31/1/13
I had to laugh when the UN General
Secretary blamed Israel for the stagnation
of the Arab nations. The Jewish
State hasn’t been able to sit still for a moment in its 64 years of existence
due to continual physical and political attacks from its neighbors. Maybe it is all this pressure that has put
Israel at the front of the technological race to build a better world.
Runners know the importance of oxygen both
in training and in competition. Dr. Shai
Efrati, of Tel Aviv University is at the forefront of research into its
use for the treatment of stroke victims.
His studies showed that even those treated 3 years after their strokes
showed significantly increased
neuronal activity following a two-month course of hyperbaric oxygen
therapy (HBOT).
A 47-year-old Slovenian former athlete was
immobilized when his knee cartilage was damaged due to a volleyball injury over
seven years ago. Thanks to the Agili-C
implant from Israel’s CartiHeal his cartilage has been
regenerated. A year after his surgery, he completed a 180 km cycling
marathon.
Stem cells have unique reproductive,
renewal, and regenerative
capabilities for organs. So it
was good to hear that the British Israel Research and Academic Exchange
Partnership (BIRAX) will grant NIS 25 million over five years for seven joint
Israel-UK stem cell research programs.
Good news for US doctors who want a fast track
entrance to the Israeli profession.
Now physicians who have passed American MD exams (USMLE) in the past ten
years, and who want to settle and work in Israel, will receive exemption from
the local licensing exam. This is the
first time that Israeli health authorities have accepted foreign test results
for an MD license. There are plenty of
fertile prospects for those making a new life in the Jewish State. Britain’s “father of fertility” Lord
Professor Robert Winston gave a keynote lecture at Haifa University’s January
conference on regenerative
medicine. The conference
coincided with news that the IMSI fertility
treatment developed by Benjamin Bartoov of Israel’s Bar-Ilan
University, is bringing a hope to childless couples in India’s capital city.
When children suffer from the genetic brain
disease Peripheral neuropathy they
do not move at all. Now,
following a breakthrough by Doctors at Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem, three
infants previously paralyzed by the disease are already showing signs of
improvement. Meanwhile, researchers at
Israel’s Schneider Children's hospital and in Germany have identified mutations
in genes EIF2S3 and UBE3B as responsible for the development of genetic
mental retardation. The
discovery may not help existing sufferers, but it certainly improves pre-natal
diagnostics tools for prevention of genetic diseases.
When humans want to really travel at
speed, they use vehicles such as the Chevy
Corvette C7 Stingray with Israeli-built body panels as featured in last
week’s blog. But some of us would be
quite happy to nip in
and out of town in the all-electric
Renault Twizy that the Israeli city of Kfar Saba is about to trial.
Top of the range automobiles built by
China’s car-giant BYD will be equipped with entertainment
systems powered by Multimedia Broadcasting receiver chipsets from
Israel’s Siano. And if any of these
aforementioned vehicles should get stuck in this winter’s snow and ice, they
can install Israel Zahavi’s “Power
Wheel” – a removable disc that fits on the hub of the vehicle’s tires.
Inside are twenty metal bars that can be manually or automatically telescoped
out beyond the circumference of the tire to raise the vehicle slightly and grip
the road.
Sometimes events happen so fast that you
can only see what has happened on camera.
Fortunately, Israeli
technology leads the way in this arena. Project “Safe City Surat” will install over 5000 security cameras
plus
software from Israel’s Verint, to monitor traffic and crime in India’s
eighth largest city. You can even fit
Israeli security systems inside your own home. Israeli WiFi chip
manufacturer Celeno has teamed up with Quanto – the world’s largest
notebook manufacturer – to build a wireless IP camera network
for security and home monitoring. But
just take a look at the future for 3D movement sensing technology as
demonstrated by Israel’s PrimeSense, responsible for the success of Microsoft’s
Kinetic.
There are still some opportunities to take
a few moments rest in these high-speed times.
The "Lonely Planet" travel guide ranks Tel
Aviv's beach as the seventh best in the world. Or you could explore the upcoming Herod
exhibition at the Israel museum. But if you want the ultimate in relaxation
devices, Israel’s Silentium can eliminate noise and create a “bubble” of silence at home,
office or in public places.
Finally, they may have thought that the
world had passed them by, but sixty years after Operation “Magic Carpet” the
last remnants
of the Jewish community of Yemen are making their way home to the
Jewish State. They sure have some
catching up to do.
For all those who want to
progress, Israel has arrived just in time.
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
