Monday, June 25, 2012

A New Heart from Old Skin

A New Heart from Old Skin

An Israeli team has made medical history with its ability to transform skin stem cells from heart-disease patients into healthy heart tissue.

From Israel 21C By Karin Kloosterman


Be still your beating hearts: Making medical history, scientists from Israel have been able to transform human stem cells from older diseased patients into brand-new, healthy, beating heart tissue. This could mean that heart disease might someday be repaired by using cells from a person’s own body, eliminating the need for risky surgical implants and transplants. Using stem-cell technology, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology researchers from Haifa showed that their lab-produced cardiac muscle cells are also capable of merging into existing heart muscles.

The news is causing a media sensation around the globe.

“The good thing about it is that the research has increased public awareness to science that Israel isn’t only portrayed with hostility, but that it’s a country bringing good news for the world,” Prof. Lior Gepstein, head researcher in the advance, tells ISRAEL21c.

A decade from clinical trials

It will take five to 10 years before this basic science can get to the point of clinical trials, Gepstein emphasizes. People with advanced heart disease today might never benefit from the research, published in the current issue of the European Heart Journal. The advance is more likely to be applicable to people who are now 30 years old and younger.

Still, the breakthrough is monumental.

“What is new and exciting about our research is that we have shown that it’s possible to take skin cells from an elderly patient with advanced heart failure and end up with his own beating cells in a laboratory dish that are healthy and young — the equivalent to the stage of his heart cells when he was just born,” says Gepstein.

Skin cells from patients aged 51 and 61 were transformed into healthy heart muscle cells by adding to the cell nucleus three genes and valpoic acid, a small molecule. Gepstein’s team avoided a transcription factor typically used in creating stem cells because it’s thought to cause cells to develop out of control and become tumors. The new heart muscle cells, cardiomyocytes, grew in a lab dish with existing heart tissues, and within 24 to 48 hours both kinds of tissue were beating together as one. “The tissue was behaving like a tiny microscopic cardiac tissue composed of approximately 1,000 cells in each beating area.” This culture was then implanted into the hearts of healthy rats, where it connected well to the existing cardiac muscle.

An empire of stem-cell research

Over the last decade, Israel has created what Gepstein calls an “empire” in stem-cell research, with nodes of highly focused research taking place at the country’s best research institutes. He focuses on the heart, but there are labs concentrating on diabetes, Parkinson’s disease or on repairing nerve damage.

Israeli scientists today use pluripotent stem cells, which come from skin or blood samples. Cultivating stem cells this way circumvents ethical considerations of embryonic stem-cell research, and also guarantees that patients wouldn’t need to take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of their lives, since the progenitor cells originate from the patients’ own bodies.

The early pioneering work, such as that of Benjamin Rubinoff at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem, was done with embryonic stem cells. Of the world’s first 10 scientific papers dealing with human embryonic stem cells, nearly all were authored in Israel.

Gepstein explains that Israel never faced the ethical challenges in embryonic stem-cell research that plague most US states. That’s because in Jewish law, an embryo is not considered human until 40 days after conception. Using younger embryos therefore doesn’t raise ethical problems, and Israel was free to move ahead in the field. Today, Israelis excel at maintaining pluripotent stem-cell cultures, growing them and coaxing them into new cell types, Gepstein says.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Turning Sound into Sight for the Blind

Turning sound into sight for the blind

Israeli brain scientists have developed special devices to activate the visual cortex with data coming in from existing senses.
By Abigail Klein Leichman June 12, 2012, 
From Israel 21C

People born blind can be trained to visualize objects using sensory substitution devices (SSDs) developed by scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences and the Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada. SSDs are non-invasive devices that provide visual information to the blind through their existing senses. For example, a visual-to-auditory SSD converts images from a miniature video camera into “soundscapes” that activate the visual cortex of the blind person, who listens through stereo headphones hooked up to a laptop or smartphone. Individuals trained in the laboratory of Dr. Amir Amedi can use SSDs to identify complex everyday objects, locate people and read letters and words.
After the SSD training period, researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study the organization of the visual cortex in the brains of the test subjects. The results were published several months ago in the journal Cerebral Cortex.

