GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL: MICHAEL ORDMAN

 
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

 
A foolproof method for diagnosing ADHD.  Scientists at Tel Aviv University, Sheba Medical Center and Haifa University have discovered the first objective system for diagnosing ADHD.  Involuntary eye movements accurately reflect the presence of ADHD.  The test is affordable and accessible.
 
International conference on pancreatic disease.  Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem has hosted an international conference focusing on inherited pancreatic diseases.  It included physicians from Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Norway, Spain, and the US specializing in identifying genes related to chronic diseases of the pancreas.
 
Soon, even quadriplegics will be able to stand up.  (Thanks to Hazel and Israel21c) Israel’s Amit Goffer invented ReWalk to help paraplegics to walk. But Amit is a quadriplegic and cannot use ReWalk. So he has  invented the UPnRIDE, which allows almost every wheelchair user to stand upright – even on sloping ground.
 
Whey to go!  A joint study by Israeli and Swedish researchers has found that a plain whey protein drink one half hour before breakfast could help diabetics, or pre-diabetics, prevent blood sugar spikes and better manage the disease. Blood glucose levels were reduced, insulin levels were higher and the response was earlier.
 
Successful transplants following cardiac death.  More lives can be saved now that Israel has adopted technology to allow transplants from donors whose hearts have stopped beating.  Previously, some religious authorities rejected brain-stem death, whilst cardiac death damaged vital organs making them unusable.
 
The only Middle-East member of ISOC.  The exclusive International Society of Orthopedic Centers (ISOC) has expanded its membership to include one center in the Middle East:  Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center.  ISOC members must perform a minimum of 5,000 orthopedic surgeries each year.
 
New pipeline for brain disease treatments.  (Thanks to Atid-EDI) Israel’s Kadimastem is to work with giant Merck to conduct screening for new treatments into Multiple Sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases.  Kadimastem’s revolutionary technology uses stem cells to produce cells that protect or repair brain function.
 
Mother’s cancer drives daughter to research breakthrough.  Dr. Svetlana Bunimovich of Ariel University has developed mathematical models to improve the treatment of bladder cancer.  She was inspired to study the issue when her mother was diagnosed with bladder cancer.
 
 

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

 
Institute for transport innovation.  Tel Aviv University is to open the country’s first National Research Institute for Transportation Innovation.  The institute will receive NIS 13.5 million in funding for the next five years.  Entrepreneurs will be invited to perform research in the Porter School and receive financial support.
 
NASA adopts Israeli space camera.  NASA has adopted Israeli technology for a robot to inspect equipment in deep space. The Visual Inspection Poseable Invertebrate Robot, or VIPIR, is an articulating borescope tool and a tiny camera from Israeli medical device company Medigus to provide a close-up look at space equipment.
 
“Today, virtually every electronic device is produced using Orbotech technology.”  (Thanks to Atid-EDI) Now you have it – one Israeli company is responsible for the production of almost every single electronic device in the world.  Read this statement in Yavne-based Orbotech’s latest Press Release.
 
A complete pre-school learning program.  (Thanks to Atid-EDI) Herzliya’s Tiltan Games announced a new versatile educational program for preschool, pre-K and kindergarten kids. It includes over 30 topics and games.  Adaptive practice and test modules provide a personalized growth experience.
 
A “whole body” of knowledge.  Students taking the Interactive Objects course run by Israel’s Technion can certainly get totally immersed in some exciting projects.  They reflect today’s world of design, which must consider the ability to create user interaction or to respond to changes in the environment.
 
Rescue device can also detect tunneling.  Israel’s Elpam Electronics originally developed the geophone to find people trapped under the debris of collapsed buildings.  Now it is updating the device to locate the sound of someone crawling up to 10 meters below the surface of the ground.
 
Israel plans center for agriculture technology in Goa. Israel is setting up a “center of excellence” in Goa, providing technological solutions to agricultural issues.  Israel’s consul general in Mumbai, Davik Akov wants to add Goa (India’s smallest state by size) to the 20 other centers offering Israeli technology all over India.
 
How to design urban shade.  The Design Museum in Holon is running a unique international competition – to design and build a prototype of a shaded open space.  17 teams from Israel, USA, UK, six European countries, Chile and Turkey aim to advance the transformation of public spaces in countries with similar climates to Israel.
 
 
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
 
Israeli red algae powers new Clinique serum.  (Thanks to Israel21c) Cosmetics giant Clinique has launched a new skin-care product formulated from a species of algae grown in Israel. Clinique’s new “Smart Custom-Repair Serum” has 37 patents and took 5 years of research and development.  Feedback appreciated.
 
More investment in startups.  (Thanks to Atid-EDI) To encourage more seed stage investment, Israel’s finance and economy ministries have proposed simpler criteria for tax incentives, such as deducting the amount invested from taxes owed.  The plan will come into effect in 2015 if approved by the socio-economic cabinet.
 
