Israel Active

Israel’s Heven Drones (see previously) has increased the size of the loads they can carry. The hydrogen-powered Raider drones can carry up to 50 pounds and fly for up to 12 hours.

Haifa bay’s heavy industry is to be replaced with green spaces, housing and commercial areas. The key event will be the closure of the Bazan oil refineries, which is now scheduled for 2030. Haifa will remain home to the country’s largest cargo port, two smaller seaports, and a small airport.

Israel’s Megatron N.R.G. is developing a nuclear fusion energy reactor no bigger than a desktop computer. It says it has achieved ongoing fusion events in the lab by using micro-entities called stable plasmoids - tangled bundles of super-hot charged gas (plasma) held together by magnetic fields.

Israel’s PlasticBack is working with a USA-based recycling company to scale-up its technology, which converts hard-to-recycle plastics into valuable byproducts. It aims to to upcycle 100,000 tons of plastic waste by 2030, setting a new benchmark for sustainable plastic recycling.

A team in Sweden led by Hebrew University scientists have discovered a chemical process in nature that creates hydroxyl (OH) radicals at low temperatures. It has major implications for pollution control and human health (aging, cancer and immune response).

Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Reichman University have proposed to use aloe vera to improve the sensory experience of eating plant-based meat substitutes. The process holds great potential for sustainable food production.

Scientists at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University have “cracked the code” as to the parts of a dog’s brain responsible for its enhanced ability to distinguish odors. They used laser-based speckle pattern detection and a high-resolution camera to avoid invasive equipment or sedation. Now humans can see what a dog smells.

Israel’s Innovation, Science, and Technology Ministry and the Israel Space Agency have established Solaris – Israel’s first national solar observatory, in the northern Druze town of Isfiya. Students study solar flares 93 million miles away. Educational programs are in Arabic as well as Hebrew.

The Spatial Hearing AI technology from Israel’s Kardome (see previously) is now available on the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Orin in-vehicle computer to enable precise voice recognition and communication. A single microphone array identifies up to six users.

AI, quantum computing and Google’s planned $32 billion acquisition of Israeli cybertech firm Wiz were the major talking points at the Tel Aviv Expo – the venue of Cybertech Global 2025, Israel’s prestige cybersecurity conference.