Archive for Innovations & Discoveries

| May 16, 2012
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The Israeli pharmacologist who kick-started marijuana research

‘Working in a small country certainly has its positive aspects,’ Raphael Mechoulam says. ‘It couldn’t have happened in the United States.’

If some 7,000 Israelis can fill a prescription for marijuana to ease pain and enhance appetite, it’s only because half a century ago, Hebrew University Prof. Raphael Mechoulam isolated and synthesized THC, the main psychoactive compound in the cannabis plant.

Speaking at his office in the Department for Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products at the Hadassah-Hebrew University medical school, theoctogenarian pharmacologist explains that scientists as far back as the 1800s realized the beneficial effects of pot but legal problems stifled serious study. Continue Reading »

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| May 16, 2012
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BGU, US Hospital Link on Pediatric Medical Technologies

Ben Gurion University is collaborating with the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center to create new medical devices for children.

Ben Gurion University of the Negev is collaborating with the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center to create medical devices for children.

The new project combines the medical expertise of doctors at the medical center with the technical and engineering expertise of faculty at BGU in Be’er Sheva.

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev - Israel news photo: courtesy of BGU

The initiative is aimed at improving health outcomes for children by tailoring device designs to meet the unique physiological differences and medical needs of children, according to Netta Cohen, head of BGN, the technology commercialization company of BGU. Continue Reading »

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| May 13, 2012
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The top 12 ways Israel feeds the world

From drip irrigation to natural pesticides, Israeli innovations are helping to fill hungry bellies everywhere, but particularly in the developing world.

Food security is a major concern for our rapidly growing planet. As resources dwindle and the population rises, smart solutions for better agriculture and safer food storage are essential.

No other single country – certainly not one as young and as tiny as Israel – has contributed more breakthroughs in this area than Israel.

Since the 1950s, Israelis have not only been finding miraculous ways to green their own desert but have shared their discoveries far and wide through channels including MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Continue Reading »

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| May 12, 2012
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Christchurch mayor looks to Israeli example in wake of massive earthquake

Mayor Parker referred to Israeli ‘entrepreneurship’ and ‘innovation’ critical capabilities he says burgeoning city will require to sustain vast economic recovery.

 

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker radiates a remarkable sense of calm for a man whose city was virtually leveled following a two-year string of earthquakes and aftershocks. The 59-year-old former broadcaster seems undaunted by the Herculean task of rebuilding the New Zealand city in the wake of last February’s tragedy, in which a 6.3-magnitude earthquake took the lives of 185 people – including three Israelis.

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker. Photo courtesy of Christchurch Mayor's Office.

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker - Photo courtesy of Christchurch Mayor's Office.

This week Parker joined dozens of his peers in Israel at the International Conference of Mayors, co-sponsored by the American Council for World Jewry, Israel’s Foreign Ministry and the Union for Local Authorities.

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| May 11, 2012
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Medical Breakthrough: Israel is Developing a Cancer Vaccine

Vaxil’s groundbreaking therapeutic vaccine, developed in Israel, could keep about 90% of cancers from coming back.

As the world’s population lives longer than ever, if we don’t succumb to heart disease, strokes or accidents, it is more likely that cancer will get us one way or another. Cancer is tough to fight, as the body learns how to outsmart medical approaches that often kill normal cells while targeting the malignant ones.

Hadassah HospitalIn a breakthrough development, the Israeli company Vaxil BioTherapeutics has formulated a therapeutic cancer vaccine, now in clinical trials at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem. If all goes well, the vaccine could be available about six years down the road, to administer on a regular basis not only to help treat cancer but in order to keep the disease from recurring. Continue Reading »

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| May 11, 2012
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Going Beyond the Medical Norm

For many American students who want to study medicine, the option to study abroad is an attractive one. And for Jewish students, studying in Israel is becoming an increasingly popular option. One program to which many American Jewish students are applying is TEAMS (The Technion American Medical School Program).

 

For many American students who want to study medicine, the option to study abroad is an attractive one. And for Jewish students, studying in Israel is becoming an increasingly popular option. One program to which many American Jewish students are applying is TEAMS (The Technion American Medical School Program).
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| May 10, 2012
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Israeli Scientists Breakthrough in Treating Auto-Immune Diseases

A team of Israeli scientists may have achieved a breakthrough in treating autoimmune diseases, such as Crohn’s, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis.

A team of Israeli scientists from the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot may have achieved a breakthrough in treating autoimmune diseases, such as Crohn’s, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue rather than invading germs.

Weizmann Institute in Rehovot

The scientists managed to “trick” the immune systems of mice into targeting an enzyme known as MMP-9, one of a family of proteins essential for processes including healing wounds. When the enzyme gets out of control, however, MMP-9 facilitates autoimmune diseases as well as the spread of cancer. Continue Reading »

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| May 8, 2012
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Israeli students win int’l robotics competition

Team from Savionim middle school in Yahud-Monosson won first place in First Lego League International Robotics Competition. ‘We are very proud to have won award for Israel,’ says one team member

 

A team from the Savionim middle school in Yahud-Monosson on Sunday won first place in the First Lego League International Robotics Competition which was held in Orlando Florida.

The Israeli team which calls itself “The Pink Eagles” and includes three boys and two girls, came out victorious against 64 teams from around the world. The theme of this year’s competition was food safety and the Israeli students managed to develop a sophisticated robot that gave an optimal solution to food quality problems. Continue Reading »

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| May 8, 2012
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Evidence of Canaanite Jewish Rituals in Reign of King David

An archaeologist finds spectacular evidence confirming the reign of King David and that non-Jews believed in one Creator.

