For those unaware, SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon, as we can potentially achieve that in less than 10 years, whereas Mars would take 20+ years.
For those unaware, SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon, as we can potentially achieve that in less than 10 years, whereas Mars would take 20+ years.
For those unaware, SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon, as we can potentially achieve that in less than 10 years, whereas Mars would take 20+ years.
For those unaware, SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon, as we can potentially achieve that in less than 10 years, whereas Mars would take 20+ years.
For those unaware, SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon, as we can potentially achieve that in less than 10 years, whereas Mars would take 20+ years.
For those unaware, SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon, as we can potentially achieve that in less than 10 years, whereas Mars would take 20+ years.
For those unaware, SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon, as we can potentially achieve that in less than 10 years, whereas Mars would take 20+ years.
For those unaware, SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon, as we can potentially achieve that in less than 10 years, whereas Mars would take 20+ years.
In Tunisia last week, Islamic ministers meet to set a precedent on tackling water scarcity in home countries.
In the Middle East and across the Muslim world, water scarcity is becoming one of the most pressing issues related to climate change- but what is actually been done to tackle these problems?
Last week, the conference of Islamic environment ministers in Tunisia ended with the Tunisian president (above) urging the region to look for the most effective ways to deal with water scarcity. President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali explained that water scarcity “constitutes a source of deep concern for most Muslim countries given their water poverty, imbalanced demographic growth, arbitrary exploitation of water resources, aggravated pollution, and severe and frequent climate changes, together with associated problems of drought.” He added that resolving this issues was one of the ‘most important duties’ of our time.
Traffic fatalities are 5 times the world average at 22,000 deaths a year: It’s time for Iranians to get on their bikes.
Iran has the highest rate of traffic accident fatalities in the world – even higher than the United Arab Emirates. While car ownership rates in Iran is less than the western countries, the traffic accidents still account for an unbelievable number of victims. Knowing the stats, this is a good call to get people on their bikes and a push for public transportation. Some months ago Dr. Hassan Emami Razavi the Deputy Minister of Health in Iran said that the traffic accident fatalities of Iran is 5 times more than the world average. Cars created without air bags and seatbelts, poor driver education, young drivers, and delapidated roads are to blame.
At present, the fatality rate is about 20,000 people annually. In 2002, 44 deaths occurred for every 100,000 people. The same factor in the same year for Germany and Canada were 9 and 6 respectively. In 2008, it was 12.25 for the United States. Last year, the media focused on the issue and announced that car accident fatalities of Iran is 25 times more than Japan and 2 times more than Turkey, which has similar cultural conditions to Iran.
Researchers and the media usually try to consider the problem and give reasons. There is a list of them.
Generally the reasons are related to humans, the cars themselves, and the conditions on the road. The accidents that are related to human factors can include the accidents that are caused by human mistakes when driving or passing the street, or social and cultural aspects like obeying the driving regulations.
For example, how people use seat belts is one of these issues. In the past few years, using seat belts has risen. But there are still problems with safety and helmet use by motorcycle riders. In Iran using seat belt is compulsory for the front seats but not for the back seats. That is why in June 2010, Alireza Zamani, a Parliament member, asked for making the back seat belt use compulsory to reduce fatalities.
Basically, the population of Iran is comparatively young. So some researchers raise this matter as one of the reasons for the accidents. As they say, the young people are responsible for the car accidents.
Many accidents occur because of deficiency or lack of safety facilities in the car. Producing cars with seatbelts have been obligatory for Iranian car producers since 1999. But most of the cars that were produced before that date do not have seat belts.
Similarly just 7 out of 37 types of cars which are produced in Iran have air bags and ABS brake.
Flickr: Jan Tik
The network of the roads of Iran is very old. Many accidents, which usually pile up the fatalities happen on old roads that have been built decades ago with poor road engineering standards. These kinds of roads are usually located in points far away from the main metropolitan areas or provincial centers.
Nevertheless, the statistics show that the fatality rate is dropping. In 2002 about 30,000 people died in car accidents. Now it has been reduced to 20,000. Although statistically some improvements can be seen, there is a long way to solve this multi-variable problem.
As car users and drivers, the first step we can have is to reduce accident fatalities by having in mind some primary safety hints. Read these safety hints (in Persian). And of course choosing new modes of transport such as the bus, and petitioning the government for better standards and enforcement.
“Spill and run” on the Nile could lead to legal action.
Only a few days ago we described the Egyptian government’s failure to enforce better maintenance and safety standards for various vessels that travel along the Nile.
As a result, untreated waste is routinely dumped in the river, as well as other pollutants such as diesel fuel and oil.
