Israeli inventions and discoveries are inventions and discoveries by Israeli scientists and researchers, both locally and while working at overseas research institutes.
World's smallest video camera – a camera with a 0.99 mm (0.039 in) diameter, designed to fit in a tiny endoscope designed by Medigus.[10]
Development of the "Pillcam" by Given Imaging, the first Capsule endoscopy solution to record images of the digestive tract. The capsule is the size and shape of a pill and contains a tiny camera.[11]
The Rubinstein bargaining model, one of the most influential findings in game theory, refers to a class of bargaining games that feature alternating offers through an infinite time horizon. The proof is from Ariel Rubinstein 1982.[21]
Biotechnology
Nanowire – a conductive wire made of a string of tiny particles of silver, a thousand times thinner than a human hair. developed by Uri Sivan, Erez Braun and Yoav Eichen from the Technion.[22]
Adi Shamir with Ron Rivest, and Leonard Adleman introduced RSA[27] public key encryption.
Defense
UziSubmachine gun – invented by Uzi Gal. The development was completed in 1955.[28][29] The Uzi is heavily based on the slightly earlier Czechoslovakian Sa vz. 23 submachine gun. "The Sa 23 series was favored for its reliability, compact size, and full automatic fire capability. It is well known that the Sa 23 influenced Uziel Gal's design of the Uzi submachine gun."[30]
Arrow – a family of operational anti-ballistic missiles. Jointly funded and produced by Israel and the United States.[32][33]
Merkava tank – a tank optimized for crew survival and rapid repair of battle damage.[34][35]
IAI Lavi – an ambitious Israeli production of a modern fighter aircraft. The IAI Lavi was largely based on the existing American F-16 fighter jet, and controversy led to the US pressuring Israel to discontinue production and later controversy of charges Israel provided China with blueprints leading to the Chinese Chengdu J-10 fighter known to also be based on the US F-16.[36]
Unmanned aerial vehicles – an aircraft that flies without a human crew on board the aircraft. Their largest uses are in military applications. Developed by Israel Aircraft Industries.[39]
Nautilus laser system – a laser developed for military use. Jointly funded and produced by Israel and the United States.[40][41]
Iron Dome – a mobile air defense system in development by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems designed to intercept short-range rockets and artillery shells. On April 7, 2011, the system successfully intercepted a Grad rocket launched from Gaza, marking the first time in history a short-range rocket was ever intercepted.[42] The Iron Dome was later utilized more fully in the Israeli-Gaza conflict of 2012, where it displayed a very high rate of efficiency (95%-99%) in intercepting enemy projectiles. Further production of the Iron Dome system will be financed and supported by the United States government.[43]
MagnoShocker – combines a metal detector and a taser to immediately neutralize a dangerous person, developed by the mathematician Amit Weissman and his colleagues Adir Kahn and Zvi Jordan.[45]
Tavor TAR-21 assault rifle – a modern assault rifle designed with the aim to be used as the IDF's standard assault rifle. The rifle was the developed by "Magen", the small arms division of the Israel Military Industries (IMI). The development of Tavor was completed in 2001. In 2005 Magen was sold to the Israeli company Israel Weapon Industries (IWI), which continues to develop and produce the rifle. The MTAR-21 (Micro Tavor) was recently selected as the future assault rifle of the Israeli Defense Forces, and within the next few years it will become the standard Israeli infantry weapon.[47]
Technion Satellite – launched into space in July 1998, it is one of the smallest satellites in the world. The cube-shaped satellite has 45 centimeter sides and weighs 48 kilograms and has extremely low power consumption. The Technion satellite began as a student project of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, supervised by Haim Eshed and initiated by Giora Shaviv, former head of the Asher Space Research Institute (ASRI) at the Technion.[48][49]
Wall radar – a unique radar utilizing Ultra Wide Band (UWB) to allows users to see through walls. Developed by the Israeli company Camro.[50]
Injured Personnel Carrier A unique evacuation method developed by Israeli company Agilite Gear, comprises a strap allowing you to carry the wounded person on your back.
QuicktionaryElectronic dictionary – a pen-sized scanner able to scan words or phrases and immediately translate them into other languages, or keep them in memory in order to transfer them to the PC. Developed by the Israeli company Wizcom Technologies Ltd.[53]
Laser Keyboard – virtual keyboard is projected onto a wall or table top and allows to type handheld computers and cell phones. Developed simultaneously by the Israeli company Lumio and Silicon Valley startup company Canesta.[54][55][56][57] The company subsequently licensed the technology to Celluon of Korea.[58]
Viber, a proprietary cross-platform instant messaging voice-over-Internet Protocol application for smartphones.[62] Developed by American-Israeli entrepreneur Talmon Marco, Viber reached 200 million users in May 2013.
