GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL BY MICHAEL ORDMAN
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Building muscle after hip replacement. Israel’s Pluristem Therapeutics has announced that the improvement in muscle force of hip-replacement patients treated with its PLX-PAD cells was 40-times better than those who received a placebo.
The tiniest pump for diabetes and Parkinson’s. (Thanks to Israel21c) Israel’s TouchéMedical is developing the world’s smallest, cheapest and smartest patch pump, for patients of all ages with diabetes, Parkinson’s and other chronic conditions.
Making it easier to remember your meds. Israel’s MediSafe is opening an office in Boston. It will help market MediSafe’s medication reminder app, which up to now has been promoted mainly by world of mouth. Despite this, the app has been downloaded 1.3 million times and is used regularly by hundreds of thousands.
http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/startups/2015/01/israeli-startup-medisafe-raises-6m-for-move-to.html?page=all https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seE6rCZGm2Q
“MEDinISRAEL – The heartbeat of Medical Innovation.” Representatives from 60 countries will attend Israel’s MEDinISRAEL conference from 23-26 March. They will join 120 Israeli medical device companies and biotechs to discuss and demonstrate Israel’s latest developments in medical innovation.
Two Israeli-Arabs develop app to treat ADHD. Aziz Kaddan and Anas Abu Mukh began degree courses at Haifa University when they were 16 years old. They were just 19 when they thought up Myndlift – an app that teaches ADHD children and adults to concentrate by using their brainwaves to display a bright image.
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Israel’s “Lego man” tells of Ezer Mizion’s kids. Maor Cohen is known in Israel as the Lego man. Three years ago Maor went to Israeli cancer charity Ezer Mizion to donate some Lego to young cancer sufferers. But seeing children with sick parents reminded him of his early life. So Maor stayed, and the Lego sets just grew.
Female cancer survivor becomes IDF officer. Rotem Chiprut made aliya and joined the IDF as a lone soldier, only to discover she had cancerous cells in her thyroid gland. Following surgery and treatment she completed her officer’s training and has now been promoted to 2nd lieutenant.
Give your heart out. 90% of jewelry manufacturer YVEL’s employees arrived in Israel from 20 countries. YVEL also trains Ethiopian Jews in all jewelry crafts. It is now supporting the latest campaign by Israel’s Save A Child’s Heart (SACH) to raise funds for performing free heart surgery to children from developing countries.
Haiti – five years on. (Thanks to Israel21c) Five years after the devastating earthquake, Israel has not abandoned its work in Haiti. Humanitarian organization IsraAID is running a medical facility, an agriculture program, a youth empowerment center and a gender violence prevention program for Haitian women.
Clean water for Tanzanian school. Students from Tel Aviv University have built a 48,000-liter rainwater harvesting and advanced filtration system that provides 400 school kids and staff at Nkaiti Secondary School in Minjingu, Tanzania with safe drinking water. It will stop the children growing up with skeletal deformities.
Solar energy to Rwanda. Israelis have helped install the largest solar field in East Africa. Gigawatt Global, with its Israeli R&D center Energiya Global, has built an 8.5 Megawatt facility in Kigali, Rwanda, at the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, a kibbutz-style orphanage for victims of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Detecting cancer with the SniffPhone. The NaNose cancer breathalyzer technology developed by Professor Hossam Haick of Israel’s Technion will soon be installed in a mobile phone – to be called, appropriately, the SniffPhone. Using a tiny smell-sensitive sensor, the phone will be able to detect cancer on a users’ breath.
Music Messenger is an instant hit. Israelis invented the first instant messaging system ICQ. Now the Israeli startup Music Messenger allows friends to send music to each other. Recent investors include some major players and celebrities from the music industry, some who have never before worked with an Israeli company.
How the Cornell Technion is developing. Whilst the new 2 million-square-foot Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island is being constructed, its 2nd semester is underway in temporary offices provided by Google. Graduates from the two-year program will receive dual degrees from the New York and Israeli schools.
Israel is one of world’s most innovative countries. (Thanks to Michelle) Depending on which report you read, Israeli innovation is rated 3rd in the world by the World Economic Forum and 5th by Bloomberg.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Microsoft’s graduate startups. (Thanks to Michelle) 11 startups graduated from the Microsoft Ventures cybersecurity and medical accelerator program in Herzliya.
