On the other hand…writes Michael Kuttner
While the rest of the world continues to obsess over what we may or may not do Israel gets on with innovating, assisting and making the planet a better place.
Once again medical advances lead the unreported news.
BRINGING RELIEF TO THOSE IN NEED
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved an Israeli first-of-its-kind nasal implant that aims to dramatically reduce the number of operations for millions who suffer from chronic sinusitis, or inflamed sinuses. A self-expanding tube has been developed that can be inserted into the nasal passage to prevent common post-surgical complications such as inflammation and scarring.
The tube works by keeping the nasal passage open, allowing the tissue to heal correctly without any blockage. Once the tissue has healed, the stent can easily be removed by a physician in minutes, using a minimally invasive procedure.
GOLD BECOMES A VALUABLE TOOL
Gold has been used over the ages to mint coins, fill cavities and decorate desserts. Now, Israeli researchers are studying how the precious metal can be used to help fight cancer, because it can help increase the intensity of radiation absorbed by tumors.
BEDOUIN FIRST RESPONDERS
This piece of news will definitely not find its way into your local media:
A new team of 13 Bedouin women and four have recently completed their training to become EMS first responders and have begun to provide emergency medical services in their vicinity.
The new graduates volunteer as medical first responders in their hometowns as well as the Arab and Jewish towns in their environs, as part of the national Israeli EMS volunteer organization United Hatzalah.
MINI TOMATOES BEING DEVELOPED
This week two new tomatoes – the Bon Bon Tomato, the world’s sweetest tomato and the Tipa Tomato, the world’s smallest – will hit Israeli supermarket shelves. The Bon Bon looks the same as a regular tomato, but has high quality both in taste and shelf life. They have a sweet and unique taste with a different aroma than the standard tomato, using the world’s leading technology and unique greenhouse growing that achieve a sweetness that is 30% higher than any other tomato in the market.
There is a demand for a new and unique variety of a particularly small tomato suitable for finger foods and salads that don’t need to be sliced. The Tipa tomatoes are smaller than a shekel coin and have already attracted interest from leading chefs around the world.
At this stage, the mini tomatoes come in red and yellow. Additional colors will be developed as demand increases.
LIFE CHANGING TECHNOLOGY
Once again cutting edge technology helps to improve quality of life:
SPIRITUAL REVIVAL
Two immigrants from New Jersey and New York are confident that their new breed of whiskey will echo Israel’s success in making the desert bloom. They are creating Israel’s first distillery for American bourbon-style whiskey, hoping to trailblaze the Israeli market for the spirit — and bring an added level of sophistication to an Israeli cocktail culture that is just starting to take off.
It is hoped to augment Israel’s tourism industry, by offering a product drawn from domestically harvested grains and inspired by the Bible. The distillery is planning to establish itself in the Elah Valley, the site of the Biblical story of David and Goliath.
HOW A NEAR DEAD LANGUAGE WAS REVIVED
Hebrew, once fated to be as dead as Latin, was miraculously revived and today is the living language of the modern Jewish State.
