Good News Israel Archive from the week of October 16, 2016: Israeli researchers at Israel Technion have discovered how one’s own body fights cancer treatment, strengthens tumors and causes them to spread (metastasis); Top executives from Google, Facebook, Microsoft and other multinational companies recently explained why they chose Israel for their R&D centers, and much more.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Beating cancer’s resistance to treatment
Researchers at Israel Technion have discovered how one’s own body fights cancer treatment, strengthens tumors and causes them to spread (metastasis). Now they are working on various ways to inhibit the body’s response to anti-cancer treatments.
http://www.technion.ac.il/en/2016/10/cancer-treatment-as-a-double-edged-sword/
New metabolic way to resist viruses
New international research, led by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has discovered which of the body’s metabolic processes viruses rely on. It should lead to treatments that target the genetic switches (protein receptors in cells) that sense and control those processes.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/scientists-find-new-metabolic-way-to-resist-viruses/
Defective gene causes Alzheimer’s
Researchers from Tel Aviv University say that in laboratory tests they have successfully treated the defective gene ApoE4, responsible for 60% of patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/218678
Fighting obesity with plate designs
Israeli entrepreneur Dror Tamir and his wife Dr Liat Zivan have developed a low-tech idea for reducing levels of obesity. “Plate my Meal” is a set of 5 plates for children, showing which foods to serve at various mealtimes and for snacks. In English, Hebrew, Arabic or Persian.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/iranians-said-keen-on-israels-obesity-busting-plate/
100 million UK prescriptions
UK Under-Secretary of State for Health David Mowat said that if Israeli produce was boycotted, it would put 100 million National Health Service prescriptions at risk. “Banning these supplies would most likely cause significant shortages of some medicines important for patient health”
http://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/israel-boycotts-would-put-100-million-prescriptions-at-risk/
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Global race to save boy’s hand
Surgeons managed to re-attach the finger of a little boy who suffered an accident in Northern Israel. But they needed a medical instrument that was not available in Israel to finish the procedure. Via Israeli charity Ezer Mizion a volunteer brought the device from New York and the boy’s hand was saved.
http://www.ezermizion.org/blog/linked-to-life/
Israeli hospitals treat sick Syrians
Up to now, Israeli hospitals have treated thousands of Syrians who have been wounded in their civil war. Israel has now decided to extend treatment to internally-displaced Syrians who need basic medical care. 42 Syrian children from Quneitra arrived at hospitals in northern Israel.
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/30118/Default.aspx
Israeli utopian designs hit London
“Utopia by Design” is the theme of the first London Design Biennale. “AIDrop” from Yaniv Kadosh of Israel’s Shenkar College employs self-rotating units to drop cartons of supplies over disaster zones. Sharona Merlin’s “Louder” comprises speakers for the deaf that translate sound into visual textures and floor vibrations.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4851733,00.html
http://www.londondesignbiennale.com/participants (Click on Israel in second link)
Drink wine to support charities
Israel’s socializing, fundraising concept “Wine Wednesday” has raised over $21,000 in Israel for women’s empowerment, at-risk youth, the disabled and other social causes. Now it’s gone global with 15 cities hosting Wine Wednesday events – all donating the $10 entrance fee to the specific charity.
http://www.israel21c.org/wine-wednesday-pairs-wine-with-charity-across-the-world/
How Israel became the global center of veganism
Israel is the most vegan country on Earth, with a full five percent of its population eschewing all animal products – more than double that in 2010. There are over 400 “vegan-friendly” restaurants. Even the IDF offers animal-free food, boots, and berets to vegan soldiers.
http://www.thetower.org/article/how-israel-became-the-global-center-of-veganism/
http://israelactive.com/?s=vegan
US Police delegation visits Israel
52 police officers from 7 US states spent a week in Israel. They trained with Israeli units, saw Israel’s state-of-the-art police academy, and held a ceremony at Jerusalem’s 9/11 memorial. They included members of Police Unity Tour – formed to honor police who made the ultimate sacrifice.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/US-police-delegation-visits-Israel-to-learn-counter-terrorism-techniques-hold-911-ceremony-467277 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSObYsI0Mhc
Miami innovators in Israel
A delegation of influential Miami entrepreneurs and leaders in the tech start-up community has just visited Israel with AJC Project Interchange (American Jewish Committee), to learn from the country’s thriving tech and innovation sector, while sharing best practices and making connections.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/miami-technology-innovators-visiting-israel-the-start-up-nation-300331745.html
Understanding China’s Parliament
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China’s Zhang Dejiang – chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. They pledged to strengthen cooperation between parliaments and to share knowledge in fields such as legislation and the environment.
