Saudi Arabian framers finding truffles without a pig. Handout the Saudi Arabia Press Agency.
Desert truffles can grow in the sand in dry conditions and they have high nutritional value. Find them growing wild in the Mediterranean basin and Western Asia. Many studies have looked at the nutrition in desert truffles, including their phytochemical composition as potential anti-cancer therapies but a study led by a researcher from Amman, Jordan, looked specifically at the anticancer effects of Terfezia boudieri, a delicious desert truffle.
The researchers applied different solvent extracts from the truffle and the researchers tested these chemical properties against different kinds of cancers in the lab. assay was used to measure their anticancer activity against cancer cell lines.
Truffles in the Middle East. Handout the Saudi Arabia Press Agency.
The scientists found that the growth of cancer cell lines was inhibited by the desert truffle extracts in a dose dependent manner which the chemical N-hexane extracted from the truffle as being the most potent against most cancers as part of the study. The researchers concluded that the use of T. boudieri provides variable health benefits and specifically the extracts N-hexane, ethyl acetate, and aqueous/methanol extracts exhibited anticancer activities and are potent stimulators of both innate and acquired immunity.
Saudi Arabia is home to desert truffles.
The researchers were from the Applied Science Private University, Amman, Jordan, the Pharmacy Department, AlNoor University College, Mosul, Iraq and the Department of Health Sciences, College of Natural and Health Sciences, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Further testing is needed to identify the biologically active compounds and detect them quantitatively using scientific methods. A new door of research for scientists in the Mediterranean?
When I think of truffles, I imagine hunters tromping through a dark Provencal forest and a trained pig snuffling around damp leaves. The joyful surprise of the huntsman when it uncovers a truffle! The fragrant black prize so carefully cherished, like a pot of gold! Because the black and white truffles of Europe are like gold to everyone who trades in them.
But the sands of Middle Eastern and North African deserts also yield truffles. They’re known as zubaidi,fagaa, terfez, kamaa (or kima), depending on the country they come from. The botanical name is Terfezia Leonis. And now, with winter in the Middle East drawing on, it’s prime time for a desert truffle safari. Well, if you have an experienced Beduin guide. See what else is in season now here.
Desert truffles have been known and valued as a delicacy since antiquity. The Roman poet Juvenal disdained bread and meat, if only he could dine off imported desert truffles. “Keep your grain, O Libya, and unyoke your oxen, if only you send truffles!” he wrote.
A Jewish legend claims that truffles were the original manna that fed the Hebrews during their 40 years’ wandering in the desert. Reasonable to think so, as they have a wealth of protein and antioxidant properties.
The huntsmen who find and sell desert truffles today are the Beduin. They wouldn’t dream of using a pig or a dog to find the fungus. They locate it by noticing where the yellow-flowered “Rock Rose” plant grows (Helianthemum sessiliflorum). This shrub enjoys a symbiotic relationship with the truffle, who transfers phosphorus to its roots. In return the truffle receives photosynthesized nutrients from the Rock Rose. Win-win for plant and fungus, and for the forager, a flag indicating that truffles are nearby.
That’s the prosaic explanation. Much more fun is the legend that claims truffles grow where lightning strikes the sand. This is because there’s a forked crack on the ground where the truffle struggles to emerge. Desert foragers know that under that crack is a truffle.
It’s true that lightning causes changes in the atmosphere where nitrogen is released and washed onto the ground by rain, which fertilizes plants. And it’s true that winter rains favor a larger truffle harvest. But alas for the romantics among us, truffles aren’t born of lightning strikes. Like all mushrooms, they grow from humble spores.
Desert truffles have been an important seasonal source of protein for the Beduin populations; less so today as they become scarce due to scanty winter rains and current geopolitical issues.
When available, they’re grilled over fire, boiled and marinated as salad and stewed with meat. Modern cooks may use them as the common supermarket mushroom (only far, far more expensive) – sauteed in butter with garlic and spices. It’s said that sliced thinly and sprinkled with salt, they’re delicious raw.
Beduin folk medicine uses desert truffles to cure eye infections and skin rashes.
The fungus’s looks aren’t especially appealing, most being a sandy beige with a knobbly skin. There are regional differences in their color; in Turkey, for example, you may find dark-blue desert truffles.
Their flavor depends on where they come from: Kuwaiti truffles are said to be blandly earthy, while Turkish truffles are supposed to have a fine, almost nutty taste. None have the pungent, decadent aroma and flavor of their European counterparts. In any case, desert truffles are full of sand in all their cracks and crevices, and need a lot of careful scrubbing before they’re fit to cook.
The Ben-Gurion University of the Negev tried to cultivate them as a possible sustainable crop, but apparently to no avail, as the only, rare, desert truffles seen in Israel have been brought from the Negev by Beduin. Under all their Arabic names, desert truffles command high prices and are eagerly sought in the markets of MENA countries at this time of year.
Ask any driver of a Tesla and you will find a happy customer. The cars look good, drive incredibly fast quickly, they cost a quarter of the price of petrol to run, and they have a fart cushion feature that makes every kid laugh.
With electric mobility continuing to gather pace especially in urban environments, recycling high-voltage batteries is increasingly under the spotlight. This is where urban miners, and companies that can recycle batteries and parts after a product’s first life is over.
Raw materials pulled from a BMW electric car battery.
After successfully launching a closed-loop recycling system for the reuse of raw materials from high-voltage batteries thanks to the BMW Brilliance Automotive Joint Venture in China in 2022, BMW has now hit another milestone on its journey to make cleaner, greener electric cars.
This past November, BMW launched a pan-European partnership with SK tes, a company that can mine valuable minerals such as cobalt, nickel and lithium from used batteries before returning them to the value chain to make new batteries.
BMW to recycle rare minerals from its electric car batteries with the company SK tes. Images supplied by BMW
This closed-loop system is set to expand to the car markets in the US-Mexico-Canada regions as early as 2026.
Its long-term partnership with SK tes sees the BMW Group directly involved in the practical recycling processes, allowing it to feed back valuable insights to the development departments: high-voltage batteries from BMW Group development, production and markets in Europe that are no longer fit for use are to be delivered to SK tes in what is the first step towards an effective and sustainable circular economy for batteries.
