Archive for Innovations & Discoveries

| August 26, 2012
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New Report: Health benefits of circumcision validated

In a new American Academy of Pediatrics report set to be released Monday, specific benefits include prevention of penile cancer, urinary tract infections, & the transmission of some sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.

By Israel Hayom Staff

Amid the recent uproar among Jewish communities around the world and in Israel over a recent ruling by a German regional court to outlaw male circumcision, the American Academy of Pediatrics is set to release a new report on Monday validating evidence that indicates the health benefits of newborn circumcision.

According to the academy’s report, the benefits of circumcision outweigh the risks and justify access to the procedure for families who choose it.

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| August 26, 2012
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Bloomberg reports that Israeli women rule in biotechnology

Report on Israel’s bio-med sector acknowledges women’s dominance with 60-70 percent of the workforce

By Ynet

 

Women outnumber men in biology and related sciences in higher education in Israel, a report published by the Bloomberg news agency revealed on Tuesday.

This says the report, could give women an advantage as the government and private investors put increasing amounts of money into the life-sciences industry, one of the country’s fastest growing sectors, collecting the most venture capital money in the first half of this year.

'A woman can make a mark' Photo: Getty Image Bank Israel

‘A woman can make a mark’ Photo: Getty Image Bank Israel

The article quotes a number of Israeli women working in the field who share their thoughts on why women have the advantage. Continue Reading »

Category: Innovations & Discoveries |
| August 25, 2012
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Make way for a hand-drying revolution

 

Move over jet dryers & paper towels. Israeli designed & manufactured UltraClean will transform the way we dry our hands in public restrooms.

 

Here’s a multiple-choice question: What is the most hygienic and ecologically responsible way to dry your hands in a public restroom?

(a) paper towel

(b) forced air dryer

(c) fabric towel on a continuous loop

(d) an Israeli invention soon to hit the market

The answer is (d), says Avi Kafzan, a Technion-trained mechanical engineer and owner of Manal-Israel Clean Towels, the largest hygiene company in Israel.

The UltraClean machine won a prestigious design innovation award.

The UltraClean machine won a prestigious design innovation award.

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| August 24, 2012
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View Video: “We Never Dreamt of Such Achievements”

Israel Air Force Commander tells new UAV operators: “Our expectations are in the sky.”

By Arutz Sheva

 

The IAF marked the conclusion of training for its latest class of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operators in a graduation ceremony Wednesday (August 15), the IDF Website’s Yair Barzilai reported.

Dozens of new officers were inducted into the UAV Formation, following the conclusion of the 20th UAV training course. With hundreds of family members in attendance, the festive atmosphere was further enhanced by the arrival of IAF Commander Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel.

“Today is a festive day for the IAF and the IDF and – I will allow myself to go one step further – for the entire state of Israel,” the Air Force chief began. Continue Reading »

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| August 21, 2012
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Israel Electric Corporation completes steam & gas power plant ahead of schedule

Addition of 125 megawatts will help bridge gaps in dwindling reserves, says IEC CEO Glickman.

 

A month ahead of schedule, the Israel Electric Corporation has completed work and grid synchronization of a 375-megawatt combined-cycle power plant.

The plant, called the Zafit power station, is located near Kfar Menahem in the country’s south-central region, and will significantly increase electricity generation to help deal with the ever-dwindling electricity reserves, according to the IEC. The combined-cycle plant contains a 125- megawatt steam unit that the company added to an already existing 250- megawatt natural gas turbine facility, and was constructed at a cost of NIS 1 billion. Continue Reading »

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| August 20, 2012
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Aly Raisman, Mark Spitz and Yosef Yekutieli, the inspired Jewish visionary who created Maccabiah Games

Despite ridicule & obstacles, Yekutieli worked on his idea & every 4 years, further inspired by the Olympics, he finally  developed what we now know as the Maccabiah Games.

 

 With the Olympics now over, all of us sports fans can resume our lives, and for those of us in the southern hemisphere, our regular sleep patterns as well. But as I sit here reflecting on the Olympics and the inevitable comparisons between London 2012 and Sydney 2000, as well as Australia’s relatively poor showing, I am also reminded of the Jewish connection to the Olympics and how small inspirations can lead to big things.
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| August 16, 2012
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Jerusalem hosts the ‘Genius Conference’, the Asian Science Camp

 

About 300 of Asian & Pacific countries’ sharpest scientific minds will gather in Jerusalem for the prestigious summit; as Israel will present the largest delegation

By Itamar Eichner

Jerusalem will be hosting this year’s Asian Science Camp – one of the world’s most important summits to promote young scientists from Asia and Pacific countries. Participants will not engage in competitions but will have the opportunity to show the world what Israel is made of.

Albert Einstein - on the logo Photo: Getty Images

Albert Einstein , on the logo – Photo: Getty Images

The ASC (Asian Science Camp) is held every six years, each year in a different country from among the participants. Continue Reading »

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| August 12, 2012
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Second Patient with Bone Marrow Failure Saved After Treatment With Pluristem’s PLX Stem Cell Therapy

Patient Recently Release From Hadassah Medical Center Hospital Becomes 2nd Person Whose Life Was Saved by PLX Cells Therapy, Joining 7 yr old Girl Who Suffered From Severe Aplastic Bone Marrow

 

By:

Israel, (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pluristem Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:PSTI) (TASE:PLTR), a leading developer of placenta-based cell therapies, announced today that the life of a patient suffering from bone marrow failure in which there was a dangerous reduction in the number of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets (pancytopenia) has been saved using Placental eXpanded (PLX) cells. This is the second time in the past three months that a patient suffering from bone marrow failure was successfully treated in a compassionate use treatment with PLX cells with a return of bone marrow function. Continue Reading »

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| August 12, 2012
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Israeli Cocktail Straw Can Detect Date Rape Drugs

Israeli scientists developed a small affordable sensor-straw for use in mixed drinks

By Stephanie Butnick

 

Israeli scientists Fernando Patolski and Michael Ioffe, both professors at Tel Aviv University, have developed a sensor that, when submerged in either an alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink, can detect the presence of two common date rape drugs.

