Good News From Israel
These “Good News” stories about Israel’s positive achievements in many arenas of research and progress are often missing from mainstream media. Adapted from www.israel21c.org and the Weizmann Institute of Science.
Good News From Israel: Friday February 3, 2012
In this special Tu B’ Shvat edition of “GOOD NEWS” the focus is on water and the most valuable renewable resource-children. Adapted from “Israel 21C and other sources the stories are brought to you by the “Temple Isaiah Israel and World Jewry Committee”.
Purification and Recycling of Waste Water
Purification of waste-water to at least the tertiary level allows it to be used for agricultural irrigation, thereby freeing up drinking water previously used for that purpose. More than 70% of the sewage water in Israel is purified, the highest amount in the world. (Spain comes in second, recycling just 17%). Even still, nearly 34 billion gallons of waste-water in Israel do not get recycled, creating an environmental hazard and posing a threat to underground water reserves. Jewish National Fund assists local and regional councils in Israel in upgrading their existing water purification systems and has begun to implement cutting-edge, environmentally friendly recycling technologies like constructed wetlands. Israel’s largest wetlands will be built at the Ramon Air Force Base in the Negev, which will serve as a model for water treatment at all army bases and small Israeli communities that are too far from the country’s main sewage system.
Building a sustainable Jerusalem, one kid at a time
Jerusalem is getting into the “green” spirit with environmental activities from kindergarten and up. And yet, though most residents of the holy city live modestly in small apartments, with one car if any, much more can be done in terms of recycling, energy efficiency and water use. That’s why the city’s Bloomfield Science Museum has stepped in to teach a select group of local schoolchildren how to make their city more sustainable for the future. The museum has been teaching environmentalism and sustainability to Israeli and international visitors over the last three years, says Esthy Brezner, head of educational programs. And now about 300 pupils from several schools are involved in a Bloomfield program supported by the Jerusalem Foundation, the Green Network, the Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and other organizations.
Using water to power itself
Hydroelectricity is among the cleanest of today’s clean energies. As water flows through a hydraulic turbine connected to a generator—often at a dam—its kinetic energy creates electricity, and it emerges at the other side no worse for the wear. This is a wonderful way to produce power in places blessed with raging rivers. Israel isn’t, which would make it an unlikely place for a breakthrough in hydroelectric technology. But HydroSpin, based at Kibbutz Lavi in northern Israel, has come up with a new way to power a “smart water network” (SWAN) by marshaling the flow of water in pipes. Our system generates one to five watts of electricity,” says HydroSpin CEO Gabby Czertok. “That’s enough to power a network and send the data forward every five minutes or so, instead of once a day in other smart water network systems.” Water shortages require managers to keep an eye on leaks and water quality, while too much rain can overwhelm water distribution and sewer services. SWANs ensure that every drop is accounted for, with sensors providing real-time data on leaks, water pressure, usage and water quality.
Good News From Israel: Friday January 27, 2012
$800 Israeli film appears at Sundance
With a budget of just $800, Tel Aviv University, Israeli film student Adi Kutner has proven that it’s the story that counts. Kutner’s 18-minute short, Barbie Blues, was chosen to screen at the prestigious 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Barbie Blues is a coming-of-age story with a global appeal. It centers on Mika, a lonely teenager who lives in suburbia, and her new neighbor, Gershon. Through her encounter with Gershon, Mika discovers the boundaries of her femininity and sexuality for the first time, says Kutner. But like the Barbie dolls the film is named for, hers is a shallow and idealized version of what a woman should be. “There’s an awkward border that teens walk between adulthood and childhood,” Kutner said, noting that teenage girls so often mimic what society tells them is “sexy” without fully understanding the meaning of their behavior. The film is not meant to provide answers, but rather to raise questions about issues such as sexuality and control.” Barbie Blues is actually one of four Israeli films on this year’s Sundance roster.
The children’s museum adults love too
“I don’t want to go to some boring museum,” Idan, my seven-year-old, complained. “But this is no ordinary museum,” I replied. “It’s especially designed for children and their parents to have a joint experience.” Indeed, our visit to the Israel Children’s Museum in Holon proved most enlightening—and fun. “What makes this museum different from any other in the world is that the children are actively involved. This means exploring everything around them—touching, feeling, climbing onto and even into the displays. They leave with emotional and cognitive insights, and smiles on their faces.” “I want to do the whole thing again,” beamed Idan’s brother, Ariel, as he emerged with his mother from their guided 90-minute activity, “A Journey To Mend The Kingdom of Time,” designed for four- to six-year-olds. I turned the hour glass and things began to happen. “The concept behind these tours is that the child enters the story and becomes part of the plot,” explains Gil Omer the museum director.
Illuminating the Dark Continent with solar power
Israeli-designed solar-powered light fixtures are lighting up the moribund nights of Africa, South America and beyond. How can local governments keep public spaces and roads illuminated at night in places where there’s no electricity, or an unreliable supply? Solar power, obviously. But there’s a catch. “The vast majority of solar-powered streetlights and similar fixtures on the market don’t survive for long,” states Zeev Jakoby, managing director of Israeli startup Globe Light & Water System. “They devised a sturdy, solar-powered light fixture that needs no infrastructure.” This could prove a godsend to developing nations where a lack of street lighting results in dangerous driving conditions and far slower economies. It’s designed with the African market in mind, where in many places there’s no electricity infrastructure, so the fixtures have to work independently.
Good News From Israel: Friday January 20, 2012
Non-invasive tool identifies Alzheimer’s, depression and ADHD
One out of every three people suffer from a brain-related disorder such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ADHD, chronic pain or depression. But because the human brain and the conditions that affect it are so complex, blood tests and imaging are of limited value for diagnosing brain diseases and documenting the effects of treatment. The Israeli company ElMindA could revolutionize the field by opening a new window into how the brain works. Its trademarked, non-invasive BNA (brain network activation) technology has shown promise in clinical studies. The procedure is simple and painless. Patients sit at a computer for 15 to 30 minutes, performing a specific task many times while the device maps network activation points in the brain. The repetition allows the device to sift out brain activity unrelated to the task (such as thinking about what to eat for lunch). The result is a three-dimensional image of the brain’s activity. They expect FDA approval by the end of 2012 and to be in the US market for monitoring and decision-making for the treatment of concussion—especially sports-related concussion—in 2013,”
Smarter digs with an archaeology lab
Under the hot sun at Tel es-Safi in southern Israel—the Philistine city of Gath—archeologists have been puzzling over life in the Iron Age city and how it was plundered and destroyed by some invading force hundreds of years before the common era. “It was like a mini-Pompei, a frozen record in a moment of time,” says Prof. Steve Weiner, director of the Kimmel Center for Archeological Science at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot. Kimmel’s unique onsite laboratory helps archeologists piece together the events of the destruction. “It has changed the whole paradigm of how to solve archeological problems in the field using both what you see by eye and what you can reveal with instrumentation—the microscopic archeological record, from sub-millimeter scale down to the atomic level. The mobile lab is a critical part of a holistic “micro-archeology” approach that puts natural scientific methods to work in the field.
