Israel Active

Israel has signed a deal with the US state of Colorado to further increase R&D cooperation. Under the agreement, start-ups and veteran firms will receive funding from either or both governments for research and development projects in areas including energy, agriculture and cybersecurity.

This reporter from The Hindu visited Israel and saw Oranges and Jojoba plants growing straight out of desert sand.

Recent video of how India can learn from Israeli water recycling and desalination expertise.

California is still facing a huge water crisis. The NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit conducted a 3-month investigation on Israel, a country that faced its own water crisis about a decade ago. Now Israel has more fresh water than it can use.

Israel’s Aora Solar is to install a “Tulip” solar energy field in Ethiopia - helping the African country to achieve its aim of being carbon-neutral by 2025. The modular system collects reflected sunlight on a solar concentrator tower shaped like a yellow tulip that generates electricity for day or night use.  

Remember Israel’s luggage that transforms from hand-luggage size to a full-size case? Well another Israeli startup has invented the G-RO suitcase, which can traverse every kind of terrain as well as charging phones and computers. It has raised nearly $1 million ($125,000 goal) on Kickstarter.  

At the 2015 Cleantech Open Global Ideas Competition in Silicon Valley, Aseptoray’s pasteurization system saves 73 percent in energy costs, killing even heat-resistant bacteria; Chakratec‘s low-cost, eco-friendly kinetic battery stores electricity from solar fields, wind farms etc.  

The Ilan Ramon Scholarship fund, honoring Israel’s first astronaut, has allowed dozens of post-graduate Israelis to attend International Space University’s Space Studies Program (SSP) - an intensive nine week program for pioneers in the burgeoning space business.  

The New York Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Jerusalem’s Hagihon water provider have signed an agreement to develop new cybersecurity defenses for their water systems. It will also help Israeli cybersecurity firms to deploy their technology in the United States.  

Agrochemical giant Syngenta has deployed Israel’s NRGene to map the genomes of 12 diverse crops to help develop hardier, higher yield varieties of seed. NRGene’s proprietary algorithms have also been used independently to map varieties of wheat, maize, soybean and trout.