So far tests on the unfinished product—which the developers say will be a small, inexpensive device resembling a stirrer that lights up discretely or sends a message to a cell phone if the drugs are present—have been 100 percent accurate.

Photo from facebook

According to reports, the device simply needs to be placed into a drink:

The sensor works by picking up a bit of alcohol and mixing it with a patent chemical formula, which was also developed by Patolsky and Ioffe.

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| August 9, 2012
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Israel’s solar-powered desert oasis confronts world hunger

 

The best of Israel’s clean-tech & agri-tech  innovations are combined into a new ‘oasis’ system that could feed millions of desert-dwellers.

 

Growing the most crop per drop of water is an Israeli specialty. With little rain and a hot desert sun as unforgiving as the Sahara, Israel’s high-tech researchers and farmers have combined their expertise to grow a cornucopia of salt-tolerant crops in dry desert conditions. People from hungry countries far and wide come to learn from Israel’s expertise.

These crops are being grown with solar-energy desalinated water.

These crops are being grown with solar-energy desalinated water.

Now, a new research project by two desert research institutes has strung several Israeli agriculture and clean-tech specialties together to help alleviate world hunger and push back the desert through an artificial desert oasis using low-cost desalination technology that runs on solar power. Continue Reading »

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| August 6, 2012
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Israel’s Sourasky Medical Center successfully perform ‘Deep-Brain Implantation’

Groundbreaking surgical treatment designed to combat epilepsy that does not respond to drugs.

A patient with intractable epilepsy that has not improved with medications has undergone implantation of electrodes deep in his brain to stimulate neurons and halt his attacks. Prof. Itzak Fried of Sourasky Medical Center performed the surgical treatment, which has been a success thus far. It is available in some centers abroad but is not yet in the basket of health services, and has not been attempted on patients at other medical centers with expertise in deep brain stimulation (DBS).

X RAY shows DBS probes in the brain

X RAY shows DBS probes in the brain
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Fried, the head of the functional neurosurgery unit at the Tel Aviv hospital, said on Sunday, when the operation was announced, that he used a DBS system made by the Medtronic company based in Switzerland.

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| August 4, 2012
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Israel’s Beilinson Hospital transplants record 30 corneas

Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus report that Cornea transplants take place 3 times more than past monthly average.

 

Thirty people received corneas at the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in July to restore or improve their sight – a record three times the monthly average.

Eye examination - Photo: Courtesy Rabin Medical Center

Eye examination – Photo: Courtesy Rabin Medical Center

The corneas came from deceased Israelis who had ADI organ donor cards or whose close relatives had given their permission, or from abroad.

Prof. Irit Bechar, head of the cornea service at the Petah Tikva hospital, said that the number of donations and operations was unprecedented. Continue Reading »

Category: Innovations & Discoveries | Tags:
| August 1, 2012
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Israeli Hi-Tech Radar Will Protect US-Mexican Border

The U.S. has selected an Israeli company for the placement of a radar system to detect infiltrators at the border with Mexico.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

The United States has selected an Israeli company for the placement of a radar system to detect infiltrators at the border with Mexico.

Mexican Soldiers inspect the entrance of a cross border tunnel running to California and seized some

Mexican Soldiers inspect the entrance of a cross border tunnel running to California and seized contraband and infiltrators. – Reuters

Elta, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), won the tender with its systems that can identify individuals from distances between 300 meters and 20 kilometers (approximately 13 miles), and vehicles from twice that distance. Continue Reading »

Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Israel News | Tags: ,
| July 31, 2012
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Israeli Technology Promises to Create Composite Portraits from Forensic DNA Samples

Researchers promise that within a year, they will be able to use a DNA sample to create a composite portrait of any criminal suspect, establishing reliable facial and detailed body-structure characteristics.

By Adi Hashmonai from Maariv

 

 

Police investigators hunting criminals tend to search for the perpetrator’s DNA sample at the crime scene, or for an eyewitness to help piece together a composite portrait. But breakthrough research presently underway at the Tel-Hai Academic College is meant to spur a revolution in the field by combining the two methods: within a year or so, researchers say that genetic samples will be able to indicate the offender’s facial and body structures.

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Category: Innovations & Discoveries | Tags:
| July 31, 2012
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Ben-Gurion University scientists have overcome ‘blood brain barrier’

‘V-Smart technology’ unique targeted drug delivery system technology could improve treatment of neurological diseases.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH

 

After eight years of intensive work, a team of Ben-Gurion University scientists has overcome the “blood brain barrier” that prevents drugs from passing into the brain and reaching specific targets to fight disease.The system of synthetic nanoscale structures, called V-Smart drug delivery technology, also allows oral medications to pass through the epithelial tissue of the intestinal wall and other biological membranes; thus, the Beersheba researchers hope that injectable-only drugs for a variety of diseases could eventually be made in pill form.
BGU Team

Team of Ben-Gurion University scientists
Photo: Dan Michalis/BGU

The breakthrough technology, which uses microscopic, bubble-like membranous structures known as vesicles, was developed by the interdisciplinary team of emeritus Prof. Continue Reading »

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