Social Justice and Climate Change
By Rabbi Jill Jacobs for COEJL
The rabbis of the Talmud ask the following question: When the people of a town decide to build or repair a guard wall, how much should each resident pay? Perhaps the wealthiest residents should pay the most, as they can best afford to shoulder the burden. On the other hand, maybe the people who live closest to the wall should pay more as they will benefit most, since thieves or murderers who enter the town are likely to target the first houses they encounter.
Genes from Dead Sea to produce more drought-tolerant crops
By Brian Blum for Israel21c
PlantArcBio aims to make the world’s critical crops able to thrive on less water by adding specific genes found in desert regions.
The biblical Joseph foresaw in a dream a seven-year drought and subsequently guided Egypt’s rulers to set aside enough stores of wheat to survive it. Today, climate change has ushered in a new era of drought – and this time there’s no end in sight. The drought of 2012, for example, covered nearly two-thirds of the continental United States and caused some $40 billion in agricultural damage.
Conservation program serves as lifeline for rhinos
by Benyamin Cohen for FromtheGrapevine
Israel's rhino herd is the largest of 78 participating zoos in Europe.
It's a girl!
Israel's Ramat Gan Safari, a 250-animal reserve, just announced the birth of a healthy female baby rhinoceros. The new calf, born three weeks ago, has not yet been named. It's the 30th birth of a rhino baby in the safari since its creation on the outskirts of Tel Aviv back in 1974. Their first baby rhino – named "Shalom" – was born exactly 40 years ago today.
Billions of sterile mosquitos to eradicate Zika, malaria
By Brian Blum for Israel21c
Israel’s Senecio is testing its high-tech system for sorting, packaging and delivering sterile male mosquitos in the millions over infested areas.
Mosquito-borne illnesses, responsible for up to 750,000 deaths a year worldwide, include tropical killers such as malaria and dengue, along with terrifying upstarts like Zika, which can cause birth defects and have invaded parts of the southern United States.
An elevator tech that could save lives in a high-rise fire
By Brian Blum for Israel21c
Seventeen years after 9/11, an Israeli startup is testing its solution to turn the elevator into a traveling ‘safe room’ that can facilitate rescue operations.
When there’s a fire in a high-rise building, safety rules dictate that you don’t take the elevator. You head for the stairs instead. But what if using the elevator could actually be the fastest – and safest – way to evacuate a building on fire?