AI to reassemble the past

Ohad Ben-Shahar of Israel’s Ben-Gurion University is one of the founding scientists of the RePair (Reconstructing the Past AI) program to reconstruct fragments of ancient broken relics, similar to solving a jigsaw puzzle. RePair is now helping Italian archeologists reassemble frescos from Pompeii.

Israel’s AI language

Israel’s AI21 Labs (see previously) has launched Jurassic-2, its next generation Artificial Intelligent language that can be understood by computers. It is a rival to Open-AI, the developer of ChatGPT, and can be used as a basis to answer questions, rewrite an essay, summarize text, or write a poem.

Eye in the sky

Israel successfully launched the "Ofek 13" reconnaissance satellite into space from an Israeli launch site using an Israeli "Shavit" launcher. The SAR (synthetic-aperture radar) observation satellite has advanced capabilities to provide better-quality images than its predecessors. Initial testing has gone well.

Extending electric car battery life

Israel’s Carrar has a novel thermal management solution to significantly increase the lifespan and efficiency of EV batteries. By keeping the battery at a steady, optimal temperature, its life is extended by up to 100%. It also improves acceleration performance, recharge time and much more.

A plant-based alternative to egg protein

Israel’s Fabumin has developed a plant-based alternative to the egg protein albumen. that is used commercially in cakes, mayonnaise, spreads, meat products, and more in a market worth some $14 billion. Fabumin is vegan, with no allergens, salmonella, cholesterol, or dairy.

Five European grants

The European Research Council has awarded grants of up to 2 million Euros each, to five researchers at Israel’s Technion to help them pursue their ideas. They address proton transfer in proteins; antimicrobials and amyloids; the fascia in neuro-immune communication; replacing toxic metals; and aging.

Biosensor to warn of crop diseases

Researchers at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University have developed varieties of potatoes that produce special proteins. If infected by potato blight, these proteins display fluorescent properties before the infection appears on the leaves of the plant, allowing early effective treatment.

Not just plant pots

Israel’s Bioplasmar produces biodegradable plant pots. It plans to use the technology to produce a wide range of other goods that are currently made of environmentally harmful materials such as plastic and polystyrene. Bioplasmar’s new German factory will also make larger, lighter, pots.

Cleaner steel production

Israel’s Helios (see previously) is known for its technology that could one day be activated to generate oxygen on the Moon. It now plans to replace coal in steel production with sodium, thus reducing CO2 emissions substantially. Sodium also uses less energy to reach 400 degrees instead of 1200.

Air purifier and analyzer

This article describes the tech that Israel’s Airovation (see previously) uses to remove CO2 from the air. Meanwhile, Airovation’s Airosphera air quality analyzer has been enhanced to enable all air purifier manufacturers to use its AI-based technology and make smarter indoor filters.