Solared Powered Robot Planes?

Although I can see this technology used for military operations (as it would save the government on fuel, batteries, etc.) this technology could easily be sold to NASA for future probes on Mars.

(Globes Online) Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) will unveil a solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at an aeronautical show tomorrow. The UAV has extended drawing on solar energy collected during the day for night operations.

Since this article was posted two days ago, the show actually happened yesterday. Aside from military and space, we may one day see this technology used on commercial airlines (as it would definitely help cut down on CO₂ pollution, satisfying the global warming crowd).

An Alcohol Free Bar In Jerusalem? Huh?

It looks like the mayor of Jerusalem is pioneering a new way to prevent foreign youth from getting drunk in the city. I think MADD would be proud.

(Jewish Telegraphic Agency) Lugar opened its doors in central Jerusalem on Monday with a teetotaling format geared toward minors.

The initiative was conceived by Mayor Uri Lupolianski following growing evidence that youths in Jerusalem, including many foreigners on study visits, were increasingly abusing lax controls on alcohol consumption in public places.

I'm not too sure how successful this bar will be, but if it actually works you'll be able to add this to the stack of problems solved by Jewish ingenuity.

Israel And Scientist To Share AIDS Drug Revenues

It looks like the state of Israel and a scientists looking to help fund research to fight AIDS, have reached an agreement on how to distribute the profits of this new drug.

(Globes Online) Accountant General Dr. Yaron Zalika has reached an agreement with former Israeli State Veterinary Services and Animal Health director Prof. Zeev Treinin to develop and patent an AIDS drug. In exchange, the state will receive royalties from profits from the drug, if any. Treinin reached the agreement because he discovered the drug’s basic ingredient when he was a civil servant, which means that the state owns the intellectual property.

I did not see any more information on Globes regarding how useful this new drug is, but that may be because a patent has not been secured for the drug. Hopefully this doctor receives the necessary funds to complete his research as AIDS is one of the less friendly diseases roaming around on our planet.

Israeli Producer's Film Generates Hollywood Buzz

It looks as if Ram Bergman will be launching a new film entitled "The Brothers Bloom" which is a movie about two cons deciding to perform one more act of misconduct before retiring.

(Ynet News) Bergman, who is currently working in Hollywood, managed to recruit actor Adrien Brody ('The Pianist,' 'King Kong'), British-Jewish actress Rachel Weisz (who won an Academy Award last year for best supporting actress in 'The Constant Gardener'), and Japanese actress Rinko Kikuchi (who is nominated this year for an Academy Award for best supporting actress in 'Babel') to participate in his intriguing and all-embracing production.

Director Rian Johnson wrote 'The Brothers Bloom,' inspired by the film 'The Sting.' Johnson has already worked with Bergman on 'Brick,' a successful movie which won Bergman recognition as one of the 10 prominent producers in American independent cinema.

Bergman says that the film industry is extremely intrigued by the new movie ("everyone in Hollywood wants to work in this film"), referring to Johnson as "the next Tarantino."

With the film hosting an incredible cast I would not be surprised if this was nominated for an Academy Award. No word when this movie is scheduled for release in the states, but from my estimates films like these can generally take up to two years (or more) to produce, edit and release.

Jewish Kids With Down Syndrome Receive Help

Although this pertains mainly to the UK, I thought it was a nice enough article to mention here.

(Jerusalem Post) The Leads Trust, a charitable organization that promotes the language and educational achievements of Jewish children with Down's, was founded by Rabbi Michael Bernstein, the father of a child with Down's syndrome.

The new trust will provide a range of educational and awareness services and programs, the first of which will enable any Jewish child with Down's throughout the UK to receive specialist speech and language therapy. Sessions are heavily subsidized through private donations and will be delivered by therapists with specific training and experience in working with children with Down's.

It is a good sign to see Jewish leaders helping those who are not as fortunate as they are within their community. Hopefully we will be able to see program grow, and perhaps expand into the promise land itself (as I am unsure whether something similar exists in Israel).

US Poll To Israel: Vital Friend Indeed

According to a Gallup poll, Israel is viewed by many Americans to be a "vital friend," even more so than the states traditional allies such as Australia, Canada and yes, England too.

(Ynet News) A Gallup poll surveying US opinion on geopolitics singles out Israel as only foreign nation Americans feel favorably toward and also say that what happens there is vitally important to the US. [...]

Of the countries viewed both favorably and important, only Israel was named, with 55 percent of Americans deeming it a 'vital friend.'

This is probably a result of a combination of Jewish and Christian organizations working together to present a favorable image of Israel (to counter what's been displayed in the media).

Although already fairly well known to Israel's friends and foes alike, America pretty much has Israel's back (and the same could probably also be said visa versa). One only has to look at who's currently running for president in America to see how the US views its friend across the Atlantic pond.

Google Adsense Gets Kosher (Now In Hebrew)

It looks like the search engine king has finally enabled Hebrew ads for Hebrew sites. Basically if your from Israel and you speak, read and type Hebrew fluently, you will now start seeing ads displayed in Hebrew on your webpage.

(Inside Adsense) This week, we’ve launched AdSense for content in Hebrew. If you're a publisher with a site primarily in Hebrew, feel free to begin displaying contextually-targeted ads on your pages by logging in to your account and generating your ad code under the AdSense Setup tab. As you may know, it can take up to 48 hours for our crawler to visit your site and determine which are relevant ads to display.

