By Abigail Klein Leichman
Israeli scientists are collaborating with counterparts in Singapore to develop new nanomaterials to enhance the efficiency of existing energy and water management technologies.
The staff involved in the CREATE centers. From left to right: Prof Shlomo Magdassi, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Dr Su Guaning, President of Nanyang Technological University; Teo Ming Kian, National Research Foundation (NRF); Dr Tony Tan, Chairman, NRF; Dr Francis Yeoh, CEO NRF; Prof Shankar Sastry, UC Berkeley; Prof Robert Marks, Ben Gurion University.
About 14 hours of fly time separate Singapore and Israel, yet the two countries have much in common. Two prominent Israeli academicians, Hebrew University (HU) of Jerusalem Prof. Shlomo Magdassi and Ben-Gurion University Prof Robert Marks, look forward to spending a year on this island republic off the Malay Peninsula, in the framework of a five-year collaboration.
Magdassi and Marks are partnering with Prof. Ma Jan of Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to head up a new research center focusing on energy efficiency, as part of Singapore's National Research Foundation Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) program.
Scientists from the three universities will work together to develop new nanomaterials to enhance the efficiency of existing energy and water management technologies.
"The idea is to advance basic research on applied orientation to create licensing startups," says Marks, a 49-year-old American-born biotechnology expert. "We'll be trying to create and commercialize new tools to help clean and monitor the water better, and to harvest better energy and conserve it."
Joint publications and intellectual property
The nanomaterials they will be synthesizing from inorganic materials such as carbon, gold and silver each possess properties that lend themselves to the realization of these goals. Nanomaterials are known to significantly improve efficiencies in energy harvesting and conservation as well as water recycling and sensing (using biosensors to monitor water for toxicity).
Applied chemistry professor Magdassi (56) says he and other HU researchers stand to gain much from the use of NTU's advanced facilities and the exposure to additional and complementary technologies developed by their Singaporean colleagues. He tells ISRAEL21c that in addition to joint publications, it is hoped that there will be joint intellectual property resulting from the collaboration.
"It's difficult to say when and if IP might come out of this, but since we're 12th in the world in generating patents and making revenue from patents, it's safe to say that it is likely to take place," adds HU vice president for R&D Prof. Shai Arkin, who has been involved in initial planning with the National Research Foundation over the past six months.
From Arkin's point of view, the project is first and foremost a boon for the individual scientists, giving them access to wider resources to pursue their dreams. "Their success is our success and vice versa," he remarks.
No problems, just solutions
This will be the seventh CREATE center since Singapore launched the program in 2008 to bring together a cadre of international authorities on different topics. Dr. Ehud Razin, dean of HU's faculty of medicine, is involved in another CREATE center studying the cellular and molecular mechanism of inflammation. Haifa's Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is another research presence involved in the CREATE initiative, as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California-Berkeley, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and Technical University of Munich.
"Like Israel, Singapore is a small country with a small population and virtually no [natural] resources," Marks points out. Accordingly, Singapore invests major funds in technology, education and research.
"Sustainability research is one of the leading areas of research in which NTU is making a name overseas," says university president Dr. Su Guaning. "The collaboration with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem allows NTU to contribute our expertise in nanomaterials research to find solutions that increase energy efficiency and reduce water wastage for current technologies."
Once the final CREATE center is completed next summer, all seven research centers will be relocated to a dedicated campus currently under construction adjacent to the National University of Singapore (NUS) University Town. Some 1,000 researchers will be working in the complex, including graduate students from the Israeli universities involved. Each of the team leaders will be obligated to be in residence at CREATE for 12 months over a five-year period.
Marks is enthusiastic about the staff involved from Singapore. "Everyone is very positive-minded, efficient and hard-working. Their approach is that there are never problems - only solutions to solve the problems."
Israel Greece Friendship Association
Σάββατο 18 Δεκεμβρίου 2010
Report: Israel seeks sale of fighter jets to Greece
A senior Israeli defense delegation from the Israeli Defense Ministry and local military industries reportedly traveled to Greece this week to discuss a possible deal to sell F-16 fighter jets.
Israel’s Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli officials on Sunday that this deal has been in progress for several months already, since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s historic visit to Greece this August.
Israel and Greece, both Turkey’s rivals, have conducted several joint air drills in the past year following a debacle in diplomatic and military relations between Turkey and the Jewish state particularly following the flotilla incident. Greece has long complained of the flights of Turkish fighter jets over the Aegean, what it calls a “violation of its airspace.”