Banking on her fingers
Lilach Chen’s YouTube channel boasts 24 million views and 15,000 subscribers. Yet all those viewers don’t see any part of Chen aside from her right hand - the talented five-fingered limb that break-dances for global clients including Sony Ericsson… Once Holon resident Chen’s fingers got the thumbs-up from the pros, requests began rolling in from all kinds of companies looking to promote their products in a decidedly different and She’s filmed her fingers for businesses in Los Angeles, Germany, Australia and China, among other places.
Good News From Israel: Friday January 13, 2012
Tel Aviv among world’s ‘most creative cities’
Tel Aviv has once again snagged an international honor - this time as one of the world’s most creative cities. Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper lists the White City together with London, Sydney, Stockholm and Shanghai as global centers of technological innovation. “The entire population of Israel may only number seven million-smaller than New York City-but this Middle Eastern state spends more of its GDP on research and development than any other nation,” the newspaper reported. The newspaper highlighted recent accomplishments made by Israeli companies - all with offices in or near Tel Aviv. They included US chipmaker Broadcom’s purchase of Provigent for $313 million; Google’s $70 million paycheck to app developer Snaptu; and eBay’s buyout of e-commerce site The Gifts Project for a reported $20 million. The report showed that in the first three quarters of 2011 alone, 422 Israeli start-ups raised $1.57 billion in venture capital, and an estimated 250 multinationals maintain R&D operations there. “What we do know is that while Tel Aviv is small, it’s one giant innovation engine,” said the report. The Globe and Mail’s honor is the latest feather in Tel Aviv’s cap. In 2010, the National Geographic magazine listed Tel Aviv among the world’s best beach cities. Later that year, the Lonely Planet travel guide named Tel Aviv the third best city in the world.
Netanyahu makes ‘world’s smartest’ list
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is among the world’s smartest people, according to a report on Business Insider. Looking back at the year 2011, the popular business news website chose to sum up the year with a listing called “The 19 Smartest People The World Has Ever Seen” - and put Netanyahu in seventh place. The list includes chess grandmasters, kid geniuses and mathematicians. The top three smartest people, according to Business Insider, are business magnate and co-founder of Microsoft Paul Allen, physicist Stephen W. Hawking and chess grandmaster Robert Byrne. Netanyahu, the website said, has an IQ of 180.
South Carolina woos Israeli innovation
It wasn’t only Israeli tech savvy that 26 South Carolina business and academic leaders were eager to explore during a recent mission to Israel, but also how that know-how translates to making the world a better place. “Where else but Israel do technology and goodwill work so closely together?” exclaims businessman Jonathan Zucker, director of the newly formed South Carolina-Israel Collaboration. The delegates flew home to the southern state from Israel with 50 fresh business and research partnerships—including a dozen in the hot-topic area of “aging in place.” It turns out that Israeli entrepreneurs have both low- and high-tech solutions in development for keeping seniors safe, healthy and productive in their own homes. Among the Israeli inventions South Carolina hopes to accelerate are a specially stable shoe that prevents falls and a system for helping the elderly take their meds at the proper times and dosages.
Tom Glaser, president of the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce Southeast Region, launched the SCIC. Glaser adds: “There is great interest in how Israelis take pure research and commercialize it through incubators and venture capital and create companies,” he says. “We can learn from the Israeli way of putting a whole system together to create robust startups.”
Good News From Israel: Friday January 6, 2012
Watershed moment for extinct Israeli frog
It had been about 50 years since the painted frog special to Israel’s Hula Nature Reserve was last seen. By the mid-1990s an international authority had declared it extinct. Yet despite its obituary, Israeli animal conservationists and herpetologists never gave up hope. Some of them, including researcher Sarig Gafni, believed the frog was in hiding and even went on scouting missions on their days off. Over the years, they looked under stones, combed through the reeds and carried their nets while on army reserve duty. In November, their dreams came true when a small female Hula painted frog was spotted. An international media flurry ensued, bringing scientists from abroad on flights to Israel to see for themselves. By mid-December, the tally was six frogs and counting. Gafni, an ecologist at the Ruppin Academic Center School of Marine Sciences, joked that he is the world’s record-holder for having handled the greatest number of the painted frog—all six of them. “All were found about 200 meters apart in a very limited area. We found three males, one female and two juveniles who are less than one year old.”
Artificial pancreas could revolutionize diabetic care
In people with diabetes, the pancreas doesn’t produce or release insulin as it should, so the body can’t metabolize sugars properly. That means blood sugar levels have to be monitored continuously, even (and especially) at night, when diabetics’ blood sugar can get dangerously out of control. But nighttime monitoring and dosing is a sleep-stealing activity, particularly for parents of diabetic children. A new artificial pancreas developed in Israel may allow them sweeter dreams. The MD-Logic was recently tested on Israeli children at an overnight diabetes summer camp, to resounding success. Using existing insulin pump technology, MD-Logic closes the loop between a continuous glucose monitor and insulin pump, allowing patients to self-regulate their glucose levels and deliver the exact amount of insulin needed, when needed—even at 3 o’clock in the morning. The next stage is to test the artificial pancreas at home under supervised conditions. It will need to gain approval from the US Food and Drug Administration before being sold in the United States.
Building future engineers with Lego
“The project started when I was injured in an accident during my military service and was forced to spend seven months at home, on crutches,” says Amir Asor, who went on to conceive uniquely innovative programs that teach children the intricacies of engineering as they play with Lego. From a diversion, internalizing the thought process behind lego model-building became a mission for Asor during that period. “I had the time and frame of mind to explore the possibilities, and built dozens of prototypes of each idea.” Still only 26, he now heads the Decade Group, a rapidly growing business that conducts extracurricular programs for schoolchildren around Israel, and has just won the prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year prize from Britain’s Youth Business International non-profit organization.
