Israel Active

Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have fused two enzymes from plant-munching bacteria.  The resulting hybrid is quick and efficient at turning difficult to break down cellulose into useful sugars that can make low-cost biofuel.  (A rare pro-Israel article in New Scientist.)

Toyota is to host the first tech event put on by a large Japanese corporation in Israel. At the two-day “hackathon”, Israeli programmers and entrepreneurs will present ideas on improving car safety and performance.  Toyota is aiming to produce the ultimate “connected” car.

The Israeli government has given Ben Gurion University and Israel’s Soreq Nuclear Research Center 174 million NIS ($47 million) to establish a National Photonics and Electro-Optics Research Center. It will provide professionals and students with state-of-the-art equipment.

“Cosmic” is the only word to describe the work of a team of scientists including Professor Yehuda Hoffman of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.  Warning, this video may make you feel rather small.

Algatechnologies produces the antioxidant astaxanthin from algae grown in its factory at Kibbutz Ketura in the Negev desert.  Astaxanthin is used in foods, medicines and cosmetics.  The company is investing 60 million shekels to expand the factory to grow new forms of beneficial microalgae.

Israel’s Fitterli has won the 2014 Intel Business Challenge Europe.  With Fitterli’s technology, on-line retailers can show customers how clothes would look on a 3D representation of your own body.  An Intel spokesperson said, “The 3D technology offered by Fitterli is the kind of innovation Intel has come to expect from Israel  ….  unimaginable just a few years ago.”

Jerusalem Venture Partners and BGN Technologies (technology transfer company of Ben-Gurion University) have set-up the CyberSpark Industry Initiative. The non-profit company will engage in the international promotion of the new cyber center, based in Beersheva's Advanced Technologies Park.

Israel’s new bio-waste facility at Neot Hovav in the Negev will generate 5 megawatts of clean energy and process over one hundred thousand tons of organic waste per year.  It will significantly reduce the annual volume of landfill waste and the consequential soil contamination.

(Thanks to Israel21c) Riding a bus has never been easier.  Tel Aviv’s HopOn has inserted beacons in 2,000 buses and soon at bike stations and other transportation hubs. Some 10,000 users have installed the app, allowing them to hop on a bus or bike without worrying about how to pay.

(Thanks to Israe21c) Jerusalem-based Argaman Technologies has developed bio-inhibitive textiles and masks. High-powered ultrasound impregnates fibers with accelerated Copper Oxide that prevents the spread of bacteria and viruses.  It could even protect against the Ebola virus.