Israel Active

Israeli geothermal energy developer Ormat Technologies is teaming up with Toshiba Power Systems to build geothermal power plants. Ormat’s generators combined with Toshiba’s steam turbines will help launch many new ventures, beginning with the Menengai geothermal project in Kenya.  

Researchers at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have discovered the triggers in the brain that influences motherly instincts and aggressiveness. Nurturing and hostility are instinctively gender-based behaviors controlled by cells, proteins and neurons in the hypothalamus.  

As anticipated in a previous newsletter, China is working with Israel to develop smarter and better robots. It has just established a Sino-Israeli Robotics Institute at its $2 billion industrial park in the Guangzhou region of China.  

Israel’s SpaceIL unveiled its prototype lunar lander at a ceremony in Jerusalem. The 50 guests included Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Science and Technology minister Ofir Akunis, plus Chanda Gonzales and Bob Weiss, who head up the $20 million Google Lunar XPrize competition.  

170 Israeli and Californian business executives, investors and policymakers gathered at Google Israel’s Tel Aviv headquarters to launch the Israel-California Green-Tech Partnership, a new initiative using Israeli and American expertise to combat California’s drought crisis.  

Roni Eshel, winner of the 2011 Israeli Women’s Surfing Championships, has designed goFlow – a crowdsourcing app to identify the best surfing locations. Users report beach conditions and the app automatically updates the goFlow server to inform friends or the whole surfing community.  

Israel’s international water conference and exhibition kicked off by focusing on new technologies from Israeli startups. These included Emefcy’s unique SABRE (Spiral Aerobic Biofilm Reactor) solution for wastewater treatment and the leak detection innovations from both Aqua-Rimat and Triple+.  

The Israeli Agriculture Ministry’s Volcani Institute has inaugurated the Center for Arid Area Agriculture for the study of desert agriculture and the impact of desertification. The NIS 13 million center will host 14 teams, researching crop protection, plant pests, irrigation and fertilization.  

Israel’s SpaceIL is a stage nearer its goal of becoming the first privately funded mission to the Moon and winning the $20 million Google Lunar XPRIZE. SpaceIL has booked a place on a SpaceX rocket due for launch in the second half of 2017. 16 teams remain from the original 34.

Israeli-founded water purification company Desalitech has teamed up with Boston-based Harpoon Brewery to channel the once-famously polluted Charles River into a new beer. Desalitech is using its patented technology to provide water for Harpoon’s Charles River Pale Ale.