Good News From Israel: Friday December 30, 2011
Why you get fat being a couch slouch
Marathon movie nights, video games until dawn on the weekends, long hours seated at the office: All this inactivity doesn’t just contribute to obesity, suggests new Tel Aviv University research, but actually creates fat double time. Long periods of inactivity, according to the research by biomedical engineering scientist Prof. Amit Gefen, encourages more fat to be laid down in existing fat cells. Being a slouch on the couch creates “mechanical stretching loads” on fat cells, and this lack of movement piles on the pounds more than the sheer value of calories we eat. Working in his engineering lab with MRI scans and test-tube science, Gefen and his PhD student Naama Shoham found that preadipocyte cells - which give rise to fat cells—have a quicker turnaround when the body has long periods of inactivity, sitting or lying down. Some 50 percent more fat can be produced this way, they reported in a recent article in American Journal of Physiology - Cell Physiology.
Building a sustainable Jerusalem, one kid at a time
Jerusalem is getting into the “green” spirit with environmental activities from kindergarten and up. And yet, though most residents of the holy city live modestly in small apartments, with one car if any, much more can be done in terms of recycling, energy efficiency and water use. That’s why the city’s Bloomfield Science Museum has stepped in to teach a select group of local schoolchildren how to make their city more sustainable for the future. The museum has been teaching environmentalism and sustainability to Israeli and international visitors. Over the last three years about 300 pupils from several schools are involved in a Bloomfield program supported by the Jerusalem Foundation, the Green Network, the Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and other organizations. The curriculum is introduced by teachers at the participating schools in grades three to six, and then the kids meet twice at the museum to solidify what they learned in the classroom.
Bio-filter blasts nitrates out of the water
Runoff from agricultural fertilizers, animal waste and human sewage are poisoning wells and aquifers with nitrates. These compounds cause harmful algae blooms and pose health risks for pregnant women and formula-fed newborns. Water companies currently deal with the problem in a very rudimentary way. They simply dilute the nitrate-laden water. Scientists at Hebrew University have developed a novel low-tech solution to take nitrates out of water in a cost-effective, environmentally friendly and non-toxic way. They paired up to develop a bio-filter composed of tiny Styrofoam-like white beads that carry nitrate-eating bacteria. When added to a water well, aquifer or aquarium, the bio-filter does its job effectively and cheaply. The product is being tested to see how well it can work in larger bodies of water. It is being developed commercially by Yissum the technology transfer arm of Hebrew University.
Good News From Israel: Friday December 23, 2011
UK opens door to Israeli high-tech
Almost every young startup entrepreneur from Israel has the same dream and trajectory: Develop a fledgling high-tech company with some friends from the army, get seed funding, set up a base in America—usually Silicon Valley—secure bigger funding, grow, market and then sell the business for a killing. But California is a day away by plane, and one way to avoid red-eye flights and the angst of doing business a world away is practically on Israel’s doorstep—in England. Last month, the UK Ambassador to Israel, Matthew Gould, launched a major project to help align business and economic goals between the United Kingdom and Israel. Since he accepted his post in Israel about a year ago, this new High-Tech Hub at the British Embassy has been taking about 30 percent of his time. At the end of October, the UK-Israel Hub inaugurated its partnering network to great fanfare at Gould’s home in a Tel Aviv suburb. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne sent a video message of support for the program, calling for an increase to the “export of expertise and capital” from Israel into Britain.
Kite surfing spurs solar energy breakthrough
A kite surfing engineer from Israel has found a way to turn his passion for the sea into more power from the sun. Eyal Dror’s company Etenergy has developed a new kind of solar panel tracker, the Etracker, to help solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants soak in more energy from the sun. PV solar panels that are fixed to the ground collect the most amount of energy when the sun hits them at a 90-degree angle. This usually happens at high noon, only once a day. Trackers that can move on one or two axes according to the angle of sun help optimize collecting the sun’s rays, but they tend to be expensive. Dror’s new invention, inspired by a “eureka” moment when kite surfing, aims to collect 40 percent more power from the sun on a daily basis, with an investment that costs about the same as a fixed panel installation. Choosing fixed or dual-axis tracking has turned into a no-brainer. Instead of heavy metal parts and machinery, the company’s design uses cables, like in kite surfs, to pull and position the panels and to offer support to the whole structure at the same time. The entire unit is lighter, and therefore less energy is needed for transport and setup.
Peace begins at home
“How do we take a legacy from the past and transform it into something positive for the future?” asks Dalia Eshkenazi Landau, a teacher, counselor and animal rescue volunteer who lives in Jerusalem. For Landau, the answer is Open House Ramle, founded in 1991. Its Center for the Development of the Arab Child provides educational and social opportunities to Arab children and their families, and its Center for Jewish-Arab Coexistence serves as a place of encounter and cooperation between Jews and Arabs in the Ramle-Lod area. Open House operates in her childhood home. We wanted the house to serve as a coexistence center, since it was clear to us that peace begins at home.
Good News From Israel: Friday December 9, 2011
Google Israel plans to go the extra mile for Israeli entrepreneurs.
Hard as it is to believe, Google is barely a decade old—not too far out of “startup territory.” So it makes sense that the now giant company would still have a soft spot for entrepreneurs just starting out. Recently Google Israel announced that it will go the extra mile for Israeli entrepreneurs, by opening an incubator where great ideas can grow and mature into great products and services. Google has been in Israel for about five years, and “from the beginning the goal was to build a research and development center in Israel, and to innovate global products and technology,” says Yossi Matias, director of Google’s R&D center in Israel, which employs about 250 people at facilities in Haifa and Tel Aviv. Google Israel is known for its innovations. Several key technologies developed either entirely or in part at Google’s local R&D centers include Google Suggest, Google Trends, Google Insights for Search and others. As the leader of this very inventive team, Matias appreciates the importance of supporting developers and startups. “I have been looking at how to contribute to the developer community, especially in the early stages that will have the biggest impact on their ability to succeed,” he says. As a result, the Google Incubator program was born.
Getting into the Google groove
The project is set to begin in early 2012, with around 20 “pre-seed” start ups (about 80 people) participating in each “round.” Companies will be expected to graduate from the incubator after several months, and will be replaced by another startup. The project will be open to startups from different fields, “with an emphasis on open-source technologies, naturally, since that is an important value for Google,” says Matias. The technologies will not be limited to any specific area. Google is open to hearing about good ideas from the gamut of digital technology, from desktop, to cloud, to mobile, says Matias. He reveals that a Google team will be established to work with universities, colleges and other organizations with the aim of exposing the project to the maximum possible number of entrepreneurs and developers.
