Israel Active

The Argentina Israel Program for Industrial Research and Development is offering grants totalling $160,000 for research and development projects that demonstrate innovation and potential application in the market.

Three Israeli universities (Hebrew U, Bar-Ilan and Haifa) are to establish a centre for researching the sea anemone Nematostella, which has the ability to restore damaged body parts. (If they can stop the jellyfish from stinging me during June then I’ll be happy.)

“Burka” spectacles conceal undesired female images; the “Hechsher Sniffer” checks your food is kosher before you consume it; and a “Shidduch” (matchmaker) app for the iPhone.

(Thanks to NoCamels) Israel’s Water-Gen specializes in water generation and water treatment. Their technology extracts water from the ambient air humidity, and turns it into drinking water. The system is operated by solar or electric energy.

(Thanks to Yishai Fleisher and www.JewishPress.com) I reported the story previously, but this new 9-minute video shows the first and largest solar power farm in the Middle East – at Kibbutz Ketura. It will generate 40 megawatts of power – over one third of Eilat’s electrical requirements.

Israeli start-up Onavo’s Extend application compresses downloaded data and saves the iPhone user 80% of roaming charges. Onavo is just one of the 150 Israeli companies exhibiting at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

We can guess why Israel was excluded from the main body of UNESCO’s report of scientific achievements for the period 2005 to 2010. After 18 months of protests (and withdrawal of funds by the USA) UNESCO has now promised to add an on-line addendum to the report.

(thanks to Israel21c) Syneron Dental Lasers of Yokneam, Israel, has developed the new LiteTouch dental laser. It is entirely portable, saves energy and, oh yes, it’s much less painful than a drill.

Not sure how Denmark won the title, but Israel came in second place internationally in the Cleantech Global Innovation Index.

The Low Energy Analyser (LEA) from Tel Aviv’s Blue I Water has just completed a successful pilot monitoring the quality of water in the Spanish city of Barcelona. The LEA will now be rolled out to over 40 other areas of Spain.