How Innovative is Your Dentist?

23 02 2012

Israeli company's LiteTouch laser system is becoming a fast favorite of dentists and their patients in the US, Asia and Europe

Going to the dentist is never a picnic, and dentists understand how their patients feel. That’s why they are constantly trying new technologies to make treatment less unpleasant.

Syneron Dental Lasers of Yokneam, Israel, has developed the new LiteTouch dental laser – an innovation that has played a pivotal role in transforming the way practitioners perform dental treatments today.

Just as the mobile phone freed the world from wires, so has the LiteTouch freed dentists from traditional tools as well as bulky optic fibers, making laser dentistry completely portable, says company president Ira Prigat,  ”The LiteTouch system is cost-effective and a step up toward a completely high-tech clinic.” And for dentists who miss the comforting sound of the drill, the LiteTouch vibrates like a drill although fortunately for patients, it doesn’t hurt like a drill since it’s laser-based.

According to numerous studies, the product has proven superior clinical results, with less pain and faster healing. Consequently, patient retention and growth rates are significantly better for dental practices that use LiteTouch, Prigat says.

Last September, Syneron Dental was named one of the 10 fastest-growing companies in Israel in Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50, which lists firms by revenue growth percentage over five years. Prigat expects that growth to continue.

“LiteTouch is finally fulfilling the promise that the industry gave to dentists,” he says, “that a laser can change their dental life.”

For further reading please click  here and here





Black Tomato Coming to a Salad Near You

14 02 2012

Black Galaxy: the new crossbreed - which includes blueberry pigment - may be more nutritious than a regular tomato

Everyone knows that Israeli food is scrumptious, fresh and flavorsome. It’s also highly innovative.

At the annual Arava Agricultural R&D exhibition – which took place earlier this month -visitors were wowed by new edible produce including a black tomato, rainbow colored carrots and red lemons.

Over 250 companies from Israel and around the world participated in the expo.

The new species of fruits and vegetables are set for export. And in addition to adding a splash of color to the salad bowl, the new produce reportedly packs more vitamins and antioxidants into its fruit/vegetable.

Rainbow carrots Photo: Bareket Tal

“Black Galaxy” tomato was developed by Technological Seeds DM. The company says that the color was derived from a pigment in blueberries and that the new species has higher concentrations of Vitamin C as found in regular tomatoes.

Among other new edible creations, the show featured the latest agro-tech developments including thermal plant imaging and a crop dusting robot.

Thank you israel21c.org for the story





Technology To Save Cities Water And Money

9 02 2012

According to  the Israeli startup Stream Control, 40 percent of the water available to us is lost every year, primarily because of leaks. This “non-revenue” water costs 14 billion dollars per year in utilities worldwide, the company says.

Stream Control’s solution is called Aqua-Guard,  an electronic controller device that can minimize leakages caused by excessive pressure in water distribution pipes. It does so by dynamically adjusting the pressure applied to the pipeline network, in accordance with the actual demand for water.

CEO of  Stream Control, Shlomo Avitbul, says: “We save water but also money. The return on the investment is quick. Money spent on incorporating our technology will be regained within six to twelve months.”

Stream Control’s unit does not use electricity, but batteries. “The battery lasts three years and the system doesn’t use a lot of energy,” says Avitbul.
“The unit can be installed on existing hydraulic valve, and fits nearly all models available.” He adds that Stream Control provides real-time date reports of abnormal leaks.
Aqua-Guard was implemented in the Jerusalem Municipality and resulted in a reduction of 30 percent in water leaks. Other Israeli cities using the system are Tiberias and Rehovot. And the company is currently launching a pilot project in Brazil and possibly Mexico.

Video

Source: here





Israeli Game Night?

1 02 2012

Ephraim Hertzano invented Rummikub in the early 1930’s and hand-made the first sets with his family in the backyard of his home in Israel. He designed the game to combine elements of rummy, dominoes, mah-jongg, and chess. Hertzano’s family sold the first sets door-to-door and on a consignment basis at small local shops. The game soon took off, and the family began licensing it to other countries over the years. As a result, it became Israel’s #1 export game. Rummikub made it to American shores in 1964 thanks to the efforts of Pressman Toys. In 1977, it became the best-selling game in the U.S.

Today, Rummikub is licensed internationally by Lemada Light Industries, a company formed in Israel by Hertzano’s children. They have turned the game into a powerhouse phenomenon that is sold in 48 countries and has been translated into 24 languages. Through their efforts, it has become the third best selling game in the world. As a result of this popularity, Rummikub clubs have been formed all over the world, and a World Rummikub Championship has been held every year since 1991. The enduring popularity that Rummikub enjoys is proof that this game has an appeal that is truly universal.

Sources: skooldays.com and wikipadia.org





Non-Invasive Tool Identifies Alzheimer’s, Depression and ADHD

25 01 2012

ElMindA aims to revolutionize treatment of a number of brain disorders by opening a new window in to the way the brain works

One out of every three people suffer from a brain-related disorder such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ADHD, chronic pain or depression. But because the human brain and the conditions that affect it are so complex, blood tests and imaging are of limited value for diagnosing brain diseases and documenting the effects of treatment.

