Israel Active

The Israeli team of university students participating in China’s international Solar Decathlon this year came in fourth place overall and in second place for architecture and structure of their solar powered eco-home. 22 teams came from a total of 35 universities in 13 countries across the globe.

The Indo Asian News Service has hailed Israel’s Technion for developing “super plants” that resist drought. Modifying a longevity hormone in the genes known as zytokinin produces more crops on less water. The fruit and vegetables produced also have a much longer shelf life.

(Thanks to Size Doesn’t Matter) Israeli start-up Heyku helps you to transform a special event or thought into three lines of creative writing. You then share this on facebook, Instagram or twitter, together with an optional picture of what inspired you.

Current remotely operated submarines are limited by communication cables and require frequent human-operator contact. Ben Gurion University is developing an autonomous, independently thinking underwater vessel to check pipelines, map minefields and search for sunken vessels.

Independent power producer Dorad Energy has hooked up its power station to the national grid. The 840-megawatt power station runs on natural gas and will begin full production by the end of the year – well in time for next summer’s peak.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem has founded the Quantum Information Science Center to advance computing and communication technologies.

Israel’s CompuLab has developed the Utilite – a 5.3 inch by 3.9 inch computer selling from $100. Inside is a Freescale i.MX6 system-on-a-chip, with an ARM Cortex A9 processor. Higher spec versions have 4GB of RAM, 512GB drive, quad cores and run either Linux or Android.

Passengers on Dan’s Number 5 bus line in Tel Aviv will encounter a much quieter and cleaner ride, aboard the country’s first fully electric bus. The vibrantly orange bus is about 12 meters long with a driving range of about 250 miles and a 4-5 hour recharge time. Fuel and maintenance costs are much less than the previous diesel equivalent. Dan plan to upgrade 25% of their buses to electric in 5 years.

Israel’s Cellebrite developed technology for the extraction and analysis of data from cellular phones, which has led to the arrest of 46 members of an international money laundering and drug trafficking organization.

Tel Aviv University’s Student City complex is its most ambitious building project to date. It covers nearly a quarter mile and includes eight residential towers, accommodating more than 1,500 students. The project has Energy and Environmental Design gold status