America’s bumbling fictional super spy Maxwell Smart had a good point when he would say of the villain, “If only he had used his evil genius for niceness.” We’ve heard far too many tragic stories of drones being used as weapons of war. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone figured out how to beat this modern age sword into a plowshare? The people at the Yo Sushi! restaurant have done just that. Known for introducing the concept of a Japanese ‘kaitan’ sushi bar to Britain and delivering tasty dishes via a conveyer belt, it shouldn’t surprise is to hear that this hip restaurant has found a new way to raise our eyebrows, if not shear them off with the high-speed propellers of an unmanned aerial vehicle.

To emphasize the light weight and low calorie count of their new rice burgers, Yo Sushi! waiters plan to deliver them via  an iPad-controlled quadrocopter they call iTray.

Yo Sushi is piloting this jet-age food delivery service at their SOHO location in London. No word yet as to whether Heathrow airport will need to hire extra air traffic controllers to manage unidentified flying sushi or whether this service will be expanded to Yo Sushi restaurants in Dubai and Bahrain.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKPpTi7nEnA[/youtube]

Until flying sushi carpets are perfected, prudent diners might want to settle for the crunchy orange tobiko (flying fish eggs) coating some types of ordinary sushi. But if you’re adventurous, bring a raincoat the next time you visit London’s SOHO district and enjoy the buzz of this new type of restaurant service.

Sushi photo from Shutterstock

The post Flying Sushi iTrays First Step to Flying Carpets appeared first on Green Prophet.

Knowing what I do now about this endangered species’ near-certain extinction and its enormous importance as an apex predator, I can’t eat it anymore, though I do occasionally pine for the good old days of sushi buffets. Now it seems like there’s hope for the species after all – and it lies in Israel.

A time to spawn

The Atlantic Bluefin Tuna plies the Mediterranean Sea, stopping in Israel when the water is the right temperature for spawning eggs.

It is also ferociously overfished by Maltese fishermen and others, and The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) charged with protecting them against extinction is virtually powerless.

Prized among the Japanese in particular, the flesh of this powerful sea-going creature fetches a handsome sum – some say as much as $1,000 per kilogram – which is what makes it so vulnerable.

Scores of stories have been written about a kind of tuna-mafia that hunts them, freezes them, hordes them – all in an effort to supply our insatiable demand.

Cages are for no one

Unlike Tilapia and other smaller fish, however, the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna doesn’t take well to controlled breeding programs and a series of efforts have failed miserably. It has a complex lifecycle and they are swimmers. Being stuck in cages is for the … nobody, actually.

All venting aside, Israeli researchers are the first to successfully breed the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna in captivity, according to local press.

Director of Israel’s National Center for Mariculture (NCM), Dr. Hanna Rosenfeld set out with scientists from a host of other Mediterranean countries to save the endangered species. They had a break through moment when Hillel Gordin from the National Center for Mariculture in Eilat suggested captive breeding.

To date the team has managed to encourage spawning in cages, and even to coax baby fish to grow into the same size they’d reach in the open sea, but they have not been successful at returning the fish to their natural habitat to breed.

“Once we achieve this goal,” Dr. Rosenfeld told Haariv, “we will not be dependent any more on wild fish and we will be able to set in motion the recovery of the global population of this endangered species that is at risk of extinction.”

Will I go back to eating sushi if the species is successfully reintroduced? I don’t know. There’s still plastic pollution in the ocean to worry about.

Image credit: Couple eat sushi in Japanese restaurant, Shutterstock

The post Sushi Lovers Might Not Have to Give up Endangered Bluefin Tuna appeared first on Green Prophet.

When we think of Masdar City, we think of solar power and funky space-buildings. We think of desert and withering heat. And perhaps we dream that one day this city will be completed and offer the rest of the world an example of a carbon and waste free city (albeit a rather expensive one.) But sushi? And an organic supermarket? This is definitely news to us. Reporters from The National took a drive to see these places for themselves. The decision to establish healthy eating establishments at Masdar takes the city’s eco-image one step further.

A mere 20 kilometers outside of the UAE’s capital, Masdar City is slowly beginning to take shape. Students are studying, builders are building, but everybody has to eat. Here are their options:

The Sumo Sushi and Bento concept restaurants were founded by a family of four entrepreneurs in 2000 and have seven locations along the Gulf, the most recent of which opened at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology. It is open from 11am to 11pm. Their specialty is freshwater eel (though who knows where it comes from? We all know there’s no freshwater in Abu Dhabi.)

There’s another small glitch: (Green Prophets have to check out the backstory, right?) Any business associated with Masdar should fit in with its sustainability ethos, but Sumo Sushi has a way to go. Fresh tuna – one of the most endangered ocean predators – features prominently on their menu.

With locations in Bahrain and Masdar City, Organic Foods and Cafe rates decidedly higher on the sustainability ladder. In addition to offering vegan and vegetarian foods, the paper claims they also sell better brands of children’s nappies and toothpaste, and “Yogi tea.”

This allows consumers to make choices that are better for their own health and that of the planet’s.

And, in order to make this service available beyond Masdar, both Sumo and Organic foods offers free delivery, even to the city center. The latter will allow customers to place their order online and pay COD.

:: The National

More on Masdar City:

Re-assessing Masdar City

GE Eco-magination in Masdar City

NY Times: Masdar City Just a Futuristic Playground for the Rich

image via Swift Benjamin

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