Argan oil, the much-in-demand product of the endangered Moroccan argan tree, is now available in a hardy ‘super’ strain developed in Israel
There isn’t much left for chefs to discover in this world. With cheap flights and international commerce, our global village has been combed over with a fork, quite literally. Most of the best coffees, chocolates and delicacies from every corner of the globe have been discovered and made available to shoppers. But some of these new greats can’t keep up with demand. Take, for example, argan oil, a rare product of the Moroccan argan tree. A relative newcomer to the kitchens of top chefs and foodies, argan oil is celebrated as the latest “super food”—chockfull of amino acids and anti-aging compounds. Rich in vitamin E, argan oil is also coveted by cosmetics companies and hair product developers for qualities that appear to surpass any other oil on the market. “Argan oil is a new oil of the modern world,” says Chaim Oren, chief agronomist at the company Sivan SM, which is working to grow argan trees and produce argan oil in Israel. “It is the diamond of all oil. It has a better effect on the human skin, on blood—more than any other product that exists in the world today,” he tells ISRAEL21c. “You don’t have to wait years to see results,” he says. “Argan oil affects blood fat rapidly and can reduce cholesterol and triglycerides in only one month of treatment.”
Ten times more oil
The problem with argan oil, which according to urban legend can only be processed by the digestive tract of a goat, is that it is very limited in quantity, and its price reflects the supply and demand. The United Nations and other bodies are working in Morocco to protect argan arbors, which are disappearing due to deforestation and overgrazing.
Oil-producing argan orchards are planted in Israel’s Ashkelon, Arava and Negev regions
As the world’s appetite for this new oil grows, Sivan SM hopes to help meet growing demand with Argan 100, a hearty strain developed to grow in the Arava Valley, in the Negev Desert and near the city of Ashkelon - as well as in similar climates anywhere in the world. Oren began his argan breeding program 25 years ago, and today the idea has borne fruit in the form of a high-yielding, pest-resistant and drought-tolerant tree that seems to thrive in the harsh Israeli desert. The company is cloning this mother tree and selling its cultivars. The oil is available to wholesalers and to retail customers in limited supply. Professor Elaine Solowey from theArava Institute for Environmental Studies has worked with argan trees since 1985, including a stint at the National School of Agriculture in Meknes, Morocco. She believes that the trees could also grow as far north as the Galilee region of Israel. Sivan manages about 125 acres of 2,500 trees, while estimates suggest that Israel has about 20,000 argan trees in total. Each Israeli tree provides 220 pounds of fruit, which can make two liters of oil.
Building business sustainably
Sivan is keeping its operations lean and is focusing on building a sustainable business—one that grows naturally, with the trees, over time. Based in Ramat Hasharon, it employs six people, plus a staff to maintain the argan orchards and to process the oil. The hard shell of the argan nut doesn’t require a goat to remove it. In business since 2007, Sivan already is having a hard time keeping argan oil on the grocery shelves. They hope that their cultivars, which require much less water to sustain, will be a hit among fruit and tree growers everywhere. As for the goats in the urban legend, Oren doesn’t think that goats were ever “employed” to help digest the hard shell of the argan nut to extract the oil. He guesses that in the days of yore, those argan nuts snatched from the trees by hungry goats didn’t go to waste. The undigested nuts were simply added to the oil press.“You don’t need goats to get better oil,” he asserts. “You just need something to break the shell open. It is very strong. As for most of the companies that make argan oil in Morocco, I don’t think they collect it from the goats,” he says.
Empower the Bedouin, and build a future
‘Cooperation between us is not a choice, but a must, if we want to build a future. We can’t do that without empowering the Bedouin community.’
The word “coexistence” isn’t in Vivian Silver and Amal Elsana Alh’jooj’s vocabulary. In their work as co-executive directors of the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development (NISPED), Silver, 62, and Alh’jooj, 39, aim at creating a reality where Israel’s Arab and Jewish citizens won’t merely live side by side but will cooperate fully as equals. “We believe that you don’t have to be against Palestinians to be a good Israeli, and you don’t have to be against Israelis to be a good Palestinian,” says Silver. The unlikely duo won the seventh annual Victor J. Goldberg Institute for International Education Prize for Peace in the Middle East last June in recognition of their efforts to advance peace, partnership and tolerance between Jewish and Arab communities. Describing themselves to ISRAEL21c as “very political,” the women advocate for policy change, but the heart of their work is in the field, trying to raise the standard of living of the Negev Bedouin population to match that of the Jewish population. Alh’jooj is founding director of NISPED’s Arab-Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation (AJEEC), an Arabic word that means “coming toward you.”“It’s not just a name but an approach,” says Alh’jooj. “Cooperation between us is not a choice, but a must, if we want to build a future. We can’t do that without empowering the Bedouin community.”
Taking responsibility for their future
Over the last 11 years, AJEEC has put in place community development projects to empower Bedouins to become responsible for their own welfare. This is a new approach. “Among activists and volunteers, the language is different now,” says Alh’jooj. “We are talking about rights and about being part of the solution.” In 37 “unrecognized” villages where many Negev Bedouin families choose to remain despite the lack of infrastructure and services, AJEEC has brought in 700 volunteers to help kids with homework; run youth movements; teach women and students about health risks involved in early marriage and consanguineous marriage; and help dropout girls get back into school.
Good News From Israel: Friday November 25, 2011
Angels on Ambucycles
United Hatzalah Israel now works in all sectors of Israeli society, boasting 1,600 Arab and Jewish trained volunteers. The only all-volunteer first-response team in Israel that operates nationally, it has a fleet of Ambucycles whose drivers rely on the Israeli-developed GPS system, Life Compass, to locate the distressed even in winding alleyways with poorly marked numbers on homes and apartment buildings stacked together like a mosaic.The award-winning organization also demonstrates that people who could be enemies prefer instead to save each other’s lives.Among the Hatzalah teams that spring into action from the midst of prayer, work or middle-of-the-night sleep is an odd couple: an Orthodox Jewish fish store employee and a Muslim worker at a mosque in the Old City. When receiving an alert, they each jump on their specially equipped mopeds or run on foot to save the day.
Israeli mobile app gets you fast food even faster
Got the taste for a taco but don’t want to take the trip to Taco Bell? Lusting for latte but already late for work with no time to wait in line at Starbucks? Tapingo is an Israeli startup that wants to app-ify the business of fast food. And that’s just the start: Chocolates, flowers and even department-store bargain basements are only a short jump away for this ambitious Tel Aviv based company. Tapingo is an app for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry devices that lets you order from a mobile menu, pay from your phone and specify a time to pick up your quarter-pounder or have it delivered in time for lunch. Tapingo quietly launched the service earlier this year and today has about 100 restaurants signed up in central Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan. For tourists’ convenience, all the menus are translated into English. By building a single app for many restaurants, Tapingo can take a diner’s credit card information just once, then allow the user to enter a password to pay. The same concept has made it comfortable to buy music or movies on iTunes,
The men who make new limbs
As a professional Israeli soccer player, Yisrael Pilosof used his powerful legs to build a name for himself. His father, Yehuda, built a name for himself with powerful legs made from titanium and carbon fiber. Four years ago, Yisrael left the playing field and joined his father’s RishonLeZion prosthetics workshop, Y.D. Gapim. Together they manufacture precision artificial limbs for Israeli amputees and for clients from Peru, Haiti, Albania, Germany, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Egypt, Jordan - and even the United States. People hear about Yehuda Pilosof from friends and family in Israel, and also from media publicity. In 1999, he was in the headlines for fitting a Jerusalem Arab’s donkey with a new leg. The crippled animal would otherwise have been euthanized.
