Page 755 – Green Prophet

Is your groundwater too young? New study finds risks for Parkinson’s and type of water you drink

People whose drinking water came from newer groundwater had a higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease than those whose drinking water came from older groundwater, according to a preliminary study released March 2, 2026, that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 78th Annual Meeting taking place April 18–22, 2026, in Chicago and online.

Mango and avocado combine for heart health

The Avocado-Mango group also saw increases in fiber, vitamin C, and heart-healthy monounsaturated fat – nutrients tied to cardiovascular wellness – without changes in calorie intake or body weight. Select kidney function markers, such as estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), also improved.

How plastics can increase food poisoning

Banerjee’s research team is among the first to examine the interactions between foodborne pathogens and plastic particles, thereby advancing this emerging field from a food safety perspective.

Exposure to wildfire smoke leads to strokes

Short-term surges in air pollution in New Jersey from the 2023 Canadian wildfires were associated with a higher stroke rate and more serious strokes, according to a preliminary study

Why we might be missing messages from aliens

Alien signals might be getting scrambled near their own stars before they reach Earth, so scientists searching for perfectly clear signals could be missing them.

Is your groundwater too young? New study finds risks for Parkinson’s and type of water you drink

Mango and avocado combine for heart health

How plastics can increase food poisoning

Banerjee’s research team is among the first to examine the interactions between foodborne pathogens and plastic particles, thereby advancing this emerging field from a food safety perspective.

Exposure to wildfire smoke leads to strokes

Short-term surges in air pollution in New Jersey from the 2023 Canadian wildfires were associated with a higher stroke rate and more serious strokes, according to a preliminary study

Why we might be missing messages from aliens

Alien signals might be getting scrambled near their own stars before they reach Earth, so scientists searching for perfectly clear signals could be missing them.

Is your groundwater too young? New study finds risks for Parkinson’s and type of water you drink

Mango and avocado combine for heart health

How plastics can increase food poisoning

Banerjee’s research team is among the first to examine the interactions between foodborne pathogens and plastic particles, thereby advancing this emerging field from a food safety perspective.

Exposure to wildfire smoke leads to strokes

Short-term surges in air pollution in New Jersey from the 2023 Canadian wildfires were associated with a higher stroke rate and more serious strokes, according to a preliminary study

Why we might be missing messages from aliens

Alien signals might be getting scrambled near their own stars before they reach Earth, so scientists searching for perfectly clear signals could be missing them.

Is your groundwater too young? New study finds risks for Parkinson’s and type of water you drink

Mango and avocado combine for heart health

How plastics can increase food poisoning

Banerjee’s research team is among the first to examine the interactions between foodborne pathogens and plastic particles, thereby advancing this emerging field from a food safety perspective.

Exposure to wildfire smoke leads to strokes

Short-term surges in air pollution in New Jersey from the 2023 Canadian wildfires were associated with a higher stroke rate and more serious strokes, according to a preliminary study

Why we might be missing messages from aliens

Alien signals might be getting scrambled near their own stars before they reach Earth, so scientists searching for perfectly clear signals could be missing them.

Is your groundwater too young? New study finds risks for Parkinson’s and type of water you drink

Mango and avocado combine for heart health

How plastics can increase food poisoning

Banerjee’s research team is among the first to examine the interactions between foodborne pathogens and plastic particles, thereby advancing this emerging field from a food safety perspective.

Exposure to wildfire smoke leads to strokes

Short-term surges in air pollution in New Jersey from the 2023 Canadian wildfires were associated with a higher stroke rate and more serious strokes, according to a preliminary study

Why we might be missing messages from aliens

Alien signals might be getting scrambled near their own stars before they reach Earth, so scientists searching for perfectly clear signals could be missing them.

Is your groundwater too young? New study finds risks for Parkinson’s and type of water you drink

Mango and avocado combine for heart health

How plastics can increase food poisoning

Banerjee’s research team is among the first to examine the interactions between foodborne pathogens and plastic particles, thereby advancing this emerging field from a food safety perspective.

Exposure to wildfire smoke leads to strokes

Short-term surges in air pollution in New Jersey from the 2023 Canadian wildfires were associated with a higher stroke rate and more serious strokes, according to a preliminary study

Why we might be missing messages from aliens

Alien signals might be getting scrambled near their own stars before they reach Earth, so scientists searching for perfectly clear signals could be missing them.