IBM’s graduate startups. IBM’s Alpha Zone accelerator for start-ups has just held its first graduation ceremony. The five startups had 24 weeks of access to IBM professionals to help them to “go global”. One startup, EGM, has developed a smart meter that IBM will be selling around the world.
Connecting Israel to Asia. (Thanks to Michelle) Startup East is the first Israeli – Asian accelerator aiming to connect startups in Israel and East Asia. In addition, it is launching a startup adventure Boot Camp program in Israel for Asian entrepreneurs, students and graduates.
Don’t leave the site. Jerusalem-based startup Curiyo subtly persuades users to stay on a particular website. It places links to text on a site that tempts the user to click in order to discover useful information. But those links don’t take the user to an external site. Curiyo has just raised $1 million of new funding.
Find out if your website really “clicks”. Israel’s ClickTale provides companies with analyses of the success (or otherwise) of their websites. It shows how users behave when they use the site – does it generate enough business? ClickTale has just raised $35 million of new funding.
Samsung invested in 8 Israeli startups in 2014. Korean giant Samsung’s revenue from TVs last year was little changed from 2013. That’s why it is seeking Israeli startups – in order to explore new business areas.
Intel buys German company and gets more Israeli developers. Intel’s 10,000 Israeli employees will be joined by 100 staff from the Israeli development center of Germany’s Lantiq. Intel acquired Lantiq, which previously bought Israel’s Matalink – a developer of wireless communications solutions.
New factory in China’s Israeli “silicon valley”. Israeli automotive electronics company Taditel has established a new production plant in China. The plant is located in the CI3 industrial incubator initiative in Changzhou, Wujin Economic Zone (WEZ).
Israel – the bridge for China’s “Silk Road”. This article focuses on Israel’s pivotal role in providing China with outlets to both the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.
http://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/chinas-emergence-middle-eastern-power-israels-opportunity/
Two fruitful acquisitions. Appropriately, on the Jewish New Year for trees, Israel’s Fruitarom announced it was buying two foreign companies. Spain’s Ingrenat produces natural plant extracts. The UK’s FoodBlenders manufactures savory solutions for the food industry.
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
By the rivers of Babylon. Jerusalem’s Bible Lands Museum is exhibiting a never-before showcased collection of one hundred 2500-year-old clay tablets, detailing the life of Jews exiled from Judea by the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE. The Al-Yahudu tablets even contain the family name Natanyahu.
Raise your glasses at kosher wine festival. The fourth annual Jerusalem Kosher Wine Festival takes place on 11-12 Feb. More than 40 wineries will be exhibiting their products at the International Convention Center. In addition, some of Israel’s top chefs will be giving sessions on cooking with kosher wine.
Enjoy the Winter Noise. (Thanks to Janglo) Jerusalem’s Shaon Horef is a series of Monday night (loud) music events throughout February. Wander into the Machane Yehuda market to hear what’s happening.
Or the Jewish “Voice”. (Thanks to Janglo) The new TV series, Hakol Haba (The Next Voice) is a religious version of “The Voice” or “A Star is Born” (Kohav Nolad).
THE JEWISH STATE
Wounded Israelis learn to ski. The initiative of Mendel Mintz, the Chabad rabbi of Aspen, Colorado, has setup Golshim L’Chaim-Ski to Live. The program brings wounded Israeli veterans and victims of terrorism to Aspen to learn how to ski – and boost their spirits.
1000 Israeli kids pick excess fruit for Tu’Bishvat. On 4th Feb, in honor of Tu B’Shevat, the Jewish holiday that marks the new year for trees, thousands of Israeli youths volunteered with Leket Israel’s Project Citrus Rescue by picking excess fruit remaining on trees in people’s private gardens, in order to donate it to the poor.
The Arabs who support Israel, and why. Great articles by Fred Maroun – an Arab Canadian. Included is a long list of other Arabs, non-Arab Muslims and former Muslims who also support the democratic Jewish State.
http://fredmaroun.blogspot.co.il/2014/08/my-support-for-israel.html http://fredmaroun.blogspot.co.il/
Miracle baby for Ethiopian immigrant. Following years of struggling to conceive, a 56-year-old Kiryat Malachi woman gave birth to her first child, a healthy boy. Tami came on Aliya from Ethiopia during Operation Solomon in 1991. She has nine brothers and always dreamed of having her own child.
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