I've already started seeing some Hebrew ads on my site, although I (currently) have no clue what they are saying (I am going to have to find time to hire a Hebrew speaker one of these days).

Update: Republished on Israpundit.

And All Of The Pregnant Women Rejoiced!

With all of the stress of a woman carrying a child, it looks like one electronic invention will remove one painful test out of the lives of pregnant women everywhere.

(Israel 21^st Century) Traditionally, monitoring the progress of labor must be done through intrusive and repeated manual examinations. Measurements are generally obtained every one to four hours by inserting the fingers towards the cervix. Measured by finger-lengths and not objective measurements, multiple examinations even by the same person often provide varied results. These uncomfortable examinations increase stress and anxiety for birthing mothers while increasing health risks.

The CLM uses proprietary ultrasound technology to monitor the progression of labor. Signals from disposable sensors track cervix dilation and fetal head descent, providing continuous and accurate data throughout the birthing process. The results are available in real-time on a user-friendly monitor visible to both the medical team and the birthing mother.

It looks as if the women in the article are enjoying the benefits of this technology as much as the doctors (if not more). Unfortunately this technology has not traveled beyond Israel's borders, although they are trying to introduce this technology to the medical community (as well as some colleges) in the US.

Note: I was going to include the press image, but in order to keep this site "family friendly."

Israel Likes Their Female CEO's

Despite the freedoms that permeate both the US and Israel, the Jewish state does seem to have on business advantage for females compared to their American friends.

(Globes Online) Israel has double the proportion of women CEOs than the US, relative to the size of the population, says Business Data Israel (BDI). The average CEO in Israel's top 500 companies is 50, married with three children, resides in the center of the country, and has an MA in Economics or MBA.

It looks as if the glass ceiling in Israel is a little bit thinner than it is in the United States. Although I wonder if most of those women CEO's (in Israel) are from the technology sector or from health?

Vringo Suggests Video Tones Over Ring Tones?

I'm sure that everyone who is anyone who has a cell phone is familiar with ring tones, as well as where to pay to download your favorite song as the mobile chime.

But it seems that a company called Vringo is asking "Why use an audio tone when you can upload a video tone instead?"

(Israel 21^st Century) "The idea is as you move from audio to video in choosing your ring tone, you're moving from the individual to the community," explained Medved from his startup's offices in Beit Shemesh, halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

"Until now, you chose a ring tone for yourself - for instance The Rolling Stones, and that describes something about you to those around you when your phone rings. But otherwise it doesn't tell any story about yourself. In enabling people to share video clips - a snippet of comedy show or a joke, or to their own 10-second video message with their cell phone camera saying something like "Get up!" or "Why are you avoiding me?" - then it becomes something that you're not creating for yourself, but for your friends."

According to Vringo VP Benjamin Levy, "video greetings are a much better expression of who you are."

After checking out the FAQ, Vringo is free for all, although you will have to pay for licensed video's. They still seem to be in beta (so no review of the phone technology over here) but hopefully Engadget (or their mobile site) will post a review of this mobile kosher technology.

Oleh Records Seeking Jewish Rockers

It's one thing for an Israeli band to be huge inside the holy land. It's quite another to crossover "the Atlantic pond" and attempt to make it big in the states. One organization trying to bridge the gap (and provide direction) for Jewish rockers touring in America is Oleh! Records.

(Israel 21^st Century) [...] Hulsh's Oleh! Records is reaching out to a very specific segment of the music industry in Israel: bands who perform in English. At the same time as striving to help the musicians he signs to book tours and land record deals in the US, as well as the UK, Canada, and Australia. Hulsh's parallel goal is to facilitate face-to-face 'encounters' and dialogue [sic] between Israelis and Americans.

Oleh! will take on traditional recording label responsibilities such as promoting and marketing its acts. But musicians will not be required to sign exclusive contracts. "If your band receives an offer from a major label, you're free to take it at any time," Hulsh told the appreciative crowd in Tel Aviv at the official launch of the label.

This is probably an ingenious way to reach out to the American youth culture, as music is pretty much the language of communication (if not the universal one for our planet). Props to Hulsh for launching this program, although he may want to consider launching an English version of his site (other than MySpace) if he wants to attract viewers from the states.

Saudi Arabian Prince To Build Tel Aviv Hotel?

Despite heading the worlds best known Islamic theocracy's, it seems as if the Saudi Arabian prince is making plans to build a hotel in one of Israel's largest metropolis.

Is it me, or is the middle east getting weirder by the day? (I mean in a good, kosher type of way)

(Israel Today) Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed bin Talal plans to invest into Israel as he is in negotiations to build a hotel on Tel Aviv's coastline.

Bin Talal already has two architects working on the project. One is Basel al-Beiti, the prince’s private architect who has experience in designing oriental hotels around the world. The other architect is former Tel Aviv Chief City Engineer, Yisrael Gudovich. [...]

According to recent blueprints submitted to the Tel Aviv Municipality, the hotel is to be an eight-story, 150-room complex on the Mediterranean Sea.

Bin Talal is the nephew of the late Saudi King Faisal, and is believed to be worth $26.4 billion.

It would probably be a hotel for the "rich and famous," although I would love to catch a photo of the hotel when its done. The prince seems to be more "pragmatic" than his religious counterparts, although I pray his venture would lead towards greater diplomatic ties between the two nations in the future.