Is your groundwater too young? New study finds risks for Parkinson’s and type of water you drink

Mango and avocado combine for heart health

How plastics can increase food poisoning

Banerjee’s research team is among the first to examine the interactions between foodborne pathogens and plastic particles, thereby advancing this emerging field from a food safety perspective.

Exposure to wildfire smoke leads to strokes

Short-term surges in air pollution in New Jersey from the 2023 Canadian wildfires were associated with a higher stroke rate and more serious strokes, according to a preliminary study

Why we might be missing messages from aliens

Alien signals might be getting scrambled near their own stars before they reach Earth, so scientists searching for perfectly clear signals could be missing them.

Is your groundwater too young? New study finds risks for Parkinson’s and type of water you drink

Mango and avocado combine for heart health

How plastics can increase food poisoning

Banerjee’s research team is among the first to examine the interactions between foodborne pathogens and plastic particles, thereby advancing this emerging field from a food safety perspective.

Exposure to wildfire smoke leads to strokes

Short-term surges in air pollution in New Jersey from the 2023 Canadian wildfires were associated with a higher stroke rate and more serious strokes, according to a preliminary study

Why we might be missing messages from aliens

Alien signals might be getting scrambled near their own stars before they reach Earth, so scientists searching for perfectly clear signals could be missing them.

Getting My First Israeli CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)

Health

June 19, 2008

Getting My First Israeli CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)

I was so anxious on Monday as I awaited word of delivery of my very first Israeli community supported agriculture (CSA) delivery to its drop spot in Tel Aviv. I was nervous, not because I thought the vegetables wouldn’t be good or because I was unsure if I was getting a good deal (the veggies are great and it’s very cost-effective), but because I was relying on this week’s box of straight-from-the-farm vegetables to convince my Israeli flatmates that CSAs are a worthwhile investment.

I picked up the box right near the corner of Dizengoff and Gordon in Tel Aviv. I walked home with vegetables in hand for ten minutes, smelling the basil and thinking about making pesto, which I probably won’t have time to make this week.

As I approached my apartment I saw that nobody was home. Damn. I wanted my flatmates to see me walk in with it and “ooh” and “ahh” at the produce. I left the box prominently displayed in the kitchen and gently rearranged the chard and arugula to look a bit more presentable. Within twenty minutes one flatmate returned home. She was visibly excited about our new abundance so we started unpacking the box together when we noticed that one of the tomatoes was squished.

She looked disappointed and I panicked. “We’ll use it for sauce,” I think I muttered in Hebrew, trying a bit too hard to stay positive. “Lo Nora,” she said, it’s not a big deal.

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Amit Brilliant’s Recycled Wallets from Hebrew brands

Karen Chernick

June 19, 2008

Amit Brilliant’s Recycled Wallets from Hebrew brands

wallets made out of Hebrew packaged goods — *Amit Brilliant chooses Hebrew brands to feature on the outside of her plastic wrapped wallets*

According to that old expression, beggars can’t be choosers. But Israeli designer Amit Brilliant proves that saying wrong with her line of recycled wallets, bags, notebook covers, and hats – Beggars.

She chooses not to dump what would normally end up in the trash and turn it into something useful and aesthetic instead.

In other words, she begs to differ.

Brilliant’s brilliant creations are made out of old maps, paper shopping bags, Bamba bags, laundry detergent wrappers, and whatever else she can get her hands on. She usually uses the wrappers of classic Israeli products, so these make a great souvenir or gift from Israel. (Pair these up with some of Yoav Kotik‘s Israeli beer cap earrings and you’ve got quite the environmental and patriotic gift.)

old hebrew packaging gets new lease on life — *Amit Brilliant transforms old bags of waste*

In transforming packaging – something that was supposed to be disposable – into something that can be used over and over again, Brilliant makes an optimistic statement about how we can transform and hopefully change the negative effects of mass consumerism.

You can find these great wallets in the Nachalat Binyamin crafts market (open every Tuesday and Friday afternoon in Tel Aviv).

More sustainable products: Bag It Up: Inbal Limor Recycles Plastic Bags Into High Art and More Mileage out of Your Purse

Green Clean

Cities

Jack Reichert

June 18, 2008

Being green is about being clean. In order to remove dust effectively from furniture use a slightly damp cloth – dusters only move the dust around. For a green polish try beeswax, it’s great for unpolished wood; or use a drop of olive oil, then buff with a dry cloth. This way you can cut down the circulation of nasty chemicals normally used when cleaning around the house.

