Window to Israeli inventions

by Ruby Singh
December 1, 2010

http://www.weeklyblitz.net/1144/window-to-israeli-inventions

Mosquito 1.5 is the latest technological invention of Israel. After completing several successful 40 minute trial flight, this mini spy plane has now become one of the best choice of many countries, especially which are interested in protecting their land from the possible terrorist arracks. Mosquito 1.5 was already on display at Tel Aviv conference. It is developed by Israeli Aircraft Industries.

The Mosquito 1.5 is an easy-to-operate, hand-launched micro-UAV designed for operation by one soldier in minutes. The tactical reconnaissance imagery provided by the micro-UAV is displayed on a computer screen.

This palm-sized aircraft electrically powered being able to remain on station for one hour over an area of 4 km by 4 km [4 square kilometre].

Further more, Israel, the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world's population, can lay claim to the following:

• Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world.
Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by a large margin. Israel is ranked #2 in the world for venture capital funds right behind the US. Outside the United States and Canada, Israel has the largest number of NASDAQ listed companies. Israel has the highest average living standards in the Middle East. The per capita income in 2000 was over $17,500, exceeding that of the UK. With an aerial arsenal of over 250 F-16s, Israel has the largest fleet of the aircraft outside of the US. Israel's $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors combined. On a per capita basis, Israel has the largest number of biotech start-ups. Twenty-four percent of Israel's workforce holds university degrees - ranking third in the industrialized world, after the United States and Holland - and 12 percent hold advanced degrees. Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East. Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U. S., over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force employed in technical professions. Israel places first in this category as well.
• The cell phone was developed in Israel by Motorola, which has its largest development center in Israel.

Science and technology in Israel is one of the country's most developed sectors. The percentage of Israelis engaged in scientific and technological inquiry, and the amount spent on research and development (R&D) in relation to gross domestic product [GDP], is amongst the highest in the world. Israel ranks fourth in the world in scientific activity as measured by the number of scientific publications per million citizens. Israel's percentage of the total number of scientific articles published worldwide is almost 10 times higher than its percentage of the world's population.

Israeli scientists have contributed to the advancement of agriculture, computer sciences, electronics, genetics, medicine, optics, solar energy and various fields of engineering. Israel is home to major players in the high-tech industry and has one of the world's most technologically-literate populations. In 1998, Tel Aviv was named by Newsweek as one of the ten most technologically influential cities in the world.

The country's lack of conventional energy sources has spurred extensive research and development of alternative energy sources and Israel has developed innovative technologies in the solar energy field. Israel has become the world's largest per capita user of solar water heaters in the home. A new, high-efficiency receiver to collect concentrated sunlight has been developed, which will enhance the use of solar energy in industry as well.

Israel's agricultural sector is characterized by an intensive system of production stemming from the need to overcome the scarcity in natural resource, particularly water and arable land, in a country where more than half of its area is desert. The growth in agricultural production is based on close cooperation of scientists, farmers and agriculture-related industries and has resulted in the development of advanced agricultural technology, water-conserving irrigation methods, anaerobic digestion, greenhouse technology, desert agriculture and salinity research. Israeli companies also supply irrigation, water conservation and greenhouse technologies and know-how to other countries.

The modern technology of drip irrigation was invented in Israel by Simcha Blass and his son Yeshayahu. Instead of releasing water through tiny holes, blocked easily by tiny particles, water was released through larger and longer passageways by using velocity to slow water inside a plastic emitter. The first experimental system of this type was established in 1959 when Blass partnered with Kibbutz Hatzerim to create an irrigation company called Netafim. Together they developed and patented the first practical surface drip irrigation emitter. This method was very successful and had spread to Australia, North America and South America by the late 1960s.

Israeli farmers rely heavily on greenhouse technology to ensure a constant, year-round supply of high quality produce, while overcoming the obstacles posed by adverse climatic conditions, and water and land shortages. Technologies include computerized greenhouse climate control, greenhouse shading, irrigation, fertigation, greenhouse water recycling and biological control of plant disease and insects, allow farmers to control most production parameters. As a result, Israeli farmers successfully grow between 3.5 and 4.5 million roses per hectare in season and an average of 400 tons of tomatoes per hectare, four times the amount harvested in open fields.

Because rain falls only in the winter, and largely in the northern part of the country, irrigation and water engineering is vital to the country's economic survival and growth. Large scale projects to direct water from rivers and reservoirs in the north, to make optimal use of groundwater, and to reclaim flood overflow and sewage have been undertaken. The largest such project was a national water distribution system called the National Carrier, completed in 1964, flowing from the country's biggest freshwater lake, the Sea of Galilee, to the northern Negev desert, through huge channels, pipes and tunnels.

The Ashkelon seawater reverse osmosis [SWRO] desalination plant was the largest in the world at the time it was built.

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