Good News From Israel: Friday November 18, 2011
Ancient Romans built it, modern Israelis love it
Once it was the most important port city in Roman Palestine, today Caesarea offers a mix of Mediterranean sports and intriguing antiquities. Way back in Roman times, chariot racing was a box-office hit in the Mediterranean town of Caesarea. While that particular pastime isn’t drawing crowds anymore, it set the tone for millennia later, when Caesarea is still one of Israel’s premier leisure spots.
At this upscale town halfway between Tel Aviv and Haifa you can get acquainted with history at Old Caesarea’s Time Tower, a renovated fortress overlooking the ancient Roman aqueduct and restored harbor built by King Herod’s laborers in homage to Augustus Caesar more than 2,000 years ago.
Voyage in Time, a 10-minute 3D big-screen movie, takes viewers from the Herodian period through the Roman, Byzantine, Arab and Crusader eras, and finally through the early days of Zionist immigration.
Caesarea’s ancient Roman aqueduct and amphitheater, the oldest surviving Roman theater in the eastern Mediterranean region, provide the setting for a world-class Jazz Festival every June. The harbor is dotted with restaurants, cafes, art galleries and nightlife.
Dealing With Addiction and Depression
Psychotherapy, drug therapy, hypnosis, cold turkey—whatever the remedy for addictions such as gambling, smoking, or narcotics, doctors agree there is no one quick fix. However, a new tool from Israel promises to help alleviate addictions and at least a dozen other brain disorders, such as depression, Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia, in a non-invasive way with no side effects. Developed by the Israeli company Brainsway, the new medical device provides deep-brain electromagnetic stimulation. Unlike electroshock therapy, which is still used extensively today on people with clinical depression who do not respond to other treatments, the more refined Brainsway stimulates only the area of the cortex related to depression, rather than the whole brain. It gains the beneficial effect of shock therapy without the side effects. Trial patients in Los Angeles, New York and Dallas have already benefited from the treatment. Trials are taking place at 22 centers throughout Europe, the United States, Canada and Israel including Harvard and Columbia universities. Once the device receives US Food and Drug Administration approval, it will start being sold, probably at first to private clinics.
Kenya to copy Israeli urgent care model
The Kenyan Health Ministry has decided to adopt the Jerusalem-based model of Terem independent emergency medical centers and set up a similar chain of clinics of its own, a move that will likely transform the African country’s health-care system. “The Kenyans are very dynamic people who are trying really hard to have a successful, democratic, prosperous society,” says Terem’s assistant medical director Dr. Nahum Kovalski. Earlier this year, the Kenyan Health Ministry’s director-general came to Jerusalem to see the clinics in action. “They want to set up close to 50 community-based emergency care clinics, each servicing a few hundred thousand people in surrounding communities. Terem operates five urgent care centers in the Jerusalem area, with more than 250,000 patient visits a year. Only seven percent of them get referred to hospitals. Israeli Health Ministry statistics show that per capita, 30 to 50 percent fewer patients turn up at hospital ERs in areas also served by Terem, meaning that the system significantly reduces stress on emergency rooms. A simple ankle fracture doesn’t need to go through a hospital. We X-ray the injury, then treat it. Most fractures can be cast on the spot. Then we send them home. The patient pays a maximum of NIS 86 [about $22].” The primary care physician provides follow-up care. What particularly interested the Kenyans is Terem’s use of the latest medical and communication technologies. Access to remote consultation tools is key. We have the ability in real time to review material together. Say a doctor wants a second opinion on an X-ray: It can be sent anywhere, via mobile phone or computer interface. We were one of the first groups in the world to use consultations via mobile phones in a real-time environment.”
Good News From Israel: Friday November 11, 2011
A vaccine that can kill cancer
As we get older, modern medicine will help more of us live with cancer rather than die from it. That’s the assumption behind a vaccine to treat cancer, being developed by a pharmaceutical company in Israel. Vaxil BioTherapeutics’ main product, ImMucin, is now in advanced clinical trials at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem. This therapeutic vaccine doesn’t prevent cancer from invading, but activates and enhances the body’s natural immune system to seek and destroy cancer cells already present in the body, such as those lingering after cancer surgery. Malignant cells normally get out of control by tricking the immune system not to notice them, a strategy that works especially well in older people because immune systems get less efficient with age. The vaccine presents no side effects, and can be taken indefinitely, like vitamins. ImMucin is designed to overcome cancer cells that mutate, rendering other drugs ineffective. Depending on the outcome of clinical trials, the ImMucin vaccine could be ready and marketable within the next six years. It could have major implications for the treatment of leading killers like prostate and breast cancer
When a clown is better than aspirin
Groucho Marx once said: “A clown is like an aspirin, only it works twice as fast.” Israel leads the way in professionalizing the field of medical clowning and providing scientific evidence for its effectiveness. Today, Israel is the only country that offers a bachelor’s degree in clown therapy as a paramedical profession, at the University of Haifa’s Graduate School of Creative Arts Therapies. A master’s program is also planned. Dream Doctors founder and chairman Yaacov Shriqui said that 90 Dream Doctors are now working in 22 Israeli healthcare facilities, mainly with children. “We visit 176,000 children per year. For example Dr. Nessia Lang, an ob/gyn at Poriya Medical Center in Tiberias, reported that clown therapy alleviates feelings of pain and fear during pelvic examinations of children who’ve been sexually abused. “The medical clown has a crucial role in allowing for a thorough exam without re-traumatizing the patient,” she said. Kids who’ve been molested have trouble trusting adults, especially adults asking them to spread their legs.
Growing forests in the desert
Leave it to Israeli scientists to figure out a way of growing trees in the barren sands of the Arava Desert. The trees aren’t just meant to look pretty. The pollution-reducing forest planted over the summer is soaking up harmful excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and releasing beneficial oxygen. Another “green” bonus is that the trees are nurtured with recycled sewage water and saltwater. The project is a research collaboration between Tel Aviv University’s Porter School of Environmental Science, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the University of Tuscia in Viterbo, Italy. The Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea is financing the study, which is outlined in an article soon to appear in the European Journal of Plant Science and Biotechnology. Once the trees are mature, it’s possible that they could become a renewable source of bio-fuel to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. This is another area of great interest to Israel and just about every other country on the planet.