Seeing without eyesight

Previous studies already revealed that visual processing happens in two parallel pathways of the brain. The ventral stream, or the “what” pathway, apparently takes care of processing form, object identity and color. The dorsal stream is considered the “where/how” pathway, allowing a person to analyze visual and spatial information. Amedi’s PhD student Ella Striem-Amit wanted to learn more about the role of visual experience in shaping this functional architecture of the brain. She theorized that maybe eyesight isn’t necessary in order for the dual processing mechanism to kick in. Various kinds of SSDs developed in Amedi’s lab allowed her to test her theory. One of the devices is a tiny virtual cane, a patented invention whose sensors help blind people estimate the distance between themselves and the object at which the cane is pointing. The virtual cane emits a focused beam towards surrounding objects, and transmits the information to the user via a gentle vibration. This allows users to identify obstacles of different heights and to create a spatial mental picture to help them navigate between the objects. “The use of the device is intuitive and can be learned within a few minutes of use,” said Amedi. Using fMRI following sensory substitution, the Hebrew University researchers discovered that the visual cortex’s two-pathway division of labor was indeed activated by sounds that convey the visual information. Striem-Amit was correct: The complex system isn’t dependent on eyesight.

The brain is a ‘task machine’

Amedi’s team and other research groups have suggested that many areas of the brain find ways to accomplish tasks regardless of the format of the information coming in.
“The brain is not a sensory machine, although it often looks like one,” said Amedi. “It is a task machine.”
This newest study further supports such a notion, and shows that the brain of a congenitally blind person could be trained to process visual information with the aid of visual rehabilitation devices – including, perhaps, an SSD hybrid prosthesis.“The exciting view of our brain as highly flexible task-based and not sensory-based raises the chances for visual rehabilitation, long considered unachievable, given adequate training in teaching the brain how to see,” summarized Amedi’s students Lior Reich and Shachar Maidenbaum in Current Opinion in Neurology. In the future, SSDs could not only help scientists assess the brain’s functional organization, but could also serve as aids for the blind in daily visual tasks. The devices could even be used to visually train the brain prior to eye surgery, and to augment vision after the surgery.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Running Your Car on Algae

Running your car on algae

Israel’s Univerve is breeding a strain of algae to provide a new biofuel with a bunch of major advantages.
By Karin Kloosterman

GreenFuel, a US algae-to-biofuel business founded by Israeli Isaac Berzin more than 10 years ago, most likely failed because it was a bit ahead of the zeitgeist. Hoping to reach the market when the product and timing is right, the young Israeli company Univerve plans to turn algae — the green slimy microorganisms you skim from ponds and pools — into the perfect third-generation biofuel.
Ohad Zuckerman, CEO of the 10-person company based in Tel Aviv, thinks he and his team have the right stuff to make it happen. With a 20-year background in seed breeding, Zuckerman is leading his team in developing a new biofuel from a fatty super-strain of algae that grows robustly in a broad range of temperatures.

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As Berzin and the Israeli company Seambiotics know, algae is a good source of biofuel that does not compete with crops for food as does biofuel made from potatoes, sugarcane or corn. Second-generation biofuels are better, because they are made from materials that are typically not edible, such as wood, castor plants or jatropha. However, these feedstocks still require arable land and fresh water, meaning that they could never be cultivated in a high enough supply to meet the world’s demands. Algae have a higher yield per acre over time without taking up precious farmland.

“I knew about first-generation biofuels at my seed business, but when I met my partner in March 2008, he told me about second- and third-generation [biofuels] and that algae might be a very good solution,” Zuckerman tells ISRAEL21c. “We founded the company in 2009 because we believe this could be a good way to change the geopolitical arena, and also for environmental reasons.” He points out that biofuels are good alternatives to fossil fuels for the short and long term. “You don’t have to make modifications to the engines of cars, ships or airplanes. They are really a carbon-neutral solution [because they consume carbon dioxide to grow and produce it when burned], and we looked to microalgae because they do not compete with food.”

