ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
China fast-tracks Israeli epilepsy treatment. Israel’s D-Pharm has obtained fast track status from China’s treatments’ administration (CFDA) for its epilepsy treatment, DP-VPA. D-Pharm is jointly developing the treatment in China with its local partner, Jiangsu NHWA. DP-VPA has completed a first Phase II clinical trial.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-china-fast-tracks-d-pharm-epilepsy-drug-1000944209
Israeli doctors save babies’ lives in Africa – with simple techniques. At the Toronto summit, “Saving Every Woman, Every Child Within Arm’s Reach,” Israel’s Dr. “Miki” Karplus described how Israeli doctors in Ghana get round the lack of expensive incubators. Also having only the mother handle the baby reduces infections.
http://www.cjnews.com/news/israel-leader-field-neonatology-says-israeli-expert#
Israeli is one of the first to get a “connected” pacemaker. Israel, France and Germany are the first countries to adopt the new German Biotronik Etrinsa HF-T pacemaker, which sends text messages to doctors about the status of the patient. Surgeons implanted the device into an Israeli patient at Ashkelon’s Barzilai hospital.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-patient-gets-new-connected-pacemaker/
Parkinson’s treatment passes safety trial. Israeli biotech Intec has announced that its Accordion Levodopa treatment for Parkinson’s disease has met all its safety trial endpoints. Phase 3 trials on Parkinson’s sufferers can now commence.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-intec-pharma-reports-safety-trial-success-1000946865
The “Trojan horse” of chemotherapy. (Thanks to NoCamels.com) Dr Yehuda Assaraf of Israel’s Technion has developed the “Pharmacological Trojan horse” strategy to evade cancer cells’ resistance to chemotherapy. Cancer’s “Achilles heel” is light, which destroys the cell membrane allowing anti-cancer enzymes to enter.
http://nocamels.com/2014/06/israeli-researchers-create-trojan-horse-of-chemotherapy/
Israeli doctors help Ethiopians smile. Two Israeli physicians from Haifa’s Rambam Medical center, Dr. Omri Emodi and Dr. Zach Sharony, were part of a 40-person Operation Smile delegation to Ethiopia. From dawn to dusk they performed 91 operations in 5 days to repair cleft lips and pallets and also trained local staff.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/181763#.U56rLUCKj2Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qhTrcQ0dtg
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Detecting contaminated high-voltage cables. (Thanks to Atid-EDI) Israel’s Metrycom provides a system – Metrysense – that monitors vital high-voltage grid lines for accumulation of dust and pollution that cause power supply failures. Electric companies incur huge cleaning costs and Metrysense identifies problem lines.
http://www.metrycom.com/iec-selects-metrycom-solution-for-additional-100km-grid-monitoring/
“Making” the next generation of the Start-up Nation. Joanna Shebson interviews Dotan Tamir, co-founder of Israel’s Big Idea Summer Camp. The camp teaches 12-15 year-olds new technologies, including programming, graphic design, film production, mobile app design, computer game development and more.
http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/start-up-nation-with-the-next-generation/
http://www.funinjerusalem.com/big-idea-camp/
UConn and Technion to swap energy students. Thanks to the Satell Family Foundation, the University of Connecticut will develop an exchange program with Israel’s Technion. Graduates will visit each other’s campuses to develop joint research, such as into fuel cells, solar power and large-scale batteries.
http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/20140610/NEWS01/140619986
New student village in Negev desert. Ben Gurion University’s new American Associates Village at Sede Boqer has been dedicated. The eco-friendly complex houses 150 extra international students. Previously, the International School for Desert Studies had to reject hundreds of candidates due to the housing shortage.
http://www.aabgu.org/media-center/bgu-making-a-difference/american-associates-village-dedicated.html
Teva receives cleantech presentations. Thanks to the Ministry of Economy’s Israel NewTech, ten Israeli clean technology companies presented to Israel’s Teva on how the biotech giant could save energy and water by implementing Israeli cleantech products and services. The initiative can open more markets to such companies.
http://israelnewtech.com/2014/06/israel-newtech-brings-cleantech-technologies-teva/
7th-graders make water-filtering breakthrough using tires. A group of 13-year-old students from the Harel School in Lod has made a unique breakthrough in water-filtering technology by using ground pieces of rubber made from scrap car and truck tires. It can be used as a water-filtering solution for developing countries.
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=18113
A remote-controlled paper plane. (Thanks to Nevet www.broaderview.org) Israeli Shai Goitein designed the PowerUp 3.0 – a tiny battery-powered propeller and rudder. Fold a paper plane, attach the propeller and you control the plane with your smartphone. Shai asked for $50,000 on kickstarter. He actually raised $1.2 million.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/paper-planes-transform-into-tiny-drones-1402280183
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9bpp7zmM_A&feature=kp http://www.poweruptoys.com/
Recharge your batteries with a coffee, tea or burger. Starbucks is installing Israeli-developed Powermats in USA coffee shops, for customers to charge compatible devices wirelessly. Rival chain Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf is running a Powermat pilot in Los Angeles and McDonald’s are experimenting with them in Manhattan.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/starbucks-puts-israeli-phone-charging-tech-in-shops/
(Thanks to Nevet – www.broaderview.org for the following videos.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l062kkocawE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXbI36WdM4A
Launch of students’ “rescue” micro-satellite. A tiny 840 grams satellite designed by a group of Israeli high school students at the Herzliya Science Center was successfully launched in Russia. Duchifat 1 is intended to orbit Earth every 90 mins for 20 years, assisting in locating lost travelers in areas with no cellphone reception.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/tiny-satellite-designed-by-israeli-students-preps-for-launch/
http://www.jpost.com/Enviro-Tech/Smallest-Israeli-nano-satellite-set-to-launch-tonight-359845