SK tes then converts the old batteries into high-quality metals that can be reintroduced to battery production. The latter process sees the batteries mechanically shredded, during which the metals are concentrated to leave a material called black mass.
The valuable materials, namely nickel, lithium and cobalt, are then recovered in a highly effective chemical process called hydrometallurgy. Among other things, these secondary raw materials will be used for the new GEN 6 drive train. Government groups like the Department of Energy are actively funding the development of mineral recovery technologies –– we recently reported on more than $20 million USD going toward funding the recycling of decommissioned wind turbines.
“Partnerships like this increase our efficiency in terms of the circular economy. In the closed-loop process, all partners mutually benefit from their experiences,” says Jörg Lederbauer, Vice President Circular Economy, Spare Parts Supply High Voltage Battery and Electric Powertrain at BMW AG.
We interviewed Regenx on its business model. And how lucrative upcycling minerals can be as the world looks to dangerous alternatives such as deep sea mining to develop new sources of minerals like lithium which exist waiting to be pulled from existing end-of-life products.
“The promotion of circular economy is an important strategic topic for the BMW Group. The development of recyclable products, the increase of secondary materials in our components, and the closing of loops play an equally important role,” says Nadine Philipp, Vice President Sustainability Supplier Network at BMW AG. “And by the means of circular economy we are also increasing our resilience in the supply chains.”
The BMW Group follows the principles of Re:Think, Re:Duce, Re:Use, and Re:Cycle in the sense of a conservation of resources when it comes to circular economy.
From vehicle design and production to recycling and reuse: everything is geared towards ensuring BMW vehicles become a raw materials source for new cars once they reach the end of their useful life. One such example is the BMW Group’s Recycling and Dismantling Centre.
Over a period of 30 years now, the centre has developed processes and put them into practice, making key progress in parts and materials recycling.
Michael Pollan, in Defence of Food, once called Americans “corn people” for the amount of corn products in their diet. As the world fights to find viable alternatives to plastics, the people may have found the best bio-polymer, made from… corn.
Michael Pollan
Corn Next has officially launched CornNext-17, a game-changing bio-based material designed to combat the global plastic pollution crisis. CornNext-17 says it can replace traditional plastics. Derived from renewable corn starch, CornNext-17 utilizes a patented fermentation-based process to create a fully biodegradable material with superior versatility and performance.
Unlike traditional plastics and bio-plastics such as PLA and PHA, CornNext-17 retains its natural polysaccharide structure, enabling rapid decomposition within 30 days in natural environments while maintaining the mechanical properties necessary for diverse applications. We all know that most plastics are never really recycled and when they are the process is toxic. The only solution to the plastic problem is a bio-based plastic. One that can fully decompose and degrade, not just break down into littler bits of plastic.
“CornNext-17 represents a significant leap forward in sustainable materials,” said Randy Yongzhong Zhang, Founder and CEO of Corn Next. “We are proud to offer a solution that addresses the urgent need for environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional plastics. The development of CornNext-17 is guided by our vision to revolutionize how materials are used and discarded. As a fully natural biodegradable innovation, it marks not just a breakthrough in material science, but a significant milestone in humanity’s pursuit of a greener, more sustainable future.”
Key Features of CornNext-17
Fully Biodegradable: Decomposes naturally within 30 days, leaving no harmful residues.
Versatile: Suitable for a wide range of applications, including packaging, consumer goods, and industrial components.
Cost-Effective: Produced through an efficient manufacturing process, offering competitive pricing.
High Performance: Exhibits excellent mechanical properties, including strength, flexibility, and heat resistance.
Eco-Friendly: Derived from renewable corn starch and produced without harmful chemicals.
Market Potential and Industrial Applications
CornNext-17 has the potential to transform multiple industries by replacing traditional plastics with a sustainable alternative:
Consumer Goods: CornNext-17 is ideal for creating compostable tableware, single-use products, food containers, and eco-friendly packaging solutions that cater to environmentally conscious consumers.
Packaging Industry: The material’s strength, flexibility, and resistance to heat and moisture make it a superior choice for biodegradable packaging, including retail, food, and industrial applications.
Agriculture: CornNext-17 can be used to manufacture biodegradable mulch films, seedling trays, and irrigation components, reducing waste and enhancing soil health.
Medical and Healthcare: With its ability to decompose fully, CornNext-17 is well-suited for disposable medical supplies such as gloves, syringes, and packaging, ensuring environmental safety.
Automotive: Lightweight and durable, CornNext-17 can be utilized in creating automotive components such as panels, trim, and interior parts, contributing to vehicle sustainability and fuel efficiency.
Electronics: As a biodegradable alternative, CornNext-17 can replace certain plastic components in electronics, helping reduce electronic waste.
The global push for environmentally sustainable materials positions CornNext-17 to capitalize on increasing regulatory support and consumer demand for green products. Its adaptability, cost-effectiveness, and eco-friendly properties provide a competitive edge in addressing the growing plastic pollution crisis.
Corn Next (or Y & J World Inc.) is a biotech company based in Irvine, California and is dedicated to eliminating plastic pollution. Their bio-based material CornNext-17 is a patented, 100% natural, biodegradable material derived from renewable corn starch.
Unlike traditional plastics, CornNext-17 fully decomposes within 30 days without leaving toxins or requiring costly recycling. After eight years of R&D, the company transformed CornNext-17 into a granular form, securing our proprietary technology and expanding its applications. This innovation led to the world’s first corn-based drinking straw, protein spoon, dinner knife, and forks, with future uses in utensils, dental floss, packaging and more
Corn-based plastics for packaging is a market which reached a market size valued at USD 0.56 Billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 1.20 Billion by 2030.
A Stella McCartney decomposing shoe
Bioplastics are derived from renewable biomass sources such as vegetable fats and oils, corn starch, straw, woodchips, sawdust, algae and recycled food waste. Fashion designers like Stella McCartney use bioplastics in fashion, thanks to companies like Balena, which develop a bio-based raw material that looks and acts like rubber but which decomposes at the end of its life.
We Used to Be Seaweed creates a dialogue between historical and contemporary perspectives of the Aral Sea. Once the world’s fourth-largest lake, the Aral Sea has been depleted to an eighth of its size due to large-scale irrigation projects.
