Archive for Innovations & Discoveries

| April 4, 2014
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Meet ‘Morty’ – IDF’s 1st GPS guided mortar shell

 

Israel Military Industries develops the first GPS-guided 120mm mortar shell for the IDF, solving accuracy issue, offering pinpoint military accuracy for Gaza terrorist cells.

By Yoav Zitun

 

Could this be the answer to rocket launching terror cells in Gaza? The IDF is set receive a new model of a GPS-guided mortar shell, developed by Israel Military Industries. The weapon is designed to deliver a quick strike against terrorist cells, especially those in the Gaza Strip, and was given the original name “Morty” (Patzmi, a play on the Hebrew acronym for mortar).

'Morty' IDF new mortar shell

Morty’ IDF new mortar shell – IDF

“Mortar shells were always considered an inaccurate weapon that hit only the target area and not the target itself,” a security source told Ynet. Continue Reading »

Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Israel News | Tags: , ,
| April 2, 2014
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Israel’s ‘Iron Beam’ laser defense system ‘brings down mortars like flies’

‘Iron Beam’ by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems company is designed for threats too small to be dealt with by Iron Dome anti-missiles defense system.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN

 

 

A new air defense system being developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, which uses lasers to shoot down low altitude threats, is able to bring down “mortars like flies,” Rafael’s CEO told the Israel Defense website on Wednesday.

US laser weapon technology

US laser weapon technology – Photo: US Navy Illustration

Vice Admiral (Ret.) Yedidia Yaari, former chief of the Israel Navy, said the Iron Beam system will be “very effective” once it becomes operational.

Israel Defense cited Yaari as saying that that Iron Beam successfully passed a feasibility test, and is currently in development stages. Continue Reading »

Category: Innovations & Discoveries | Tags: ,
| April 1, 2014
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11 Ossuaries recovered after apparent Jerusalem heist

Eleven 2nd Temple-era Burial Boxes were discovered after police arrested 4 suspicious characters in Jerusalem.

By

 

The Israeli Antiquities Authority unveiled 11 ancient burial boxes Monday that were recovered by Israel Police early Friday morning

Israeli archaeologist Eitan Klein.

Israeli archaeologist Eitan Klein.- AFP

Officials say the boxes are 2,000 years old. Some are engraved with designs and even names, giving clues to their origin and contents. The boxes contain bone fragments and remnants of what experts say is pottery buried with the deceased.

The authority says the boxes were recovered last Friday in Jerusalem when police observed a suspicious nighttime transaction involving two cars, four individuals and the 11 boxes.

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Category: Innovations & Discoveries | Tags: ,
| March 30, 2014
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Treblinka gas chambers & mass graves discovered by high-tech archaeologists

Since Treblinka was bulldozed over in 1943 under Hitler’s orders, excavation of the Nazi death camp was barred after WWII out of respect for the victims – but research team using largely ‘non-invasive’ technology received Polish permission to examine site & discovered evidence.

By

 

The Nazis left no evidence behind at the Treblinka. After gassing an estimated 900,000 Jews and an unknown number of Roma in the eastern Polish camp (Treblinka was a NAZI CAMP in eastern Poland…not an “eastern Polish camp” as written… *Israel and Stuff) , Germany bulldozed it in 1943 and even planted crops and built a farmhouse on the leveled site. Continue Reading »

Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Video's worth Viewing | Tags: , , ,
| March 26, 2014
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Israeli drones to secure Brazilian skies for World Cup

 

The fleet of Elbit’s Hermes 900, which will be equipped with a new & advanced intel gathering systems, will be carrying out “safety & security missions” to secure the 2014 World Cup.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN

 

 

Elbit’s Hermes 900 unmanned aircraft system will be deployed by the Brazilian Air Force to help secure the 2014 World Cup, the Israeli defense firm announced on Wednesday.