Fred Pearce's "Confessions of an Eco-Sinner" on Where Stuff Comes From

Book Reviews

James Murray-White

June 18, 2008

Fred Pearce's "Confessions of an Eco-Sinner" on Where Stuff Comes From

“We face the most almighty hangover, as the toxins unleashed by our century-long binge work their way through the earth’s system. We have to detoxify. We have to sober up. We have to come to grips….”

from ‘Confessions of an Eco-Sinner’ by Fred Pearce.

Pearce has written a book for the ecologically and socially minded. He has travelled some 180,000 km to over 20 countries to research it; investigating the origins of products, and crucially the human conditions surrounding them – actually walking the walk and finding the answers to his own curiosity about things.

He describes the research, which took him a full year, and the resulting book, as “an odyssey to track his personal footprint”.

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Organic Whole Wheat Bread for Harvest Time and Shavuot

Health

Hamutal Dotan

June 18, 2008

Organic Whole Wheat Bread for Harvest Time and Shavuot

(image credit: giggul371)

Shavuot is best known as the holiday which commemorates the bestowal of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. It is also the celebration of the harvest of the Bikkurim, the first fruits of the year. Pomegranates and figs may come most easily to mind, but wheat is another of the Shiv’at Haminim, the seven species, and probably the one that we eat most often. And so at the end of Shavuot this year I found myself inspired, and decided to try my hand at celebrating the harvest with a bit of baking.

Now, bread-making can be a rather scary prospect, even for the experienced baker. I’ve knocked out meringues and madeleines fearlessly, brûléed crème without breaking a sweat and rolled tart crusts galore. On one memorable occasion I even made a wedding cake. But yeast? Yeast has always sent me running for the proverbial hills. However, several recent spikes in the cost of bread, a growing desire to understand exactly what goes into producing the food I often take for granted, and the aforementioned harvest festival proved to be an irresistible combination – a baker of bread I would become.

First, a bit of research seemed in order. The literature on the craft of baking bread is extensive, almost overwhelmingly so. I decided to start with the basics… Flour.

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Eco Tourism in the Middle East: Jordan

Travel

Karen Chernick

June 17, 2008

Between all of the eco guesthouses popping up and the Israeli Tourism Ministry trying to go green by 2009, there’s no absence of environmentally friendly vacation options in Israel (hint hint, to all those out-of-towners planning their summer vacations in Israel).

But what’s a green tourist in the Middle East to do outside of Israel? Well, he or she she doesn’t have to look much further than right next door (so to speak). In Jordan.

There are lots of great eco-tourism options available in Jordan – ranging from tour companies that specialize in green adventures to environmentally friendly housing options.

Here are some of our favorites:

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Keeping it Cool

Cities

Jack Reichert

June 16, 2008

Who wants an inefficient refrigerator? Wipe off the coils regularly, dusty coils can reduce the efficiency by 30%. Also let your dishes cool properly before you put dinner away. A healthy fridge will last longer, save energy and work better… What more could you want?

Organic cotton for the environment

Design

Karen Chernick

June 16, 2008

We’ve covered the environmentally conscious window display in Tel Aviv designed by Shulayim Studio, but the store that the window belonged to – Cotton – is news worthy as well.

Cotton started making a limited line of clothes in 1992 with the goal of creating pieces that are unique, comfortable, woman-friendly, environmentally-friendly, and entirely designed and produced in Israel. These days they’re not so limited (they have stores in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Ashkelon, Be’er Sheva, Ra’anana, Rosh Pina and lots of other Israeli cities) but their goals are the same.

Cotton’s motto is Individuality, Comfort, and Care for the Environment and it shows in everything that they do.

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Tel Aviv University Announces New “Supercenter” for Renewable Energy

Business

Green Prophet

June 15, 2008

Tel Aviv University Announces New “Supercenter” for Renewable Energy

(Prof. Avi Kribus)

Center will explore clean energy production through transformational technologies and unique multidisciplinary approach

Natural resources everywhere are rapidly being depleted. Traditional energy sources, like oil, have become hostages to a weakening world economy. The future, it seems, may depend on renewable energy ― new technology that bridges scientific disciplines and commercial opportunities. Tel Aviv University has just taken a big step toward making renewable energy a daily reality.

At Israel’s international conference on renewable energy last month, Tel Aviv University announced it will create a new “Supercenter” to develop renewable energies. The Supercenter will conduct pioneering research in groundbreaking solar energy applications, wind energy, biofuels and energy storage, taking advantage of the transformational and incremental technologies already being explored by Tel Aviv University researchers.