Hosted at the Savitsky Museum, this exhibition recontextualizes the museum’s famous collection of Soviet avant-garde and Turkestan modernism to open new conversations about identity, environment, and transformation.
The exhibition brings together contemporary artists whose works address the ecological, cultural, and historical transformations of the Aral Sea region.
Alexander Ugay deconstructs the sea’s vanished horizon through his cameraless photographic work. Saodat Ismailova’s videos examine the extinction of the Turan tiger and the lives of three generations of Aral fishermen.
Saodat IsmailovaSaodat Ismailova. 18,000 Worlds, January 21 – June 4, 2023, Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam. Exhibition view of Zukhra, 2013. HD video installation, 30 min., colour, stereo. Image courtesy Eye Filmmuseum. Photograph by Studio Hans Wilschut.
The2vvo contributes a sound sculpture combining found sounds, underwater and field recordings, and testimonies, exploring the interconnectedness of human and non-human life in the area.
the2vvo
Lilia Bakanova presents a textile installation about imaginary life in the Aral Sea, created from raw silk and cotton—materials produced with water that was redirected away from the Aral Sea.
Lilia Bakanova
In conversation with selected works from the museum’s collection, these pieces reflect on the region’s histories, shared water resources, and the intertwined relationships between culture, nature, and memory.
What happened to the Aral Sea through an artist’s lens:
Imagine a journey that starts with a long train ride followed by an off-road drive through the desert, ending at what used to be the Aral Sea. Once the world’s fourth-largest lake, it has reduced to an eighth of its size since the 1950s due to water being diverted for cotton farming.
This made a drastic impact on the climate and life in Central Asia, mainly in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
Against expectations, this landscape reveals striking beauty rather than depression: the desert blooms with a poignant tenderness; colors are muted by a superfine sandy powder, creating a velvety touch; unknown grass smells of chemically flavored lollipops.
Now imagine that in this remote town with no tourists where you hired the car, there is a world-class collection of Russian and Central Asian avant-garde. This is Savitsky museum, named after an artist who rescued paintings discarded by museums across the USSR in the 1960-70s. This town, Nukus, was so far from the Soviet government, that the collection survived. It not only educated and inspired local artists but also includes their works, many depicting the Aral Sea throughout the 20th century.
This exhibition will create a dialog between historical and contemporary perspectives of the Aral Sea and the life around it. The Museum provides a perfect backdrop for the exhibition, given its history of resilience and collection of paintings depicting the region’s transformations.
Featured contemporary works will include:
– A Kazakh-Korean artist explores the Aral area through imaginary history. Using AI, he reconstructs his family’s archive lost during deportation of Koreans from the Soviet Far East to Kazakhstan in 1937. The work will invite the viewers to consider a link between the erasure of culture and landscape, between identity and displacement.
– An Uzbek video artist connecting inadequate exploitation of shared water resources and female labour in Central Asia.
– An installation that will engage with the visitors through imaginary textures, sounds and smells, making the invisible resilience of Aral visible. This artist’s projects are focused on accessibility to diverse audience. To build on this inclusive effort, she will create t touchable versions of the paintings featured in our exhibition. This will complement the museum’s wheelchair access by introducing a wider range of sensory experiences.
– A photographic project by a Kazakh photographer will bridge the Kazakh and Uzbek regions of the Aral, fostering understanding and sensitivity between communities by offering glimpses into each other’s lives and shared water challenges.Beyond looking, touching, smelling and listening, the gallery is inviting people to get involved.
“Visitors can help plant seeds that they can take home and later return to the desert as seedlings for the local biostation. We’ll also teach them how to make biodegradable containers for holding water for these plants. This is about more than just raising awareness; it’s about small collective actions and new connections,” announce the artists.
February 13 to March 12; Savitsky Nukus Museum of Art Rsaev Str., Nukus 23100, Republic of Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan
Artists:
Saodat Ismailova
Lena Pozdnyakova and Eldar Tagi
Alexander Ugay
Lilia Bakanova
It’s been taboo to talk about it but first cousin marriage is common in the United Arab Emirates. Only a few scientific studies have documented it but there is a direct impact of consanguineous marriages and the health of one’s children. One study found that up to one-third of all marriages in the UAE are to first cousins, with about half of all marriages are between people considered interrelated.
Thalassemia, a blood disease found commonly between the children of people who marry is a major health concern in the United Arab Emirates yet previous studies have focused on genetics while neglecting culture and society, write authors in an International Health study. The authors of the 2023 study indicate that tradition and religion in the UAE –– consanguinity, illegality of abortion and in vitro fertilisation, plus adoption restrictions –– affect the prevention and management of this disastrous blood disorder.
They propose changing attitudes towards traditional marriage practices, education and awareness campaigns targeting families and young people, and earlier genetic testing, which are all culturally acceptable solutions to curbing the high incidence of thalassemia in the UAE.
The treatment of thalassemia mostly depends on life-long blood transfusions and removal of excessive iron from the blood stream.
Saudi Arabia has one of the highest prevalences of thalassemia in the world, ranging from 0.4% in the Northern region to 5.9% in the Eastern region.
Thalassemia is a blood disorder passed down through families (inherited) in which the body makes an abnormal form or inadequate amount of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. The disorder results in large numbers of red blood cells being destroyed, which leads to anemia.
Complications from this disorder may include delayed growth, bone problems causing facial changes, liver and gall bladder problems, enlarged spleen, enlarged kidneys, diabetes, hypothyroidism, and heart problems, according to John Hopkins.
With high rates of inbreeding found in Muslim populations not only in the United Arab Emirates but also in Pakistan and among Palestinian Muslims and even Christians, there is an increase in the number of health conditions that could have been prevented if a couple married outside the family.
In India a Special Marriage Act was drafted in1954 in accord with the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 which also does not allow marriage with any first cousin. But this legal firm writes that you can marry a first cousin in India if you are Muslim.
I met a woman from Canada, a Christian Arab who had come to Israel to marry her first cousin –– a concept that seemed foreign to me but which is more common than most westerners know. She told me it was to keep the family business –– in the family. Some hospitals help with hearing aids for communities that suffer from inbreeding depression and heating loss and in Israel, for instance, young couples are advised to undertake genetic counseling before they have children to avoid any genetic disease being passed to their child. First cousin marriage is not forbidden by Jewish law in sources that I have found online but it is frowned upon due to the possibility of transmitting genetic diseases.
