JERUSALEM — As pandemic restrictions ease and more workers return to their workplaces, employers are seeking a way to detect when someone infected with Covid-19 is on site. VizibleZone, an Israeli startup whose original product is a smartphone app that alerts pedestrians to potential dangers, is offering a solution to that problem by creating an app that gives automatic notification of Covid-19 exposure in a workplace. Mekorot, Israel’s national water company, said it will use VizibleZone’s newest product in its factories and plants. “We chose VizibleZone’s solution to allow our employees to safely maintain routine activity at sites across the country…
Author: zenger.news
EXO-CD24, an experimental inhaled medication developed at Israel’s Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, cured all patients with moderate-to-severe coronavirus cases in a Phase I clinical trial. Developed over the past six months at the hospital, EXOCD24 stops the “cytokine storm,” a process in which the immune system goes out of control and starts attacking healthy cells, that occurs in the lungs of 5-7 percent of COVID-19 patients. In trials with 30 patients, the drug, which is administered by inhalation once a day for a few minutes, improved the condition of 29 within a few days, the hospital reported last week. The…
As tensions between India and China heighten over the Line of Actual Control — the international border separating the South Asian countries — both are taking steps to mitigate cross-border escalations. The Indian army is upgrading surveillance along the northern border with China through drones, electronic warfare equipment, sensors, and reconnaissance. Chinese President Xi Jinping has commanded the troops of the People’s Liberation Army stationed near the border to be “combat ready” during the Chinese New Year, which is on Feb. 12, 2021. “India has a 15,000-kilometer (9,320-miles) land border,” Lieutenant General (Retired) Gurmit Singh told Zenger News. “The Indian…
The Indian government is in the process of rolling out its own social messaging app called ‘Sandes’ for official communication. The app is being used by a limited number of public officials on an experimental basis before a formal launch. A government website lists ways to log on to the app. On choosing some options, it takes the surfer to a page that has a note saying “This authentication method is applicable for authorized government officials”. A user manual on the website shows the app might have been in use by the name Gims, which is short for Government Instant…
MUMBAI, India — A few years ago, a mother of a two-year-old was beaten up and thrown out of the house by her alcoholic husband in the middle of the night at a nondescript village near Melur in Madurai, a city in southern Indian state Tamil Nadu. That night, the woman walked about 13 kilometers (8 miles) to reach her paternal home carrying her child. Five years after the incident, the woman’s brother, Vinothraj P.S., won the Tiger Award at the 50th International Film Festival of Rotterdam (IFFR) for a movie based on her called “Pebbles” (“Koozhangal” in Tamil language).…
In a setback for Amazon, the Delhi High Court has lifted a stay on Future Group’s deal with Reliance Industries Ltd. Shares of Future Retail rose as much as 10 percent on BSE [Bombay Stock Exchange] to hit an intraday high of INR 80.50 ($1.10) on Feb. 9, 2021, a day after the stay was lifted. In the U.S., Amazon was down about 9 percent to $3,314 per share in midday trading on Nasdaq on Feb. 9, 2021. Amazon and Future Group have been in legal battles since October 2020 when Amazon sought to halt Future Group’s deal to sell its assets to…
Consumers were skeptical when Redefine Meat set out to produce animal-free meat with a three-dimensional printer, but the product’s first taste test was a success. The Israeli startup announced its plans for a more efficient, sustainable and ethical way to produce meat about three years ago. Now, the company is poised to have the first “alt-meat” of its kind on the market after holding what it called the largest-scale, public blind-tasting of plant-based meat. Redefine Meat and Israeli meat distributor Best Meister parked a food truck in Kidron, a small suburb of Tel Aviv, for two days earlier this month. The…
Looking for an intense home workout to make up for your favorite gym that’s closed because of Covid-19? Israeli startup BlazePod has developed what it dubs “Flash Reflex Training,” which uses small lighting pods that blink LEDs on and off in eight colors according to different pre-set patterns to guide your exercise routine. Place a couple of pods on the ground and you can do core-strengthening plank pushups where you extend your arms to smack a pod when the light flashes. Attach the pods using the product’s suction cup backing to a punching bag and up your boxing game with…
Vaccines have captured international interest amid the global coronavirus pandemic, but it’s not just humans who need protection from harmful pathogens. Animals, including livestock, often need to receive vaccines too. Injecting them with doses, however, is both time-consuming for farmers and painful for the animals. In extreme cases, the stress of being vaccinated via injection can even lead to death. TransAlgae has therefore developed a new technology, based on genetically engineered microalgae, to deliver vaccines orally as a powder, pill or in animal feed. The Israeli biotechnology company, founded in 2008 and based in Rehovot at the Weizmann Science Park,…
People who have received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination against COVID-19 seem significantly less likely to “shed” or transmit virus particles in their nose or throat. That is the finding of a study pre-published on February 8 by Israeli scientists from COVID-19 testing centers MyHeritage Lab and the Central Virology Laboratory at Sheba Medical Center. While the study results have not yet been peer reviewed, they may answer the key question of whether COVID-19 vaccines not only protect the vaccinee but also people in proximity to them. The study was possible because real-world data is abundant in Israel, which started its Pfizer…