Israel Active

Israel’s national water carrier Mekorot has begun the construction of the world’s longest tunnel for transporting water under pressure.  It will extend 13km from near Beit Shemesh to Ein Kerem in Jerusalem.  It is part of the project to connect the coastal desalination plants to the rest of Israel.

Israeli universities (mainly the Hebrew University, Technion, Tel Aviv University and Weizmann) are globally renowned for their research and educational programs in the IT fields that are at the heart of the race for autonomous vehicles.

Online payment system PayPal has established its first-ever partnership with Israeli academia. It has joined with Ben Gurion University to develop big data, machine learning, and cybersecurity solutions that will make payment transactions safer for its 192 million customers.

The California water crisis continues. Californians admire Israel’s solutions and hope they could be applied to their situation.

I reported previously on Israel’s EggDetect that prevents hatching of male chicks - unwanted by the egg industry.  Now there is an alternative – TeraEgg from Israel’s Novatrans. It uses terahertz spectroscopy on gasses that leak from the pores of the egg.

Israel’s Evogene has successfully improved the ability of corn to thrive in drought conditions with its Bio-stimulant products. These produce drought-resistant microbial strains that have produced high yields in their first year of testing.

China’s Olam group, owner of the largest almond orchard in Australia, has implemented the crop sensor technology from Israel’s Phytech across the entire 5,000 hectares of its five orchards in South-Eastern Australia. The previous season’s 700-hectare trial resulted in higher yields with less water usage.

I reported previously that Intel announced its Israeli-designed and developed 7th generation micro-processor – the Kaby Lake. Now Intel has officially launched the full line of those advanced processors.

Israeli startup Handy Bag designs and manufactures bags are easy for wheelchair users to access their belongings unaided. Founder Yair Zur was inspired by his wheelchair-bound parents – one a war veteran and one with polio. Yair raised his goal of $20,000 on Kickstarter

Israel’s Leumi Card will integrate the first-of-its-kind mobile app that uses behavioral biometrics. Based on cutting-edge technology of Israeli startup SecuredTouch, the solution uses finger size, touch pressure, touch surface and more to validate the card owner and eliminate the need to use complex passwords.