A Hebrew University archaeologist has uncovered spectacular evidence confirming the reign of King David and that non-Jews believed in one Creator. Architecture that was uncovered pre-dates the First Temple built by King Solomon.

Prof. Yosef Garfinkel with a stone shrine model - Prof. Yosef Garfinkel with a stone shrine model Israel news photo courtesy of Hebrew U.
Prof. Yosef Garfinkel with a stone shrine model
Israel news photo courtesy of Hebrew U.

 

Prof. Yosef Garfinkel announced on Tuesday the discovery of objects found in the ruins called  Khirbet Qeiyafa, a fortified border city in the Kingdom of Judah adjacent to the Valley of Elah, less than 20 miles southwest of Jerusalem and half five miles west of Gush Etzion. Continue Reading »

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| May 7, 2012
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Step aside, Gutenberg, Israel is about to revolutionize printing – again

 An Israeli company transforms commercial digital printing with a groundbreaking – and eco-friendly — Nanographic process.

Benny Landa is revolutionizing the printing industry – for a second time.

Benny Landa is revolutionizing the printing industry – for a second time.

For Benny Landa, it wasn’t enough that his Indigo digital commercial printers revolutionized the industry – making it possible to digitally print everything from photo albums to wine-bottle labels — after Indigo’s 2002 acquisition by Hewlett-Packard.

An American transplant to Israel, Landa (“the Steve Jobs of the printing world”) just unveiled his latest game-changer: a trademarked Nanographic (www.landanano.com) line of sheet-fed and web presses for commercial, packaging and publishing markets. The six printers use Israeli-developed NanoInk to print on any kind of material at high speed and low cost.

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Category: Innovations & Discoveries |
| May 7, 2012
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Israeli Scientist Develops Kit to Identify Deadly Bacteria

A 92-year-old scientist from Hebrew University has invented a kit that enables the immediate detection of drug-resistant bacteria.

Israeli scientist from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has invented a kit that enables the immediate detection of drug-resistant bacteria, one of the major concerns of organizations like the World Health Organization.

In the United States alone, antibiotic-resistant infections are responsible for eight million additional hospital stays every year and for the consequent bed-to-bed spread of resistance, leading to over $20 billion per year in excess health care costs and $35 billion per year in societal costs, noted Yissum, the research and development company of the Hebrew University. Continue Reading »

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| May 6, 2012
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Warning: The wheat’s too warm

An Israeli evolutionary biologist finds hard evidence of global warming in the changes he’s found in wheat and barley plants.

Will global warming put an end to your morning bowl of Wheaties? An evolutionary biology researcher in Israel thinks there’s cause for concern.

The 28-year comparative study he conducted and published with colleagues shows that wild emmer wheat and wild barley — the progenitors of the staple crops for humans and animals across the world — have undergone worrying changes caused by global warming.

Prof. Eviatar (Eibi) Nevo, founder of the University of Haifa’s Institute of Evolution and director of its International Graduate Center of Evolution, warns that these changes put at risk the continued improvement and production of cereal grains because of genetic deterioration and increased susceptibility to environmental stresses. Continue Reading »

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| May 5, 2012
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Groups demand increase in rooftop solar quotas

Green groups argue allowing more solar roof installations would be simple way of helping bridge gaps that may occur this summer.

Eight environmental organizations appealed to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday asking that he promote an increase in the quota for photovoltaic rooftop panels, in light of the anticipated electricity shortages this summer.

 

Solar water heating
Solar water heating – Photo: M.O. Stevens

In their letter, which was released to the press on Thursday, the organizations argued that allowing more solar roof installations would be a simple and clean way of helping bridge the gaps that might occur this summer. The eight groups were the Society for the Protection of Nature (SPNI), the Israel Forum for Energy, the Renewable Energy Association of Israel, Adam Teva V’Din (Israel Union for Environmental Defense), Life and Environment umbrella group for green organizations, Greenpeace Mediterranean, Israel Green Building Council and Green Course.

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| May 5, 2012
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Desalination program treading water

State Comptroller’s Report for 2012 criticizes government, officials for delays, irregularities in implementation of water desalination program

 

The State Comptroller’s Report for 2012 which was released on Tuesday revealed that delays in the erection of desalination plants are continuing. The report’s severe criticism of the desalination efforts is a continuation of the comptroller’s criticism in previous reports.

Desalination plant (Illustration)

A Desalination plant

The government, notes State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss, committed to establishing desalination plants that would by 2013, produce 600 million cubic meters of water per year. Yet so far the plants have only managed to produce 300 million cubic meters.

“This is an ongoing governmental failure that impedes the public interest,” the report determined. Continue Reading »

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| May 3, 2012
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Making Israel natural gas attractive – in Texas

Energy and Water Minister Uzi Landau visits the Lone Star State to strengthen ties with Israel’s natural gas industry.

 

As Israel’s presence in the natural gas market grows, the country should continue to strengthen its growing ties with the state of Texas, a capital of development for the industry, according to Energy and Water Minister Uzi Landau.

National Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau -Photo: Courtesy National Infrastructures Ministry

National Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau - Photo: Courtesy National Infrastructures Ministry

Landau is spending the week in the Houston, Texas region, where he will be visiting the development site for Noble Energy’s Tamar rig, as well as meeting with representatives of many companies potentially interested in participating in Israel’s natural gas industry.

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