Agreement with UN women
Israel has signed a cooperation agreement with United Nations Women – the world body’s institution for the empowerment of women. Ambassador Danny Danon said Israel will, “now receive the international recognition we deserve for our leadership in gender equality”.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Israel-signs-cooperation-agreement-with-UN-Women-470100
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Water from air – using less energy
Scientists at Israel’s Technion have designed a low-energy system for harvesting safe drinking water from air. It uses a liquid desiccant to separate water vapor from air and then condenses just the vapor. It saves up to 65% of the energy of current systems.
http://nocamels.com/2016/09/drinking-water-from-air/
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.6b01280
Breaking the waves
Researchers at Israel’s Technion and Israel’s Sela Ltd. have rewritten engineering rules to build the Dganit – a boat that is lighter, faster, more durable and uses less fuel. The design stops waves from the “slamming” effect that causes stress. Combined with a polyurea coating, it allows the use of thinner plates.
Intelligent video analysis
Israeli video analytics startup Agent Video Intelligence can help monitor cities, infrastructure, transport and stores. Its sensors automatically analyze, detect and search massive files of video data through its cloud interface. Agent Vi has just received $7m funding to help it expand in Asia and Europe.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/lsrael-video-analytics-firm-gets-kuang-chi-investment/
Rothschild Blvd becomes Innovation Blvd
Trendy Rothschild Boulevard was transformed into “Innovation boulevard” on Sep 27 as part of Tel Aviv’s Digital-Life-Design (DLD) conference. It showcased interactive and virtual reality displays, robots, talking trees, video and street art, music tech and 3D textiles.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/rothschild-blvd-to-become-innovation-blvd-for-a-day/
Smartphone repairer does home visits
Israeli startup MOBILAB gets you a trusted technician to fix your smartphone at home or the office. Use their app (if your phone is still working), or their website. Available in Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Bnei Brak and Givatayim, it will soon expand to the rest of the country and maybe internationally.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-app-brings-smartphone-repair-to-the-home/
http://themobilab.com/ (Hebrew-only site)
Helping Panama save water
A delegation of Panama’s water sector decision makers came to Israel to see its technology and strategy for making best use of its water resources. They were most impressed with Israel’s central control of water and also focused on Israel’s water reclamation, treatment and purification systems.
http://israelnewtech.com/2016/09/%ef%bb%bf-panama-israel-embark-path-cooperation-water-sector/
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Economy is growing faster
The estimated growth of Israel’s economy has been revised upwards again. Growth in the second quarter is now calculated at 4.2% (revised from 4%). Exports of goods and services increased by 13.7%. Private consumption increased by 7.2% and investments in fixed assets soared 13.4%.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-israels-q2-growth-again-revised-upwards-1001156413
Maryland delegation to Israel
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan led a trade delegation of around 25 private-sector representatives to Israel. Successful business transactions included a partnership with Cyberbit for a cybersecurity training center in Baltimore that will employ about 100 people.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4858751,00.html
Your story becomes art
Israeli startup Dreame allows you to commission your own work of art from a professional artist, based on a personal story (real, imaginary or a dream) or photo that you submit. You select from Dreame’s network of 500 artists across 60 countries who e-mails you the JPG image within 10 days.
http://www.israel21c.org/with-dreame-everyone-can-co-create-art/
100 Israeli hi-techs at Shanghai conference
100 Israeli companies attended the GoforIsrael 2016 conference in Shanghai, China. Matching Israeli R&D with Chinese manufacturing was seen as a win-win scenario. It was the first time in its 16 years that the conference was held outside of Israel.
http://www.sbrchina.com/event/goforisrael-conference/
http://www.timesofisrael.com/mobileye-rewalk-to-attend-shanghai-conference/
Haifa to Acre, by cruise ship
Israel’s Ministry of Tourism has spent NIS 11 million upgrading the ports of Haifa and Acre and has inaugurated a new mini-cruise liner service between them. The service leaves Acre at 10am and 3pm, returning from Haifa at 11am and 4pm. The ship can carry up to 200 passengers.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/acre-haifa-new-ports-of-call-for-local-cruise-ship/
Find your lost fortune
The Bank of Israel has a new website, Har Hakesef2, which lets you search for lost bank accounts and pension funds. Enter your Teudat Zehut number, and then fill in the date that it was issued and a few other identifying questions. You can do the same for relatives that have passed away.
https://itur.mof.gov.il/#/main/landing
Why do multinationals use Israel for R&D?
