Israel Active

Israeli 3D printing company Stratasys has launched the Objet500 Dental Selection 3D Printer for larger dental and orthodontic labs that require volume production of highly precise, life-like models. It can create a variety of dental-specific palettes in a single run.  

Israelis are eagerly awaiting the world launch of the electromagnetic levitating taxis built by US skyTran together with Israel Aerospace Industries. The pilot is now targeted for early 2016.  

The Israeli Pavilion at Milan Expo will host the finals of the first international competition for start-ups dedicated to children and adolescents under the age of seventeen. The finalists include Muslim students from the Israel-Arab village of Iblin.  

NASA and the Israel Space Agency have signed an agreement to expand cooperation in civil space activities. NASA administrator Charles Bolden said the agreement would enable the US space agency to tap Israeli innovation and technology.  

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.