Breeding is the key

Now the trick is to get to a good biofuel, and this is where Zuckerman’s seed-breeding background comes in handy. “You can’t just throw seeds to the ground to get a good crop,” he tells ISRAEL21c.
Since 1978, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) has been looking into microalgae-based fuels created in both artificial and natural environments, and the topic was discussed in the ivory towers there two decades earlier. When the DOE’s Aquatic Species Program ended in 1996 without finding a cost-effective solution, researchers and industrialists took up the challenge to turn algae into a viable alternative fuel for the future.

Linked to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot — and with a Tel Aviv University business dean on the board — Univerve is working to improve the strains of algae it cultivates and also to refine a growth system. The final step, extracting the oil, would be done in partnership with a third party from the United States.

Oiling the wheels for big business

Zuckerman won’t be creating genetically modified transgenic crops. He uses traditional plant-breeding techniques to get a hardy strain of algae that can provide the most efficient feedstock. The company will also focus on cultivation and harvesting methodologies. Univerve has been self-financed till now, but based on current milestones the company is looking for a $5 million investment to continue development of the project and to start the process on leased land with appropriate access to water. The first commercial plant is expected to be built in Israel, where the climate is right. The algae strains that Univerve grows use saline or brackish water rather than freshwater reserves — perfect for a desert with brackish underground reservoirs.
“We assume we will be able to be commercializing by 2014, but we still need to finish development, optimize production, scale up and make processes automated,” says Zuckerman.
Unlike other algae growers that make a range of products from their plants, such as vitamins, Univerve’s focus only on oils is risky from a business perspective. But that’s a risk that clean-tech entrepreneur Zuckerman is willing to take. The Univerve pilot plant can be seen in action at the Rotem Industrial Park near Dimona, Israel.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Muhammad Ali’s Grandson is Bar Mitzvahed

Copied from thesweetscience.com


Written by Thomas Hauser




In the 1960s, Muhammad Ali stood as an exemplar of black pride and beacon of hope for oppressed people around the world. In recent years, he has been a symbol of tolerance and understanding.

Ali taught his children to rid their hearts of prejudice. The lessons took hold. One of his grandchildren, Jacob Wertheimer, was recently bar mitzvahed.

Coming of age rituals are an important part of every religion. Under Jewish law, when a boy reaches the age of thirteen, he accepts full responsibility for his actions and becomes a man. The ceremony commemorating this occasion is known as a bar mitzvah.

Jacob (the son of Khaliah Ali-Wertheimer and her husband, Spencer) turned thirteen on January 21 of this year. The bar mitzvah took place on April 28 at Congregation Rodelph Shalom in Philadelphia. One hundred fifty people were in attendance. Jacob’s grandfather was among them.

“I was born and raised as a Muslim,” Khaliah says. “But I’m not into organized religion. I’m more spiritual than religious. My husband is Jewish. No one put any pressure on Jacob to believe one way or another. He chose this on his own because he felt a kinship with Judaism and Jewish culture.”

“The ceremony was wonderful and very touching,” Khaliah continues. “The theme of Jacob’s presentation was inclusiveness and a celebration of diversity. My father was supportive in every way. He followed everything and looked at the Torah very closely. It meant a lot to Jacob that he was there.”

Khaliah says proudly that Jacob is an “A” student and a good athlete with Ivy League aspirations. She also notes that the bar mitzvah of Muhammad Ali’s grandson is “a wonderful tale of what’s coming in the world.”

Ali, one assumes, would agree. Shortly before lighting the Olympic flame at 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, he proclaimed, “My mother was a Baptist. She believed Jesus was the son of God, and I don’t believe that. But even though my mother had a religion different from me, I believe that, on Judgment Day, my mother will be in heaven. There are Jewish people who lead good lives. When they die, I believe they’re going to heaven. It doesn’t matter what religion you are, if you’re a good person you’ll receive God’s blessing. Muslims, Christians and Jews all serve the same God. We just serve him in different ways. Anyone who believes in One God should also believe that all people are part of one family. God created us all. And all people have to work to get along.”

Thomas Hauser can be reached by email at thauser@rcn.com. His most recent book (Winks and Daggers: An Inside Look at Another Year in Boxing) was published by the University of Arkansas Press.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Celebrating Life and Having Serious Fun





If a child with a chronic disease can conquer a climbing wall, she will feel she can conquer anything. “For us and for our son, you created a magic that really cannot be described in words,” wrote the parents of a camper at Jordan River Village in Israel, the newest member of the global network of free sleep-away camps for seriously ill children started by the actor Paul Newman 24 years ago. “Our son came back thrilled, excited, optimistic and happy … and the first thing he asked is whether he can come back again next year.”