The legal status of first cousin marriage varies considerably from one US state to another, ranging from being legal in some states to being a criminal offense in others. It is illegal or largely illegal in 32 states and legal or largely legal in 18. However, even in the states where it is legal, the practice is not widespread. It is also not common in Canada where I grew up and it’s highly stigmatized in rural communities.
Online critics are alarmed at Gazans catching dolphins and sharks for dinner. But with little fresh protein available would this stop you from eating an endangered creature?
Before you wag your finger over eating dolphins in Taiji, Japan the fishermen’s union hunts, capture, and slaughter different types of dolphins. They claim it’s tradition. This is the heart of the captive dolphin trade. The slaughtered dolphin meat is sold in local supermarkets, but is not very popular.
Hunters in Japan coralling dolphins
The Japanese government sanctions it and sends their Coast Guard and even their Navy to escort and protect these hunters. At least 1,800 dolphins were killed last year in Japan for meat according to the Dolphin Project.
In the Faröe Islands owned by Denmark, the locals partake in hunting and terrorize dolphins and whales, driving them onto the beaches where men, women, and children join in the slaughter. According to Sea Shepherd Global this past September 7th, over 150 white-sided dolphins were killed in a grindadrap (whale and dolphin hunt) in the Faroe Islands bay of Skalafjord.
The slaughter documented by Sea Shepherd crew on the ground, has drawn significant criticism due to the targeting of white-sided dolphins, a species that is not traditionally hunted in the Faroes and has seen declining support for such hunts in recent years. Historically the locals did hunt dolphins in small numbers on human powered boats. Now with motor boats the dolphins don’t stand a chance.
Chaucer said, “Time and tide wait for no man.” He should’ve added “death”. Just like the American postal system, neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet nor hail shall keep death from its appointed rounds. Christians whose numbers come up during inclement weather are put on ice in a mortuary until the roads reopen – but other religions don’t permit such patience.
Jewish and Muslim customs require the body to be buried within 24 hours, a very sensible custom born in the hot Middle East climate where decomposition began quickly. So when an elderly neighbor of a neighbor passed away last week, we got to talking about the added misery of dealing with traditional burial requirements in the midst of a powerful storm in Amman, Jordan where I live.
Let’s not get too – well – grave, but with world population passing seven billion and an estimated 150,000 people dying daily, we ought to take a closer look at how we celebrate life’s end. Maybe explore new options that respect and celebrate the deceased as well as the planet they leave behind.
Talking about death is uncomfortable. Doubly so when modern funeral practices increasingly jeopardize the environment. Did you know most Middle Eastern funerals are inherently “green”? Ancient nomadic people with limited resources developed the simplest methods of dealing with their dead. Over centuries, traditions evolved – varying by region – but all following basic rituals that are some of the most earth-friendly practices around. So while the Western funeral industry scrambles to become less polluting, they could instead take a few pages from the burial playbook of Muslims and Jews.
Both faiths prescribe that, within hours of death, the body is carefully bathed and wrapped in a modest cloth shroud. Well-wishers pay their respects and bury the deceased in a grave, without a casket.
Cremation and embalming are forbidden – wisely, as both are proven pollutants to our air and water. In the parched Middle East, water-guzzling cemeteries carpeted with grass (kept artificially lush with toxic pesticides and weed killers) are a rare exception, and Islam tends to skip extravagant headstones.
But what if you live outside of this region? How can you buck Western trends (and in some cases, mandatory burial regulations) and stay close to planet-friendly practices? You may already be living a green lifestyle, so why not check out a more sustainable deathstyle too? Welcome to the world of green burials, where an entirely new industry competes for your funeral budget.
1. Turn your loved one into a coral reef. Cremation is forbidden in both Islam and Orthodox Judaism. But for those who embrace it, they can offset the serious pollutants it dumps in the air by using the ashes to form artificial reefs. Eternal Reefs create “grief balls” (lead image above) mix your loved one’s remains with concrete to make new habitat for marine life. Perfect for “crabby” people.
2. Turn your father into a tree. Green-up cremation by burying the remains in a special flower-pot that converts ashes into a tree – just bury the fully biodegradable Bios Urna (pre-planted with soil, seeds, and human remains). The decomposing urn acts as fertilizer, literally allowing the loved one to live on in nature. That mighty oak was once a nut called Abu Ahmed!
3. Prefer a grave marker? Memorialize the deceased with a Poetree Burial Planter. Pop ashes in a biodegradable cork pot, planted with a boxwood sapling and ringed with the deceased’s inscription in ceramic. It’s a low-maintenance memorial and gentle reminder of the cycle of life.
4. Fire away. Take your dearly departed to one last Arab wedding, where they can go out with a bang. A company called Holy Smoke turns the deceased’s ashes into live ammunition for pistols, rifles or shotguns. Aimed at gun enthusiasts, they offer discounts to active and retired military, law enforcement and firefighters. What a blast!
5. Spin yourself into a record. How about becoming an album of klezmer tunes – for eternity? A company called Vinyly (website is down) will press your remains into a vinyl disc containing your fave tunes, jacketed in bespoke cover art (the deceased’s portrait!). Make multiple records from body parts: making more to share with the music lovers in your life (or death?)!
6. Designer coffin from sustainable wood. Sticking with burial? Fancy pictures of your last Petra visit on your casket lid? Skip high-end coffins made from exotic wood or never-degrading metal & pick one made from sustainably sourced wood. Reflections Coffins are 80% waste wood & 20% FSC-certified wood. Personalize your box with their (I’m not kidding) “design a coffin” web app.
7. A woollen coffin to rest in fleece. The coffin market is making biodegradable coffins to die for. Bamboo and cardboard, linen and banana leaf are now common casket materials. Wool is also rising in popularity – Hainsworth, a leading British textile mill, reported a 700% rise in demand for its woollen coffins in 2011 to 2012. A brilliant way to “rest in fleece”.
8. Woven willow coffins are a popular green alternative, made from a highly renewable and carbon neutral crop that’s harvested annually with minimal machine and chemical processing. Willow also degrades rapidly in soil, and can be jazzed up in bright colors, making any funeral feel like a roadside picnic.