Top executives from Google, Facebook, Microsoft and other multinational companies recently gave their reasons for choosing Israel for their Research & Development centers. They included the Israelis’ creativity, talent, problem-solving, chutzpah, and “magic”.
http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-google-microsoft-israel-rd-2016-10
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
Reasons to love Israel in autumn
Israel21c has produced a compilation of uniquely Israeli things to enjoy at this time of year. It features apples & honey, migrating birds, hiking, biking, the first rains of the season, perfect sunsets, restful Jewish festivals, and entertaining festivals of culture. Enjoy!
http://www.israel21c.org/8-reasons-why-we-love-israel-in-the-fall/
Science Fiction festival
The 20th Icon Festival for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Role-Playing takes place in Tel Aviv on 18-20 October. Guests include British Sci-Fi author Charles Strauss and actor John de Lancie who plays Q in Star Trek.
http://2016.iconfestival.org.il/about/en/
Queen’s Tel Aviv concert
Rock legend Queen and new front man Adam Lambert played Tel Aviv’s HaYarkon Park in front of 50,000 fans. The concert was a KILLER! There are many youtube videos of the concert available, but this one (TY Scosash) captured a unique event – Brian May playing Hava Nagila!
http://www.israellycool.com/2016/09/13/what-is-it-like-to-see-queen-in-park-hayarkon-in-tel-aviv/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOb7kEMibHw
Sophia Loren’s Tel Aviv show
Italian actress Sophia Loren is coming to Tel Aviv’s Mann Auditorium on Nov 25 as part of her one-woman worldwide tour. The 81-year-old Loren will share memories of her Hollywood career and her life in Italy, play clips of her favorite scenes and answer audience questions.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/sophia-loren-to-bring-her-trunk-of-memories-to-tel-aviv/
The Eilat International marathon
Register now for Israel’s unique Desert Marathon, taking place in Eilat on Nov 18.
THE JEWISH STATE
Hispanic pastors in support of Israel
Around 160 pastors from the Hispanic Israel Leadership Coalition (HILC) went to the Israeli Embassy in Washington to “strategize practical ways to help the Jewish state”, and to “witness for themselves the great miracles that God has wrought, just as the Bible promised.”
http://www.jns.org/latest-articles/2016/10/10/5dmqmrznb9g02oir90v1bx12axbg5o#.V_wMFTI-JIY=
Yom Kippur features on new Israeli stamps
Israeli stamps issued in September include Yom Kippur poem, Parables of the Sages, Israel-Bulgaria joint issue on bird migration and Seasons in Israel.
http://www.history-of-israel.co.il/stamps/index-2016.html
Californian meets Israeli blood brother
Leukemia sufferer Jacob had 5 siblings, but none was a suitable bone marrow match. Through Ezer Mizion’s International Jewish Bone Marrow Registry, he found a donor – Israeli Royi Horowitz – a perfect stranger. Read the moving account of when Jacob met Royi.
http://www.ezermizion.org/blog/a-perfect-stranger/
1st century gold coin found in Jerusalem
A rare 56-57 CE gold coin, bearing the image of Roman Emperor Nero, was found by archaeologists from University of North Carolina at Charlotte on Mount Zion, Jerusalem. It was found in ancient rubble outside the ruins of the first-century Jewish villas that the team were excavating.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Archeologists-find-1st-century-gold-coin-with-Neros-image-in-Jerusalem-467768
Deciphering a burnt ancient scroll
The text of a burnt scroll unearthed in 1970 in Ein Gedi by the Dead Sea has now been deciphered by researchers in Kentucky and Jerusalem using high resolution 3D scanning. Without unwrapping, the scroll contains the Torah book Leviticus – its text unchanged for at least 1500 years.
http://new.huji.ac.il/en/article/32759
211 immigrants arrive from Ukraine
Following an increase of hostilities on the Russian-Ukrainian border, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) brought a flight of 211 new Ukrainian immigrants to Israel. It is the 19th flight sponsored by the IFCJ since hostilities broke out in 2014.
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/211-new-immigrants-flee-to-israel-from-war-torn-ukraine/2016/08/30/
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