Jones magazine revealed that chemicals used to replace controversial plastic additive bisphenol-A – commonly called BPA – may be just as dangerous to your health, if not worse. Facebook Comments
Green Prophet offers an exclusive interview with Yago Mancebo, Investment Manager, Masdar, on how to put together partnerships to make solar CSP projects viable in the Middle East. Read below for his talk. Facebook Comments
Earlier this month several Tunisians in Hammamet, Sphax and Mahdia woke up to their beaches infested with dead fish and jelly fish, a beached whale in Tunis, off the coast of Sidi Bou Saïd was also carried to shore. Facebook Comments
A trio of break-dancing Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers strutted their stuff in a video uploaded to Facebook on Thursday. About a year ago, another IDF dance – captured again on YouTube – landed a few soldiers in prison. What do you think about acting so freely when wearing a military uniform? Video below. Facebook Comments
