AND ON THE BRIGHT SIDE: GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL THANKS TO MICHAEL ORDMAN
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Speedy heart monitoring. Sheba Medical Center researchers and Israeli start-up Lev-El Diagnostics of Heart Disease have developed an algorithm that could save lives by quickly identifying patients with heart disease. Patients used to have to wear heart monitors for 24 – 48 hours. Now they are diagnosed in one hour.
The cutting edge of cell therapy. 18 Israeli companies develop or market cell-based treatment products – an unprecedented large proportion in relation to the country’s population. All of them are attending the Israstem Conference in Ramat Gan starting Apr 22, to discuss stem cells, cell therapy, and regenerative medicine.
More clues in search for cause of Alzheimer’s. Researchers at Tel Aviv University gave electric stimulation to the brains of rats and found that high-frequency “bursts” produced the same destructive plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.
Success in IBD trials. Israel’s BiolineRX has announced positive results for the Phase IIa clinical trial of BL-7040, an oral treatment for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease affect as many as 1.4 million individuals in the US alone.
A lifeline on your wrist. Israeli start-up Oxitone has developed a blood-oxygen monitor that can be worn on the wrist by those “at risk” to warn of any sudden deterioration in their condition. Oxitone has been selected for GE Healthcare’s Start-Up Health Academy Entrepreneurship Program – one of only two companies outside of the US to be chosen for their 3-year program that turns fledgling businesses into prime companies.
Boston Marathon – hospital had Israeli training. Dr Alasdair Conn, Chief of Emergency Services at Massachusetts General Hospital stated that two years ago they asked the Israelis to set up a disaster team that could respond to a mass-casualty event. This prepared them for dealing with the Boston Marathon bombing.
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Gaza weekly deliveries: In the week ending 6th April, 992 trucks brought 27,880 tons of goods into Gaza.
Industrial park for Nazareth. Israel has opened a new industrial park in Nazareth to promote economic cooperation between the region’s diverse Jewish, Christian and Muslim citizens. It is modeled on nearby Tefen Industrial Park, designed to bring together industrial, educational and cultural facilities all in one space to foster innovation, growth and peace.
Just like me, just like you. (Thanks to Stuart Palmer) Dozens of Haifa University’s 800 overseas students from 40 countries wanted to let the world know that they share desires and ambitions with local Israelis.
Israel’s on-line Ambassadors. A Muslim Bedouin girl, several Druse, a Pole and 26 Israeli Jews make up the latest group of Haifa University students training to represent Israel as unofficial ambassadors in the international aren. Muslim Ayat Rahal says “I want to show a true picture of Israel. It’s not all protests.”
Egyptian academics study Israeli language and culture. I’m taking this article at face value, but I’m very surprised. At any one time, close to 20,000 students at nine of the 14 Egyptian universities study Hebrew. Each year, at least 2,000 Egyptian students graduate with bachelor’s degrees that include the study of Hebrew.
Yale student union’s President is Israeli. Daniel Avraham has made history at Yale University after having been elected as the first Israeli to serve as the institution’s student union president. The 24-year-old Jerusalem native is a graduate of Herzliyah’s Gymnasia high school and a former intelligence officer in the IDF.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
The fastest emergency response. (Thanks to NoCamels.com) Israeli start-up NowForce has developed a replacement for expensive emergency call centers. It comprises a distress signal app for the smartphone; an app for the rescue worker (including paging and directing); finally, a dispatch center back-end solution. In the Missouri police department NowForce has cut response times to one sixth of those experienced previously.
Your smartphone can have Everything. If you search for anything on a smartphone running the new Firefox operating system, it will fire up the software from Israeli start-up Everything.me. Then things really happen as it loads applications dynamically to show you everything you might want, in connection with your search.
Pump your photos up to the Cloud. Israel’s Pumpic is for those who frequently want to share large numbers or high quality photos with their friends and colleagues. Users can send up to 10,000 images – each up to 100 MB in size – instantaneously. Pumpic has just raised $700,000 in its first round of financing.
Fixing mobile phones wirelessly. Two Israeli companies Cellebrite and CommuniTake are working together to establish a service that can diagnose and repair smartphones whilst still in the hands of the customer.
Israelis get top European award. Eight Israeli companies received the Red Herring’s Top 100 Europe Award, given to Europe’s leading private companies in recognition of their innovations and technologies. They were Celeno, Modelity Technologies, MyThings, NLT Spine, Phinergy, Somoto, Valens and WalkMe.
