Good News From Israel No. 19 : Business, Science, Technology And More

Killer HIV virus can save lives.  Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have identified how the HIV virus suppresses the T-cell immune response.  It has helped them develop a peptide (small protein) that reduces the severity of Multiple Sclerosis – a disease characterized by an undesirable autoimmune T-cell response.

Why cancer resists treatment.  Researchers at Tel Aviv’s Sourasky Medical Center have discovered why most patients with estrogen receptor–positive metastatic breast cancer, who initially respond to endocrine treatments like tamoxifen, will eventually develop resistance to them.  The finding can help develop new treatments.

 How ultrasound affects brain cells.  Scientists at Israel’s Technion Institute have used ultrasound to generate electric charges in the cell membranes of the brain and stimulate nerve activity.  It has tremendous potential, from treatments for epilepsy,  to giving sight to the blind.

Innovation Israel.  Hope you “like” this great facebook site. Innovation Israel is the largest startup community in Israel with over 5, 000 entrepreneurs, developers and investors.  (See the Israeli bike path lit by solar studs.)

50% more usage.  The power-extending products from Israel’s Lucidlogix Solutions can now extend battery life of smartphones and tablets by 50 percent.  GameXtend, WebXtend and NavXtend are targeted at Android device manufacturers who want to reduce the power drain from high-performance hardware and software.

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Building India’s National R&D Solar Center.  Israel’s Ener-t beat out billion-dollar companies to win the contract for the National Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Center in Rajasthan, India.  Ener–t uses ultra efficient next generation CSP Parabolic Trough technology and is already building a 50 MW power plant in Rajasthan.

The “Waze” of agriculture.  (Thanks to Israel21c) Israel’s ScanTask has developed AgriTask, to help farmers make decisions on planting, harvesting and the use of pesticides.  Its algorithms utilize weather reports, GIS data, information about agriculture from local governments and crowdsourcing data from individual farms.

Tel Aviv incubator develops Google Glass apps.  Israeli lawyer Alexandra Gambrian is running a hi-tech incubator in Tel Aviv for eight developers, building applications that use Google Glass. Google’s new glasses are in trial mode and include a small screen, speaker and touch surface for an enhanced user experience.

Dialysis for Cities.  (Thanks to Israel21c) At Tel Aviv’s recent WATEC water technology conference, the JNF showcased its expertise and exportable knowledge in water for countries experiencing similar conditions as Israel.  Rain flows, water stress, and how to make non-arable land better suited for agriculture.

Seven startups in 3 days.  35 students from 15 different faculties participated in a 3-day workshop at Israel’s Technion to generate an innovative business start-up.  Seven new start-ups were developed, of which two advanced to compete in Israel’s Biztec Entrepreneurship Challenge competition.

Israeli tourism growth – the bright spot in the region. Israel attracted an all-time record of nearly 3.6 million international visitors in 2013, up 2% from 2012.  Tourism in the rest of the East Mediterranean was gloomier.  Rarely publicized cooperation between Israeli and PA tourism officials facilitated easy access to Christian sites.

Mediterranean tourism fair to bring thousands to Israel.  The 2014 International Mediterranean Tourism Market (IMTM) will feature “exhibitors representing just about every aspect of Israel’s tourism market.

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Israel’s currency reserves at another all-time record.  The value of the Bank of Israel’s deposits of foreign currency rose in January by $1.4 billion to a new record $83.1 billion.

What is China doing in Israel?  This brief summary shows how the Chinese discovered the start- up nation Israel and started to invest billions of dollars in Israeli technology.  From agro-tech, medical, chemicals, tourism, solar energy and education to the massive project to turn Eilat into an alternative to the Suez Canal.

Israel’s top exporter of the year.  In a ceremony in Tel Aviv Israel’s Economics Minister Naftali Bennett presented Ormat Technologies with Israel’s award for top exporter for 2013.  Ormat’s environmental-friendly Energy Converter power generation unit converts geothermal heat into electricity.

Israel: The Innovative Nation.  Israel will become an enhanced innovation nation with the establishment of a national cyber-park in Beer Sheva, in the Negev, that will be called Cyber Spark.  The new initiative brings together multinational companies, investors, start-up companies, academic research, and even a high school.

US Navy ships to have Israeli water filters.  (Thanks to Nevet)– The US Navy will buy $2 million of water filters from Israel’s Amiad.  The filters will be installed in all new ships built at the Navy’s Virginia shipyards including the massive new USS John F Kennedy aircraft carrier currently being assembled.

ClickSoftware gets you back in business.  Israel’s ClickSoftware gives companies the ability to schedule employees to handle crises as well as normal activities.  It is winning contracts for dealing with storms and “unscheduled” emergencies, like major fires, earthquakes, gas leaks, forest fires, and burst water mains.

Your start-up MBA.  The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Bar Ilan University and Israel’s Technion Institute have joined the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya in offering budding English-speaking entrepreneurs the opportunity to acquire their MBA skills in the Start-up Nation.

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