In the 19th Aug 18 edition of Israel’s
good news, the highlights include:
·
Israeli
scientists have discovered that Nitrogen can highlight early cancers.
·
Israeli
hospitals are experiencing a record number of births.
·
A new
experience in a Tel Aviv street publicizes Israel’s democratic character.
·
Israeli
scientists are using jellyfish to filter plastic from the ocean.
·
Two Israeli
startups can make protein from chickpeas and print vegan steaks.
·
Two
positive BBC programs featured Israeli hi-tech.
·
Two
Israeli Paralympic swimmers are European champions.
·
In the
latest Nefesh b’Nefesh flight were 27 medics and 3 sets of twins.
·
Click here
to see the 12th Aug newsletter on IsraelSeen,
Ruthfully
Yours, Janglo,
and United
With Israel, with extra features on Health,
Global
impact and Business.
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And new (TY Zachy) the 5th Aug
and 12 Aug
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·
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ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Nitrogen test for
early cancer diagnosis. Researchers at Israel’s
Weizmann Institute have discovered that in many cancers, the body’s mechanism
for producing nitrogen is disrupted so that the tumors can grow faster. These
mutations can be detected early on, by analysis of the body’s urea cycle.
Link between
near drowning and kidney failure. Rambam Hospital doctors
have discovered acute kidney injury (AKI) to be a common complication of
near-drownings. Of 95 Rambam patients who nearly drowned between 2000 and 2017,
45% developed AKI. The reason is lack of oxygen and potassium, high blood sugar
and constricted kidney blood vessels. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/250572
A revolution
in blood testing.
This Israel21c article features three Israeli startups that are working on
instant diagnosis of viruses and bacteria. I already featured Sight Diagnostics
(see here) and Efa (see
here). Sonorapy has developed a sensor to identify each pathogen from the
unique acoustics it emits in response to soundwaves.
Freezing
tumors to be performed in Israel. (TY Hazel) I’ve
reported previously (see here)
on Israel’s IceCure Medical and its technology for freezing and destroying
tumors. Now Haifa’s Elisha Medical Center is the first Israeli hospital to
offer IceCure’s treatment for malignant kidney tumors and benign breast tumors.
Find a local
doctor while overseas. If sick while on vacation in
Europe and the Americas, Israeli startup Air Doctor Ltd will locate pre-vetted
doctors that provide services to tourists. Air Doctor’s web interface and app will
find and book appointments with relevant local general physicians, pediatricians,
gynecologists etc.
New immigrant
medics are eager to contribute. In the latest
Nefesh b’Nefesh flight there were 27 US
and Canadian medical professionals (doctors, nurses, paramedics etc.) who want
to get to work as soon as possible. Meanwhile, top liver transplant surgeon Daniel
Azoulay has left Paris to join the staff of Sheba Medical Center.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-newest-doctors-hope-to-make-an-impact-on-overburdened-medical-system/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/top-liver-transplant-surgeon-immigrates-to-israel/
Trust your gut
to manage your health. Israeli gut microbiome
analysis startup DayTwo Ltd. has partnered with Clalit, one of Israel’s four
health care providers. Clalit will offer its members DNA analysis of their gut
microbiome and provide personalized nutritional insights based on DayTwo’s
technology.
Burning fat or
carbs? (TY Calcalistec)
Israeli startup Metaflow’s Lumen is a respiratory metabolism tracking device that
determines whether you are burning fat or carbohydrates. An AI-based app then provides
nutrition and fitness advice based on the test's results and personal goals.
Lumen has raised $1.4 million on Indiegogo.
Record numbers of
births. Israeli
hospitals reported record numbers of new babies in July, always the busiest
month. The 1,518 deliveries at Soroka in
Beersheva was 10% higher than last July’s record. Tel Aviv’s Ichilov recorded
1,014 births - 10% more than average. Israel’s 3.11 births per mother is the
highest in the OECD.
