You've never seen fruit this color before
by Jaime Bender for FromtheGrapevine
Pigments made from beets can enhance not only the color of your produce, but the nutritional value, too.
What can beets do for you? We already know they're packed with health benefits and make a great addition to lots of dishes, like salads, juices and hummus.
But did you know they can also make other foods healthier?
Researchers at the Weizmann Institute in Israel recently discovered that fruits and vegetables can be genetically engineered to produce betalains, the same pigments that give beets their vibrant red color. Potatoes, tomatoes and eggplants can be altered to give off a whole variety of colors without changing the look of the plants they grow on.
Eat a purple potato if you know what’s good for you
By Brian Blum for Israel21c
Israeli scientists synthesize healthier potatoes and tomatoes in brilliant colors. The technology can also produce unusually hued ornamental flowers
Are you ready for violet-colored potatoes? How about orange tobacco? Researchers at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science have figured out how to produce betalain pigments in plants and flowers that don’t normally have them.
If you’re thinking, “Who needs violet tomatoes?” you should know that red-violet and yellow betalain pigments contain healthful antioxidant properties. They’re also the basis for natural food dyes for products such as strawberry yogurt.
Israeli institute trains Palestinian avocado growers
By Abigail Klein Leichman for Israel21c
Galilee International Management Institute enables Palestinian farmers to join Israeli growers in meeting high avocado demand in Europe.
This July was a month full of depressing news regarding diplomacy among Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan.
And yet, far from the headlines, cooperation across these populations was thriving at the Galilee International Management Institute (GIMI) in Nahalal, a city in northern Israel.
During July alone, GIMI gave a training course to Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli olive-oil producers, taught farmers from Palestinian Authority territories to grow avocados for export, and began planning a tele-course for Gazan computer engineers meant to lead to remote employment at Israeli companies.
Solar Energy and Biblical Law
Jewniverse
According to the biblical law of pe’ah, when a farmer harvests his land he must leave the corners of his field for the poor (Leviticus 19).
And what about solar fields? A solar field transforms the sun’s rays into electricity–producing a renewable form of energy. In Israel, the Arava Power Company recently launched its first solar field. Named “Ketura Sun,” the field in the Negev desert consists of photovoltaic solar panels, which release no carbon into the atmosphere, and produce energy that goes directly to Israel’s electric grid.
Liftoff for Israel’s unique environmental study satellite
By Abigail Klein Leichman for Israel21c
Made in Israel and launched in French Guyana, Venus will enable unprecedented imaging of the health of the Earth’s environment.
Israel’s first satellite to study the environment was launched shortly before dawn yesterday (August 2) from the European Space Center at Kourou, French Guiana.
An hour and a half later, the satellite Venus (short for Vegetation and Environment Monitoring on a New Micro Satellite) successfully separated from the launcher and entered its orbit. At 10:30, the satellite passed over Israel and transmitted its first surveillance message.