Even in the 21st century, there’s a lot of guesswork involved, and that means low treatment success rates at high costs.

The Israeli company ElMindA could revolutionize the field by opening a new window into how the brain works. Its trademarked, non-invasive BNA (brain network activation) technology has shown promise in clinical studies.

“Our vision is that every psychiatrist and neurologist in the world will routinely send every patient for BNA tests,” says Dr. Eli Zangvil, ElMindA’s strategic advisor for business development. “Our test would add information and aid in diagnostics in a way no other existing technology can do.”

The procedure is simple and painless. Patients sit at a computer for 15 to 30 minutes, performing a specific task many times while the device maps network activation points in the brain. The repetition allows the device to sift out brain activity unrelated to the task (such as thinking about what to eat for lunch). The result is a three-dimensional image of nerve cell connectivity and synchronization that is highly sensitive, specific and reproducible.

The tool is sensitive enough to show subtle differences in the severity of the condition from one day to another, says Zangvil. It can also optimize drug dosing by monitoring the changes in brain network activities as the drug takes effect.

In much the same way, clinical trials are proving the tool’s value for objectively diagnosing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which affects up to one in 20 US children.

Diagnosis today is based on a subjective behavioral and clinical evaluation, with a high rate of misdiagnosis and unnecessary drug treatment. BNA mapping would simplify diagnosis by comparing the patient’s scan to a normal and an ADHD profile. It would also play a role in treatment decisions and monitoring.

The company, under CEO Ronen Gadot, has about 18 employees at its Herzliya office and is backed by a world-class scientific advisory board.

For further reading please click here





Israel Wins Coin of the Year

19 01 2012

The “Jonah In the Whale” silver coin was chosen the best of 10 individual category winners by an international panel of coin experts.

The “Jonah In the Whale” silver coin

The coin’s obverse features the face value in Hebrew and English, the Israel state emblem, “Israel” in Hebrew, English and Arabic, the mint year, the inscription “Jonah in the belly of the fish,” Jonah 2:1 in three languages and the prophet Jonah in prayer. The reverse depicts Jonah praying from the belly of the whale: “Thy billows and thy waves passed over me … yet I will look again towards thy Holy Temple …”

“We would like to congratulate the Bank of Israel on the beautiful design,” said Coin of the Year coordinator Lisa Bellavin. “Its simplicity speaks volumes and invokes a little bit of wonder. It shows that where coin design is concerned, sometimes less can be more.”

The coin is made of 28.8 grams of .925 fine silver and is produced in proof quality. Its mintage is 2,800.

Source: numismaster.com





Did You Know?…

12 01 2012

 

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As a country, Israel is defined by its collective successes and what follows is but a small sampling of that:

• Ten Israelis have won the Nobel Prize so far.

• Israel is a leader in quality of life. In a comparison conducted by the UN regarding quality of life in 182 countries, Israel ranked 27th, only slightly lower than the UK.

• Israel’s healthcare system is one of the most advanced in the world.

• Israel is a leader in biotechnology development.

• Israeli medical developments are used in the best operating rooms across the world.

• Israeli cows produce the largest amount and highest quality of milk in the world.

• Israel is the only country that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees.

• Israel is one of the world’s top leaders in agricultural development and fruit cloning.

• A quarter of the population holds a degree – ranking third in the world.

• Israel produces more scientific papers and more patents per capita than any other country.

• Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant- absorbing nation, has more museums per capita and receives more media coverage than any other country in the world.

• Israel has sent emergency delegations around the world to assist foreign governments in times of major disaster including but not limited to Cambodia, Rwanda, Turkey, Argentina, Armenia, Russia, Kenya, New Orleans, Haiti, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand.

• The IDF was the first major medical team to set up camp immediately following the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

• The World Economic Forum has recognized Israel as one of the leading countries in the world in technological innovation.

• The cell phone, disk on key, instant messenger chat, voicemail technology and PillCam were all developed in Israel. The Pentium4 processor was designed and developed in Israel as well.

• Microsoft and Cisco built their largest R&D centers in Israel.

• Apple chose Israel as its first and only R&D center outside the US.

• Israel has the world’s highest percentage of engineers and scientists.

• Israel is a leader in genetics and preventive medicine.

• Israel sends hundreds of missions to developing countries worldwide.

• Israeli agricultural experts introduced drip-irrigation technology, saving water in arid regions.

• An Israeli company recently discovered a way to eradicate the use of pesticides for pest control by using edible oil instead.

• A simple, inexpensive Israeli solution for storing staples is helping Africans, South Americans and Asians survive food shortages.

• Except for the US and Canada, Israel has the most traded companies on Wall Street than any other country.

• Israel is a leader in coexistence programs that bring together Arabs and Jews.

• Israel has an incredible array of institutions that focus on charitable outreach and offering help to the needy.

