The Technion’s story has been intertwined with Israel’s for more than a century, from laying the foundations for a new nation to shaping its future.
BeeHero, an Israeli startup that uses sensors to collect big data from beehives, is increasing bee-related research across California, USA, with 14 new research stations. The data from each station determines beehive health and predicts crop yields and the company is posting free daily updates on pollination progress to help beekeepers and almond growers. Each research station consists of bee counters (to measure real flying times and the actual number of bee foraging trips), hive scales (to track nectar-foraging activity), weather sensors, cameras, and BeeHero’s patented inhive sensors. They will allow additional growers, beekeepers, agronomists, and ag retailers around the world…
OrCam is already one of Israel’s startup successes, with a device that literally helps the blind to “see”. It reads text to the user – anything from a newspaper to a cereal packet. It also recognizes people, identifies objects, and helps the user find their way around. The Jerusalem-based company was established by Prof. Amnon Shashua and Ziv Aviram, founders of Mobileye, the driver assistance system that Intel bought in 2017 for $15.3 billion. OrCam launched MyEye for blind and visually impaired people in 2015 and has now refined its technology to help children with dyslexia, ADHD and other special…
As applications and devices enabling more realistic virtual and augmented reality come to market — with 2023 widely forecast to be the year Apple releases its reportedly game-changing goggles — there’s an elephant in the room that could hamper the segment’s growth. Cybersickness. Between 38% and 66% of virtual and augmented reality users will experience dizziness, nausea and headache while plugged into their devices. It’s particularly pronounced during games but could also crop up in the midst of a video chat. Stress, online bullying, FOMO and isolation also can contribute to the phenomenon. Cybersickness is similar to seasickness in that your eyes, ears and…
There was a time, not so long ago, when worried Israelis would listen out for daily updates on the water level of the Sea of Galilee (or the Kinneret, as it is known in Hebrew). It’s the country’s only significant freshwater lake and was, until recently, its primary source of water. So it was a national concern if the level dropped, as it often did during the summer months, day-by-day, centimeter-by-centimeter. The upper red line (danger), was bad news. The lower red line (pumping from the lake prohibited) was worse, and the black line (risk of permanent damage) was terrible….
For hundreds of years, Passover Seder meals have looked remarkably similar in households across the world. Alongside the matzah are symbolic foods including a flame-broiled egg, bitter lettuce and roasted shank bone as well as raw veggies and a cinnamon-scented fruity dip. A typical Seder dinner menu begins with chicken-and-matzah-ball soup and a fish appetizer followed by poultry, lamb or beef and topped off by a cake made with multiple eggs for leavening. Today, this picture is starting to look out of sync with animal-free dietary trends. Flexitarians are the primary drivers of this shift, as well as vegans, vegetarians…
Bees are crucial to our survival. Did you know they pollinate one in every three bites of food we eat? Or that without bees, more than 100,000 species of plants would become extinct? But bees are in danger, as more than half of just North America’s native bee species are declining in size with a quarter of the 4,000 species at risk of extinction. In the hopes of combating this global problem, Israeli startup BeeHero – led in part by Co-founder, CTO, and Technion alumnus Yuval Regev – is using sensors to monitor beehive health and conducting bee-related research. BeeHero’s…
As a child growing up in Israel, Eliad Peretz was fascinated by space and the night sky. His goal, which he laid out in a five-year plan that he wrote as a fifth-grader, was to work for the organization whose mission was to address the big questions he wanted to pursue: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. “I’m living my dream,” Peretz, who currently works at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., told JNS in a phone interview. On May 1, 2023, the American Technion Society will celebrate Peretz, a graduate of the Technion’s aerospace engineering faculty…
Physical therapy exercises are crucial for properly recovering and healing from an injury. They are especially important for seniors who may have a longer road of recovery or need to regain mobility in order to take care of themselves. To help encourage patients to keep up with their exercises, startup BoBo Balance – led in part by company Co-founder and CMO and Technion alumnus Yair Agami – has transformed physical therapy into an interactive video game that allows users to earn points as they complete their regimen. Users can perform their exercises using a wearable movement sensor or on a…
An estimated 37 million people worldwide suffer from chronic kidney disease (CKD), with more than 2 million of them receiving dialysis as treatment. 90% of those on dialysis spend half their remaining lifetime hooked up to the machines and traveling to and from their dialysis clinic. In the interest of improving the quality of life for people with CKD, medical equipment manufacturer LiberDi has created an at-home system that could replace traditional in-clinic dialysis. Led in part by company CEO and Technion alumnus Hezekiah Tsoory, LiberDi’s Digital Dialysis Clinic uses peritoneal dialysis, a cheaper and less invasive method that utilizes…
Clean water is crucial for survival, but it is in short supply, with 771 million people living without access to it. It is also a necessity for places that help society function, including power plants, oil refineries, pharmaceutical companies, dairies, breweries, municipalities, textile factories, fish farms, and more. Israeli company Atlantium Technologies, led in part by CTO and Technion alum Ytzhak Rozenberg, is working to help mitigate this widespread issue, by combining old technology developed by a Nobel Laureate with new findings to create their patented disinfection process. Atlantium has combined ultraviolet radiation, or the process of using sunlight to…
Historical letters were often written in code in order to secretly send messages to people to prevent the information from falling into the wrong hands. Decoding these pieces of history can prove to be difficult, as there are no instructions on how to reveal the message’s true meaning. Recently, Israeli computer scientist and Technion alumnus Dr. George Lasry led a team of international code breakers that successfully deciphered 57 letters written by Mary, Queen of Scots between 1578 and 1584 – the most significant find on the queen in more than 100 years. The letters were written a few years…
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women, and one common complication of the condition is a buildup of fluid around the heart. Similarly, renal failure affects 2 million people worldwide, and also causes excess fluid retention in the body. Retaining fluids can cause capillary damage, swelling, breathing difficulties, and mobility problems, and current methods for treating this buildup can have negative side effects. To help solve this pressing issue, AquaPass Medical – founded and led in part by company CTO and Technion alumnus Yaacov Nitzan – has created a suit that comfortably removes fluid…