Passive cooling for Syria’s beehive houses
Way before there were electronic ways to condition our temperatures, cooling methods were built into the architecture of traditional Middle Eastern homes. Such as the beehive homes found in Syria.

Jubail mangrove walk, Abu Dhabi. Saudi Arabia is planting 1.2 million mangrove trees
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Way before there were electronic ways to condition our temperatures, cooling methods were built into the architecture of traditional Middle Eastern homes. Such as the beehive homes found in Syria.
A study released last week shows that more than one in five Israeli schoolchildren is overweight. According to Haaretz, the towns Nahariya (37%), Bat Yam (34%), Or Yehuda (32.6%), Tira (31.1%) and Kalansawa (31%) lead the list. In the Hebrew edition of the same article, a health specialist chalks up the trend to the unsurprising […]
The global ecologically friendly building trend is taking hold in Turkey as well, according to the English-language daily Hurriyet News and Economic Review. We’ve covered Turkey’s water agreements with Iraq, along with the country’s hard line against coastline development. Green construction in Turkey includes waste disposal systems, solar energy, and rainwater collection, Hurriyet reports: Reghnumj’s […]
Piracy in the Gulf of Aden continues to thrive despite international efforts at joint maritime patrols along the Somali coastline. Combating the menace has proven futile, with international laws ill equipped to address what is fast becoming a threat to the lives of crewmen and global trade. Barring a few incidents, the pirates have, and […]
If you think that WWOOF is the sound that a dog makes… well, you’re right. But it also stands for “Willing Workers On Organic Farms,” or “World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.” So keep your ears tuned in for that term, because the WWOOF movement is spreading globally – including right here in the Middle East. […]
The world economic chill is not cooling global warming, says organizers from the international water tech symposium and conference WATEC. This is part of their announcement for the 2009 conference happening this November in Tel Aviv. I’ve been to a couple WATEC conferences in the past — they happen once every 2 years — and […]
Can’t stand the climate change heat? Why not move underground? For Reynard Loki and Jennifer Daniels, the future might lie, for some people in places such as Israel or Australia, in what they are calling Underground Desert Living Units, UDLU for short. Loki began working on the idea in March 2008, and he later found […]
Israel is very small country, as compared to most African countries, such as Tanzania. Yet despite this vast land difference (Israel has a land area of 8,019 sq miles compared to Tanzania’s 364,900 sq miles) Israel has been able to utilize 95% of its renewable water resources, estimated at 1,800 million cubic meters, and grow […]
Dan region’s sewage sludge smells like an appetizing business venture for N-Viro International. The Ohio-based environmental and materials operating company, which pioneered the conversion of sewage sludge into commercial soil fertility products, is expected to open a new N-Viro Soil manufacturing facility to serve Israel’s Greater Tel Aviv region by the end of this year.
The Tesla Roadster is a purely electric sports car. Coming to Abu Dhabi? The oil-rich United Arab Emirates owe most of their wealth to their natural abundance of petroleum. But what they’re starting to do with that wealth is very interesting. Abu Dhabi, for example, is increasingly leveraging its oil wealth in favor of positioning […]
According to Lebanon’s Daily Star, the war-ravaged southern town of Bint Jbeil is remaking itself as a suburban summer getaway for expatriates who left over the last three decades of strife. Suburban living has made deep imprints across the Middle East, particularly in the shopping malls that have sprouted up in the West Bank and […]
Billionaire entrepreneur Yitzhak Tshuva, a man whose parents couldn’t afford to buy him a watch for his Bar Mitzvah, is now planning to undertake an even greater project on himself. The self-made Real Estate and business wheeler dealer is now planning to become fully involved in the construction of the proposed “Red-Dead” canal, that is […]
Saudi Arabian police forces already protect their citizens. Starting next year, they will also protect the environment. Last week the Saudi Arabian Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME) announced that police precints across the country would be receiving green policy guardians who would perform inspections and ensure compliance with environmental standards. According to PME President, […]
Jordan, a country with both an acute energy and water scarcity problem, is on the verge of building its first nuclear power plant, in a barren desert region in the eastern part of the country. According to a recent article in Ynet News, the plant will be built by Russia’s Rosatom Nuclear Corporation, and follows […]
(Lebanese fishermen in southern Tyre clean their catch. Photo from AFP.) Southern Lebanese fishermen say their catch has slumped from 88 pounds a day in the 60s and 70s to a measly three or four-pound daily take because of aggressive dynamite fishing, overfishing and pollution. According to a report published by AFP, the Lebanese marine […]