Good News From Israel: Friday November 4, 2011
Israel helps former Nigerian rebels trade weapons for land
After fighting big oil, some 20,000 ex-rebels from the Niger Delta of Nigeria have chosen to put down their weapons and have been granted amnesty by their government along with free land for developing agriculture. But people who have long known only conflict and guns don’t remember how to till the soil, raise chickens or milk cows. This is where an Israel management non-profit has stepped in. For the second time this year, the Galilee International Management Institute has opened its doors to ex-militants from Nigeria. Twenty-three arrived recently for a one-month training course as a group of 30 were heading back home, taking with them Israeli farming and agricultural expertise. The training included hands-on experience working the land, but also courses on basic farm management and business skills. Amnesty International is funding the rehabilitation of these former farmers.
The top 10 toilets in Jerusalem
If nature calls while you’re touring Jerusalem, there’s no need to pretend you’re a patron of the nearest hotel or restaurant—though that tactic usually works. Israel’s capital city has between 40 and 50 well-marked public restrooms, from as far north as Ammunition Hill to as far south as the Sherover Promenade. The Old City alone has 13 public johns spread across the Jewish and Muslim quarters. A list of 40 public restrooms is available at the municipal website in Hebrew only, indicating location and hours. ISRAEL21c’s random sampling revealed that public bathrooms inside buildings generally are nicer than freestanding units, which often lack toilet paper, soap and—ahem—ambience. But hey, if you gotta go, you gotta go. For a list and description of the top 10 see Israel 21C on-line
Omega 3 supplement from algae
Omega 3 supplements provide one of the “good” fatty acids that can help prevent heart disease and arthritis, and play an essential role in healthy brain development and growth. There are problems with most Omega 3 capsules. First of all, they stink—like fish. It’s not uncommon to taste fishy burps throughout the day after ingesting the oil capsule. The capsules are hard for children to swallow and completely unsuitable for vegans. While there are alternative Omega 3 oils on health-food store shelves, a new tasteless and odorless vegetarian variety from Israeli food supplement company LycoRed is designed to be used in baked goods and candies because it is able to survive heating. The company has completed successful trials of its supplement in chocolates, crackers and bread and it is now available worldwide.
Good News From Israel: Friday October 28, 2011
Israel becomes a chocolate heaven
A new culture of chocolate has emerged in Israel, with the opening of dozens of new boutique chocolatiers. Now their fine, handcrafted creations are being sold abroad too. The brown smudges on Sima Amsalem’s forearms exude a chocolaty aroma as she extends a hand of greeting at her Sweet N’ Karem chocolate factory in Jerusalem’s artsy Ein Karem neighborhood.For a woman whose waking hours are enrobed in chocolate like a fine praline, Amsalem is surprisingly trim. It could be that the demand for her sweets doesn’t leave her much time for munching. The gourmet chocolate scene in Israel is as hot as the molten brown liquid spinning in Amsalem’s tempering machines. It reportedly accounts for about $5.3 million of the overall $40 million domestic chocolate market. The Jewish high holidays are also high season in chocolate retail sales.
The tracking technology that keeps world ports safe
Israel’s HTS has developed a range of cutting-edge optical technologies to track, identify and keep tabs on cargo, traffic, tolls and customs. As a Toyota sedan approaches a busy airport, an Israeli-developed vehicle identity recognition (VIR) system instantly gives security personnel a summary of the car’s make and model, the country or state that issued the license plate and the holder of the plate. What if the car is recognized as a Corolla but the plate is registered to a Ford Focus owner? Either the license plate was switched or the car is stolen—a clear red flag. VIR is the newest product of Hi-Tech Solutions (HTS)Israel, which has specialized in optical character recognition (OCR) solutions since 1992. Forty countries use HTS products to fight terrorism and crime, as well as manage cargo, traffic and toll roads—including all ships leaving the ports of the United States.
Dead Sea divers discover new forms of life
Way underneath the salty surface of the lowest spot on earth, microorganisms and underground springs thrive. A massive algae bloom that turned the Dead Sea red in the 1980s convinced scientists that there was life in that famous inland salt lake after all. Studies by underwater researchers show that Israel’s Dead Sea holds a vast number of living secrets waiting to be revealed. The divers found a new series of underwater springs that feed the Dead Sea. Remarkably thriving at the mouth of these underwater springs are new varieties of microorganisms, some never before described by science. Diving deep into the waters of the Dead Sea required extreme diving equipment with an unusually large number of weights to counteract the effect of the super-buoyant surface. The divers took samples of the underwater mats, which they are now studying with the aim of issuing more reports on the species and behavior of the microorganisms that seem to derive their energy source from sulfur.
Good News From Israel: Friday October 21, 2011
Jerusalem invests millions in Arab schools
When the 2011-2012 school year began in the Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, millions of shekels, (about $69 million), in sparkling new or renewed classrooms, computers and sports facilities greeted 42,153 students and their teachers. Many of the 59 public schools approved and budgeted under the Jerusalem Education Authority of the Ministry of Education have been neglected, under supplied or overcrowded for decades. Since taking office in November 2008, Mayor Nir Barkat has been implementing improvements to get these facilities on par with schools in the western sector of the city. “The mayor and municipal professionals work regularly with members of the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem through the leadership of the community centers as well as organized groups of residents. The completion of the Mayor’s plan will lead to a significant change in education in eastern Jerusalem.
Taking the Internet into the iPhone age
The Internet has had a good run. More than two billion people are connected around the world, but the Internet just isn’t cutting it on mobile smart-phones. The screens are too small, and searching through a Google list of five million links doesn’t satisfy that “on-the-go” need for info. An Israeli startup has developed a “fix” for the mobile Internet: Do@ (pronounced “do at”) aims to “app-ify” the web. Do@ co-founder Ami Ben-David explains that his company makes an iPhone app that searches other apps rather than Internet sites.
Greener heating for hotels and hospitals
An Israeli hybrid water-heating system shaves thousands of dollars a year off heating costs at big facilities, and vastly improves efficiency. Heat pumps, create a greener heating system and work by using a small amount of electricity to pull heat from one place to another. Improving on the old design, the Israeli Phoebus Energy Company solution can save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on heating costs for big facilities, and improve efficiency by up to 70 percent. Phoebus is working to transform the way energy is delivered to heat water. Managed by smart “cloud” software, Phoebus integrates existing gas, diesel, oil or liquid petroleum heating systems with a heat pump farm, which transfers solar energy efficiently from the air to end users.
