Awards for 3 young scientists

Israeli scientists Oded Rechavi (Tel Aviv U), Charles Diesendruck and Anat Levin (both Technion) have won $100,000 Blavatnik Awards, which recognizes exceptional scientists and engineers aged 42 or younger. The awards are administered by the New York Academy of Sciences.

7 very intelligent companies

Seven Israeli companies appear the latest prestige AI (Artificial Intelligence) 100 list compiled by San Francisco-based CB Insights. They are Applitools (new to VGNI - see links), Cybereason, Dynamic Yield (new to VGNI - see links), OrCam, Prospera, Twiggle and Workey.    

How is the Jerusalem underground station project doing?

I wrote previously about Jerusalem building its largest, deepest train station. It’s progressing well. And the link to Tel Aviv is almost on track!

High-school training by IDF intelligence services

Unit 8200, the Israeli military's NSA equivalent, is working with the Israeli Ministry of Education on a new big data training program for the country's high schoolers. A military service at Unit 8200 is regarded as a sure path to higher income jobs in Israel.

Water research partnership with Wisconsin

The Water Council of the US state of Wisconsin has signed accords with Ben-Gurion University and the Israel Innovation Authority to collaborate on water research. Israeli and Wisconsin water technology startups will develop joint applications for Wisconsin water utilities.

Working with South Korea on robotic and vehicle tech

Israeli and South Korean robotics researchers signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on robotics and autonomous vehicles.  The agreement, came after the annual Korea-Israel Industrial Collaboration Conference in Seoul.

Wave energy for Ghana

Israel’s Yam Pro is to build a $180 million, 150-megawatt wave-energy power station along a 6-mile stretch of coastline near Accra, the capital of Ghana. Yam Pro’s system captures the energy from breaking waves by converting it into hydraulic pressure, which is then turned into electricity.

An innovation lab for senior citizens

The Center for Digital Innovation (CDI) is launching in Beersheva what it claims is the world's first innovation laboratory designed to meet the challenges facing today's senior citizens. These include prevention of falls, alleviating loneliness and the treatment of pain.

Harnessing nature to make a better world

Professor Oded Shoseyov of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJ) explains how HUJ research on sequoia trees, cat fleas and tobacco has already led to stronger, more elastic materials and better medical implants and treatments. With endless possibilities.

Monitoring the health of the coral reef

Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have “genetically bar-coded” 80% of the 540 species of fish living on Eilat’s coral reef. They can match pictures of the larvae to their DNA sequence. This information will help monitor the health of the reef ecosystem.