Greece recently ended negotiations with Russia to import 450 infantry fighting vehicles amid its financial crisis, news reports said on Nov. 22. Greece, one of Europe’s top military spenders, has said earlier that it would postpone any purchases of warships or fighter planes as it struggled to pull itself out of a financial crisis that pushed it close to bankruptcy.
Due to decades-long tension with Turkey, debt-ridden Greece has the EU’s biggest military budget as a percentage of gross domestic product, and the second highest in NATO after the United States. It is in talks with France over the purchase of six FREMM frigates, while Germany, France and others are eager to sell the country 40 fighter jets. However, Greek Alternate Defense Minister Panos Beglitis, who is in charge of military procurement, said in an interview in June that Greece will hold off on any purchase.
Turkey has called on Greece several times to relinquish its vast military spending due to a protracted dispute over Aegean with Turkey, but Greece has since remained contemptuous to these calls. The neighboring countries have disagreed about sea and air borders for almost 15 years.
The report also said Israel would continue to cooperate with Greece and was also likely to hold maneuvers in Bulgaria in the beginning of 2011, Israeli officials noted.
Turkey has also excluded Greece from the list of countries that are a threat to national security in its recently approved security document, but instead included Israel as a threat to its national security.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-229703-report-israel-seeks-sale-of-fighter-jets-to-greece.html
Israel’s Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli officials on Sunday that this deal has been in progress for several months already, since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s historic visit to Greece this August.
Israel and Greece, both Turkey’s rivals, have conducted several joint air drills in the past year following a debacle in diplomatic and military relations between Turkey and the Jewish state particularly following the flotilla incident. Greece has long complained of the flights of Turkish fighter jets over the Aegean, what it calls a “violation of its airspace.”
Greece recently ended negotiations with Russia to import 450 infantry fighting vehicles amid its financial crisis, news reports said on Nov. 22. Greece, one of Europe’s top military spenders, has said earlier that it would postpone any purchases of warships or fighter planes as it struggled to pull itself out of a financial crisis that pushed it close to bankruptcy.
Due to decades-long tension with Turkey, debt-ridden Greece has the EU’s biggest military budget as a percentage of gross domestic product, and the second highest in NATO after the United States. It is in talks with France over the purchase of six FREMM frigates, while Germany, France and others are eager to sell the country 40 fighter jets. However, Greek Alternate Defense Minister Panos Beglitis, who is in charge of military procurement, said in an interview in June that Greece will hold off on any purchase.
Turkey has called on Greece several times to relinquish its vast military spending due to a protracted dispute over Aegean with Turkey, but Greece has since remained contemptuous to these calls. The neighboring countries have disagreed about sea and air borders for almost 15 years.
The report also said Israel would continue to cooperate with Greece and was also likely to hold maneuvers in Bulgaria in the beginning of 2011, Israeli officials noted.
Turkey has also excluded Greece from the list of countries that are a threat to national security in its recently approved security document, but instead included Israel as a threat to its national security.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-229703-report-israel-seeks-sale-of-fighter-jets-to-greece.html
Δευτέρα 13 Δεκεμβρίου 2010
Israeli author's book among Amazon's 'Best of 2010'
David Grossman's 'To the End of the Land,' ranked eight in website's list of top 100 editors' picks; placed between books by Stieg Larsson, Patti Smith
Israeli author David Grossman's book "To the End of the Land," translated into English by Jessica Cohen, was ranked number eight on the 'Best Books of 2010' list published by the Amazon website.
Grossman's book, which was published last September, is in good company between Stieg Larsson's "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest," ranked in seventh place, and "Just Kids" by Patti Smith, which tells the story of her complex relationship with legendary photographer Robert Mapplethorpe – ranked ninth on the list.
The book that topped Amazon's list was Rebecca Skloot's "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," which describes the life of a poor woman who unknowingly contributed to the research of cancer due of her unique medical condition.
In Amazon's editorial review of Grossman's book, Tom Nissley writes: "To the End of the Land is a book of mourning for those not dead, a mother's lament for life during a wartime that has no end in sight. At the same time, it's joyously and almost painfully alive, full to the point of rupture with the emotions and the endless quotidian details of a few deeply imagined lives.
The website's readers also gave the book positive feedback, rating it with an average of four stars.