Good News From Israel: Friday October 14, 2011
Model special-needs park sparks overseas interest
Anybody can install a few playground swings adapted for children with physical disabilities. But that is not Israel’s vision of accessible play areas. Israeli parks for children with special needs combine carefully planned physical layout with just as carefully planned companion programs geared to educating the community about acceptance and integration. So remarkable is this formula that it has inspired the vice president of Ecuador, himself a paraplegic, to seek guidance from Israel in building 200 similar parks in his home country. Uruguay also is following Israel’s lead in this area.
Keeping the Nobel breakthroughs coming
Brain drain has been the bane of Israeli academia for years now: young Israeli scientists trained at the country’s best universities get a high quality, state-subsidized education for just a few thousand dollars a year. They do post-doctoral research at institutions such as MIT, and Harvard. When it is time for them to start their own labs, few opportunities await them back in Israel’s seven universities. Lured by better salaries, multimillion-dollar lab equipment and prestige, many of these young scientists stay in the United States. A new government funded research initiative called Israeli Centers of Research Excellence (I-CORE) aims to breathe new life into Israel academia to stem the brain drain and keep creating Nobel-level breakthroughs in renewable energy, cancer research, physics and chemistry. I-CORE will help young Israeli scientists cooperate across universities and build labs before the old generation goes emeritus.
Holy Land wildlife goes forth and multiplies in Africa
It’s an old biblical tenet enacted by the Jewish forefather Noah: Go forth and multiply. In modern Israel, sadly, much of the country’s impressive wildlife that once roamed the region, including the majestic leopards, bears and the mythological “unicorn”—a type of antelope—are now virtually extinct. But not entirely, thanks to Israeli breeding programs. Around 1993, Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority, mounted an effort at the Hai Bar Yotvata Nature Reserve to save an African antelope species classified extinct in the wild. A breeding program for a local species of antelope, believed to be the biblical “unicorn,” was already underway there. At this reserve 30 miles north of Eilat, the scimitar-horned oryx got a new lease on life. The hot, dry weather there proved perfect for breeding African wildlife, even though the Saharan oryx is believed never to have traveled naturally beyond the Nile’s northern limits. In 2003, eight Saharan antelope from Hai Bar Yotvata were reintroduced to the wild at Guembeul Fauna Reserve in northwestern Senegal. The head of Senegal’s National Parks Department told ISRAEL21c, “The return of this species [scimitar-horned oryx] is very important to Senegal. We see this as a major success in helping to preserve the country’s fragile biodiversity.”
Good News From Israel: Friday October 7, 2011
Israel’s greatest inventions of all time
One of Israel’s sources of pride is the enormous number of inventions and innovations that have taken root on its soil over 63 years—despite challenges of geography, size and diplomacy. Through December at the Bloomfield Science Museum in Jerusalem, 45 indispensable Israeli inventions are being displayed and demonstrated. As a New Year treat here are 14 of them selected for variety and interest.
Netafim is a worldwide pioneer in smart drip and micro-irrigation. The kibbutz-owned company operates in 112 countries with 13 factories throughout the world.
Given Imaging a world leader in developing and marketing patient-friendly solutions for visualizing and detecting disorders of the GI tract, is best known for its PillCam (aka capsule endoscopy), now the gold standard for intestinal visualization.
Pythagoras Solar makes the world’s first solar window, which combines energy efficiency, power generation and transparency.
Hazera Genetics, a project of two professors at the Hebrew University Faculty of Agriculture, yielded the cherry tomato—a tasty salad fixing that ripens slowly and doesn’t rot in shipment.
BabySense is designed to prevent crib death. Made by HiSense, the device monitors a baby’s breathing and movements through the mattress during sleep. An auditory and visual alarm is activated if breathing ceases for more than 20 seconds or if breath rate slows to less than 10 breaths per minute.
EpiLady, the first electric hair remover (epilator), secured its leading position in the international beauty care market and since 1986 has sold almost 30 million units.
3G Solar pioneered a low-cost alternative to silicon that generates significantly more electricity than leading silicon-based PV solar modules at a lower cost per kilowatt-hour.
MobileEye provides a special steering system-linked tiny digital camera to help drivers navigate more safely. The device sounds an alert when a driver is about to change lanes inadvertently, warns of forward collisions and detects pedestrians. MobileEye has deals with GM, BMW and Volvo, among others.
Leviathan Energy innovated the Wind Tulip, a cost-effective, silent, vibration-free wind turbine designed as an aesthetic environmental sculpture, producing clean energy at high efficiency from any direction.
Better Place electric car network, Israeli Shai Agassi’s brainchild, is implementing the Israeli pilot that will provide a model for a worldwide electric car grid.
Intel Israel changed the face of the computing world with the 8088 processor (the “brain” of the first PC), MMX and Centrino mobile technology. Israeli engineers at Intel in the 1990s had to convince skeptical bosses to take a chance on MMX technology.
Solaris Synergy innovated an environmentally friendly and economically beneficial way to float solar panels on water instead of taking up valuable land, generating energy while protecting and limiting evaporation from reservoir surfaces.
Mazor Robotics’ Spine Assist and other surgical robots are transforming spine surgery from freehand procedures to highly accurate, state-of-the-art operations with less need for radiation.
Like-A-Fish unique air supply systems extract air from water, freeing leisure and professional scuba divers, as well as submarines and underwater habitats, from air tanks.
Good News From Israel: Friday September 23, 2011
Scientists close in on cure for diabetes
Hope is on the horizon for people with Type 1 (“juvenile”) diabetes, thanks to a breakthrough discovery by researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In Type 1 diabetes, a malfunctioning immune response kills the insulin-producing beta cells in the Pancreas. Since the body cannot convert glucose from food into energy without insulin, Type 1 diabetics have to get it through daily injections. The research out of Israel, described in a recent issue of the journal Cell Metabolism, could lead to ways of restoring or increasing beta cell function. The work on the multi-year project was led by Prof. Yuval Dor of the university’s Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada in collaboration with researchers from Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem and the diabetes section of the Roche pharmaceuticals company. The work shows that as the glucose level is increased in the blood, it tells the beta cells to regenerate. For the first time that this sensing of a high level of glucose has been shown to be the “trigger” that induces beta cells to regenerate.