The only program of its kind in the Middle East, Jordan River Village (JRV) offers 24-hour medical supervision during a week of swimming and drama, sports and arts in a 61-acre setting in the Upper Galilee. One counselor tends every two or three campers — kids between the ages of nine and 18 with cancer, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, familial dysautonomia, neurological disorders, rheumatic diseases, heart diseases and other life-threatening or chronic conditions. In most ways, JRV is like all SeriousFun camps in the United States, Europe and Asia. However, by virtue of its location it also presents a rare opportunity for Jewish, Muslim and Christian children to become friends.

“Before we had our site in Israel, we sent eight groups of children to a [SeriousFun] camp in the States,” CEO Katia Citrin tells ISRAEL21c. “Each group typically had four Jews and four Arabs. The father of one Arab girl was extremely worried about how she’d cope. She wasn’t fluent in Hebrew, let alone English. When she got back, he told us she had a fantastic experience. He said that if we would leave the problems of the Middle East to the children, we would have had peace long ago.”

Year-round camp

While many SeriousFun camps run only in the summer, the temperate climate in northern Israel allows JRV to offer sessions year-round. There have been 20 since last August when the camp unofficially opened, says Citrin. The gala opening took place on June 10.
The children do all the activities of a regular summer camp, but under medical supervision.

Citrin estimates that JRV will serve approximately 3,500 children every year. Unfortunately, it’s not hard to find potential campers. “We work with all kinds of NGOs that deal with sick children, and with hospitals,” says Citrin, “and people also can approach us privately to enroll for a session.”

Originally called the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp when Newman started this charitable program in 1988 in Connecticut, SeriousFun has branched out across the world. The JRV Foundation was founded in 1999 by Marilyn and Murray Grant, Connecticut émigrés to Israel who wanted “to enrich the lives of Jewish and Arab children, in Israel and in the neighboring countries, suffering from serious illnesses and life-threatening conditions by creating free, fun-filled, memorable, empowering, medically sound and safe camping experiences.” The camp is recognized and supported in part by the Israeli government, and Israeli actor Chaim Topol chairs the board that oversees hundreds of volunteers along with 15 paid staffers.

Because Israel is a small country and many of the campers have frequently been hospitalized, they often see familiar faces when they arrive. Ice-breaking activities help everyone get to know one another, and Citrin relates that differences of religion, nationality and culture melt away rapidly. “An Arab child came as a camper when he was 17 and he had such a great time and liked the idea of coexistence so much, that when he turned 18 he became a volunteer in the village,” she says.

Smiles on her face

Many of the campers have never slept under the stars or interacted with other children like themselves in a non-medical setting. They gain perspective on their problems by seeing what other children are coping with, but they are taught not to let their physical infirmity define them. “Our motto is, ‘I am not sick; I have a disease.’ And our new public relations campaign theme is about celebrating life,” says Citrin.

Nobody is forced to participate in any activity, yet “there’s no possibility of failure in our camp. Whatever you do, you succeed at. We have an adventure park with climbing walls, ropes and other challenges. Children support other children and encourage them to do these activities. If a sick child can climb a six-meter wall, she feels she can do anything.”

She recalls one child with chronic colitis who had missed school for many months and arrived at JRV very introverted and shy. “At the end of the session, his mother called and said she sent us a ‘wimp’ and received back a man,” reports Citrin. Just as importantly, SeriousFun campers worldwide have been observed to react more favorably to medical treatment and to be in a more positive frame of mind. That is significant, because psychological factors can strongly affect recovery from serious illness. And a happier child does wonders for the entire family’s emotional well-being. As the parents of one camper wrote to Citrin, “we felt relieved and happy to see smiles on her face.”

“For us and for our son, you created a magic that really cannot be described in words,” wrote the parents of a camper at Jordan River Village in Israel, the newest member of the global network of free sleep-away camps for seriously ill children started by the actor Paul Newman 24 years ago.“Our son came back thrilled, excited, optimistic and happy … and the first thing he asked is whether he can come back again next year.”