GetTaxi, an application that connects between customers and taxi drivers using the its proprietary GPS system, enabling users to order a cab either with their smartphone or through the company's website. It was founded by Israeli entrepreneurs Shahar Waiser and Roi More.[63]
Waze, a GPS-based geographical navigation application program for smartphones with GPS support and display screens, which provides turn-by-turn information and user-submitted travel times and route details, downloading location-dependent information over the mobile telephone network.[64] Waze Ltd., which was founded in 2008 in Israel by Uri Levine, software engineer Ehud Shabtai and Amir Shinar, and is now available in over 100 countries, was acquired by Google for a reported $1.1 billion.
A variant of the cherry tomato (Tomaccio), developed by Hishtil Nurseries of Israel.[67]
Hybrid cucumber seeds – In the 1950s, Prof. Esra Galun of the Weizmann Institute developed hybrid seed production of cucumbers and melons, disease-resistant cucumbers and cucumbers suitable for mechanical harvesting. Galun and his colleagues invented a technique for producing hybrid cucumber seeds without hand pollination.[68]
Grain cocoons - invented by international food technology consultant Professor Shlomo Navarro, the GrainPro Cocoons provide a simple and cheap way for African and Asian farmers to keep their grain market-fresh, as huge bags keep both water and air out, making sure the harvest is clean and protected even in extreme heat and humidity.[69]
Biological pest control - invented in Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu by a company called Bio-Bee, it breeds beneficial insects and mites for biological pest control and bumblebees for natural pollination in greenhouses and open fields. The company’s top seller worldwide and especially in the U.S. is a two-millimeter-long, pear-shaped orange spider that is a highly efficient enemy of the spider mite, a devastating agricultural pest.[69]
AKOL - a Kibbutz-based company which gives low-income farmers the ability to get top-level information from professional sources.[69]
Reusable plastic trays - a Tal-Ya Water Technologies invention used to collect dew from the air, reducing the need to water crops by up to 50 percent.[69]
"Zero-discharge" system - an invention of the Israeli GFA company which allows fish to be raised virtually anywhere by eliminating the environmental problems in conventional fish farming, without being dependent on electricity or proximity to a body of water.[69]
TraitUP - a new technology that enables the introduction of genetic materials into seeds without modifying their DNA, immediately and efficiently improving plants before they’re even sowed. It was developed by Hebrew University agricultural scientists Ilan Sela and Haim D. Rabinowitch.[69]
Energy
Super iron battery – A new class of a rechargeable electric battery based on a special kind of iron. More environment friendly because the super-iron eventually rusts, it was developed by Stuart Licht.[70] of the University of Massachusetts.[71]
Energy tower – Purely theoretical alternative electricity generation and water desalination technology in low cost. The Energy towers spray water on hot air at the top of the tower, making the cooled air fall through the tower and drive a turbine at the tower's bottom. The brainchild of the American physicist Phillip Carlson, it was expanded by Professor Dan Zaslavsky and Rami Guetta from the Technion.[72][73]
A unique technology for producing hydrogen in vehicles as an alternative fuel source. It is produced by the Israeli company Engineuity and was invented by Amnon Yogev and Eli Gmaazaon.[74]
Improvement of previously existing flat plate solar water heaters – A home facility that converts solar energy to thermal energy. Following the energy crisis in the 1970s, The Israeli law requires the installation of solar water heaters in all new homes. It was developed by Zvi Tavor.[75]
Consumer goods and appliances
Epilator (originally "Epilady") – an electrical device used to remove hair by mechanically grasping multiple hairs simultaneously and pulling them out. It was developed and originally manufactured at Kibbutz HaGoshrim.[76][77]
Wonder Pot – a pot developed for baking on the stovetop rather than in an oven.[78]
Micronized coating instant hot water pipes developed by A.C.T.[79]
Artificial gills – a theoretical special diving system not yet in production, currently being developed by the Israeli company Like-A-Fish Technologies, it produces oxygen from water, making oxygen tanks unnecessary.[80]
Limonana – a type of lemonade made from freshly-squeezed lemon juice and mint, created in the early 1990s after an advertising agency promoted the then-fictitious product to prove the efficacy of advertising on public buses. The ad campaign generated so much consumer demand that the drink began to be produced for real by restauranteurs and manufacturers, becoming a summer staple in Israel and other Middle Eastern countries.[88][89]