Bringing tennis to Israeli-Arab neighborhoods
Anywhere in the world, marginalized populations have less access to good education, advanced music programs and sports facilities. This is no less true in Israel, where one-fifth of the population is made up of Israeli-Arab Muslims and Christians. For multiple reasons, some not anyone’s fault, this minority gets fewer opportunities in sports, which could lead to higher achievements in other areas and improved accomplishments in school, relationships and future community building. An avid supporter of Israeli tennis, philanthropist Freddie Krivine became president of the Israel Tennis Association. But at an event of 600 players in the late 1990s, he was surprised to see only four were from the Arab sector. So Krivine decided to embark upon a new project for young Arab-Israeli’s. Although Krivine passed away in 2005 the Freddie Krivine Foundation.has subsidized tennis lessons for about 6,000 young Israeli Arabs. The Freddie Krivine Foundation has built and surfaced more than a dozen tennis courts in cities like Nazareth, so young Arabs don’t have to get in a bus and travel miles to play their sport. It also runs specialized coexistence programs in Caesarea, Israel and in Boston, Massachusetts.
From woodchips to biofuel
It’s not every day that an Israeli company based on the science of a Nazi collaborator wins a huge US contract. But HCL Clean Tech, which offers a process to turn wood chips into biofuel, just received a $100 million bond package from the Mississippi state legislature to build plants in Grenada, Booneville, Hattiesburg and Natchez for products in the cosmetics, pet food, and lubricants industries. The plants will take wood chips from region, where there is a surplus of pine trees, and begin processing them in 2012 in Grenada. Three bigger plants will be opened in 2015, 2017 and 2019, according to the deal. Most of the funding will go toward building the facilities, while $5 million is earmarked for infrastructure and training. The new project is expected to create about 800 new jobs, with the average salary not too shabby at $67,500 plus benefits. HCL Clean Tech was founded in 2007, basing its technology on experiments by accused Nazi collaborator Friedrich Bergius, who shared the 1931 Nobel Prize in chemistry for producing synthetic fuel from coal. The process was flawed commercially.
Good News From Israel: Friday September 16, 2011
Teaching caregivers how to overcome second-hand trauma
Ten years after the World Trade Center towers came crashing down in the historic terror attack that killed thousands of Americans, the consequences and images continue to affect not only survivors and spectators but also the people helping the victims. How can a caregiver overcome feelings of stress, hopelessness and “compassion fatigue” caused by second-hand trauma? Guided nature workshops are surprisingly effective, according to Dr. Eleanor Pardess of SELAH-Israel Crisis Management Center, a support organization for victims of trauma within Israel’s immigrant communities. Pardess and San Francisco-based colleague Dr. Ilene Serlin presented a breakthrough study on care and healing practices at the recent annual convention of the American Psychological Association (APA),
Israeli University voted best place in world to work
There are only three instruments in the world like Dr. Michal Sharon’s mass spectrometer, which vaporizes large molecules to analyze their shapes and compositions. Two are in England and hers is at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. This is the sort of distinction, multiplied many-fold, that recently earned the Weizmann accolades from The Scientist magazine as “best place to work in academia” outside the United States. The institute consistently appears among the top five international (non-US) institutions, and has been ranked first twice before.
Breakthrough helps Alzheimer’s patients regain cognitive skills
The non-invasive NeuroAD system, developed by Neuronix, is the first medical device in the world to receive approval for treating mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease, a terminal brain disease affecting about 30 million elderly people worldwide. NeuroAD was presented in July at the annual International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease in Paris.
The company’s solution is based on a patent-pending technology dubbed NICE (Non-Invasive Cortical Enhancer), which electromagnetically stimulates areas of the brain responsible for memory and learning, making them receptive to simultaneous tailored cognitive training. Clinical results show measurable cognitive improvement after a few weeks of treatment that is superior to improvements achieved with available drugs, and NeuroAD can be used in conjunction with medication. Even one year later, trial subjects maintained improvement in cognition, activities of daily living and decision-making to a state comparable to two years before treatment.
Good News From Israel: Friday September 9, 2011
Expanding humanitarian aid to Africa
Irish rock musician Bob Geldof saluted Israel’s work in helping African populations during his keynote talk at the International Conference “Israeli involvement in Africa: Past, Present and Future” a recent convention of IsraAid. Geldof is well known for his 1985 Live Aid concert that raised almost $250 million to fight hunger in Africa. The conference drew businessmen, doctors, artists, musicians and media personalities from a variety of places and fields, all looking for ways to expand on IsraAid’s humanitarian initiatives and inspire new ones. Geldof was joined onstage by Israeli musician Idan Raichel, who is the goodwill ambassador for the Israeli medical charity Save A Child’s Heart; and Itay Anghel, an Israeli journalist and filmmaker who organized the Congo Bandaid campaign, which provides medical help for Congo rape victims.
NovoSpeech allows devices to ‘hear’ clearly
More devices than ever use automatic speech recognition (ASR), allowing users to “tell” their device what to do—like dial a phone number by speaking a name rather than tapping a button. However, ASR technology often doesn’t work well, says Zvi Hava, the CEO of Petah Tikva-based Novo Speech. “Current ASR solutions are unable to attain 100 percent real-time accuracy of all words spoken by a person, because of background noise, accents and vocabulary,” NovoSpeech has developed a technology that can overcome these problems enabling devices to clearly recognize what is being said and responding, even if there is a lot of background noise. The system can adapt to individual speaking types, languages, accents and dialects without any need for training samples, as nearly all other ASR systems require. NovoSpeech has already had a major success in audio remote-control devices. In January, it signed an agreement with a remote-control manufacturer to integrate Novo Speech’s speech-recognition engine into the company’s infrared device for controlling home appliances via iPhone.
Three faiths unite in Israel to heal the planet
Shema Yisrael is a statement of faith that many Jews say at bedtime, during daily prayers and in times of need. “Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is one” is the first line, emphasizing the monotheistic nature of Judaism.
For Rabbi Yonatan Neril, a 30-year-old married father of one, the second line in the prayer—“Blessed is the name of God’s kingdom forever”—provides hope for the planet. Seeing environmental degradation as a spiritual problem, he has turned to leaders of the three monotheistic faiths to right our ecological wrongs.
Since last year, Neril has been building the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development in Jerusalem. The six-person non-profit organization recently held the first interfaith meeting to formulate climate change policy, which impressively resulted in commitments of support from Israel’s Chief Rabbinate, the Palestinian Ministry of Religious Affairs (Waqf), the Palestinian Sharia Courts and the assembly of the Heads of Churches of Jerusalem. “The second verse in Shema gives me hope and inspiration that there will be balance on this planet, that God’s glorious kingdom will be blessed forever,” says Neril, who was raised near Berkeley, California, and has lived in Israel for eight years. The organization divides its actions into two spheres: one dedicated to fighting climate change, the other to providing ecological-theological seminars and college-credit courses to show how faith intersects with environmental values.