The only program of its kind in the Middle East, Jordan River Village (JRV) offers 24-hour medical supervision during a week of swimming and drama, sports and arts in a 61-acre setting in the Upper Galilee. One counselor tends every two or three campers — kids between the ages of nine and 18 with cancer, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, familial dysautonomia, neurological disorders, rheumatic diseases, heart diseases and other life-threatening or chronic conditions.

In most ways, JRV is like all SeriousFun camps in the United States, Europe and Asia. However, by virtue of its location it also presents a rare opportunity for Jewish, Muslim and Christian children to become friends.

“Before we had our site in Israel, we sent eight groups of children to a [SeriousFun] camp in the States,” CEO Katia Citrin tells ISRAEL21c. “Each group typically had four Jews and four Arabs. The father of one Arab girl was extremely worried about how she’d cope. She wasn’t fluent in Hebrew, let alone English. When she got back, he told us she had a fantastic experience. He said that if we would leave the problems of the Middle East to the children, we would have had peace long ago.”

Year-round camp

While many SeriousFun camps run only in the summer, the temperate climate in northern Israel allows JRV to offer sessions year-round. There have been 20 since last August when the camp unofficially opened, says Citrin. The gala opening took place on June 10 with Israeli President Shimon Peres as guest of honor.

Citrin estimates that JRV will serve approximately 3,500 children every year. Unfortunately, it’s not hard to find potential campers. “We work with all kinds of NGOs that deal with sick children, and with hospitals,” says Citrin, “and people also can approach us privately to enroll for a session.”

Originally called the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp when Newman started this charitable program in 1988 in Connecticut, SeriousFun has branched out across the world. The JRV Foundation was founded in 1999 by Marilyn and Murray Grant, Connecticut émigrés to Israel who wanted “to enrich the lives of Jewish and Arab children, in Israel and in the neighboring countries, suffering from serious illnesses and life-threatening conditions by creating free, fun-filled, memorable, empowering, medically sound and safe camping experiences.”

The camp is recognized and supported in part by the Israeli government, and Israeli actor Chaim Topol chairs the board that oversees hundreds of volunteers along with 15 paid staffers.

Because Israel is a small country and many of the campers have frequently been hospitalized, they often see familiar faces when they arrive. Ice-breaking activities help everyone get to know one another, and Citrin relates that differences of religion, nationality and culture melt away rapidly. “An Arab child came as a camper when he was 17 and he had such a great time and liked the idea of coexistence so much, that when he turned 18 he became a volunteer in the village,” she says.

Smiles on her face

Many of the campers have never slept under the stars or interacted with other children like themselves in a non-medical setting. They gain perspective on their problems by seeing what other children are coping with, but they are taught not to let their physical infirmity define them.

“Our motto is, ‘I am not sick; I have a disease.’ And our new public relations campaign theme is about celebrating life,” says Citrin.

Nobody is forced to participate in any activity, yet “there’s no possibility of failure in our camp. Whatever you do, you succeed at. We have an adventure park with climbing walls, ropes and other challenges. Children support other children and encourage them to do these activities. If a sick child can climb a six-meter wall, she feels she can do anything.”

She recalls one child with chronic colitis who had missed school for many months and arrived at JRV very introverted and shy. “At the end of the session, his mother called and said she sent us a ‘wimp’ and received back a man,” reports Citrin. Just as importantly, SeriousFun campers worldwide have been observed to react more favorably to medical treatment and to be in a more positive frame of mind. That is significant, because psychological factors can strongly affect recovery from serious illness. And a happier child does wonders for the entire family’s emotional well-being.

As the parents of one camper wrote to Citrin, “we felt relieved and happy to see smiles on her face.”

Thursday, June 7, 2012

The Surprising Source of Israel's Edible Exports


Copied from Israel21c

The Surprising Source of Israel's Edible Imports

By Abigail Klein Leichman

Once a barren strip of desert, the Arava today has some 600 farms supplying more than 60 percent of Israel’s exports of fresh vegetables and 10% of ornamentals.


