2013 is the time for some Clear Thinking
9/1/13
As the world begins another calendar year,
I urge all readers to try to open the minds of the international community to
the momentous work that Israel is doing.
Israelis certainly have been using their brains and also focusing on
making a clean start to 2013.
Beginning with the brain itself, the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, together with the Max Planck Society of Germany, is to
build a 3 million euro Brain Research Center
in the nation’s capital, Jerusalem.
When complete, it should initiate new treatments for destructive
neurological diseases. Even before the
new center is complete, Hebrew Uni researchers have discovered a
key protein, Calphotin, whose absence can cause Alzheimer’s. Calphotin
regulates the amount of Calcium contained in the body’s cells. Loss of Calphotin (e.g. due to aging) causes
Calcium levels to rise and accelerates cell death. Finally, a study by Israeli neurologist Dr. Rivka Inzelberg has
identified an interesting side effect of dopamine-stimulating medication to
control symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Patients have contracted artistic
or literary creative skills that they never had previously. Reducing the medication suppresses these new
skills.
Israel certainly does not discourage
individuals with brain disorders from coming to the Jewish State. 20 young North American Jews with Asperger’s
Syndrome have just experienced Israel together on a special
Taglit-Birthright tour. They also met
Israelis with Asperger’s at Shekel, an umbrella organization for Israelis with
special needs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je1PqPoIoKo&feature=player_embedded
(Shekel – 10min interview)
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem wants
all Israeli citizens to have the opportunity to expand their minds with a
higher education. It is therefore creating an access program for students
from minority backgrounds and has appointed Professor Nayef Jarrous as
its Minority Affairs Advisor.
At Intel’s Haifa centre, Israeli brains are
clearing the route for future technology by pioneering a unique “perceptual
computing” platform. Now they
are offering a $1 million prize to for developers to build applications that
will allow computers to anticipate the needs of their owners. Meanwhile, road users are already benefiting
from Israeli clear thinking. Ben Gurion
University researchers have analyzed data from Israeli GPS navigation
application “Waze “to highlight
traffic trouble spots where police can be deployed more
effectively. New technology is one of
the reasons why numbers of accidents
and fatalities on Israeli roads have reached a
50-year low.
It’s clearly time to move on to the subject
of Israel’s work in cleaning up the environment. Internationally, Israeli start-up Mapal Energy has completed a
project in Brazil
for purifying water in São Paulo.
Mapal’s units replaced the existing mechanical aerators, saving 50% of
the energy while maintaining the quality of the treated water. Meanwhile, the Israel-US fund for Research
and Development (BIRD) has just announced that it will be providing $9 million
for ten new infrastructure
projects that include water technologies and environmental
recycling.
Cleanliness begins at home, of course, so
it was good to read that the Israeli Government has increased the budget for rehabilitating
polluted rivers and streams.
Two of Israel’s municipalities are also chipping in. Be’er sheva has chosen trees over houses by
revoking plans to build 16,000 new housing units in the city's Ramot Gimel
neighborhood in favor of planting a new forest. The urban forest
will span across 1,360 acres and serve as the city’s green lung. In contrast, Netanya has combined nature
with urban priorities by clearing out 2.5 million cubic meters of garbage from a disused landfill
site. The result will be a
residential area for 2,062 families and 1,100 hotel rooms, whilst at the same
time extending Netanya’s famous iris nature reserve, thus enhancing the
beautiful seaside resort.
Returning to the topic of education, 2012
showed that increased government funding, longer staff hours and teachers for
specific subjects have led to encouraging academic results for Israel’s next
generation of clear thinkers.
Let’s also hope that the Jewish State continues to be blessed with educators
like Penny Ur from Moshav Amnon in the Galilee. Penny has just been awarded the Order of the
British Empire in the Queen’s New Year’s Honors List for her work promoting
English language-teaching methodologies.
Finally, Israeli clear thinker Yaakov Kirschen has
provided 40 years of profound satire and witty commentary on everyday
Israeli news and international events with his “Dry
Bones” cartoon. He has traveled
to the USA and the Far East, lecturing to the wider community and promoting the
Jewish State. He is now working on a
new project to educate the next
generation.
It shows that when it comes to making a
better future, Israelis clearly can
Think outside the box.
Michael Ordman writes a free weekly
newsletter containing Good News stories about Israel.
For a free subscription, email a request to
michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com