• Israel is unique in terms of its size, location and diversity of climate and wildlife.

• Jerusalem’s Biblical Zoo is involved in worldwide breeding efforts and to reintroduce animals to their natural habitats.

• Israel is the only place where biblical history really comes alive.

• While far from perfect, the Knesset is an anomaly in the Middle East. Its makeup of Arabs and Jews, Secular and Orthodox and men and women makes Israel a unique liberal democracy – in fact the only one in the Middle East.

• Israel’s military prowess and might is world renowned. It is a leading force in battlefield technology, counterterrorism, combat skills, intelligence gathering and air superiority. The Mossad is likely the world’s top intelligence agency, unsurpassed in its ability to gather information from around the globe.

For all these reasons and more, it is important to recognize and appreciate that with all its problems, Israel is a great country.

Thank you Jpost for the article.





Israel’s New Winter Fruit

5 01 2012

If you ask any Israeli during the winter time what he misses the most, he will probably say “a big red delicious watermelon!”

Now their prayers are answered!  The new yellow-orange watermelon will transport you back to the sweet fruits of summer. The new fruit is a joint venture between farmer Itay Gal from Moshav Ein Yahav in the Arava Desert  and Hishtil Nurseries.

The new fruit is oval shaped with a bottle green rind and dark green stripes. This new watermelon is firm, crisp and more sweet than the usual summer red watermelon. The average weight of an orange watermelon is 6.6 lbs making it much easier to carry home and store in your home refrigerator.

Grown hanging in hothouses the melons are wrapped in the early stages of growth in a mesh bag to protect them from damage. The mesh bag remains on the fruit all the the way to market shelf…and on to your refrigerator.





Will Apple Ride the Israel Tech Bus Along with Google, Microsoft and Intel?

29 12 2011

According to recent reports and rumors fueled by a visit from a top Apple executive,  Apple is planning to open a research and development center in Israel. This would be Apple’s first and only R&D facility outside California.

Apple would be joining dozens of other leading tech companies that have established large development centers in Israel. Google has two. Microsoft has some 1,000 Israelis working at several R&D centers, while Intel has developed some of  their most advanced processors, in whole or part, at their Israeli branches. And other tech giants, including Cisco, Motorola and IBM, have been taking advantage of the “Israeli mind” for decades.

So what would Apple be seeking in Israel that it can’t get in Cupertino? Apple hasn’t publicly commented on the rumors, but observers have noted that Apple has not been a big spender on R&D in the past dedicating only about two percent of its total annual sales to researching new technology, considered a very small percentage in the tech world.

With the competition ramping up from Google, Amazon, Samsung, Microsoft and others in the software and hardware space, Apple may be taking a preventative step, looking at new technologies while it still dominates in the phone and tablet market. Now that guru Steve Jobs has left the stage, Apple’s leadership may see research as its ticket to future products, as opposed to the inspiration Jobs supplied when he imagined and created devices like the iPod and the iPhone.

For further reading please click here.





Cornell University and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa Win a Contest to Build an Engineering Campus in NYC

22 12 2011

Rendering Courtesy of Cornell University

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Cornell University President David J. Skorton, and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology President Peretz Lavie  announced an historic partnership to build a two-million-square-foot applied science and engineering campus on Roosevelt Island in New York City.  The selection of the Cornell/Technion consortium -  which pairs two of the world’s top institutions in the fields of science, engineering, technology and research – marks a major milestone in the City’s groundbreaking Applied Sciences NYC initiative, which seeks to increase New York City’s capacity for applied sciences and dramatically transform the City’s economy.

“Thanks to this outstanding partnership and groundbreaking proposal from Cornell and the Technion, New York City’s goal of becoming the global leader in technological innovation is now within sight,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “By adding a new state-of-the-art institution to our landscape, we will educate tomorrow’s entrepreneurs and create the jobs of the future. This partnership has so much promise because we share the same goal: to make New York City home to the world’s most talented workforce.”

“Cornell University and our extraordinary partner, The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, are deeply gratified to have the opportunity to realize Mayor Bloomberg’s vision for New York City: to prepare tomorrow’s expanding talent pool of tech leaders and entrepreneurs to work with the city’s key industries in growing tomorrow’s innovation ecosystem,” said Cornell President Skorton. “Starting today, we are going to put our plan to work, tapping into our extensive connections throughout the city and build a truly 21st Century campus to fuel the creation of new businesses and new industries throughout the city for decades to come.”

“Our pride and our hopes for the future are shared by the whole Technion community of students, faculty, friends and supporters, including the very successful American Technion Society,” said the Technion President Lavie. “Together, we have the means, ingenuity and willpower to make our world a better place by joining with Cornell University and the great people of  New York City for this innovative new center of learning and enterprise.”

“Cornell and the Technion are each well-established global leaders in the fields of science and engineering, as well as entrepreneurship,” said Charles Vest, President of the National Academy of Engineering, and President Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “This newly formed partnership marks an important moment for New York City, its economy, and the future of innovation and higher education in this country.”

Source: Technion.ac.il








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