Peppers growing in the Arava. Photo by Eyal Izhar

How many peppers can Peter Piper pick? Well, if the protagonist in the old tongue twister were picking them in Israel’s Arava Desert, the surprising answer is about 150,000 tons.

Once a deserted 112-mile strip of land stretching from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea, the Arava now has some 600 farms supplying more than 60 percent of total Israeli exports of fresh vegetables and about 10% of ornamentals.

In addition to dozens of varieties of peppers, Arava farmers produce tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, eggplants, melons, watermelons, table grapes, herbs and dates – many raised organically and all with minimal pesticides. Other Arava agriculturists specialize in flowers or aquarium fish such as the “Nemo” clownfish.
Arava greenhouses. Photo by Eyal Izhar

Israeli technology – most notably, drip irrigation – is a major factor in this desert-to-farmland story. But just as important is the constant sharing of ideas, methodology, research and experiences facilitated by Central and Northern Arava Research and Development.

Cooperation key to success

Arava R&D, founded in 1986 by the Jewish Agency, originally served the agriculture development needs in periphery areas. Idealistic would-be farmers, eager to make the proverbial desert bloom, already had established three kibbutzim in the Arava back in 1959.
Baby peppers at Yair Experimental Station. Photo by Eyal Izhar

“They were considered meshugenners, crazy people,” relates Aylon Gadiel, director of Arava R&D. “You couldn’t live in the Arava, let alone grow vegetables there. But it was proven that it is possible, and one reason is the development of drip irrigation in the beginning of the 1960s.”

Zohar Experimental Station, one of Arava R&D’s two research facilities, is named for Yuval Zohar, an Israeli pioneer of modern drip irrigation.

Yet this advance alone was not enough to turn Arava agriculture into a thriving venture. Neither were the innovative greenhouses, shade houses and walk-in plastic tunnels that the desert farmers put into use.
Hothouse strawberry plants at Yair Experimental Station. Photo by Eyal Izhar

By 1997, when the Jewish National Fund took over Arava R&D in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other government agencies, regional councils and private sponsors, it was already clear that cooperation is the main ingredient of success.

The researchers, scientists and farmers involved in Arava R&D’s eight agricultural villages – comprising about 8,650 acres – interact through regularly scheduled site tours, seminars and online forums in order to learn about one another’s problems and solutions, Gadiel tells ISRAEL21c.
Tomatoes at Yair Experimental Station. Photo by Eyal Izhar

“You can see what the growers are doing, and they can see what you think could help. Some farmer may be trying something new and we will go test it on an academic level,” he explains. “The interaction is ongoing and constant between all the parties. We try to get the knowledge flowing back and forth.”

New farmers in 2012

This year, many new farmers are being trained in basic agriculture, says Gadiel. Instructors from the agricultural extension service, Arava R&D, business and academia teach topics including the most updated methods of irrigation and plant protection.

“We sponsor meetings with R&D people so that they will get to know the farmers and discuss new options in growing,” adds Gadiel. “We’re testing all kinds of things: Our farmers are growing more and more dates, mangos, table grapes and ornamental fish.”
The new solar-warmed hothouse at the Yair Experimental Station. Photo by Eyal Izhar

The next promising crop is strawberries. “They cannot grow in saline water, so we’re trying to grow them with desalinated water from a small plant we have in our Yair Experimental Station. We are developing a protocol for that, and we hope we will have good quality water in a couple of years.” Arava R&D has also developed a hardy variety of fig tree and a less odiferous guava fruit. “We’re trying apricots now, and we developed a protocol for organic table grapes,” Gadiel says.

World model

The United Nations chose the Arava region as a global model for agricultural education on saving water. Israel’s agricultural researchers are constantly improving and refining “fertigation,” in which water and fertilizer are dripped uniformly onto the root system of crops from a specially constructed pipe.

Over the last 15 years, says Gadiel, the Arava has become an international school for agricultural trainees.
“We have a lot of students coming here for year-long projects to study and work with families of Arava farmers — mainly from Thailand, Myanmar and other Far East countries, in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry. When they go back home, each student becomes an ambassador for Israel.” Experts from Arava R&D travel to countries such as Ethiopia to give practical courses through MASHAV, Israel’s international development agency.