I don’t know
how, but she swallowed the nail. Doctors at Baruch Padeh Medical Center near
Tiberias removed a 2-inch long (5cm) nail from the small intestine of an
8-year-old Arab girl. She had been using her teeth to pull the nail out of a
plastic bottle and when it emerged, she accidentally swallowed it.
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Summer camp for special needs. Israeli charity Ezer Mizion runs a summer camp at Moshav Nechalim
for 300 special needs children and young adults. Each camper has a personal
counselor, a yeshiva student who decided to volunteer in this summer camp
instead of spending vacation time with his friends.
Imparting skills to underprivileged
teens.
Israeli NGO Unistream runs a multi-year program and an annual
competition to give entrepreneurship and leadership skills to 4,000 underprivileged
teens. This year’s winners developed an allergen detector, an app to recommend
charities and a clothing line for special needs children.
Democracy Pavilion. Tel Aviv’s new Democracy
Pavilion, on Rothschild Boulevard, is an exciting and rich multimedia
experience which brings awareness to Israel’s core values of equality, freedom,
and diversity. The exhibition is a part of the Independence Trail (see
here) which can be followed using an interactive mobile app.
Israeli homes for disabled and Bedouin. Israel has approved the
construction of several new towns in the Negev and Galilee geared to serve the
Bedouin and disabled populations. Shibolet, in the southern Galilee, will have
a total of 350 units. 500 units will be built at Daniel in the south. 20% are
for people with disabilities.
A closer look at Operation Good Neighbor. Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war, Israel has treated
about 5000 patients from Syria -both adults and children. The army coordinates
their transport, usually at night, to Israeli hospitals mostly in northern
Israel.
Two Israeli universities in top 100. In the 2018 Academic Ranking
of World Universities (ARWU), Israel’s Technion was ranked at number 77, up
from 93 last year. The Hebrew University
of Jerusalem moved into the top 100 at number 95 after being in the 101 – 150
section last year.
Partnering to ease African poverty. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and Israel’s
Ministry of the Economy are working together to alleviate poverty among
Africa’s smallholder farmers. They will leverage Israeli agricultural
technology as part of JDC’s new Tikkun Olam Ventures (TOV) program.
https://www.jns.org/jewish-aid-group-and-israel-team-up-to-alleviate-african-poverty-through-agtech/
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
$1.8 billion campaign for global
innovation. Israel’s Technion Institute has launched
a global $1.8 billion, ten-year fundraising campaign. The campaign has already
raised 40% of the required funds that will be used to support world-changing,
life-saving innovation. https://www.youtube.com/embed/Kvf85BSOXnQ?rel=0
$123 million for research universities. Israel’s Council for Higher Education has approved an investment of
$123 million (NIS 458 million) over 5 years to fortify research programs in
Israeli universities. It is 83% more than that invested in the last 5-year
plan. 90% of the funds will be used for lab equipment.
$24 million to strengthen cyber
security. Israel has launched a 3-year NIS 90
million dedicated program to strengthen Israel’s cyber industry. Its aim is to ensure
that Israel continues to meet the cyber sector’s biggest challenges, secures its
place at the forefront of innovation, and bolsters its global leadership in the
industry.
Turning jellyfish into
plastic filters.
I reported previously (see
here) on Israelis making use of jellyfish. Now, scientists at the
University of Haifa are developing a filter made of jellyfish mucus to isolate
microplastics in the oceans. The research is part of the International Go Jelly
project, funded by the EU Horizon 2020 program.
Clean technologies for a better
environment.
This video summarizes Israel’s work in water recycling, solar energy, wind
energy and other alternative energies. More than 400 Israeli companies
specialize in developing sustainable technologies. https://www.youtube.com/embed/MwQiJ83Kv3g?rel=0
Cybersecurity wherever you work. More and more employees are working away from their main offices.
So, the security of their data and devices needs to move with them. Israeli startup Meta Networks has implemented
a cloud-based solution which protects the employee (and the company) anytime,
anyplace.
