Israel Active

The 16th annual American-Israeli Chamber of Commerce's professional seminar in Atlanta, Georgia, is to focus on the impact of Israel's growing technology sector on the USA. Israeli speakers include from companies Elbit, SpaceIL, BigBand Networks and NeuroTech Solutions.

Israel’s Ormat Technologies has announced that its McGinness Hills geothermal power plant located in Lander County, Nevada met the requirements for commercial operation. Ormat has a contract to sell the electricity produced to Las Vegas based NV Energy for the next 20 years.

Israel’s Virdia is to build a factory in the Southern US State to convert Mississippi vegetation into fermentable sugars – a key stage to making fuel from plants. The factory will create hundreds of vital local jobs.

Tel Aviv University doctorate student Elad Mentovich has designed a molecular memory transistor, which can be as small as one nanometer. Using carbon molecules called C60, Mentovich has successfully built a sophisticated memory transistor that can both transfer and store energy.

Israelis lead the world in the usage of smartphone applications. The average Israeli smartphone owner spends 80 minutes a day running applications. Next comes Sweden (76 mins) and Singapore (75 mins). USA users spend only 38 minutes on their smartphone apps.

Another Israeli app can help make driving safer. Nirsham’s smartphone software allows a witness (pedestrian or driver) to take a series of high-speed photos that record an incident. The user states the vehicle's license plate number, after which the record is automatically sent to Nirsham's servers.

O2a studio has designed Jerusalem’s Natural History Museum to blend into its surroundings. The subterranean facility preserves energy in summer and winter, whilst its green roof, glass backdrop, tree etchings and stone cladding merge with the public park where it is located.

(Thanks to NoCamels) Israeli CleanTech start-up EcoBasalt has developed SB-1, a sustainable material made of basalt fibres that can absorb oil spills faster and more efficiently than other solutions. After 15 minutes, 97% of the oil is absorbed and the oil and SB-1 can be recycled later.

(Thanks to Israel21c) Dr. Morris Topaz, Head of the Plastic Surgery Unit at Hillel Yaffe Hospital in Hadera, saved the life of a Caspian Turtle at Ramat Gan Safari Park with a huge crack in its shell. He applied a device normally used on victims of terror who have lost large areas of skin.

Israel has succeeded in breeding the endangered bluefin tuna in cages in the Mediterranean Sea. The species travels through Israel every year for about three weeks for its breeding season. Over fishing for the sushi market in Japan, Europe and the USA, has led to steep declines in their numbers.