Τρίτη 7 Δεκεμβρίου 2010
JNF: 1.5 million trees burnt down in Carmel fire disaster
The Jewish National Fund estimates that 20,000 dunams of forests were destroyed so far in the Carmel fire disaster. KKL-JNF Northern Region Director Omri Bone estimates that 1.5 million trees burnt in the fire.
Israel Nature and Parks Authority announced that it would not be evacuating the animals from the nature reserves even if the fire reaches those areas. (Billy Frenkel)
Israel Nature and Parks Authority announced that it would not be evacuating the animals from the nature reserves even if the fire reaches those areas. (Billy Frenkel)
Πέμπτη 2 Δεκεμβρίου 2010
Four Canadair CL 415 firefighting aircraft departing from time to time from the airport of Elefsina for Israel to help fight the great fire in Haifa.
The response was Hellenic fire service direct to the request of the Israeli authorities for the provision
of assistance to address uncontrolled and deadly fire.
As the head of the Fire Corps Lieutenant General Stelios Stephanides, immediately after the request
of the Israeli Prime Minister, on instruction and consultation with the leaderships of the ministries of Foreign
Affairs and to protect the citizen comes immediately pezoporo part of a TEAM of 35 people for Elefsina airport
to go to Israel with military aircraft on C130 planes antapodidontas help Israelis who were sent 50 dasokomantos
for large fires in Greece in 2007.
However, the Israeli authorities said they did not need parts for this pezopora prepared four firefighting aircraft will depart shortly and with a stopover in Rhodes for refuelling will be at six in the morning in Haifa to participate in the project of gas.
more informations to the link http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001592931969#!/notes/greece-israel-cyprus/four-canadair-cl-415-firefighting-aircraft-departing-from-time-to-time-/179887742027155
As the head of the Fire Corps Lieutenant General Stelios Stephanides, immediately after the request
of the Israeli Prime Minister, on instruction and consultation with the leaderships of the ministries of Foreign
Affairs and to protect the citizen comes immediately pezoporo part of a TEAM of 35 people for Elefsina airport
to go to Israel with military aircraft on C130 planes antapodidontas help Israelis who were sent 50 dasokomantos
for large fires in Greece in 2007.
However, the Israeli authorities said they did not need parts for this pezopora prepared four firefighting aircraft will depart shortly and with a stopover in Rhodes for refuelling will be at six in the morning in Haifa to participate in the project of gas.
more informations to the link http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001592931969#!/notes/greece-israel-cyprus/four-canadair-cl-415-firefighting-aircraft-departing-from-time-to-time-/179887742027155
Israel Shares Desalinization Expertise with Jordan and PA
by Elad Benari
Thirty participants from Jordan and the Palestinian Authority completed a week-long seminar on the topic of desalination earlier this month, according to a report posted on the International Desalination & Water Reuse Quarterly industry website on Saturday. The seminar was conducted by IDE Technologies, an Israeli company which is internationally recognized as a pioneer and leader in the delivery of sophisticated water solutions.
Desalination is a process by which undrinkable salt water is filtered to catch the salts and other particles suspended in the fluid, making the water drinkable.
Israel is considered a world leader in water recycling and has advanced in desalination and recycling water in recent years. According to statistics released earlier this year, Israel recycles 70 per cent of its waste water and sewage.
IDE’s desalination seminar was organized in cooperation with the Israeli Water Authority, the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the Middle East Desalination Research Centre and the Centre for International Agricultural Development Cooperation in Israel. It was held in Kibbutz Shefayim in central Israel, and was designed to introduce the participants to modern desalination technologies and to train them in the correct design, operation and maintenance of water desalination plants.
The seminar covered topics in both thermal and seawater reverse-osmosis membrane desalination and offered participants practical instruction regarding the operation and maintenance of large and complex desalination plants. Participants also visited the desalination plant in Ashkelon which IDE designed and built.
A desalination plant was dedicated last May in Hadera. The largest of its kind in the world and the third largest in Israel, the plant uses reverse osmosis technology, which means the sea water does not have to be heated, as is done in larger plants in the world that are less environmentally friendly. The entire process of desalinating the water takes 35 minutes from the time it enters pipelines in the sea.
The mammoth plant covers more than 18 acres and actually is two facilities that can operate independently from each other. Together, they can provide 127 cubic million liters, or 33 million gallons a year.
Another desalination plant was approved by the Israeli government in June and will be constructed south of Tel Aviv by Sorek Desalination Ltd. It is expected to produce 150 million cubic meters of water each year, and the capacity will eventually be upped to 300 million cubic meters a year, making the plant one of the world's largest. The government plans to desalinate 750 million cubic meters per year by 2020.