Inside the Technion – Israel’s Hard Drive. A rare positive article in the New York Times about one of Israel’s top education institutes. It features an Israeli-Arab student – one of the 20% of Arabs at the Technion.
The biggest hi-tech celebration. Israel’s high-tech industry – in the form of the Israel Advanced Technologies Industry group – threw a huge Independence Day party for hundreds of guests in Tel Aviv. Representatives of 17 R&D labs of multinational companies, including Intel, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Yahoo, HP, Oracle and Philips talked about the innovations, accomplishments, and contributions they make to their parent companies.
65 years of innovation. This is the definitive list of Israel’s inventions. It includes the solar water heater, amniocentesis testing, drip irrigation, desalination, unmanned drone aircraft, 8088 and Centrino computer chips, RSA encryption, Quasicrystals, instant messaging, Pillcam, the flash drive, ReWalk and a whole lot more.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Georgia will G.R.O.W. with Israel. A program called G.R.O.W. – Georgia Reaching Out Worldwide is attracting trade between the US State and the Jewish State. Ronen Kenan, who represents Georgia in Israel, said, “Israel is a gateway to a lot of markets in Europe, Asia-Pacific and Africa.”
What does Israel give to the USA? Ex Ambassador Yoram Ettinger explains that Israel provides the United States huge financial benefits just with its modifications to US military hardware.
Israel trade with India to soar. (Thanks to Herb) A new Free Trade Agreement between Israel and India is expected to triple the current $5 billion trade between the two. Minister Yahel Vilan cited potential for immense growth in healthcare, agriculture, irrigation, renewable energy, aviation, IT and water management.
Israel’s exports have increased by 15,000 per cent. In 1948 Israel exported $6 million worth of goods and services. Today’s value is $91 billion, making tiny Israel the 38th largest exporter in the world. Not bad for the 97th largest population in the world.
Good publicity. Two Israeli companies Outbrain and Taboola are at the top of the content marketing business. For a small fee, they can bring thousands of new readers to a website. So that’s how to promote Israel’s good news! I featured Outbrain in a story about employee loyalty back in November last year.
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
Recycled poetry on Israeli streets. Israeli artist Nitzan Mintz writes her poems on the streets of Tel Aviv, using disregarded materials from dumpsters and public spaces. “I use only recycled materials in my art. I use birdcages, pieces of wood, anything. It’s like a gift from God. I need art materials and I find them,” she said.
Book now for the Israel festival. Israel Festival Jerusalem from May 25 to June 22 focuses on contemporary theater, music and dance. But there is plenty to attract traditionalists. Plus hotel discounts.
Three Israeli acts at Glastonbury. For the first time, Israel will be represented at the UK’s leading music festival. Acollective is a seven-piece band performing punk, folk and electronic jazz. Saz (Sameh Zakout) raps in Arabic, Hebrew and English. Soul singer Ester Rada has been compared to Lauryn Hill and Eryka Badu.
Good show. The fly-past by the Israeli Air Force to celebrate Israel’s 65th Independence Day was exciting to watch, from all over the coastal plain of Israel.
THE JEWISH STATE
One of the best-educated countries. According to the OECD, Israel’s population has the second highest percentage of college degrees in the world (46%). Only Canada (51%) has more. The OECD average is 31%.
You are not alone. Absorption Minister Sofa Landver greeted new immigrants who have made Aliya without their parents and will join the IDF as “lone soldiers” immediately after Independence Day. “These young men and women help guarantee the continued existence of the State of Israel,” she said.
It’s much more than just Independence. The Jewish State is more than just another country.
Israel has much to celebrate. (Thanks to todaysCLIC.com) Nice piece in the Montreal Gazette by Joel Lion.
We’re here to stay. (Thanks to 12Tribe Films) Asael Lubotzsky was so badly injured by a Hezbollah rocket in 2006 that his leg was hanging by a thread. Now he is an Israeli doctor and has a daughter. “We called our daughter Neta, a sapling in Hebrew, because “as much as they tried to uproot me, I am planting”.
65 Years of Achievement. I don’t know how I missed out this video from last week’s newsletter.
That’s what I call a flag. Using 740 gallons of paint, Roni Pilo has painted a gigantic flag, almost an acre in size, on an Eilat hanger. The flag, painted in time for Israeli Independence Day, can be seen clearly from the Jordanian shore and cities across from the Gulf.
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