Drone to be deployed at 2014 World Cup

Elbit’s Hermes 900 unmanned aircraft to be deployed at 2014 World Cup

The drone will be equipped with a new and advanced intelligence gathering system, and will fly together with Elbit-produced Hermes 450 drones, which the Brazilian Air Force purchased in the past, to secure the games. Continue Reading »

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| March 17, 2014
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Focusing on countering cyberterrorism at Tel Aviv conference next month

 

With help from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Institute for National Security Studies, a prestigious Israeli think tank, will host a large event with the help & participation of U.S.-based Cyber Security Forum Initiative.

Issues to include cyberterrorism, cybercrime & the need for cyber defense laws.

By Ilan Gattegno

 

The annual Defensive Cyberspace Operations & Intelligence Conference is scheduled to take place April 8-9 in Tel Aviv.

Conference in Tel Aviv will see host of experts speak on the cyberterrorism challenge – Photo: Getty Images

The forum will be held under the auspices of the Institute for National Security Studies, a prestigious Tel Aviv think tank headed by former Military Intelligence Director Maj.

Continue Reading »
Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Israel News | Tags: , , , ,
| March 14, 2014
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Israel plans 1st eco-friendly building contest

 

 JNF sustainable development board member Dr. Orr Karassin explains “A building’s footprint on the environment is huge in its use of electricity & water.”

The competition has 2 tracks, one for professionals & the other for students

By Nitzi Yakov and Israel Hayom Staff

 

Israel is holding its first eco-friendly architecture competition, in which two winners will have their designs constructed and showcased to the general public.

Israel challenges architects to think green [Illustrative] – Photo: Dan Lavie

The contest, hosted by the Jewish National Fund and Israeli Green Construction Council, intends to raise awareness for eco-friendly construction among the Israeli public and to train planners and architects to think green when starting new projects. Continue Reading »

Category: Innovations & Discoveries | Tags: , , ,
| March 13, 2014
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Tel Aviv University’s Dept of Cell Research Finds New Way To Fight Ovarian Cancer

 

The research is 2-fold: to provide a specific target for anti-cancer drugs to increase their therapeutic benefits, & to reduce the toxic side effects of anti-cancer therapies.

By NoCamels Team

 

Ovarian cancer accounts for more deaths of American women than any other cancer of the female reproductive system. According to the American Cancer Society, one in 72 American women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and one in 100 will ultimately die of the condition.

NoCamels

Now Prof. Dan Peer of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Cell Research and Immunology has proposed a new strategy to tackle an aggressive subtype of ovarian cancer using a new nanoscale drug-delivery system designed to target specific cancer cells. Continue Reading »

Category: Innovations & Discoveries | Tags: , ,
| March 10, 2014
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Genetic mutation causing disease in Moroccan Jews identified by Israeli researchers

 

Ben-Gurion University researchers found that 1 in 37 Moroccan Jews carries 1 of the 2 mutations of the gene PCCA 2, that causes severe mental retardation & epilepsy in infants.

By

 

Researchers from Ben-Gurion University in Be’er Sheva have identified the genetic mutation behind a hereditary disease that causes epilepsy and severe developmental delays among Moroccan Jews.

It all comes down to a simple blood test (illustrative).

In light of the high carrier rate for the disorder, screening for the disease will likely be added to the routine genetic testing offered to couples of Moroccan Jewish heritage. – Photo: Dreamstime

The disease, which the researchers are calling Progressive cerebello-cerebral Atrophy, type 2, is caused by mutations in the VPS53 gene.

Continue Reading »
Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| March 9, 2014
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Israel sends dishwasher-sized spacecraft to the moon

 

Israel’s unmanned craft is small, weighing only 140 kilograms (310 lb.), & will be fitted with 9 computers and 8 cameras.

If successful, the landing of the first private craft on the moon will win the Israeli group SpaceIL, a $20 million Google LunarX Prize.

By Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff

 

It’s only the size of a dishwasher and weighs as much as giant panda, but its inventors are hoping this spacecraft will go where no other Israeli vessel has gone before — to the moon.

SpaceIL co-founders Yariv Bash, Kfir Damari and Yonatan Winetraub – Photo: Reuters

Working on a shoestring budget, the Israeli scientists and engineers building the shuttle — temporarily named “Sparrow” — believe it will land on the moon by the end of 2015, a feat only the United States, Russia and China have managed so far.