Last week two more oil spills along the Nile occurred near Mansoura. And though the perpetrators failed to take accountability for their mess, Al-Masry Al-Youm reports that authorities hope that “oil prints” will lead them to the source.
They exist here in Israel too! Too much pizza and cheeseburgers, and not enough exercise and whole food diets.
One of America’s most popular internet health news websites, Natural News, is telling its readers that Americans are on their way to becoming a nation of overweight and obese people and that three fourths of all Americans will be either overweight or obese by the year 2020. This prediction comes on the results of findings made by a study made by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which found that citizens of the worlds most affluent countries are becoming more overweight, and that Americans are “leading the charge”/ They are now ranked number one in the world.
For the first time in history, Israeli architects who designed Tel Aviv’s Port took best design at the European Biennial of Landscape Architecture Awards.
The port of Tel Aviv had been an abandoned concrete pile for years before Mayslits Kassif Architecture turned it into one of the most hopping spots in Israel’s seaside city. Every day of the week, the port astride the Mediterranean is packed with cyclists, sun goddesses, tourists, and locals, and on the weekend the farmer’s market rivals any of the best in the west. In addition to generating income with a series of shops and restaurants, the new look has given Israelis a sense of pride, as well as an urban escape. For this the architects received the European Biennial Landscape Architecture Award for Best Design.
Oregon’s Governor Ted Kulongoski (left) will be “fishing” for clean tech and high-tech opportunities in Israel later this month.
Oregon’s Governor Ted Kulongoski, a Democrat, will be coming to Israel for an 8-day trade mission later this month. Like other American politicians, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger included, Kulongoski is looking to meet with Israeli clean tech companies, high-tech cos, and venture capitalists to partner with. Israel has built its name in telecom, high-tech and, more recently, technology refugees from these arenas have moved over to clean tech offering creative ideas to problems such as water and renewable energy.
Certain Egyptian Ministries are finally noticing that the Nile River is not healthy. For 17,000 children a year, they are a bit late.
One of the most popular tourist activities in Egypt is to travel along the Nile River, and there is no shortage of options for doing so. Hundreds of eager men are ready to take hapless foreigners for a sunset sail on a falucca or fishing, while approximately 300 floating hotels offer extended trips from Luxor to Aswan. Unbeknownst to tourists, however, their Nile memories leave behind a terrible stench.
With elections next month expected to yield no new resistance to environmental apathy, the sudden interest from the Ministries of Environment, Tourism and Transport in the State of The Nile could be a case of too little too late, unless, of course, they can hit the government where it hurts most: below the money belt.
Once you’ve tasted bread baked with spicy black cumin seeds, you’ll reach for more…and more.
Black cumin is often added to breads and crackers in the Middle East, as we noted in our post about black cumin seed. We suggest scattering some of those spicy black seeds over the dough in our recipe for za’atar topped pita, but here is another Middle Eastern favorite bread that has black cumin in the dough.
Zalabya bread recipe
Ingredients:
4 cups flour
1 cup warm water
1 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup black cumin seeds
1 cup olive oil for the dough
1 tablespoon granulated yeast
1/4 cup warm water for the yeast
Salt to taste
Olive oil for frying
Method:
Dissolve the yeast in the water
Combine flour, sesame and black cumin seeds, olive oil, salt and water in a bowl. Mix well. Add more water by tablespoons if needed to make a pliable dough.
Add the dissolved yeast to the batter. Mix well . Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 30 minutes, or until double its original size.
Take pieces about the size of a large egg out of the dough.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and heat it over a medium flame. Fry the dough, pushing it into a circle with the spatula. When the zalabya is golden-brown on the underside, turn it over and fry till all is the same golden-brown color.
Add more olive oil as needed. Serve the zalabya hot.
LebaneseBloggers elbow their way through wishy washy red tape to spread urgent environmental and political messages.
Environmental bloggers go to great lengths to confront the dual challenge of making people aware of serious environmental concerns, and inspiring them to do something about it. We absolutely have to cut carbon emissions, a message that Bill McKibben and the crew at 350.org have driven across the planet, so that global weather patterns don’t spiral out of control. And in order to do that, we have to reduce our dependence on oil and gas.
For some, that may mean installing a few solar panels and an organic garden on their roof. For those who don’t own a home but drive a car, reverting to bicycles or public transportation would make a difference. Not only do these small actions add up, but almost all of the “green” initiatives we have introduced can lead to a deeper and happier life. Earnest bloggers desperate to unlock the shackles of traditional media elbow their way through greenwashers and meek government in order to spread this urgent message. In Lebanon, their work is beginning to pay off.
