Oct 14 2013

Solar-powered car competition winner

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Stella, a solar-powered family car designed by students from the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in has won the World Solar Challenge 2013, ushering in a new era of efficient, practical cruisers that get all of their juice from the sun. Solar Team Eindhoven from the Netherlands spent over a year developing their family car, which features photovoltaic solar panels on both the roof and rear, according to Dezeen. The latter are flipped up to optimize solar absorption and generate energy while the car is not in use.
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Dec 30 2012

Antibiotics or Oregano to Keep Chickens Healthy?

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It’s za'atar season in the Middle East and though we don't really need it, there's another reason to love this versatile spice: it could be useful as an alternative to antibiotics. Both a perennial herb and a spice mixed with other ingredients, za’atar livens up a host of dishes throughout the Gulf, Levant and Mediterranean. Now a small handful of farmers in the United States are feeding their poultry and livestock an oregano oil mixture in lieu of increasingly ineffective antibiotics, The New York Times reports. And they insist it keeps the animals disease free. Though the numbers are compelling, scientists caution there is insufficient data to substantiate their claims.
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Sep 18 2012

Iran Blows Past Sanctions with Wind Energy

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Determined to stay its unpopular nuclear course, Iran is now turning to wind power and other renewable energy sources to blow past sanctions. Last year Karin reported that the current regime plans to produce 5,000 MW of solar energy by 2015, and in May this year, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad put aside an additional $620 million to grow the country’s nascent renewable energy program.
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Jul 27 2012

Algeria Solicits Bids for Wind and Solar Plants

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Finally poised to embrace renewable energy generation, little-known Algeria is accepting tender bids from solar and wind energy producers. Along with Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, which are either in the process of or are planning to build solar plants in their home countries, Algeria supports the Desertec Foundation vision to line the Sahara with solar thermal plants.
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Mar 08 2012

Polish Kite Surfer Fights Off Red Sea Sharks With a Knife

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A professional kite surfer and instructor from Poland recently survived two days of drifting in the Red Sea by fighting off sharks with a knife. With just a couple of energy bars and drinks and a small amount of water, the first kitesurfer to cross the Baltic Sea set off from El Gouna in Egypt to Duba, Saudi Arabia. But then the wind died.
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Apr 05 2011

Ethiopia moving ahead on Nile dam

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Defiant of Egypt's historic monopoly over its flow, Ethiopia is pushing ahead with a controversial plan to build a massive dam on the Nile river. Egypt and Sudan have maintained control of the Nile through a series of laws originally brokered by colonial powers in 1929. But last May, six upstream countries signed a legally binding document that dispossessed Egypt of its right to veto decisions regarding the Nile's distribution. Buoyed by President Hosni Mubarak's recent ouster, and undaunted by criticism, Ethiopia insists that it will proceed with its plan even without international support. At a recent news conference, Ethiopia's Water and Energy Minister Alemayehu Tegenu explained that construction of the dam near the Ethiopian and Sudanese border is expected to start soon, Reuters reports. This despite widespread opposition to the project, which Minister Tegenu suspects is a direct result of Egypt's campaign to prevent the dam's construction.
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Nov 05 2010

Pesticides In Pregnant Jerusalemites Higher Than NYC Counterparts

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Given the choice between a roach-free house or one filled with scattering critters, most people will take the former. But in some parts of the Middle East, such as the UAE, pests are becoming more pernicious – attributed to rising temperatures and deepening the challenge to get rid of them.
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