Israel Active

Israelis Gitit Lahav and Shimrit Lev have developed Sweet Victory, a patented mint-flavored chewing gum that blocks the sugar receptors on the tongue for up to two hours. Based on the Indian Gymnema Sylvestre plant it is being sold in the Philippines and New Zealand.

When Israeli astronaut Eytan Stibbe launches into space in 2022, he will be aiming high. The Israel Space Agency and the Ramon Foundation announced that the name of the Israeli part of the mission would be “Rakia,” Hebrew for sky. It was chosen by 60% of Israelis in an online poll.

The Israeli Vegetable Seeds R&D center of multinational Syngenta has developed a new tomato variety. It is the first to be resistant to the tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBFRV), which over the past six years has ruined more than 50% of the tomato crop in Israel and globally.

The Israeli government has issued a tender for the construction of the largest photo-voltaic solar power plant in Israel, near Dimona. It will cover 3,000 dunams (750 acres) and include battery storage. Already an unprecedented 27 consortia have submitted applications to build the plant.

Peruvian bank Banco de Comercio has selected Israel’s Paygilant to bolster its newly established digital channel.  Paygilant secures digital and mobile banking services by intelligently analyzing transaction data for its risk of being fraudulent.

Pizza Hut Israel is said to begin June trials for pizza delivery drones. Multiple orders will be delivered to approved landing zones – e.g. parking lots - where a driver will collect them and take them to individual customers. Israel-Australia Dragontail systems (see previously) will manage the trials.

Israel’s Swapp provides real estate developers and construction companies with a single platform to build their entire construction planning project. It says it simplifies the fragmented planning process, allowing developers to create architectural plans within weeks instead of up to 12 months.

Israel’s Beamr Imaging has won the Technology & Engineering Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Beamr has developed a technology which compresses video broadcasts on networks.

Israel’s SOS WiFi beams a signal that allows cellphones to freely connect to the Internet even in some of the most remote parts of Israel. It can send warnings of danger to hikers or give them a lifeline to the outside world if they need rescue or help.

Tel Aviv Uni’s Professor Yossi Yovel, Technion Professor Ido Kaminer and Weizmann Professor Rafal Klajn have won international Blavatnik Young Scientist awards and $100,000 each for their breakthrough research in neuro-ecology, quantum physics and nanomaterials respectively.