Very Good News Israel

·        Israeli researchers have enhanced the body’s defenses against influenza.

·        An Israeli biotech has developed a system to ensure successful epidural pain relief.

·        Israel ran an agricultural seminar for sixty Gaza farmers.

·        An Israeli harness was used in the rescue of trapped South African miners.

·        An innovative Israeli air-conditioning process was inspired by the Dead Sea.

·        The Scottish Government has bought an Israeli disaster recovery system.

·        Exciting Israeli launches of an ex-UK radio DJ and an international news TV channel

·        Last week’s JPost Israel Good News descriptive summary

Click here for “Yet Another Opportunity” (fast-loading, text-only version, no adverts).

Page Down for more details on these and other good news stories from Israel.

Israelis beat the flu virus.  (Thanks to Israel21c)  Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have discovered that flu viruses (including deadly strains) use the protein neuraminidase to disable the body’s natural killer (NK) cells.  They managed to inhibit the protein and thus bolster the NK cells ability to fight the viruses.

Engineered Veto cells prevent rejection. An international team led by Weizmann Institute researchers has “turned off” the immune system’s automatic rejection of foreign transplants.  They introduced the less toxic CD8+ veto immune cells into the body with the biochemical interleukin-15 to guide them to the lymph nodes.

Israel’s blindness reduction is “out of sight”.  (Thanks to Israel21c) In the last 12 years, the number of Israelis suffering from preventable blindness has been reduced by 56% – a rate unprecedented in any other country.

UK NHS offers to perform trials for Israeli bio-techs.  Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) has invited Israeli life sciences companies to conduct clinical trials in the UK.  This is a major achievement as the NHS is the largest single healthcare provider in the world.

Technion seeks cures with Manchester.  Israel’s Technion signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK’s Manchester University that will promote joint research into cures to cancer and genetic illnesses.  It will also see combined studies into heart disease, stem cell and genetic research.

Stop snoring and go to sleep.  Israel & Belgium based Nyxoah’s new device prevents sleep apnea by transmitting a focused electric field.  It is inserted inside the chin in a simple procedure and gets its energy from an external patch that is stuck to the chin only at night.  It is far more comfortable than existing alternatives.

A better epidural.  The method of applying epidural injections hasn’t changed for 100 years.  The skill of the doctor is vital with high failure rates (30%) and frequent complications.  But Israel’s Omeq Medical’s sensor-based system guides the doctor to the exact spot. Over 20 million epidurals are given each year in the US alone.

Gaza weekly deliveries:  In the week ending 27th July 2013, 1378 trucks carried 37,306 tons of goods into Gaza from Israel through the Kerem Shalom crossing.  They included 464 trucks of food and 375 trucks of construction materials.  Terrorists launched 2 rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel.

Also, here is a photo of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh feeding orphans in Gaza with “boycotted” Israeli yogurts.

Gaza farmers attend Israeli seminar.  Sixty Gaza farmers attended an agricultural seminar in northern Israel.  They completed workshops on cultivation methods, planting schedules, soil preparation, irrigation, fertilizers and pesticides. Israeli watermelon seeds purchased last year doubled the farmers’ yield.

Shhh! – joint Israeli-PA tech ventures at work.  Please read this insightful article about the hundreds of Israeli and Palestinian Arabs who (mostly in secret) are becoming business partners and colleagues in joint start-ups that are slowly transforming the PA economy.

Israel treats more wounded Syrians.  Latest emergency surgery at Tzfat’s Sieff hospital included one Syrian who was brought in with critical head wounds and another with shrapnel in his eyes.

Proud to serve.  A new IDF poll reveals positive attitudes toward service among hareidi (ultra-orthodox) Jewish soldiers. 90% of respondents said it is important to them that they excel in their role in the IDF.  85% said they are proud to serve in the IDF.  400 hareidi soldiers enlisted last week. Most chose combat units.

