Israel Active

Israel’s mobile navigation and traffic community application, Waze, won the “Best Overall Mobile App” prize at the 18th Annual Global Mobile awards at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Jerusalem based UIU has developed a system that encourages individuals without smartphones to join the technological revolution. Even those with visual impairment can use the large fonts and security features. But did the Times of Israel really have to label people aged 55+ as “elderly”?

Russia is undergoing a retail boom. The Moscow Mall is one of Europe’s largest with 5000 stores. So Haifa-based WiseSec’s location application is essential if you don’t want to get lost. It also provides you with coupons to attract you to visit particular shops. No GPS necessary.

Eran Ofek of the Weizmann Institute is head of a team of researchers that has discovered the dying signature of stars. Just prior to becoming a supernova, stars emit gravity waves and eject up to one percent of their mass. The researchers studied a star, which became a supernova 40 days later.

The President of Tel Aviv University has written a nice piece in the Huffington Post. He tells about Maor, whose father - a construction worker – insists he goes to university. 12 years later, with a Masters degree, Maor is preparing his siblings to become scientists.

(Thanks to Uri – Israel Defense) The Israeli start-up Eqsquest has created what is believed to be the first semantic search engine designed specifically for scientific and mathematical equations. Symbolab allows users to search for equations using both numbers, symbols and/or text. QED!

Israel’s Atlantium has developed Ultra-Violet systems (validated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) to render germs harmless without damaging equipment or generating high levels of ozone. It has just received $3 million of funding to develop new uses for its technology.

A team of Israeli, American and Canadian scientists has unraveled the workings of anti-freeze proteins that allow animals, plants, fish and microorganisms to exist in cold climates. The discovery can help improve food and medicine production around the world.

So said Shimon Peres in the latest KKL-JNF video, which explains how Israel is able to turn the arid wastes of the Negev desert into fertile soil for agriculture. It turns one drop of water into five drops of water.

A green bell pepper dubbed “Godzilla” has won a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. Grown in brackish water with natural pesticides by the company Yofi Shel Yerakot (Beauty of Vegetables) of Moshav Ein Yahav in the northern Arava desert, it weighs half a kilo.