Israel Active

Arnold Goldman, founder of Luz, has passed away at the age of 74.  In 1990, using technology developed in Israel, Luz generated 90% of all solar energy produced on the planet. Renamed Brightsource Energy, it built the largest solar plant in the US and is building Israel’s Ashalim plant.

The United Nations Organization for Industrial Development has awarded Israel’s Yarok Technology Transfer the International Award 2017 for “Innovative Ideas and Technology on Agribusiness”.  Yarok (a.k.a. Yarok Microbio) has developed a fast method for testing food for dangerous bacteria.

I reported previously about Israel’s SuperMeat which is culturing meat to save the planet. Israel is now the center of this new industry and held the first-ever Cultured Meat Conference at Israel’s Technion Institute.  Also, some videos from the conference and from SuperMeat.

The Israeli Cyber Companies Consortium (IC3), comprising IAI, Verint and Check Point, has won a contract worth “tens of millions of dollars” to set up a strategic national cyber-defense center in a Latin American country.  It includes border protection, sensors, land and aerial systems.

Gonen Zimmerman of the Levi Eshkol School in Ramat Hasharon came third at the Intel ISEF Young Scientists Competition in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Na’ama Schor of the High School for Environmental Education at the Sde Boker Midrasha received an honorable mention from the American Physiological Association.

Israeli-Canadian startup SkyX has developed a self-charging Vertical Takeoff and Landing drone for use in the monitoring of long-range assets like oil and gas pipelines. It provides a low-cost alternative to conventional manned aircraft, ground inspection, or satellite imagery.

Researchers at Israel’s Technion have developed a new technology that improves the efficiency of photovoltaic cells by nearly 70 percent. The scientists pre-process the sunlight, converting it into an “ideal” radiation to illuminate the photovoltaic cell with higher efficiency.

Israel’s Barkid has launched a smart bracelet that enables parents to supervise their children. The bracelet is worn by the child and an app installed in the adult’s cellphone keeps track of the child. Barkid's product is not GPS-based, and therefore emits negligible radiation.

Israeli startup Endor has developed a software platform that lets business users ask any predictive question and get high-quality results in minutes. The platform is based on Social Physics - a new science that uses big data to build a predictive, computational theory of human behavior.

Israel’s Foresight develops 3D multi-camera-based Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).  Foresight’s Eyes-On system constructs and analyzes a 3D image in order to foresee possible collisions with vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists and other obstacles.