9. Personalized images. Tragedy links to comedy when you send your loved one off in a flat-pack coffin printed with personalized images. Celebrate their life or go for big laughs (how about a box of veg that reads “Rest in Peas”?). Creative Coffins are made from non-toxic carton-board and natural glues. Guaranteed the funeral guests will howl, “Stop, you’re killing me!”
10. Turn them into a diamond. Arab royals love their bling! Why not turn that special person into a gem for eternity? LifeGemdiamonds and gemstones are created from the carbon in cremated ashes or a lock of hair. Reset your loved one into “cremation jewelry” – rings, earrings and pendants commemorate their original sparkle. (Hey, did anyone see where I left mom?)
I mean no disrespect by this story, but have you ever noticed, the first three letters of “funeral” are FUN?
Washington bans farmed fishing at sea to protect Puget Sound
Washington State made history, becoming the first—and only—place in the world to successfully remove and permanently ban commercial net pen aquaculture.
Farmed fish can occur at sea and on land in pools, rainfed ponds, in tanks or in raceways. The approach is called aquaculture and for decades has been sold as a viable, and sustainable alternative to fishing from seas that are overfished. But not all environments are suitable for marine aquaculture, where fish live in cages and their effluent discharges at high concentrations in the coastal areas.
In addition to sea lice and viruses, a number of other pathogens found in farmed fish may pose a risk to wild salmon. Bacteria: Two bacterial diseases have the potential to impact wild salmon. The first, bacterial kidney disease (BKD) is caused by Renibacterium salmoninarum.
Because of the reduction of wild salmon in areas like Puget Sound, local orcas are starving as wild populations dwindle.
On January 7, the Washington State Board of Natural Resources cast a landmark vote to adopt a new rule prohibiting commercial finfish net pen aquaculture in all state-managed marine waters. Fish pens endandered Puget Sound’s ecosystems, and the activists who brought this decision to life say they are safeguarding the health of Washington’s public waters for generations to come.
“This is a landmark moment for environmental protection,” said Emma Helverson, Executive Director of Wild Fish Conservancy who led the change in law. “Thanks to the commitment of the public and the leadership of Tribal Nations, we have achieved something extraordinary. This victory is not just for Puget Sound—it’s for every community, every species, and every ecosystem that has been impacted by the harmful practice of commercial net pens.”
Puget Sound is home to wild salmon and Southern Resident orcas.
An orca in Canada British Columbia
This week’s victory is the direct result of Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz’s 2022 decision to deny the industry new decade-long leases for net pens, and her subsequent executive order directing the Department of Natural Resources to develop rules to permanently ban this practice.
These actions resulted in the complete removal of commercial net pens in Washington, making 2024 the first year in four decades that Puget Sound was free from daily pollution and the devastating impacts that net pens cause.
Just days before the vote, Tahlequah (J35), the Southern Resident orca who made global headlines in 2018 after she carried her stillborn calf for 17 days straight, was observed once again grieving her newest dead calf. Recent research shows an alarming 69% of Southern Resident orca pregnancies end in miscarriage due to malnutrition and that miscarriages far outnumber births of endangered orcas. J35 “Tahlequah” (pronounced tah-le-KWAH) is a 25-year-old female Southern resident killer whale. She is the matriarch of the J17 matriline.
The stark reality of mother orcas losing their calves is a painful reminder that these whales are starving and struggling to survive due to the depletion of large, quality, and abundant wild Chinook salmon, their primary food source.
A fish farm in the UAE
“I hope the public will join us in thanking Commissioner Hilary Franz and her committed agency staff. From the very first steps she took in response to the 2017 Cypress Island net pen collapse, Commissioner Franz has been a fierce and unwavering leader, holding the industry accountable for their harmful actions, listening to the public’s voices, and ultimately making this historic victory possible,” says Helverson.
The rule was adopted by a majority 4-2 vote, with Commissioner Franz, Skagit County Commissioner Lisa Janicki, University of Washington’s Dan Brown, and Governor Jay Inslee’s financial advisor Jim Cahill all voting to approve the ban. The decision was informed by overwhelming public support, with over 80% of public comments submitted in favor of the permanent ban and is a direct response to the ongoing crisis facing wild salmon populations and Southern Resident killer whales, which rely on healthy, abundant runs for survival.
“In casting their votes for the permanent ban, these leaders set a new standard of environmental stewardship for governments and leaders, emphasizing that merely minimizing risks isn’t enough given the crisis facing wild salmon and the orcas who depend on them, “says Helverson. “These leaders recognize completely avoiding risk and harm is the only way to prevent the further decline toward extinction for these iconic species and to protect the public’s immense sacrifices and investments in their recovery.”
Since 2017, Wild Fish Conservancy has led the Our Sound, Our Salmon (OSOS) campaign and coalition to protect wild salmon and Puget Sound from the harm of net pen aquaculture. Over the past decade, this dedicated coalition has worked alongside Washington’s Tribal Nations in the legislature, courts, and countless advocacy efforts.
Washington’s success will also serve as a powerful model providing important momentum for the global movement to eliminate open water net pens, an industry that poses a threat to marine ecosystems everywhere in the world they exist.
Similar efforts to protect public waters and ecosystems from this industry are already underway in countries such as British Columbia, Chile, Scotland, Norway, Finland, and Tasmania and through the Global Salmon Farming Resistance.
How we can help? According to the Global Salmon Institute, the farmed salmon industry has grown substantially in the past 60 years. Approximately 70% of salmon produced worldwide is farmed. In 2021, more than 2.8 million tons of farmed salmonids were produced. In comparison, only around 705,000 tons of wild salmonids were caught.
Outside the United States in developing economies in the Middle East like Saudi Arabia, farmed fishing is growing quickly and there are non-existent activist groups to protect nature. Saudi Arabia’s fish farming industry, the production of fish farmed in saltwater and inland waters has surged by 56.4% since 2021, reaching an unprecedented 140,000 tons in 2023. In addition to aquaculture, marine fisheries in the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf contributed 74,700 tons, which represents a 16.2% increase over 2022. This brings the total fish production from aquaculture and marine fishing to 214,000 tons in 2023 –– yet how many activists or researchers are documenting the harm to the whales and sharks in the Red Sea?