(IsraelNationalNews.com)
Deputy Tourism Minister invites Israelis to visit Greece
Deputy Culture and Tourism Minister George Nikitiadis invited Israelis to visit tourist destinations in Greece in a meeting he had on Monday with a delegation of journalists from Israeli newspapers and TV channels.
During the meeting, Nikitiadis briefed them on the new tourism policy and the comparative advantages offered by Greece and the potential for holidays throughout the year.
Responding to an Israeli reporter's question on why Israeli tourists should come to Greece, George Nikitiadis noted that Greece's tourist product is unique and cannot be compared with others, while having the best price to quality ratio in terms of its tourist product, a fact that may enhance the tourist stream in the following years.
Πέμπτη 25 Νοεμβρίου 2010
Turkey: Property for foreigners than Greeks - Israel
Turkish draft brings ‘axis shift’ in property sales
A draft prepared by Turkey’s Ministry of Public Works and Housing would ease rules for property sales to foreign nationals, but some will not be able to enjoy the relaxed conditions. According to the draft, citizens of Israel and Greece will not be able to purchase land in Turkey, while such sales to citizens of Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Gulf Arab nations will be relaxed considerablyThe Turkish government has pressed the button on a new policy to ease regulations regarding foreign nationals’ purchasing land in Turkey, but a clause restricting Israeli and Greek nationals from buying Turkish land is causing controversy.
Daily Milliyet’s real estate expert Tebernüş Kireççi wrote Wednesday that if approved by Parliament, a draft prepared by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing may render Turkey “one of the top countries for foreigners in real estate ease-of-purchase.”
“All foreign nationals will be able to buy real estate, provided they have a passport and mug shots,” Milliyet reported. “While selling property and land, there will be no need to check if the foreign national’s country has a reciprocity agreement with Turkey.” The term refers to two countries that recognize their respective citizens as having the same rights.
However, a controversial restriction in the draft involves the sale of construction parcels and farmland to citizens of Israel and Greece, Milliyet reported. While all other foreign nationals may be able to buy as much as 99,000 square meters of land, Israeli and Greek citizens will not be able to purchase parcels and land in Turkey. Another controversial clause in the draft says citizens of Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Arab Gulf states will be able to purchase land even without any restriction on size.
A previous proposal to limit the usage rights of foreigners regarding property they purchased in Turkey to 99 years has been shelved, Milliyet said. According to the new policy, foreign nationals owning property in Turkey would have usage rights without any time limitation.
Military zone problems
One frequent complaint by foreign nationals involving the sale of parcels and farmland adjacent to military zones has been solved by the draft, which says the General Staff has to prepare a map showing which parcels cannot be sold due to national security concerns. Until such a map is prepared, military authorities will have to respond to requests to buy property adjacent to military zones in one month at most.
The draft was prepared by the Ministry of Public Works upon orders from the Prime Ministry, Milliyet reported. The draft was sent to various public and private institutions for advice. After possible revisions, it will be sent to the Prime Ministry, which, in turn, will submit it to Parliament.
The draft may become law as soon as the end of next year, the newspaper said, adding that the government is planning to “close the current account deficit” from the revenue that will enter Turkey once the law is enacted.
Turkey’s annual current account deficit, which occurs when a country's total import of goods, services and transfers is greater than its total amount of exports, is expected to surpass $45 billion by the end of the year.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkish-draft-brings-8216axis-shift8217-in-property-sales-2010-11-23
Τρίτη 23 Νοεμβρίου 2010
Aegean impasse-Turkish PM rebuffs reports of a breakthrough in talks
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday denied reports that progress has been made between Greek and Turkish diplomats on the thorny issue of the delineation of the continental shelf. “There has been no agreement on the issue of the 12 miles,” Erdogan said, referring to Ankara’s longstanding objections to Greece extending its territorial waters in the Aegean to 12 nautical miles. “The talks are continuing,” Erdogan said. “When an agreement is reached, both sides will make a joint statement, but there is nothing yet,” the Turkish PM added. Meanwhile Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that “notable progress” had been made in exploratory talks between Greek and Turkish officials.
Κυριακή 21 Νοεμβρίου 2010
Τετάρτη 17 Νοεμβρίου 2010
ISRAEL'S COMPETITIVE EDGE
1st in R&D Investments
Israel invests 4.7% of its GDP in R&D, which is the highest ratio of any country in the world (IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2009).
