Israel Active

Apple Inc. will inaugurate the first entrepreneurship development center of its kind at the interdisciplinary arts and sciences Amal High School in Hadera next week. The students will develop iOS-based apps for iPads and iPhones. Sixty 9th and 10th grade students will join the project.

(Thanks to NoCamels) When old computers are disposed of, sensitive personal information recorded in them may still be readable by malicious individuals and organizations. Israeli start-up Sure Erasure removes the data completely, allowing equipment and parts to be recycled without compromising security.

Israeli start-up OrCam has developed a camera-based system that will “read” to the visually impaired whilst on the move. So OrCam employee Liat Negrin, visually impaired since childhood, can pick up a can of vegetables in a grocery store and easily read its label. Ships in September.

Israeli hi-tech Red Bend’s systems allow employees to use their own mobile devices to check company emails and do other work while protecting the company from exposing sensitive information. In the video, my cousin Roger describes Red Bend’s TRUE (TRUsted) solution for BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) at Mobile World Congress. (Warning – it’s a bit technical!)

At Israel’s Volcani Center, Potatoes sprayed with spearmint oil are not sprouting for months; Granny Smith apples deprived of oxygen stay fresh for over a year. Tomatoes are flourishing despite being infected with the common yellow leaf virus.

Israel’s Gasngo has developed technology solutions to enable authorized drivers to refuel without having to use a credit card or perform a cash transaction. A Radio Frequency (RFID) tag on the vehicle is read by the pump’s nozzle. The solution has been installed in more than 3,000 gas stations.

In the basement of Tel Aviv University, a network of 100 computers is running a sophisticated artificial intelligence program to re-assemble the 157,514 fragments from the Cairo genizah. The pieces from documents dating from the 9th to 19th centuries should be matched by June 25.

Visit Rehovot on June19th to hear top Weizmann lecturers at the 4th annual “Beer, Science and Good Spirits” event. In local bars and cafes you can learn about secrets of the universe, curing cancer, growing body parts, quantum computing, the origins of life etc. over a glass of beer, wine or coffee.

Once a week, 76 excelling and gifted students from Haifa’s Hebrew Reali School visit Haifa’s Science Museum (MadaTech) to crack codes, discover the secrets of chemistry, engage in mathematical thinking, construct robots and explore the world of space. They conduct their own in-depth research, develop problem-solving strategies and strengthen their critical thinking, originality and creativity.

Starting this month, the new Sorek desalination plant will provide up to 26,000 cubic meters – or nearly 7 million gallons – of drinking water every hour. When it is at full capacity, it will be the largest desalination plant of its kind in the world.