Meanwhile the goal in Saudi Arabia, according to its Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture is to increase the per capita fish consumption to 30 pounds annually. Popular fish varieties in Saudi Arabia include Nile tilapia, sea bass, dentex, and shrimp.
As suburbs grow and cottage country expands, how do mammals fare with humans encroaching on wild spaces? Tracking coyote movement in metropolitan areas shows the animals spend lots of time in natural settings, but a new study suggests the human element of city life has a bigger impact than the environment on urban coyote survival.
Researchers monitoring coyotes in Chicago found that habitat – areas with relatively high levels of vegetation cover and low levels of human infrastructure – did not influence coyote survival in positive or negative ways. Instead, areas densely populated with humans were associated with longer coyote lifespans. This means coyotes lived longer around people than out in the wild.
“What we found was really interesting, in that the societal characteristics seem to play a much more important role in predicting coyote survival time than the environmental characteristics,” said Emily Zepeda from The Ohio State University. “And then we found this positive effect of human population density on survival time. Both of those things are unexpected because we usually associate human activity with detrimental effects on wildlife.”
The study was published recently in the journal Urban Ecosystems.
Urban coyote researchers
The data comes from the Urban Coyote Research Project, a long-term study of coyote ecology in the Chicago Metropolitan Area led by Stan Gehrt, a wildlife ecologist at Ohio State and senior author of the new paper.
Gehrt and colleagues estimate that 4,000 coyotes live in Chicago, one of the largest metropolitan areas in North America. Gehrt’s previous behavioral, genetics and biological studies offer hints at how coyotes have adjusted to life in the city. This new work sought to identify the diverse urban factors that help or hinder their ability to survive.
Putting on a VHF radio-collar
Tracking data on the movement of 214 coyotes living in the Chicago area between 2013 and 2021 was used for the study. The duration of each coyote’s tracking period served as a proxy of its survival time.
Potential factors the researchers predicted would affect urban coyote survival included a mix of societal and environmental characteristics: neighborhood median income, human density and demographics; and road density, parks and golf courses, and “disturbed” regions dominated by infrastructure and vacant land. These factors were analyzed alongside the coyote monitoring data in a statistical model to determine their relationships with survival time.
The results showed a positive relationship between survival rate and human population density – at low human densities, coyote survival was generally low. The data also revealed an interaction between neighborhood income and density: In areas with low human density, median income was not significantly associated with survival, likely due to the absence of humans. However, at moderate and high levels of human density, coyotes in lower-income areas were 1 1/2 times more likely to survive to age 2 than coyotes in high-income areas.
City coyote – coyote attacks are rare
“We’ve hypothesized that population density may have a positive effect because it’s actually providing resources like human-related structures or food that allow coyotes to weather the harsh conditions of the winter, which is a major mortality factor for Chicago coyotes,” Zepeda said.
Plentiful resources might become problematic, she said, when the food and shelter, combined with more vegetation and less pollution in high-income areas, draws a crowd of coyotes – which leads to higher disease transmission and fighting over territory.
“There might be more individuals in those areas, but survival time may be shorter there,” she said. “You might die younger in an area where there are a lot of competitors.”
The findings build on growing evidence that societal processes that benefit and marginalize human populations trickle down to urban ecosystems – suggesting that the presence, or lack, of humans, and the conditions in which they live, has potential to override natural influences on urban wildlife.
And yet, it was surprising not to find a connection between natural habitats and longer survival, Zepeda said, because “anecdotally, we see really high densities of coyotes in nature preserves and urban parks. That’s often where you see coyotes in the city if you see them at all.”
Researchers can only speculate, but Zepeda said it could mean the habitat categories on city maps aren’t specific enough or that hunting and trapping is more common in natural settings. Or it could simply be a sign of how crafty coyotes are.
“It could speak to how adaptable they are that they might prefer natural habitat, but at least in terms of survival, they can do just as well in more urbanized areas,” she sad.
21 October 2024. Gadam Baliah village, Wasat Al Gedaref locality, Gedaref, Sudan. Hawa Ahmed, a resilient farmer from Gadam Baliah village, Gedaref, showcasing her crops’ progress.
Urgent action, in particular immediate and unimpeded humanitarian access, is required to address the widening famine in Sudan, where almost 25 million people face acute food insecurity.
According to the latest analysis from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), half of Sudan’s population – or 24.6 million people – are facing acute food insecurity levels. This is 3.5 million more people since June 2024.
The latest report by the IPC, a multi-partner initiative for improving food security and nutrition analysis and decision-making, is the worst in the country’s history. Widespread starvation and acute malnutrition have already resulted in tens of thousands of deaths in a country where almost two-thirds of the population depends on agriculture.
Production of key crops such as sorghum, millet and wheat during the first year of the conflict – the 2023/24 season – was down 46 percent from the previous year. This production loss could have fed approximately 18 million people for a year and represented an economic loss of between $1.3 and $1.7 billion.
Restricted humanitarian access is exacerbating the situation, while sustained violence and economic turmoil have disrupted markets, driving the price of staple goods to unaffordable levels.
This marks the fourth time that famine has been confirmed in a country over the past 15 years.
“We must take urgent action to address the famine in Sudan,” said Beth Bechdol, the Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations told a UN Security Council meeting in New York.
“If we fail to act now, collectively, and at scale, millions of lives are even further at risk, and (…) so is the stability of many nations in the region,” she added.
According to Bechdol, the following actions deserve prioritizing and require the Security Council’s support:
1) political leverage to end hostilities and bring relief to the people of Sudan;
2) immediate and unimpeded humanitarian access, as well as safe reopening of commercial supply routes to address current shortfalls in key hunger hotspots, as stated recently by FAO and its UN partner agencies;
3) the delivery of multi-sectoral humanitarian assistance, especially emergency agricultural support which is key to ensuring local food production, building resilience and preventing further humanitarian catastrophe.
The source of Sudan’s conflicts?
2020 Pew Research Center data estimates that 91 percent of the population is Muslim, 5.4 percent Christian, 2.8 percent follow Indigenous religions, and the remainder follow other religions or are unaffiliated. Some religious advocacy groups estimate non-Muslims make up more than 13 percent of the population.
