Israel Active

SpaceIL’s spacecraft was just a few kilometers from the Moon when engine failure caused Beresheet to crash land. However, Israel is one of only 7 countries to put a spacecraft into Moon orbit - and the Israeli flag is on the Moon! SpaceIL subsequently won a $1 million Google Lunar XPRIZE in recognition of "a new era in space exploration." Finally, breaking news - primary sponsor Morris Kahn has just announced Beresheet 2.

Beijing Capital International Airport has selected foreign object detection (FOD) technology from Israel’s Xsight Systems . The system will be installed on the airport’s east runway, protecting take-offs and landings from debris, birds, and other hazardous objects.

Israel public transportation app Moovit operated a special service to encourage voting in Tuesday’s National Election. It helped users navigate their way to their polling station and reminded them to go out and vote. All interurban public transportation was free from 8pm Monday until end Tuesday.

Israel’s Technion Institute and Bar-Ilan University have won the Israeli government’s tender to jointly build a new National Center for the Promotion of Smart Transportation Research. It will bring Israeli and overseas researchers together to work on smart transportation ventures.

Israeli startup Brodmann17 has developed technology that can process artificial intelligent (AI) algorithms on low powered computer chips. Meanwhile Israel’s Run:AI has also developed software that automatically optimizes computer resources for deep learning processes.

I reported previously on Israel’s HiBob when it was developing a computer system for UK insurance giant Aviva. Now it is focused on building the first HR platform for the workplace of the future and has raised $20 million in funding.

I briefly mentioned previously Israel’s Prisma Photonics and its fiber sensing system. Prisma has just won the Israeli Government (GCA) Challenge for detecting unauthorized activities along the 700 km of pipelines of the Israeli Natural Gas Lines.

Three co-founders of Israel’s Mellanox have founded ProteanTecs. The new company develops technology that will allow devices to report their health and warn of failures. Its markets include enterprise IT and autonomous vehicles. (See also , , and )

Many of the participants in the Nadav Shoham Robotraffic Competition at Israel’s Technion Institute were too young to drive.  Yet they were building autonomous cars. The 1,000 students came from Israel (Jews & Arabs), the US, Argentina, Russia, Mexico, and Ukraine.

Amazing scenes as SpaceIL broadcast live the crucial maneuver that successfully placed Israel’s Beresheet spaceship into Lunar orbit at around 17:25 Israel time on 4th April. At its closest, Beresheet is just 460km (about the length of Israel) from the Moon, preparing to land on 11th April.