Israel Active

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.  

Israeli wastewater startup Aquanos won the trophy at this year’s Cleanvest Summit in front of around 150 participants including international investors. Aquanos uses algae to produce clean water, biogas fuel and agriculturally-useful bi-products.

The new Israeli “Peanut” browser allows Android mobile users to make notes and comments on web pages, sharing them with other Peanut users. Peanut already has thousands of users in Israel and is becoming rapidly more popular.  

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.