Israel Active

In 2005, an Israeli F16 plane crashed on landing. The front was completely shattered, its tail was broken, the wings were curved, and the engine was filled with mud. Seven years later, the plane has been repaired and the original pilot and navigator took it back into the air.

Tel Aviv-based Netline Communications Technologies has made one of the smallest jammers ever for stopping improvised explosive devices (IEDs). It was made after a NATO country sought a "handball sized" jammer that elite units like Special Forces could carry in an urban operation.

Dozens of volunteers are working to turn Israel into the fifth country in the world, to have landed spacecraft on the moon. The team presented a model of the tiny space vehicle at a meeting of the Knesset Science and Technology Committee’s subcommittee on space.

Technion’s annual “Technobrain” challenge was for teams to use their technical skills to simulate the 1912 planting of the Institute’s cornerstone. But this time, from a great height.

SDE Energy Ltd., an Israeli marine- technology developer, is in talks with Ecuador’s Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy to develop several clean energy projects. SDE’s power plants use ocean swells to produce hydraulic pressure, which is then transformed into electricity.

60km north of Eilat, Kibbutz Yahel, part of the Renewable Energy Company, has recently become the first solar kibbutz in Israel. Residents of the kibbutz will be economically secure as a result of the process, since they will benefit from monthly returns.

Researchers have been trying to develop double-sided solar cells that can capture both direct and reflected sunlight for the last forty years. Israeli startup BSolar showcased their bifacial solar cells at a trade show in Germany. Their cells could produce up to 20% more energy than conventional cells.

The recently discovered Higgs boson helps explain the structure of matter in the universe. A Weizmann team helped develop particle detectors, a Technion professor designed a key experiment, and several Israeli researchers were involved in building the accelerator.

Israel Aerospace Industries unveiled plans for TaxiBot at the Farnborough Air Show. The semi-robotic vehicle, controlled by a plane's pilot, tows the plane from the terminal gate to the takeoff point without the need to operate the plane's engines. It can save 1000 litres of fuel for a Boeing 747.

Six Yeruham youths won $5,000 by designing a “stick” that keeps the contents of a picnic basket cool. Breaking the stick causes chemicals to mix and freeze. It was the first time Israelis took part in FLL Global Innovation competition in Washington for youth scientists.