Get connected like never before. You have HDMI for your TV, Internet, video, audio, and cables all
over your house. With the HDBaseT tester from Israel’s MSolutions, the
installer connects everything in every room with just a flick of a switch. https://www.youtube.com/embed/8SifyYhv9ng?rel=0
https://www.m4sol.com/
Keeping pizza fresh for 8 weeks. Israel-based startup Timeless Foods makes firm disposable plastic
containers for vacuum packaging delicate foods. It means manufacturers can vacuum
seal delicate foods and produce, thus significantly prolonging their shelf life.
Pizza, for example, stays fresh for up to 8 weeks without freezing.
Alternative protein
sources.
Israel’s InnovoPro is developing a technology for extracting
concentrated protein from chickpeas. InnovoPro
is one of the two winning start-ups in the 2018 Calcalist FoodTech competition.
3D-printed vegan
steaks. Tel Aviv-based startup Jet-Eat develops 3D
printing technologies for vegan meat substitutes. The printed meat substitute
is designed to emulate the appearance, texture and taste of beef and can be
cooked like beef. Jet-Eat was a finalist in the 2018 Calcalist FoodTech
competition.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
17 trillion shekels. As he opened trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) last
week, Israel’s Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon revealed that the State of Israel would
be worth NIS 17,638,763,277,054 if it floated on the TASE. This was according
to the latest methodology used by the World Bank in a survey of 140 countries.
Indonesia selects Israel transportation
app. (TY Tower)
The Asian Games (Aug 18 – Sep 2) doesn’t allow Israeli athletes to compete, but
the host country Indonesia has chosen Israel’s Moovit as the games’ official
mobility app. Moovit is the world’s most downloaded transit app with over 200
million users in 82 countries.
BBC admits Israel is
creating UK jobs. (TY WIN)
What a contrast to the BBC’s normal biased anti-Israel reporting. BBC World’s “Talking Business” program
included this feature by Jonathan Josephs. It highlights the UK-Israel Tech Hub
as the ideal model to expand UK hi-tech business and create jobs post Brexit.
BBC “dragon” funds
Israeli startup.
Israelis Yosi Romano and Ziv Leinwand went on the BBC’s “Dragon’s Den” program,
winning a £125,000 investment from star “dragon” Touker Suleyman. Their device
protects babies from pollution, sucking in air, cleaning it and blowing it into
the child’s breathing space in its pram.
El Al buys 16 Dreamliners. El Al has purchased 16 Dreamliners (Boeing 787s) in a $1.2 billion
deal, which will gradually replace older Boeing 747 and 767 planes. El Al
received its 6th Dreamliner in a ceremony with the PM’s wife Sara Netanyahu who
dressed as an El Al flight attendant - one of her previous jobs.
More Israeli hostels. Good news for
backpackers. Latin American hostel and
co-working company Selina and Israel’s Ampa Real Estate have been scouting
locations in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and the southern Negev desert. Selina
intends to open several hostels with a combined capacity of 5,000-7,000 beds
within five years.
Warren Buffet buys more Teva shares. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has upped its stake in
Israeli biotech Teva by another 6.7%. Berkshire Hathaway now owns nearly $1
billion of Teva shares.
Visa invests in Israeli Fintech startup. I reported previously (Feb
2017) on Israel’s Behalf which provides short-term loans having used
hi-tech to decide on a company’s risk profile. Now financial giant Visa is
partnering Behalf to “support small business growth”. Behalf’s clients receive a tokenized Visa
Virtual Card.
Gett generates $1 billion of revenue. Israel’s Gett makes 100 million rides a year, mostly with its
London and NYC taxis. This generates around $1 billion in mobility services,
according to Stockholm-listed venture capital firm Vostok New Ventures Ltd in
its latest financial report.
Bringing Hungarians and Bulgarians to
Eilat. Low
cost Hungarian airline Wizz Air is commencing twice-weekly flights from
November between Eilat and both Budapest and Sofia. Wizz already operates services from Eilat to London,
Vienna, Bucharest, Riga, and Warsaw.