Globally Open Economy
Israel is a preferred choice among leading global players. After the United States, Israel has the largest number of companies listed on the NASDAQ of any country and more than 60 Israeli companies are traded on various European exchanges. The long list of multinationals that run core activities in Israel includes: Microsoft, Berkshire-Hathaway, Motorola, Intel, HP, Siemens, Samsung, GE, Philips, Lucent, AOL, Cisco, Applied Materials, Winbond, IBM and J&J.
A Highly Educated Available Workforce
Israel is ranked 2nd in the world for availability of qualified scientists and engineers and 1st in terms of total public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP (IMD Global Competitiveness Yearbook 2009) and providing multinationals with an exceedingly professional and skilled labor market. Four Israelis have won Nobel Prizes within the last 5 years in the fields of Chemistry and Economics.
Strong Managerial Entrepreneurship
As a testimony to the country's vibrant start-up culture, Israeli managers were ranked 1st in the world for their business entrepreneurship (IMD Global Competitiveness Yearbook 2009).
Flourishing Start-up and VC Industries
Ranked 1st in the world for number of start-ups per capita and 3rd in the world for Venture Capital availability, Israel provides its entrepreneurs with the necessary backing to turn their innovative ideas into profitable businesses (IMD Global Competitiveness Yearbook 2009).
Ideal Conditions for Innovation
Israel provides the ideal environment to help stimulate innovation. It is ranked 3rd in terms of its quality of scientific research institutions and 5th in terms of utility patents and government procurement of advanced tech products by the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009. Profit driven Israeli innovations include a long list of market firsts such as disk-on-key technology, IP telephony, ZIP compression, the ingestible pill-size camera, modern drip-irrigation technology, ICQ instant messenger, and many more.
Τρίτη 16 Νοεμβρίου 2010
ISRAEL, GREECE: ALIGNING AGAINST TURKEY?
...Under this strategy, Greece is a perfect alliance for Israel. Turkey has long been Greece's main rival, and the two have long maintained a balance of power in the Aegean Sea, their main point of contention. Controlling the Aegean is crucial for Greece to exert sovereignty over its mainland and thousands of islands. But maintaining this control means Greece has had to build up one of the most advance air forces on the Continent, a costly affair for a country with a population of just 10 million even when not facing a massive sovereign debt crisis. This, plus Turkey's new push in the Middle East, have made Athens much less of a threat to Ankara. Greece has attempted to reduce tensions with Turkey, offering a controlled drawdown of forces in the Aegean, but Ankara largely rebuffed this gesture both because it considers Greece less of a threat and because Turkey, looking to expand its influence in the Caucasus, Balkans and Middle East, needs to maintain its military deterrence and cannot afford a drawdown.
Israel and Greece see benefits in increasing ties as a means of throwing Turkey off balance -- Israel is hoping Turkey will be concerned about an assertive Greece on its western border, while Greece wants to show Turkey it has options to maintain the balance in the Aegean. This is a change in political reality; Greece was a vociferously pro-Arab state throughout the Cold War, with many Palestine Liberation Organization members finding refuge in Athens. Greece opposed Israel because it was suspicious of the Turkish-Israeli alliance and because it did not want to find itself isolated from Arab energy exports during the Cold War. But with the weakening Turkish-Israeli alliance -- for decades a key to the Middle Eastern balance of power -- Athens sees a chance to send a message to Ankara. Reports alleging that Greece will allow Israeli jet fighters to use its airspace for training -- something Turkey previously had provided -- could be just such a message..."
Israel and Greece see benefits in increasing ties as a means of throwing Turkey off balance -- Israel is hoping Turkey will be concerned about an assertive Greece on its western border, while Greece wants to show Turkey it has options to maintain the balance in the Aegean. This is a change in political reality; Greece was a vociferously pro-Arab state throughout the Cold War, with many Palestine Liberation Organization members finding refuge in Athens. Greece opposed Israel because it was suspicious of the Turkish-Israeli alliance and because it did not want to find itself isolated from Arab energy exports during the Cold War. But with the weakening Turkish-Israeli alliance -- for decades a key to the Middle Eastern balance of power -- Athens sees a chance to send a message to Ankara. Reports alleging that Greece will allow Israeli jet fighters to use its airspace for training -- something Turkey previously had provided -- could be just such a message..."
"Published with permission of STRATFOR, a global intelligence company"
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