Sudan ended over a quarter-century of Islamist-military rule with the 2019 overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir, whose rule was based on Islamism, Arab supremacy, and the ruthless application of military power, according to the Jameston Foundation: A joint civilian-military government was formed to lead the transition to a civilian-led democracy. However, an October 2021 coup led by Sudan’s military and security forces ended all progress toward civilian rule, severing at the same time most of Sudan’s economic and financial ties to the West.
Wind turbine tiny home. Designers used the smallest available nacelle for an additional challenge. Credit: Vattenfall / Jorrit Lousberg
Remember 15 years ago when cargotecture was the “thing” and our resident architect blew the lid off the premise of upcycled ship containers being safe and eco friendly? There is such a lag on the concepts of design and the time it takes to make a dream reality –- meaning we are still seeing new cargotecture concepts brought to life, even though, maybe, it wasn’t such a great idea in hot countries. And some of the containers contained hazardous materials that should not be in contact with people. But what about decommissioned wind turbines?
Time for a new eco obsession? How about living in a wind turbine blade that has fulfilled its purpose of collecting energy? A new report from the US Department of Energy, the DOE, outlines recommendations that could increase the recycling and reuse of decommissioned wind energy equipment and materials to create a more circular economy and sustainable supply chain.
The research reveals that existing US infrastructure could process 90% of the mass of decommissioned wind turbines. However, the remaining 10% will need new strategies and innovative recycling methods to achieve a more sustainable wind energy industry. This research will help guide over $20 million in investments previously announced from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to advance technologies that address this gap.
Looking for recycling innovators and funding them too
“The US already has the ability to recycle most wind turbine materials, so achieving a fully sustainable domestic wind energy industry is well within reach,” said Jeff Marootian, principal deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “Innovation is key to closing the loop, and this research will help guide national investments and strategies aimed at advancing technologies that can solve the remaining challenges and provide more affordable, equitable, and accessible clean energy options to the American people.”
The new Recycling Wind Energy Systems in the United States report provides an assessment of research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) needs and gaps in existing wind energy-related supply chains to support the transition to a more sustainable and circular US wind energy industry. This is research that could easily be applied to other wind energy markets.
A team of researchers, led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory with support from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories, developed the report. The effective reuse and recycling of wind system components, parts, and materials will rely on a combination of measures, including:
Improved end-of-life decommissioning collection and scrap sorting practices.
Strategic siting of recycling facilities.
Expanded and improved recovery and recycling infrastructure.
Substitution of hard-to-recycle and critical materials with more easily separable and affordable materials, improved component designs and manufacturing techniques, or the development of modular system components.
Optimized properties of recovered materials for second-life applications.
Greater access to wind energy waste streams and the equipment required to disassemble wind energy components.
Towers, foundations, and steel-based subcomponents in drivetrains offer the greatest potential currently to be successfully recycled, whereas blades, generators, and nacelle covers are likely to prove more difficult. Unless you want to live inside a wind turbine nacelle?
A nacelle is a streamlined container for aircraft parts such as engines, fuel or equipment. You can see one above.
Recovering critical materials and alloying elements from generators and power electronics, such as nickel, cobalt, and zinc, will be crucial in establishing a circular economy for wind systems.
Short-term strategies for decommissioning include promoting blade production using more easily recyclable thermoplastic resins and reusing these resins in cement production, they write.
Thermoplastic-based blade recycling technologies, such as pyrolysis and chemical dissolution, could be viable medium- and long-term options. Other medium- and long-term solutions include high-yield techniques for separating compounds found in power electronics and hybrid methods for recycling permanent magnets.
Regional factors—such as material demand, disposal fees, transportation distances, and an available skilled workforce—will play vital roles in ensuring the success and cost-competitiveness of recycling wind energy components.
Funding for Wind Turbine Recycling
Other potential uses for wind turbine blades include floating solar farms, traffic noise barriers, and boat houses. Vattenfall / Jorrit Lousberg Jorrit Lousberg
Research used to compile this report will be used to guide the development of the Wind Energy Recycling Research, Development, and Demonstration program funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
DOE recently announced an investment of $20 million to improve the recycling of wind energy technologies. This effort, which focuses on enabling sustainable wind turbine components, enabling wind turbine material recycling and reuse processes, and qualifying recycled and recyclable material, will help increase the sustainability of wind energy materials and bolster the domestic supply chain. If you have a recycling solution, apply!
Applications are due on Feb. 11, 2025. You could make a new company out of a bold idea.
But let’s look at a consumer product for inspiration. Living in a wind turbine? As of today that’s possible.
The energy company Vattenfall and design studio Superuse converted a nacelle, the top part of a wind turbine, into a tiny house. This nacelle is 4 yards wide, ten yards long and three yards high and comes from a turbine that stood in Austria for 20 years.
With the tiny house, Vattenfall demonstrates how materials can be reused in innovative ways. The tiny house was on display during Dutch Design Week from 19 to 27 October.
Jos de Krieger, partner Superuse and Blade-Made: “At least ten thousand of this generation of nacelles are available, spread around the world. Most of them have yet to be decommissioned. This offers perspective and a challenge for owners and decommissioners. If such a complex structure as a house is possible, then numerous simpler solutions are also feasible and scalable.”
In collaboration with Reliving, the tiny house was furnished with sustainably produced and second-hand furniture, including a table made of circuform that incorporates material from a recycled wind turbine blade. The electrical installation was installed by Vattenfall subsidiary Feenstra.
The nacelle used for construction was taken from a V80 2MW turbine built at the Austrian Gols wind farm in 2005. During 20 years of faithful service, the turbine produced 73GWh of electricity, enough to power more than 29-thousand households for a year. The nacelle once stood at a height of 100 metres.
A wind turbine tiny home presented at a Dutch design fair.
Dutch company Business in Wind decommissioned the wind farm and made the nacelle available for this project.
It’s an attractive recipe. This all-natural sugar wax is most popular in Egypt and Lebanon. There are plenty of videos which present efficient instructions on how to proceed with the depilatory “cooking.” But we like the video better below.
