GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL: MICHAEL ORDMAN
http://www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com/
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Israeli robotic spine surgery in the USA. Israel’s Mazor Robotics has just sold its 18th Renaissance robotic spinal surgical guidance system in the US – this time to the Parker Adventist Hospital in Denver. Parker is a Blue Distinction Center for Spine Surgery, so the latest sale is especially prestigious.
NeuroTech – the next big “thing”. Leading scientists from academia and industry gathered at the US-Israel Neurotechnology and Neuroscience Conference in Washington to showcase the latest research and cutting edge technologies in the US and Israel for investigating brain function and brain disorders.
Neurofeedback – treating ADD/ADHT kids. BrainGames- Israel monitors a child’s brainwaves whilst they play a computer game or watch a film. If the child’s attention begins to wander, the game or film changes, stops or slows. Focussing the mind continues the action / activity and thus conditions the child’s brain.
Human trials for Israeli Alzheimer’s treatment. (Thanks to Nocamels.) Ladostigil, from Israel’s Avraham Pharmaceuticals, relieves behavioural and psychological symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. In lab animals, the medication also slows the progression of symptoms and prolongs life. Results of human trials are due end 2012.
Million-dollar brain prize. The organisation Israel Brain Technologies (IBT) is offering a $1 million to anyone who can come up with a breakthrough brain technology, one that will make life better for everyone. It is aptly named the Global B.R.A.I.N. (Breakthrough Research And Innovation in Neurotechnology) Prize.
Hold onto those tonsils. A team of researchers at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba has discovered that Montelukast, an anti-inflammatory drug used for the treatment of asthma, helped open the closed airways caused by enlarged tonsils. It is an alternative to a major surgical operation for children.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Electricity from waste. Israel’s Even Yehuda-based Blue Sphere is to manage two US projects for producing electricity from biogas – methane originating from organic waste. Germany’s Biogas Nord will provide the equipment. A further eight similar US projects are in Blue Sphere’s pipeline.
Nice prize for NICE Systems. Israeli hi-tech company NICE won the award for Ingenuity in Language Technology, at the 2012 LT-Innovate Summit in Brussels. NICE’s semantic inference platform interprets and links the meaning of phrases used by customers whether through speech, email or social media.
Israeli cameras in orbit. Israel’s Medigus will supply its miniature video cameras and video processing equipment for NASA’s Robotic Refuelling Mission. In 2013, NASA intends to send a robot to the International Space Station equipped with a 0.99-millimeter camera, which Medigus says is the smallest in the world.
Smart communications for 1WTC. The Israeli company Techmer will deploy its smart communication systems at One World Trade Center (1 WTC), the lead building of the new World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The technology will work during power outages and extreme conditions.
Make your TV recognise your hand signals. (Thanks to NoCamels) Israeli company eyeSight has joined up with Korean company Innodigital to produce a TV set-top box that turns any television set into a gesture-controlled smart TV. The product, called nTobeBox, will use a simple 2D camera.
Night of the scientists. On 24th September, twelve top Israeli academic institutions will hold an open evening showcasing Computer Science to mark the centenary of birth of Alan Turing, the “father of the computer era”. The public can meet scientists, tour laboratories, experience workshops and hear lectures and presentations.
App to add new contacts. (Thanks to NoCamels) An Israeli application, called Ringya, allows you to photograph and upload lists of contact addresses to your iPhone. It even recognises scrappy handwritten addresses, business cards etc.
On the crest of a wave. (Thanks to Israel21c) Prof. George Weiss, of Tel Aviv University has created a computer algorithm, which could substantially improve the functioning of wave energy converters used in producing electrical energy from ocean waves.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Economy improves. The reason I didn’t publicise last month’s announcement that Israel’s 2nd quarter GDP growth was a healthy 3.2% was because I didn’t trust the early figures. That will teach me – the Central Bureau of Statistics has more up-to-date information and revised up growth for the quarter to 3.4%.
Huge jump in new start-ups. 199 new Israeli start-ups were founded in the second quarter of 2012 compared to 114 in each of the previous two quarters. The majority of the increase was in the number of Internet companies (102 compared to 53 and 63 in each of the previous two quarters).
Israel innovates in commerce. Speaking at the HTIA2012 hi-tech conference in Jerusalem, eBay CEO John Donahoe said that the Israel R&D centers of the E-commerce giant and its subsidiary PayPal will continue to help drive the company’s innovation in commerce and payment in the foreseeable future.
India and Israel make fashionable agreement. Following the Textile and Apparel Show in Israel, India and Israel signed a Memorandum of Understanding to expand business and cooperation in the sphere of clothing & fashion industries, innovative technologies and possible solutions for the textile industry.
From little seeds….. Hishtil Nurseries, based at Moshav Nehalim near Petah Tikva, exports its specially grafted vegetable seedlings all over the world, including South Africa and Turkey –countries that don’t have great relations with the Jewish State. Hishtil’s seeds provide greater yields and are environmentally friendly.
Milking it in Belarus. Israel’s AfiMilk has won a large order from Belarus for its advanced milking parlours. Upgrading the Eastern European country’s milking system will save its milk industry, which has just suffered a huge blow by a ban on the import of Belarusian dairy products by the Russian government.
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