A New Generation of Desert: How Science Is Changing Israel’s Periphery

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A territory of symbiotic contrasts. One of the unmissable landmarks of the central Negev is the 260 m high tower of the solar thermal power plant built in 2014-19 near Kibbutz Ashalim. The building, nicknamed Migdal Sauron (Sauron's Tower), is surrounded by over 50,000 rotating mirrors, so-called heliostats, which track the movement of the sun. Sunlight is collected at the top of the tower and in a tank of molten salt, it generates thermal energy, driving a turbine to produce electricity. In the immediate vicinity of the futuristic building, however, traditional life continues, as the Bedouins who have settled here with their herds have led for centuries.?

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Sustainable living. How much water is really needed to grow dates? How sweet are brined tomatoes? What does desert wine taste like? These and other questions are answered by scientists and growers who produce not only wine, dates and olives in the Negev, but also truffles, tropical fruits and lesser-known plants from the "superfood" category. The experience of the pioneers of sustainable living in the conditions of an extremely dry region is already useful even in the temperate zone of the rapidly drying world.?

Sustainable living. How much water is really needed to grow dates? How sweet are brined tomatoes? What does desert wine taste like? These and other questions are answered by scientists and growers who produce not only wine, dates and olives in the Negev, but also truffles, tropical fruits and lesser-known plants from the "superfood" category. The experience of the pioneers of sustainable living in the conditions of an extremely dry region is already useful even in the temperate zone of the rapidly drying world.?

Black fly, blue carbon. Science in the Negev is done in close connection with local ecosystems and focuses on projects whose results can be used relatively quickly.

On its northern edge is the town of Mitzpe Ramon with a population of 5,000, founded in the early 1950s. The bottom of the crater is criss-crossed with roads and dry riverbeds. This huge natural laboratory is used, among other things, for the calibration of hyperspectral sensors for remote sensing of the Earth.?

By Michaela Sidenberg?for Reportér Magazine (Translated from Czech)

Photography By Karel Cudlín