Opening the conference, “Renewable Energy and Beyond,” hosted at Tel Aviv University, keynote speaker Al Gore discussed the soaring price of oil and the continuing threat of greenhouse gases, warming the planet to what Gore said could be the “point of no return.” Gore came to Tel Aviv University in May to accept a $1 million Dan David Prize for his work on “social responsibility with particular emphasis on the environment.”

The Supercenter is Tel Aviv University’s profound response to the serious environmental issues facing the world.

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New "Baby Organic" Online Shop in Israel

Business

Karin Kloosterman

June 15, 2008

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the organic baby in the baby carriage. Today we would like to welcome, the guest post of Avi Yacove who has just helped give life to Baby Organic, a new online baby’s clothing store based in Israel.

Writes Avi: Baby Organic came to mind as an idea of mine at the beginning of 2007. During that time, my father, who was ill for a for over two years, entered what seemed to be the final stage of his life. At the same time, one of my sisters was pregnant with her first child – who is also my parent’s first grandchild.

During my father’s long period of being sick, I researched and read more articles and text than I ever have before, in Hebrew and in English. As I was looking everywhere for a way to help my dad, at first to stay alive, and later on to maintain a quality of life and suffer as little as possible.

During that period I learned about the differences between organic to conventional farming, of the countless dangers we all face everyday on this earth and the huge gap between what we think we know and the meaning of the things that are actually happening around us. All of this new information that I became aware of, changed who I was, and I started to “reconstruct” myself. I changed my diet, my interests, my beliefs and my goals.

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Israel Cleantech 2008 Video

Tech

Green Prophet

June 15, 2008

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrvOH7VmZRE[/youtube]

China is interested in Israeli clean technology. Here’s a video capturing some of the more interesting companies at Israel’s latest cleantech expo: on water, recycling and green building. Most of the companies showcased were all about valves and pipes, but the video points out a few hot innovators.

Green Your Job: Greenpeace Tel Aviv is Hiring!

Tech

Karen Chernick

June 14, 2008

Green Your Job: Greenpeace Tel Aviv is Hiring!

Are you tired of seeing all the waste at work? The unnecessary printing, photocopying, computers left on all night, styrofoam cups, wasted electricity? Oh, the horrors! Ready to work in a greener environment?

Well, if you’re based in Tel Aviv or Istanbul, Greenpeace is hiring. And they want you.

Greenpeace is looking for a Regional New Media Coordinator to help change the world by managing their website and online campaigns.

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Waste Not, Want Not: Doron Sar-Shalom Recycles With Style

Karen Chernick

June 13, 2008

doron sar-shalom lamp It’s one thing when designers take brand new ready-made materials and transform them into something else. It’s another thing entirely when designers take old ready-mades and reincarnate them in order to avoid waste.

Reincarnation is what Israeli designer Doron Sar-Shalom is all about.

His designs, which consist mainly of lamps, are constructed out of unlikely materials such as strainers, spatulas, cheese graters, water pitchers, and plastic jerry cans. One of the main guidelines that Sar-Shalom follows when working is to avoid wasting materials and use whatever is available.

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Israeli Technology Harnesses Photosynthesis To Create Electricity

Tech

Ilana Teitelbaum

June 12, 2008

Israeli Technology Harnesses Photosynthesis To Create Electricity

Photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert sunlight into food and oxygen, represents some of the most advanced technology engineered by Mother Nature. And now Tel Aviv University researcher Professor Hanoch Carmeli has discovered a way to harness the process of photosynthesis to create electricity.

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Shulayim Eco Design Studio Brings Art Lovers and Treehuggers Together

Lifestyle

Karen Chernick

June 11, 2008

Shulayim Eco Design Studio Brings Art Lovers and Treehuggers Together

Strolling down the glitzy northern part of Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Street this week, something strange caught my eye among all the designer gowns and stiletto pumps. Garbage. Literally, garbage. No, not on the street. In the window display.

The garbage – which included aluminum cans and newspapers – was in the window display of Cotton, an Israeli organic cotton clothing design store. Since I knew about Cotton’s dedication to the environment, this didn’t seem so strange anymore. And as I walked right up to the window itself, the garbage didn’t look so trashy anymore. It actually looked pretty impeccably designed.

Shulayim – an interior design studio with an environmentally friendly focus – designed Cotton’s window display and offers a lot of other stylish and creative uses for our everyday trash.

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