Israeli charity advises UN on disabilities.  Giving Beit Issie Shapiro’s first ever presentation to the UN, Executive Director Jean Judes, spoke about Community Based Rehabilitation and the organization’s innovations to help include children and adults with disabilities in society.  Watch Jean at 1hr 27 mins.

Powering Africa.  With the US announcement of the new Power Africa initiative, it is important to highlight that “Innovation: Africa” has been powering rural East African schools, medical clinics and water pumping systems with Israeli solar technology for the past five years, impacting over 450,000 people.

Israeli harness used in SA miners’ rescue.  (Thanks to Israel21c) A police interpreter was lowered into a South African mine using an instant harness from Israel’s Agilite.  The interpreter gave instructions to trapped miners. The rescuer later tweeted his praise for the Israeli device and recommended it to all rescue personnel.

TAU’s Environmental Friendly Student City.  Tel Aviv University’s Student City complex is its most ambitious building project to date.  It covers nearly a quarter mile and includes eight residential towers, accommodating more than 1,500 students.  The project has Energy and Environmental Design gold status

Saving diseased corals.  (Thanks to ajewishisrael.com) Tel Aviv University’s Eugene Rosenberg has used a natural therapeutic virus BA3 to protect Eilat’s corals from “white plague” bacteria.  Professor Rosenberg discovered that some corals had immunity from Vibrio coralliilyticus because they already contained BA3.

Hot wheels.  Students at Israel’s Technion unveiled their entry for the Formula SAE finals in Milan in September. Their single-seater car can accelerate to 100km/hr in 4 seconds and has a top speed of 170 km/hr.

NBA star promotes science education.  Six-time NBA All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire was in Israel to coach the Canadian basketball team at the Maccabiah Games. He also visited children studying science in Kiryat Malachi and Kiryat Ekron to promote science education in areas outside of Israel’s main cities.

Start-up Technion.  Venture capital guru Jon Medved gave an outstanding analysis at Israel’s Technion of Israel’s innovation success and where it needs to go.  His key 90-second message came at 41:35 until 43:00.

Israel wins 6 medals at Math Olympiad.  With one Gold, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze, Israel ranked 13^th of the 97 participating countries at the International Mathematical Olympiad in Santa Marta, Colombia.  Israel’s team of High school and Junior High mathematicians improved greatly from 31^st place in 2012.

Did you remember to take the baby?  The BabyMinder app from Israel’s Anagog reminds parents to remove children from the car when exiting. Tragically, babies have died after having been left in cars during hot weather.  BabyMinder uses GPS mapping, alerts, and other tricks to keep drivers alert to babies in their care.

The highest increase in Internet speeds.  (Thanks to Israel21c) Israel saw the highest rate of growth in Internet speed in the world last year, according to the State of the Internet Report by Akamai Technologies.  Infrastructure investments made by communications companies Bezeq and HOT were the reason.

Air conditioning from the Dead Sea.  (Thanks to Israel21c) Haifa-based Advantix makes air-con systems ideal for humid countries, as it uses a process based on the way that the Dead Sea absorbs water from the atmosphere.  The salt also kills bacteria and so the systems are used in hospitals, restaurants and schools.

Tomorrow’s World of the BCI.  The Brain-Computer Interface will be demonstrated at BrainTech Israel 2013 – Israel’s first ever International Brain Technology Conference in Tel Aviv in October.  Scientists, innovators, entrepreneurs and businesses are already working to turn “science fiction” into “science non-fiction”.

Israel and India to work on 5G telecoms.  5^th Generation mobile communications is just in its infancy, however Indian telecom and IT minister Kapil Sibal and his Israeli counterpart Gilad Erdan have agreed that both countries will work together developing and manufacturing both 4G and 5G telecom technologies.

Singapore and Jerusalem launch joint PhD.  The National University of Singapore and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem are launching a Joint Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree program in biomedical science.  Students will divide their time between both campuses in Singapore and Jerusalem.