Back on home soil, Arava R&D is working with local companies to develop hardier seed varieties and a new type of plastic covering for greenhouses that would reduce the need for expensive heating in cold months. “I think Israeli agriculture in general is an example for the whole world of how you can develop an area and live in it, too,” says Gadiel. “We learned how to use our advantages, especially in winter, to produce good-quality vegetables for export to Europe and the United States.”

Last February, Arava R&D hosted its 21st annual Arava Open Day Exhibition, the largest agriculture expo in Israel, attracting 30,000 visitors and 200 companies. The next expo is scheduled for January 23-24, 2013.


Tuesday, June 5, 2012

J’lem teens excel in Intel, Swedish competitions

J’lem teens excel in Intel, Swedish competitions

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH

Two students win third place in Intel science, engineering fair; another pair takes first in Stockholm Junior Water Prize. Within a week, two students from the Torah U’Mada yeshiva high school of the Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT) won third place – among 1,500 candidates – in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Pittsburgh, and another pair finished in first place in the Israeli competition for the Stockholm Junior Water Prize in the field of energy and water.

The Intel contest winners, Nerya Stroh and Gal Oren, received $2,000 each for their work on a user-friendly computerized device called AquaStop that detects water leaks in apartments, buildings, factories and neighborhoods in real time and can even halt the water flow.

They now serve in the IDF in the field of computers. In December 2010, Stroh and Oren – now 21-years-old – won first place in the Stockholm Junior Water Prize held among Israeli pupils. The 2012 winners of the water prize are Torah U’Mada students David Agassi and Bashan Yehezkel. Academics in the JCT’s “13th Grade” program (which provides pupils with a bachelor’s degree in engineering before they enter military service), they will travel to Stockholm in the fall to compete in the International Junior Water Prize competition, run by the Swedish royal family and sponsored by the country’s government. It was the first time that the same school took first prize in the prestigious competition. As in 2010, Swedish Ambassador Elinor Hammarskjöld is due to visit the JCT campus in the capital’s Givat Mordechai neighborhood to present the award to the 19-year-olds.

Both winning teams were mentored from start to finish by David Gelman, a veteran electrical engineer at JCT at the college level who also teaches high school pupils at Torah U’Mada. He accompanied Stroh (whose father, Uri, is also an electrical engineer and encryption expert at JCT) and Oren to the Pittsburgh competition. The Alcoa corporation contributed another $1,000 to the Intel prize for total winnings of $2,000 for each young man, Gelman said. In Pittsburgh, 100 teams of judges divided up the work, Gelman told The Jerusalem Post, but 50 teams individually decided to visit the Israeli stand because of the interest generated by the invention. He said he teaches the same subjects in the high school and the college. “But a course that I give at the college in just one semester, I teach more slowly – in a whole year – at the high school level,” said the Russian-born engineer.

JCT president Prof. Noah Dana-Picard told the Post this week that he was very proud of both teams – the older ones who excelled at the Intel competition and the younger ones who received their award at a Tel Aviv University ceremony. The Swedish competition brings together the world’s brightest young scientists to encourage their continued interest in water and the environment.

Each year, thousands of participants from over 30 countries join national competitions for the chance to represent their nation at the international final held during World Water Week in Stockholm. During their time there, winners of the national competitions receive an opportunity to meet and learn from the present leaders of the global water community, and forge lifelong friendships with international compatriots who share a passion for water and science.

Agassi and Yehezkel developed “a smart sun heater” that makes it possible to save not only water but also energy in any home. Their project is also thought to solve the halachic problem involved in using water warmed up by solar heaters on Shabbat, which are otherwise forbidden because they cause cold water to be heated up.

In another five weeks, the two will receive their bachelor’s degree in computer science from JCT as part of the joint high school-college program. Torah U’Mada co-head Natan Klein told the Post that the school excels because of the students and the staff, many of whom also teach at the academic level at JCT in a multidisciplinary way. “A few months ago, we were told by the Education Ministry’s technology department that four of 10 high school projects chosen for excellence came from Torah U’Mada,” he said.

The school’s principal, Rabbi Amos Kleiger, added: “Four of our graduates have won the Israel Defense Prize as adults.”