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
Annual stork migration begins. The annual migration of the
storks has started in Israel. Thousands of storks were spotted flying over the
Rotem Plain in southern Israel, according to the Society for the Protection of
Nature in Israel (SPNI). (No connection with the large numbers of Israeli births
last month!)
Colombian Superstar Carlos Vives performs
in Israel. Award-winning Colombian musician Carlos
Vives held a successful concert in Tel Aviv. He tweeted, “Thanks Tel Aviv! It
has been a very special night! What an incredible concert, we are very happy to
have been here with you to share and learn from here a little more!”
Michael Jackson is to tour Israel. Well, not the superstar himself, obviously, but the “I Am King”
tribute to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, is landing in Israel for 20
spectacular dates in 2019. Performances begin in Herzliya on Jan 19 and end in
Haifa on Feb 20. Catch it in Tel Aviv on Feb 14 and Jerusalem on Feb 16.
Travel magazine awards for 3 Israeli
locations. Travel + Leisure magazine’s 2018 World’s
Best Awards included Jerusalem (3rd place) and Tel Aviv (4th) in the “5 best
cities in Africa and the Middle East” category. The Beresheet in Mitzpe Ramon
came 3rd in the “Top Resort Hotels in Africa and the Middle East” category.
http://nocamels.com/2018/08/tel-aviv-jerusalem-desert-resort-top-travelleisure-magazines-2018-worlds-best-awards/
https://www.youtube.com/embed/5gyW3JkOgw8?rel=0
Dog TV is now on satellite. I reported previously (see here) about Israel’s
Dog TV channel that allows dog owners to leave their pets home alone but
happy. Dog TV is now available on
U.S.-based satellite broadcast provider Dish Network Corporation. It is already
on Comcast’s cable Xfinity and AT&T’s DirecTV.
Israel to host Euro Championships of
Flag Football. Israel has been chosen to host the
European Championships of flag football next year in Jerusalem. The tournament
will feature both men’s and women’s competitions and is currently scheduled for
June 2019. http://www.jewishpress.com/news/israel/big-sports-news-israel-chosen-to-host-the-european-championships-of-flag-football-next-year-in-jerusalem/2018/08/16/
Para-Euro swimming
champions. Israeli swimmers won two gold medals in
the European Paralympic championship held in Dublin, Ireland. Inbal Pezaro, 31,
won the women’s 200-meter freestyle final and Ami Dadaon, 17, won the men’s 100m
freestyle. Both are members of the ILAN Haifa swimming club.
Medals for windsurfers. (TY Nevet) Israelis Eyal
Zror and Liam Segey came 1st and 2nd in the men’s U17 category at the 2018 RS:X
Windsurfing Youth World Championships in France. Israelis Naama Gazit and Linoy
Geva won silver and bronze in the main women’s event. Geva came 1st in the
women’s U17 category.
THE JEWISH STATE
239
new immigrants fly in. The 15th Aug Nefesh b’Nefesh
flight contained 239 new Olim from 24 US states and 3 Canadian provinces. They included
57 lone soldiers, 27 medics and 90 children including 3 sets of twins.
When
Ray Charles met David Ben Gurion. I just read about world-renowned singer/songwriter Ray Charles’ support
for the Jewish State. In 1972 he visited David Ben Gurion, Israel’s first prime
minister, during his 86th birthday celebrations at Kibbutz Sde Boker. “Israel
is one of the few causes I feel good about supporting,” Ray Charles said in
1976. https://unitedwithisrael.org/watch-when-ray-charles-met-israels-first-prime-minister/
Jerusalem
festival re-enacts Jewish history. (TY WIN)
The Kings Valley Festival in the Kidron valley celebrates Jerusalem's history,
offering family workshops and a chance to see what daily life was like in the
ancient city during ancient times. https://www.youtube.com/embed/fqVirXKji4o?rel=0