MobilEye is Israel’s most valuable company.  In the most successful Initial Public Offering in Israeli history, driving assistance technology company Mobileye raised $1.023 billion on the New York Stock Exchange.  Then on the first day of trading, MobilEye’s share price rose 48%, valuing the Israeli company at $7.86 billion.
 
The world loves Israeli companies.  The BDS thugs will not like this.  Israel is the 4th most attractive country for foreign direct investment.  Recent $multi-million deals include Gamida Cell (by Novatis), Simbionix (by 3D Systems), ClarityRay (by Yahoo), Lamina (by China’s Catalyst CEL) and VidMind (by Russia’s Trellas).
 
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
 
Jerusalem’s Old City to become disabled-friendly.  (Thanks to Janglo.net) The Jerusalem Development Authority has announced a 20-million shekel project to open up the Old City for tourists with disabilities.  Sloping ramps will be built in the Jewish Quarter, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the City of David.
 
Israeli Arabs in the news.  (Thanks to Hazel) Professor Ahmed Eid is Hadassah’s head of surgery, while everyone at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon loves Dr. Rabia Darawasha.  Meanwhile, Technion graduate Johny Srouji was appointed as the vice president of hardware technologies at Apple, reporting to CEO Tim Cook.
 
Israel evacuates Gazans to Turkey.  Around 100 Gazans are transferred for treatment to Israeli hospitals every month.  However, some refuse to be (or are prevented by Hamas from being) treated in Israel.  So Magen David Adom helped evacuate 18 Gazans by plane to take them for treatment at a hospital in Ankara, Turkey. 
 
And here are some Gazans who are being treated in Israel. 
 
Israeli hospital delivers another Syrian baby.  (Thanks to Israel21c) A Syrian woman fleeing from Quneitra gave birth to her first child at the Ziv Medical Center in Safed (Tsfat). This is the seventh birth of a Syrian baby at the northern Israeli medical center.
 
Israel treats sick Yazidi child.  (Thanks to Hazel and Israel21c)  A Yazidi child from Northern Iraq was given life-saving heart surgery in Israel.
 
Israeli appointed as head of European medical group.  Dr Zev Goldik from Haifa’s Carmel Hospital is the first Israeli to be elected President of the European Society of Anesthesiology (ESA).  The ESA has over 18,000 members in 40 EU countries.
 
Why are Israeli startups leading the tech world?  Interesting article in Popular Science magazine explains that cross-pollination between military and civilian technologies fuels Israel’s fast-moving hi-tech industry.
 

 

CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
 
International Klezmer festival in Jerusalem.  Klezmer musicians from around the world gathered for the first International Klezmer Festival in Jerusalem.  The festival synthesizes classical klezmer music with the more modern style, mixing traditional diaspora concept of klezmer with the latest Israeli-style music.
 
Red Sea Jazz festival in Eilat.  Running since 1987, this year’s Red Sea Jazz festival’s program offers daily shows at 3 Eilat venues, featuring 20 international and local ensembles – altogether 40 shows over four days.  Every day at 7pm, a free show brings to stage the best up-and-coming Israeli Jazz bands.
 
Israeli company wins Emmy award.  (Thanks to Atid-EDI) Israel’s Jinni has won the 66th annual Emmy for Technology & Engineering. The award is for the company’s contribution to Personalized Recommendation Engines for Video Discovery. Jinni has set the standard for technological excellence in the industry.
 
The first episode of “The Israel Story”.  Israel’s version of “This American Life” is now available in English.
 
What to do in the heat?  Having just returned from a cool UK to the Israeli summer, this site is very timely.
 
Israeli takes world wakeboard championship.  Israel’s Lior Sofer won the men’s division at the 8th Cable Wakeboard World Championships held in Norway.  With around 200 competitors from 25 countries, Lior crashed on his first run but scored 94 points on his second attempt – nine ahead of his nearest rival.
 
The first-ever Israeli to win a European sprint medal.   Donald Sanford made history when he became the first Israeli to win a medal in a sprint event at the European Championships, finishing the 400-meter final in third place in Zurich, Switzerland.  Sanford broke the Israeli record with 45.27 seconds.
 
Israel secures Eurobasketball qualification.  Israel progressed to a 12th consecutive EuroBasket tournament in impressive style, crushing the Netherlands 83-60 in Nicosia, Cyprus to win qualifying Group B with a game to spare.  Israel finishes its qualifying campaign in first place for the first time since 2001.
 
 
THE JEWISH STATE
 
Oldest metal object found in Israel. Israeli archaeologists have discovered a 7000-year-old copper awl in Northern Israel during excavations of Tel Tsaf.  It is the oldest known find of a metal object made by humans.
 
Israel’s Indian friends march in their thousands.  (Thanks to Hazel) In the biggest pro-Israel, anti-terrorist rally in recent years, an estimated 20,000 gathered in Kolkata, India in a show of solidarity with Israel.



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