Israel Active

Israeli Eyal Hirak designed the FuGuSense swimsuit after his daughter nearly drowned. The swimsuit contains sensors to monitor vital signs. If drowning is detected, an integrated, reusable airbag is inflated to bring the swimmer to the surface.

Researchers at Israel’s Technion Institute have developed “H-to-all” - a system for producing water from air, even in arid desert regions. It uses a desiccant (material to remove moisture from the air). The moisture is then converted to water using heat (solar energy) and low pressure.

Israel Tech Challenge (reported previously) trains top candidates for leading positions in the Israeli hi-tech sector. ITC is an Israeli coding school that trains the global talent for six months to become high-ranking data scientists, cyber-professionals, developers and data engineers.

Israeli startup L1ght develops technology to combat the online bullying of kids. It analyzes texts, videos, and soundbites to recognize hate speech, cyberbullying, and online threats. L1ght has just raised $15 million of seed funding to expand its research and development team.

Technion PhD student Alona Shagan has been selected as one of “Forbes Under 30 World” - Forbes Magazine’s list of Israel’s 30 youngest and most promising people. Alona co-developed the hot-glue gun used to fuse torn human tissues together.

Israeli scientists at Ben Gurion University, Hebrew University and the Agricultural Research Organization have discovered how a fish's core microbiome operates. The group had a European Research Council starting grant and has now received an ERC Consolidator Grant to continue the research.

Normal milk industry practice is to remove calves from their mothers almost immediately after birth. Israeli kibbutz Yotvata has begun a pilot project where female calves remain with their mother until they are weaned. It improves the strength of the calf and reduces distress to the mother.

Israeli startup Simpliigood develops technology for the large-scale production of edible products from the algae spirulina. Fresh spirulina is a superfood containing 74% protein.

Scientists at Tel Aviv University have discovered the first animal on earth that appears to survive without the use of oxygen. The parasite, Henneguya salminicola, lives in muscle cells of fish, an anaerobic (oxygen-free) environment. It has no mitochondria to convert oxygen into energy.

Ten years after the first version, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems completed trials of an advanced version of the Iron Dome air-defense system. It was said to “simulate future threats” and was 100% successful.