The excitement of
living in the Start-up Nation can be electric.
You can often feel the buzz from highly charged Israeli entrepreneurs
developing their latest wired and wireless innovative products. You never know, until the last moment, what
new life-changing Israeli devices and discoveries are going to be announced.
This week I wanted to share some of the latest news that is literally coming
over the wire almost every day in the Jewish State.
Regular readers of
this blog know that I like to begin with medical news items. Acwire from Israel’s
MediValve is a unique
guide-wire tool that has just received European
and FDA approval. It helps cardiologists perform the extremely
difficult task of implanting heart valves at the exact required spot, thus
saving thousands of lives. In the US, 60,000 deaths from pressure ulcers
(bedsores) can also be prevented if more hospitals follow
the lead of those installing the MAP (Monitor
Alert Protect) system from Israel’s Wellsense. A pressure-sensing mat
alerts nurses to reposition patients regularly.
The wiring of the brain is still a mystery.
But as Dr Ofer Yizhar of Israel’s Weizmann Institute explains,
the new neuroscience of optogenetics examines light-specific activation or
suppression of neurons in the brain. It could help us understand memory problems,
schizophrenia and autism. Moving
further down the body, the Israel transplant center has announced that over 200
patients no longer need to be wired
up to dialysis machines thanks to kidney transplants. Last year 90,000 Israelis signed new ADI organ donor cards,
bringing the total of registered holders to 787,087.
They say that all
successful entrepreneurs started small.
So it is handy that Yissum, the Research and
Development Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has developed
micro-sized electrical
circuit wiring from low-cost oxidation-resistant copper nano-inks. They replace the expensive silver inks that
make up circuits in RFID-tags, solar cells, sensors and electrodes for
displays. While we are talking small,
Tel Aviv hosts NanoIsrael
2014, the fourth bi-annual conference & exhibition in March. Over 1,200 nano-tech professionals are
attending from over 36 countries. The exciting
possibilities include ultra tiny storage systems, contact lens sensors for
diabetics, protective clothing, water purification, renewable energy
and super-fast computers.
We now travel on the high wire from the
micro to the macro. Forty students at Herzliya High School have built a
low-cost micro-satellite
to be launched by Russia in April. The
10cm cube will circle the Earth every 90 minutes and form part of a network of
international satellites designed to provide a cell phone lifeline to travelers
in remote areas. Back in civilization, Israeli
start-up Glove has an app to help mobile phone users select the network
provider with the consistently best reception.
Israeli technology is hard-wired into the
core of most of today’s computers and mobile hardware. Indeed it seems to be chips with everything,
what with Israel’s Altair Semiconductor installing its 4G communications
chipset in the new Google/HP
Chromebooks. The 4G chips
access the Internet at ten times the speed of 3G chips. You can even put a microchip from an Israeli
start-up called Oggii on
your dog to check if it’s healthy. Or you can boost the Wi-Fi signal to
any laptop, tablet or smartphone with the unique “implicit
beamforming” technology from Israel’s Wi-Fi chip manufacturer Celeno.
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems will
definitely be beaming if its new Iron
Beam system performs well at next month's Singapore Air Show. Iron
Beam’s high-energy laser based air-defense system complements Iron Dome by
intercepting very short-range rockets, mortar, and airborne target
attacks. Meanwhile, the UK’s Economist
magazine gave rare praise to the Israeli whose research led to a radar system
that helps
avoid collisions – between aircraft and flocks of birds. And you can watch the ultimate fly-by-wire
video as Israel’s unmanned flying car completed its first fully automatic test
flights. The Air Mule Vertical Takeoff
and Landing craft from Israel’s Tactical Robotics has great potential for use
as an air ambulance.
I’ll finish by descending from the clouds
to describe two contrasting Israeli innovations. You can’t get more low-tech than a collapsible camping grill made
from stainless steel wires.
Israeli Roee Magdassi (a student at the Bezalel Design Academy in
Jerusalem) has designed the Stakes camping grill that folds up to the size of a
paper towel when not in use. His IDF
service inspired him to make a lightweight alternative to the ones he had to
carry in his army backpack. Finally,
the makers of the seven-dollar Israeli-developed
Keepod “thumb drive” have launched the first project in their program
to “computer-enable" some of the world’s 5 billion people who don’t have
access to technology. Via
Crowdsourcing, you can wire
some funds to help 1500 of Nairobi’s slum dwellers get on-line and have
a new chance in life.
Stay wired in for more news of exciting
Israeli innovations.
Michael Ordman writes a free weekly
newsletter containing positive news stories about Israel.
For a free subscription, email a request to
michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com