Strong ties with Delaware.  Governor Jack A. Markell said he and his delegation of Delaware entrepreneurs and business leaders aim to explore ways for Israel and Delaware to strengthen ties and forge new relationships. Thousands of Israeli-based businesses are already incorporated in Delaware.

IBM buys its 12^th Israeli company.  Computer giant IBM has acquired Herzliya Pituach-based Computing Solutions Leaders International (CSL) for an estimated $20 million.  CSL’s virtualization and cloud-computing systems allow customers to run their business applications efficiently or remotely on 3^rd party computers.

Air traffic to Israel increases.  According to Israel’s Airport Authority, air flight traffic in the month of July increased by more than 6.5% in comparison to the previous summer.  Passenger traffic at Ben Gurion airport is expected to peak in August.

Israel’s tallest skyscraper.  The Tel Aviv Local Planning and Building Commission has approved the “Keren HaKirya” plan which includes an 80-story high office tower – to be Israel’s tallest skyscraper.  Two 45-story residence towers will also be built on the site, plus another office tower of 50 floors.  Planners have nicknamed them “the Toblerone Towers” because of their triangular shape.

Israeli parts for VW engines.  (Thanks to Atid-EDI) Israel’s Tadir-Gan has won a $45 million contract from Volkswagen to supply engine parts over eight years. Tadir Gan will supply components and products produced at its plants in Afula , Kibbutz Neve Or and Germany.

Scottish government uses Israeli protection.  (Thanks to Atid-EDI) The Scottish Government has deployed the Phoenix System RP from Israel’s Axxana to meet its business continuity goals.  Axxana’s disaster recovery system can survive any disaster while ensuring 100% data protection and recovery over any distance.

Entertaining the troops.  The Faith Bible Chapel International singers & dancers of Arvada, Colorado made their annual summer visit to Ariel. The FBC Internationals have been performing annually in Israel at IDF bases throughout the country for the last 20 years.

New tourist center is for the birds.  (Thanks to Israel21c)   A new International Center for the Study of Bird Migration building at Latrun is being built to encourage tourists to watch some of the 1 billion birds that will fly over Israel in the coming 12 months.

Strings attached.  (Thanks to Israel21c) The 22nd International Puppet Theater Festival in Jerusalem will stage over 125 performances – the largest puppet event in Israel’s history.  The main themes this year are the Far East and trains.  The Royal Thai Embassy is sponsoring the highlight performance “Lunar Eclipse”.

Get ‘em in!  The two-day Jerusalem Beer Festival starts pulling pints on 7^th August in Independence Park.  120 beers, street shows, live bands and other great attractions.  From 6pm till 11pm on both days.

From Cambridge to Tel Aviv.  Several years ago radio station Kol Cambridge blasted out Israeli and Jewish music to Cambridge students in the UK and local residents.  The radio presenter (Antithesis) has since made Aliya and the station will shortly be operating from Tel Aviv.

Iranians pretend to be Israelis in illegal immigration attempt.  In an attempt to enter Canada illegally, an Iranian family used stolen and falsified passports from the “Zionist entity”.  They knew that Israelis do not require visas to enter the country, whereas Iranians required permits.  But they didn’t fool Canadian officials.

Training for rescue.  Members of the IDF’s Tavor Battalion are prepared to save lives in the event of a large-scale disaster. The soldiers train to rescue civilians trapped under mounds of rubble. As one of the battalion commanders said, “Rescuing a person is like bringing a child into the world.”

24-hours a day of TV news from an Israeli angle.  A new Israeli TV station has gone on air. i24news, based in Jaffa, is the first TV channel dedicated to reporting international news from an Israeli point of view. It broadcasts World news (70%) and Israeli news (30%) in English, Arabic and French via satellite, cable and also LIVE on the Internet.  Please visithttp://www.i24news.tv/en/tv/live and see what you think.