Technology

Drones are about to transform the way we transport groceries, takeouts, medical supplies, home deliveries, your morning coffee… even people. And that means we need a failsafe way to track the thousands of pilotless vehicles flying above our heads. For ordinary aircraft, with human pilots, we have air traffic controllers who clear flights for take-off […]

Technology that analyzes sewage for disease is being used to help Israel’s off-grid Bedouin communities. As many as 150,000 Bedouin – semi-nomadic desert dwellers – live with inadequate sewage systems in the southern city of Rahat and in many smaller towns and villages across the Negev. Portable smart samplers developed by the startup Kando, based […]

Antibiotics were the “wonder drug” of the 20th century, saving millions of patients and adding many extra years to our lives. But the bacteria they kill are now fighting back. You may have heard doctors warning about the perils of over-prescribing antibiotics because bacteria become resistant. The truth is, however, that animals, not humans, are […]

It’s tempting to think of robots as our friends. Alexa helps us order groceries, Roomba vacuums the living room, and Google Assistant can turn on the lights for us when we walk into the bedroom. We form attachments, of sorts, with them. We say thank you, even though we know they’re not “real”. But the […]

Artificial intelligence is putting criminals behind bars. It scours mountains of data – from smartphones, computers, surveillance cameras, smartwatches and countless other digital sources – identifying what’s relevant to the investigation and discarding the rest. It provides critical evidence that places the suspect at the scene of the crime. And it identifies patterns, reveals connections, […]

Israel may be a tiny country, barely visible from space, but it’s ahead of most of the world in getting there. In September 1998 it became only the eighth country in the world to put an object in space, with the launch of its Ofek 1 reconnaissance satellite. Two decades later its Beresheet unmanned spacecraft […]

These tiny bright green specks are tomorrow’s superfood. They’re high in protein and phytonutrients – which boost the immune system. And they contain more iron than spinach, and more zinc than broccoli or kale. In Thailand they’re known as khai-nam – “eggs of the water” – and have traditionally been grown as a cheap and […]

A breakthrough technology means robots can literally “watch and learn” without the need for any programming. Just perform an action – packing items or stacking containers, for example – and they will observe, analyze and copy, often in a matter of seconds. A team of programmers and engineers could take days or weeks to do […]

A medical breakthrough now allows doctors to freeze early-stage breast tumors – with no surgery, no scarring, no general anesthetic and no tissue removal. The entire procedure can take as little as 40 minutes. Patients can go straight home after it’s done, and are spared the painful recovery process. The idea of using an extremely […]

Solar is a power for the future, but it relies on panels that are fixed and heavy. Now a startup in Israel is producing solar panels on a roll. They’re light, flexible, and they can be applied to virtually any surface. It opens up a world of opportunities, for ultra-thin panels on sidewalks, reservoirs, greenhouses, […]

Audiences today want more. Seeing their favorite band in concert, their sports team on the field or a Broadway show is no longer enough. The smartphone generation quickly loses interest, so the challenge is to keep them engaged. Soundit aims to do exactly that by adding an extra layer to live entertainment. It’s a wearable […]

We’ve all suffered the frustration of spending hours on the phone with customer services, switching from representative to representative to resolve a problem. In recent years, companies have been using online self-services and chatbots to handle queries. And most users actually prefer dealing with a computer than waiting for a person, especially for routine stuff. […]

Israel has the best value internet access in the world, according to a new study comparing price and speed across 117 countries. Singapore came second, followed by Denmark, France and Australia. The USA was ranked eighth. Bottom of the list was Yemen, followed by Zimbabwe, Uganda and Cameroon. The Global Internet Value Index was produced […]

Much has changed since the first pair of glasses in Italy, more than 900 years ago. But the basics, using a fixed lens to correct our vision, have not – until now. A startup in Israel applies a thin layer liquid crystal so that the strength of the lenses can instantly be changed. A single […]

The global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company has acquired Tel Aviv-based AI and machine learning startup Iguazio. It is McKinsey’s first acquisition in Israel. The cost was not disclosed but has been estimated at $50 million. Iguazio has reportedly attracted $72 million of investment in three funding rounds. McKinsey said it chose the company […]