Israel Active

Israel’s Salt of the Earth has successfully reduced the sodium content of canned tuna by 35% with its new Umami Essence ingredient - a proprietary, natural liquid formula derived from vegetables and sea salt. In trials, the taste was indistinguishable from ordinary tuna in brine.

Three members of Team Israel won bronze medals at the oldest (and perhaps toughest) high school competition - the International Chemistry Olympiad, held in Baku, Azerbaijan. Teams used chemicals to synthesize material and identify unknown elements.

For the first time in Israel, a Clean Air Zone will be enacted, banning polluting diesel-powered vehicles from areas of Haifa, as part of a five-year plan announced by the Environmental Protection Ministry to reduce air pollution and environmental hazards in the Haifa Bay area.

Israeli Eylon Porat has built an accessory for his daughter’s computer. It comprises an exercise bike that she has to pedal in order to unlock games on the computer for a certain time period. When she run out of credits the computer locks again until she pedals enough “credits” to unlock it.

Not everyone can afford the complex technology that ALS sufferer Stephen Hawkins uses to communicate.  Israel’s EyeControl provides a much cheaper option using a laser device connected to spectacles.  It achieved its $30,000 funding target on Indiegogo in under 20 days.

Israel’s Rail Safe is developing a smart system for Israel Railways to detect objects on the tracks up to a distance of 3 km. The system, the first in the world of its kind, uses a thermal sensor that detects and classifies objects in real time, warning the driver to prevent a collision.

More details on the radiation protection suit being developed by Israel’s StemRad that I mentioned in last week’s newsletter. StemRad is working with US defense giant Lockheed-Martin to develop a version of its gamma-ray shielding vest for use in deep-space missions.

Three Israeli cyber security start-ups are among 11 chosen from around the world to compete in the finals of the Kaspersky Lab Security Startup Challenge – its search for global “cyber-stars”. They are Re-Sec Technologies, Cyber ​​DriveWare and Security in Motion.

Fifteen Nobel Laureates and 400 outstanding science students from 71 countries are attending the first World Science Conference Israel (WSCI) in Jerusalem. The program includes Nobel Laureate master class sessions, a science workshop competition and excursions around the country.

Israel’s Oded Cohen has developed the UpRight wearable training device. Embedded with dual sensors, it attaches to your lower back with hypoallergenic adhesive strips and gently vibrates every time you slouch. Regular use trains your muscles and mind to sit and stand upright.