Israel Sets the Pulses Racing
27/2/13
Life in the Jewish State is never boring,
and the activities of Israeli politicians can sometimes raise stress levels
significantly. But if you look beyond an all too frequent selection of
sensationalist negative news reports, an exciting and pulsating picture of
Israel’s achievements is revealed.
Israel’s goal as far as cancer is concerned
is to discover treatments that can maintain the pulse of the sufferer
indefinitely. A team of 11 scientists
from the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot has found a combination of two
antibodies to attack aggressive
breast cancer tumors, causing them to collapse and die. Another group of Weizmann Institute
scientists has developed a
microscopic device that is injected into your body to search for
genetic malfunctions in your cells. If
it finds any, it emits a
pulse of green light to highlight the diagnosis. The scientists are now
working on upgrading it to destroy the cancerous cells.
As blood pulses around the body, it carries
many vital biological organisms.
Weizmann Institute graduate Prof Jonathan Kipnis has discovered that the
immune
system’s T-cells not only fight infections but they also govern
intelligence. And another group of
Weizmann scientists has discovered a pseudo-education system in the colon. Newly arrived monocytes are taught how to
maintain a healthy balance in the gut by resident immune cells. But if you get
an infection or eat the wrong food, the
new pupils run wild! Finally,
your pulse may have started racing when you first met your life partner, but
Bar-Ilan University’s Psychology Professor Ruth Feldman found that the blood
hormone oxytocin is a major factor in keeping couples together.
The PA propaganda machine never fails to
rush to accuse Israel of all sorts of false crimes. But the reality is that IDF medics race to save the lives of
Arabs wherever called upon. As in the
case of the
Palestinian Arab motorcyclist who suffered severe abdominal bleeding in
a crash with a mini-bus near Shechem / Nablus.
Or the
seven Syrians wounded in battles between Syrian army forces and rebels
near the border with Israel. Even a terrorist
with the blood of 21 Israelis on his hands.
And the hope for the future is with Palestinian Arabs such as those
working for SodaStream.
Israel’s clean technology is racing ahead
of the competition. Israel’s Atlantium
is using pulses
of ultra-violet light to purify water. It renders germs harmless
without damaging equipment or generating high levels of ozone. Meanwhile South America and India are going
Blue thanks to Israel’s Blue I Technologies’ advanced water
controllers and analyzers. Israel is able to turn the arid wastes of
the Negev desert into fertile soil for agriculture. Or as Israeli President Shimon Peres said in the latest KKL-JNF
video “Israel
is contrary to nature”.
We return to fizzing SodaStream,
which was voted Israel’s
most innovative company just before Samsung announced that its Four
Door Refrigerator would incorporate a built-in SodaStream
carbonated water dispenser.
Users will be able to select up to three levels of carbonation for their
sparkling water. To quote a Samsung VP, “it brings a new experience to the
kitchen”. For those who like a stronger
beverage, however, Gush Etzion residents from Scotland and the United States
have teamed up to create Lone Tree Brewery, which works to make “the best beer
possible.”
Positive messages about Israel were racing across
the Internet following the visit to the Jewish State by six Serbian
bloggers. “If we could, we would stay
in Tel Aviv forever”, they posted. “The
people are wonderful, the food is outstanding, the views are splendid, the
soldiers walk around with big guns and huge smiles and they are much nicer than
our civil servants." Everyone can
get a buzz by supporting Israel during Buy Israel Week.
Finally, immense feelings of elation
accompanied a recent edition of the BBC’s longest-running radio show “Desert
Island Discs”. Non-Jewish Zionist writer Julie Burchill was invited to play the
eight records she would most like to listen to on a desert island. She chose “Hebrew Man” by Israel’s Ehud
Banai and the theme song from the movie “Exodus”. But I gave her a standing ovation when her top choice of the Israeli
National Anthem “Hatikvah” radiated over the airways.
Come back next week, to keep your finger
on the pulse.
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
