ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Investing in Surgical Robots. OurCrowd – Israel’s Crowdfunding investment company has added Medical Surgery Technologies into its portfolio. MST’s FDA-approved robotic vision system replaces the medical assistant who historically handled the video camera during keyhole surgery. No more shaky pictures.
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Israeli chips for Australia. (Thanks to Atid-EDI) Australia’s second largest DSL broadband provider, iiNet, has picked the high performance 802.11ac Wi-Fi chip from Israel’s Celeno to enable iiNet to stream data and HD video directly from future iiNet products.
Microsoft Haifa is too big. Microsoft Israel Ltd. has grown too large for its current Haifa premises and has signed a 10-year lease on a new, 12, 000 square-meter building at the Matam High Tech Park in Haifa. In addition, Microsoft has a 13, 000 square-meter building in Herzliya.
Israel’s electronic link to Las Vegas. Tel Aviv was one of only four cities in the world to hold “CES Unveiled” – a daughter event of Las Vegas’s massively popular Consumer Electronics Show.
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Facebook discovers Israel. The social media giant has acquired Israel’s Onavo for at least $100 million. Onavo has developed some unique marketing and data compression applications as well as operating a successful mobile security business. Onavo says that it will become Facebook’s Israeli office.
First visit for two Prime Ministers. Both Joseph Muscat, the Prime Minister of Malta and Peter O’Neill, the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea are the first sitting prime ministers of their respective countries to visit Israel. Both came with large delegations and cooperation plans.
One of the most technologically advanced stadiums in Europe. It cost over 300, 000 shekels, and is five times the size required by the team that uses it. But Netanya’s new soccer stadium looks magnificent. Now the Netanya council just needs to work out how it is going to pay for it!
Gold medal for Israeli beer. The Alexander boutique brewery from Emek Hefer in central Israel has won a gold medal in the 2013 European Beer Star competition for its Alexander Black English-style porter beer. The competition included some 1, 500 beers from 40 countries.
“Rising Star” is a hit in Europe. Israel’s new hi-tech TV show has been sold to French, German, Russian and now Scandinavian entertainment companies. Keshet’s singing competition allows home audiences to vote live for their favorite singers via a dedicated app, drawing them uniquely into the action on screen.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
A device to give diabetics freedom. Israel’s Insuline has developed InsuPad – a device that warms the body after diabetics inject themselves – even after meals. The pad helps less insulin absorb much quicker and reduces hypoglycemic incidents. J&J Lifescan has just signed an agreement to market InsuPad in Germany.
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A wireless device for heart failure patients. Israel’s Leviticus Cardio is developing a wireless device that delivers energy to operate Left Ventricle Assist Devices (LVADs). LVADs keep heart failure patients alive for up to seven years until they can have a heart transplant. Ex US vice-President Dick Cheney was a LVAD user.
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Gene mutation discovery. Researchers at Sheba Medical Center and Weizmann Institute together with Duke University have identified genes ASNS and TECPR2 responsible for two serious neurological disorders in children. The discovery will identify carriers and prevent such severe genetic diseases from being passed down.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Mobile solar energy. Israel’s Nova Lumos has devised a pay-as-you-go mobile-based solar energy program for developing countries that produces clean electricity for less than it costs to purchase kerosene. Nova Lumos just won The Pitch contest for new start-ups at the “Globes”-Ernst & Young Journey Conference in Tel Aviv.
Return of the Judean Date Palm. (Thanks to Charlie) Latest news on the progress of the oldest known tree seed ever to germinate originally reported in my newsletter in Nov 2012. Dr Elaine Solowey of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies is working hard to revive other age-old trees from their long dormancy.
Your fridge will never be empty. (Thanks to NoCamels.com) Israeli start-up Smartli has developed an automatic grocery shopping system that uses sensors to track the items missing from your fridge. It then generates a shopping list, and ensures that these items are delivered directly to your door at your preferred time.
The future is bright. In a few months, Israel’s BrightSource expects to turn on its 377-megawatt solar thermal farm in the California desert. At about the same time, it will begin work on a 121-megawatt solar thermal energy plant in Israel’s Negev Desert.
Israel to make helmets for F35 pilots. The Pentagon has announced that Israel’s Elbit, is to be the sole supplier of helmet mounted display systems (HDMS) for all 4, 000 F35 stealth aircraft. The deal is worth more than $1 billion over 10 years. Already 100 F35 pilots have tested and approved the new helmet.
Technion builds a winning racing car. Buckle up your seat belt and watch a team of 25 Israel Technion Institute students build a Formula SAE racecar and compete in Italy. The team won first place worldwide out of all newcomer teams. Part of the “New Product Design” course in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.
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A passion for taste and health. Israel’s Frutarom is truly a global innovator. It develops and sells flavors and ingredients for food, beverage, supplement and pharma health industries in 140 countries. Its 31 R&D labs include eco-friendly Wedenswil in Switzerland where its biogas equipment has been upgraded to produce 2, 600, 000 kWh of energy per year.
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Bio-fuels conference. Dozens of senior representatives of the international bio-fuel industry are visiting Israel this week for the first international biological fuels conference, the Agro-Energy Nexus Summit, in Herzlyia. Israeli companies are already leading this growing market in several areas.
See Israeli 3D prints in London. (Thanks to Israel21c) Hundreds of 3D models printed by Stratasys, the Israeli-American manufacturer of 3D printers, are being displayed in a free exhibition, “3D: Printing the Future.” at London’s Science museum.
Science brings Iran and Israel closer. When ex-Bar-Ilan President Professor Eugene Kogan spotted that an Iranian study had omitted mentioning his work, he contacted the Iranians. Their response was “We thank you for bringing the study to our attention. In the next issue we will gladly mention your research. We believe that scientists are messengers of peace, and scientists’ way of thinking is different from politicians’ way of thinking, ”
THE JEWISH STATE
Healthy, educated and able. The World Economic Forum (WEF) has just issued its first-ever Human Capital Index. Israel came 4th in the world for capacity for innovation, 3rd for life expectancy, 2nd for tertiary education attainment and joint 1st for water, sanitation and hygiene.
Charity pure and simple. Everyone can do some good. Pantry Packers offers groups of tourists to Israel the opportunity to spend 90 minutes packing food for poor families. It’s a concept called Tikun Olam Tourism.
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Study for a law degree in Israel in English. The IDC (Interdisciplinary Center) in Herzliya is offering the first ever Israel-based law degree course for English speakers. It costs $10, 950 pa – 15% of US law school fees. It prepares students for the Israeli bar exam but 5-week US courses exist for those returning to the USA.
reThink Israel. A new campaign has been launched to change opinions about Israel among 18-24 year-olds Americans. reThink Israel wants to spread a positive buzz about Israel’s culture, diversity, humanitarian efforts and innovations.