Will pink viagra gain a following among in this part of the world and change woman’s dress codes?
Yesterday was the secular date of 10.10.2010, and many women are using the once in lifetime calendar event as an expression of love and personal sexuality. Taking this in mind, is there really such thing as a “Pink Viagra”; and will women, especially Middle Eastern women, be partial to using a preparation that is alleged to restore their sexual libidos and enable them to once again enjoy having sex? Though not intended to single out women living in this part of the world, an article in the Washington Post says that America’s Food and Drug Administration, the country’s food and pharmaceutical watchdog, is considering giving its approval to a drug called “flibanserin” which is mooted as being able to fiddle with a woman’s sexual brain waves and increase or in some cases restore her sexual libido or desire to “roll in the hay” with either her spouse or lover.
The Green Abu Dhabi Art Show will soon be using one of the world’s universal languages – art – to spread the message of environmentalism.
The color green will have a different artistic meaning at the Green Abu Dhabi Art Show starting this Wednesday (October 13th). Instead of referring to the artists’ color palettes, it will apply to their environmental intentions. The three week exhibition will focus on educating the community about the environment and sustainability, and summon the whole UAE to “paint the town green”.
Israeli and Turkish delegations joined European and American counterparts in Spain to draw attention to environmental factors causing a killer disease.
Strengthening community will be an integral part of a sustainable future. A “community of angels” in my notes referred to the delegates from more than 20 countries in the European Union, Israel, Turkey and the United States who convened in Castelldefels to discuss Pulmonary Hypertension. The European Pulmonary Hypertension Association conference took place just outside of Barcelona from Sept. 18-20th.
Dr. Iris Tal and I represented the Israel Pulmonary Hypertension Association at the gathering. There, patients, caregivers and clinicians discussed treatment options, drug accessibility, standards of care, research horizons and general support for the victims of the illness.
Israel’s Environmental Protection Ministry threatens to enforce their will in Palestinian territory, where the plans for Rawabi are not as green as Palestinian/Qatari developers profess.
Israel’s excess extraction from the Jordan River (as well as other factors) could soon kill it altogether with serious ramifications for Israelis, Jordanians, and Palestinians. There is no question that one nation’s poor environmental decisions can impact on another. As such, every community owes it to the rest of the world as well as their own citizens to maintain the existing and create built environments modestly and sustainably.
Thus the planned city Rawabi in Palestine raises concerns. Although we applaud the Palestinian Authority’s goal to create short and long term jobs and improve the quality of life for Palestinians living between Ramallah and Nablus, there is something fishy about the big Palestinian/Qatari rush to erect Rawabi without first addressing basic concerns.
Along with a coral reef that scientists did not know existed, this shipwreck is one of two discovered by Nautilus robots in September.
When the Nautilus of Titanic fame left Haifa in early September, the researchers on board aimed to scour deeper beneath the Mediterranean Sea’s surface than had previously been possible. Within two and a half weeks, the ship’s advanced robots were exploring at unprecedented depths of 1.7km. At 7oo m, the scientists from Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences led by Zvi Ben Avraham were astounded to discover a coral reef that extends a few kilometers approximately 40km off Tel Aviv’s shore.
They announced this discovery after returning from their expedition towards the end of September, as did we, but they have since released images of a world never before seen. Not only do they hope that this precious reef will give government greater impetus to protect the Mediterranean in the form of marine reserves and other anthropogenic limits, but they also hope to learn more about the mechanism of coral survival both historically and within the context of current climate changes.
Is taking down this year’s sukkah already getting you thinking about next year’s?
Have the end of the Jewish holidays, return to work, and impending cold weather got you down? Fantasizing about next year’s warm evenings spent inside an outdoor sukkah (or temporary booth) might help fight that feeling. This year’s much-publicized Sukkah City design competition in New York’s Union Square might have inspired you to go above and beyond the call of sukkah duty next year and bring some serious design quality to your booth.
In Tunisia last week, Islamic ministers meet to set a precedent on tackling water scarcity in home countries. 
For the first time in history, Israeli architects who designed Tel Aviv’s Port took best design at the European Biennial of Landscape Architecture Awards.
Oregon’s Governor Ted Kulongoski (left) will be “fishing” for clean tech and high-tech opportunities in Israel later this month.
Once you’ve tasted bread baked with spicy black cumin seeds, you’ll reach for more…and more.
Will pink viagra gain a following among in this part of the world and change woman’s dress codes?
The Green Abu Dhabi Art Show will soon be using one of the world’s universal languages – art – to spread the message of environmentalism.