Continue Reading »
Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Israel News | Tags: , ,
| February 28, 2014
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Unique Israeli study examines after-effects of medical marijuana

Israeli Health Ministry expert says no similar in-depth research has been performed anywhere.

By

 

 

Medical cannabis has been getting a lot of good press in recent years. Reports and patients’ testimonies of how they benefited from ingesting the plant or its extract have spread rapidly and the Health Ministry’s medical cannabis unit issues some 50 new permits for using it weekly.

Medical cannabis.

Medical cannabis. – Photo: Emil Salman

But while the demand for cannabis is soaring, many questions remain open regarding its effects. An Israeli study now aims for the first time to find out whether patients experience any after-effects, how many of them stop using it and why.

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Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Israel News | Tags: , , , ,
| February 27, 2014
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Israeli NGOs take their expertise to Africa

Israeli humanitarian NGOs bringing their expertise to meet the needs of camps in Kenya, has turned into a fruitful endeavor in Africa.

 

NAIROBI, Kenya (JTA) — When they first arrived in northern Kenya in 2011 at the height of a massive drought, the Israeli refugee aid organization IsraAid planned to offer food and other core necessities to the 100,000 residents of the Kakuma refugee camp.

Regina Muthoni, left, and Kenneth Gitau of the Nairobi dance group Kreative Generations, learned to farm with the help of the nonprofit Israel for Africa. (Ben Sales)

Regina Muthoni, left, and Kenneth Gitau of the Nairobi dance group Kreative Generations, learned to farm with the help of the nonprofit Israel for Africa.- Photo: Ben Sales

When the drought subsided a year later, IsraAid’s directors saw that this sort of assistance was becoming less crucial. Continue Reading »

Category: Innovations & Discoveries, The Diaspora | Tags: , , , ,
| February 27, 2014
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Israel successfully tests anti-missile response system for civilian airliners

Elbit’s Sky Shield anti-missile system integrates a thermal camera with laser technology to deflect & protect all types of aircraft against ground-to-air missiles.

By and

 

 

Israel has successfully completed final testing on a system that protects commercial planes from missile attacks, the defense ministry announced on Wednesday.

elbit

Testing of the Sky Shield system was “100 percent successful,” according to Brig. Gen. Eitan Eshel, head of research and development at the ministry.

The system integrates laser technology with a thermal camera to protect aircraft against missiles fired from the ground. It deflects missiles fired at aircraft by changing their direction. Continue Reading »

Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| February 23, 2014
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120 Israeli companies represented at int’l Mobile World Congress

 

Israeli hi-tech companies to showcase mobile innovation at Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress.

Among the exhibits range from app to pay bills at restaurants to smartphones that enables medical checkups.

By Ilan Gattegno

 

The “startup nation” heads to Barcelona: Some 120 Israeli companies in the mobile and app industry will showcase their technology at the world’s biggest mobile event — Mobile World Congress — to begin Monday in Barcelona. Hundreds of mobile company representatives, smartphone application developers and high-tech entrepreneurs and innovators will flock to Barcelona for the four-day event.

The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain – Photo: Reuters

Israeli developers will present their innovations at the country’s tech booth.

Continue Reading »
Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Israel News | Tags: ,
| February 19, 2014
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Israeli agricultural know-how boosts East African farms

The UN awarded Israeli agro-tech company Amiran, a prize for helping eradicate extreme poverty & hunger, one of the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals for Africa.

 

NAIROBI, Kenya (JTA) — Bags of seeds from the Israeli seed company Hazera Genetics line the shelves of one warehouse.

Chris Mutune, a greenhouse caretaker for Amiran Kenya, working in one of the company's sample greenhouses. (Ben Sales)

Chris Mutune, a greenhouse caretaker for Amiran Kenya, working in one of the company’s sample greenhouses. (Ben Sales)

 

Another houses rolls of plastic from StePac, an Israeli firm whose bags can keep vegetables fresher for longer.

In a third warehouse are rows of coiled hoses, each pricked with holes engineered by Netafim, the Israeli company that pioneered drip irrigation. Continue Reading »

Category: Innovations & Discoveries, The Diaspora | Tags: , , , ,
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