Sugar wax sugaring recipe
Sugar, white or brown (1 cup)
Water (2 Tbsp)
Lemon juice (1.5 Tbsp)
Salt, optional (1 tsp)
Sugaring Wax Method
Combine these above natural ingredients in a saucepan and simmer on low heat. Allow the mixture to thicken and turn golden-brown. (Just like freshly baked cookies you know it’s good when it’s golden-brown.)
Stir the mixture with a spoon, making sure the sugar crystals dissolve. Within roughly eight minutes, it will thicken considerably and take on a syrupy consistency. Be careful not to let it burn.
Watch as the mixture turns a darker brown, turn off the heat, and let the forming wax cool for a couple of minutes.
And voilà (as this is also called Persian waxing), there you have your wax. Apply where desired and pull in the opposite direction of hair growth.
The wax is totally reusable so stick the leftover portion in plastic and put it in the fridge. 10 seconds in the microwave will be enough when you want to use it later.
The sweetness of this sugar wax cannot be denied: it’s sticky, like toffee, and the color of caramel.
It’s also effective, cheap, and non-harmful.
Great for sexy legs. So try it at home. I know I will!
Nubian architecture, developed along the Nile River, showcases a harmonious blend of ingenuity, environmental adaptation, and community focus. Rooted in the challenges of a hot and arid climate, this architectural tradition offers timeless principles that remain highly relevant as architects strive to create sustainable, eco-friendly housing and communities today.
The Nubians are an indigenous African ethnic group native to the region along the Nile River, primarily in what is now southern Egypt and northern Sudan. They are one of the oldest civilizations in the world, with a history that dates back thousands of years. They believe in monotheism but some have converted to Christianity over the years.
The foundation of Nubian architecture lies in its use of locally sourced, natural materials. Sun-dried mud bricks, made from Nile silt mixed with clay and straw, provided excellent insulation, regulating indoor temperatures. REadily available palm tree wood and reeds can be used for roofing and reinforcement, while mud or lime-based plaster finished walls, offering durability and a natural aesthetic.
A hallmark of Nubian construction is the Nubian vault, a technique for creating arched roofs without the need for timber or modern scaffolding. This gravity-based, pressure-stabilized structure was not only resource-efficient but also incredibly durable.
Rounded and domed forms further optimized buildings for thermal comfort, reducing heat absorption and ensuring even cooling. See Hassan Fathy.
Nubian builders mastered passive cooling techniques long before modern technology. Thick walls and small, strategically placed windows insulated interiors from extreme heat, while buildings were oriented to harness natural ventilation. This design minimized reliance on artificial cooling, making it inherently energy-efficient.
Nubian mud architecture exterior. Image via @geminipunkass and @gemini.punkass
Nubian mud architecture exterior. Image via @geminipunkass and @gemini.punkass
The Nubians also prioritized community-centric layouts. And this is why modern architects like Hassan Fathy thought that this ancient building tradition could solve many problems in Egypt. Homes were arranged around shared courtyards, fostering social interaction and communal living. Resources like water wells and shaded open spaces were shared, reinforcing a sense of collective responsibility and resilience.
Integration with nature was a cornerstone of Nubian architecture. Structures were often built on elevated ground to mitigate flooding, and materials were biodegradable, leaving minimal environmental impact. This synergy with the environment ensured sustainability across generations.
Buildings were often adorned with symbolic patterns and decorations, painted using natural pigments. These artistic touches reflected the community’s cultural identity and spiritual values.
Image via Kevin and Miranda.
Today there isn’t such a thing as a Nubian territory but you can visit Nubian people in Egypt and Sudan, living in their villages, preserved in time. Want to find a colorful Nubian village to explore? Check out the travel vlog of Kevin and Miranda and get going.
In 2018, archaeologists excavating near Aswan, Egypt, uncovered the remains of a young woman who lived approximately 3,700 years ago. Tragically, she was in the final stages of pregnancy at the time of her death, but the fetus was not positioned head-down in her pelvic area—a typical orientation for late-term pregnancy. This finding suggests that complications during childbirth may have led to both their deaths. A fracture on her pelvis may have complicated the situation.
The woman’s skeleton exhibited pelvic abnormalities, possibly from a previously misaligned fracture, which could have contributed to difficulties during labor. Buried alongside her were items such as a pottery jar, a red-and-black container characteristic of ancient Nubian craftsmanship, and beads fashioned from ostrich eggshells.
These artifacts not only indicate her cultural connections but also imply she may have been a bead maker, reflecting her role and status within her community.
This poignant discovery offers a glimpse into the maternal health challenges faced by women in ancient times and underscores the potential dangers of childbirth in that era. It also highlights the rich cultural interactions in the region, as evidenced by the Nubian-style artifacts found in the burial.
The woman was found in a grave-pit, inside a small cemetery, with the skeletal remains of the unborn baby still in her stomach
“There’s something very poignant and quite sweet about it, but also very sad,” Nigel Hetherington, an Egypt-based archaeologist and heritage consultant said about the find. The find was made by the Aswan-Kom Ombo Archaeological Project (AKAP), led by Yale University and University of Bologna. The project has investigated selected areas in the Aswan-Kom Ombo region since 2005.
Preliminary analysis of the mother’s corpse also revealed that the woman’s pelvis was misaligned, which could have been a fracture that hadn’t healed properly. Waziri said the injury could have been the cause of the labor problems.
The skeleton in the grave pit was found wrapped in a leather burial shroud.
There were also two pottery vessels in the grave – one a small jar, the other a fine bowl that appeared to have once been polished in red on the outside, and black on the inside, a Nubian style; this kind of vessel was popular in nomadic communities.
Egyptians tended to pray to female deities like Hathor, Taweret, and Bes.
The archaeological mission also found numerous unfinished ostrich eggshell beads and black fragments, which Dr. Waziri also speculated was an offering. “The beads were common, but they were for the burial for the poor, since they weren’t gold beads, it makes sense,” Ahmed Salah, an Egyptology graduate from the American University of Cairo, told Arab News.
Chaucer said, “Time and tide wait for no man.” He should’ve added 
The energy company Vattenfall and design studio Superuse converted a nacelle, the top part of a wind turbine, into a tiny house. This nacelle is 4 yards wide, ten yards long and three yards high and comes from a turbine that stood in Austria for 20 years.
