This is a list of inventions and discoveries by Israeli scientists and researchers, working locally or overseas. There are over 6,000 startups currently in Israel.[1][2][3][4][5] There are currently more than 30 technology companies valued over US$1 billion (unicorn startups) in Israel.[6]
Mathematics
Johnson–Lindenstrauss lemma, a mathematical result concerning low-distortion embeddings of points from high-dimensional into low-dimensional Euclidean space contributed by Joram Lindenstrauss.
Development of Zig-zag product of graphs, a method of combining smaller graphs to produce larger ones used in the construction of expander graphs by Avi Wigderson.
Generalization of the marriage theorem by obtaining the right transfinite conditions for infinite bipartite graphs. He subsequently proved the appropriate versions of the Kőnig theorem and the Menger theorem for infinite graphs by Ron Aharoni.
Ada Yonath - 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovery of the structure and function of ribosomes, the universal cellular factory for the translation of the genetic code to proteins.
Pillcam by Given Imaging, the first Capsule Endoscopy solution to record images of the digestive tract.[19][20] The capsule is the size and shape of a pill and contains a tiny camera.[21] Created by Israeli engineer Gavriel Iddan[22] who sold the company to Irish medical device maker Covidien for $860 million.[23][24][25] Iddan has expressed regret for the sale due to the companies fulfillment of an ancient Jewish prophecy “The Pillcam was based on military technology... It was a good example of how we shall beat our swords into plowshares", as the Hebrew prophets predicted.[26] Covidien was acquired by Medtronic in 2016, and is now the provider of Pillcam.[27]
Line free single power bicentric prismatic spectacle lens for correction of anisometropia. Sydney J. Bush UK patent no. 1539381.
Medicine
The pressure bandage - known widely as the Israeli Bandage is a specially designed, first-aid device that is used to stop bleeding from hemorrhagic wounds caused by traumatic injuries in pre-hospital emergency situations.[28] First used for saving lives during a NATO peacekeeping operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina,[29] by inventor, Israeli military medic, Bernard Bar-Natan.[30] The bandage was successfully used during operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom and is widely used today, across the world.[31][32][33] The bandage was nicknamed "Israeli bandage" by American soldiers, and has been "the bandage of choice for the US Army and special forces". Before the Israeli emergency bandage was invented in 1998, wounded soldiers were told to find a rock and wrap it on top of hemorrhaging wounds in order to hold direct pressure.[34] Bar-Natan sold his company to PerSys Medical Inc in Houston, Texas, the company that first introduced the bandage to the US military.An Israeli Bandage being used by Sudanese and US Naval service members during a training exercise.
Sambucol, an over-the-counter elderberry-based anti-influenza syrup.[41] Discovered by Dr. Madeleine Mumcuoglu at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Studies in 1995 showed that Sambucol was effective against human, swine and avian influenza strains, although more research is required to clearly understand its effectiveness.[42][43][44]
Development of ENvue, a feeding tube placement system with advanced methods of navigation, integrated sensors and body mapping, for accurate enteral tube placement, by the Israeli company ENvizion Medical, used in Hospitals and Medical centers in the US.[45]Model of quasicrystals, discovered by Nobel prize winner Dan Shechtman of the Technion
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.[49]
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.[50]
Smartphone dual lens technology, by Israeli company Corephotonics. In 2018, Corephotonics sued Apple Inc for infringement of its dual camera patents; specifically regarding several iPhone models' use of their patented telephoto lens design, optical zoom method, and a method for intelligently fusing images from the wide-angle and telephoto lenses to improve image quality, infringing on four separate patents.[56][57][58][59][60][61] Corephotonics was bought by Samsung in 2018 for US$155 million.[62]An iPhone with a dual lens camera; a technology developed by Israeli company Corephotonics.
The Intel 8088 – This microprocessor, designed at Intel'sHaifa laboratory, powered the first PC that IBM built,[63] which is credited with kickstarting the PC revolution.[64][65][66][67][68] The 8088 was designed in Israel at Intel's Haifa laboratory. The widespread use of the IBM's PC,[69] using the 8088 processor, established the use of x86 architecture as a de facto standard for decades. The IEEE wrote that "almost all the world’s PCs are built around CPUs that can claim the 8088 as an ancestor."[70][71] Intel has credited the 8088 with launching the company into the Fortune 500.[70]
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 company Wizcom Technologies Ltd.[72]
Laser Keyboard – a 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.[73][74][75][76] The company subsequently licensed the technology to Celluon of Korea.[77]
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) - technology for voice based communications using the internet instead of traditional telephone systems. VoIP was originally conceived by Danny Cohen, an Israeli-American scientist, but was first created, implemented, and commercialized by Netanya-based, Israeli company VocalTec and its founder Alon Cohen[79][80][81][82][83]
Many Intel processors are developed and/or manufactured in Israel[84] including:
Iron Dome – a mobile air defense system in development by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aircraft Industries 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.[102] 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. The United States has been a essential partner in developing the Iron Dome by providing billions towards it's development.[103]
Agriculture and breeding
The Tomaccio cherry tomato was developed by several Israeli laboratories, the dominant ones being those led by Professor Nahum Keidar and Professor Chaim Rabinovitch [he] from the Agriculture Faculty of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot Campus.[104][105]
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.[106] of the University of Massachusetts.[107]
Guess Who? – a two-player guessing game invented by Theo & Ora Coster (a.k.a. Theora Design).
Food and drink
Shkedei marak (croutons)
Ptitim, also called Israeli couscous worldwide, is a wheat-based baked pasta. It was initially invented during the austerity period in Israel when rice and semolina were scarce.
Safed cheese or Tzfat cheese is a semi-hard, salty cheese produced in Israel from sheep's milk. It was first produced by the Hameiri dairy in Safed in 1840 and is still produced there by descendants of the original cheese makers.
Jerusalem mixed grill is a grilled meat dish considered a specialty of Jerusalem. It consists of chicken hearts, spleens and livers mixed with bits of lamb cooked on a flat grill, seasoned with onion, garlic, juniper berries, black pepper, cumin, turmeric and coriander
Sabich is a sandwich, consisting of a pita stuffed with fried eggplant and hard-boiled eggs. Local consumption is said to have stemmed from a tradition among Iraqi Jews, who ate it on Shabbat morning.
Karat Caviar is a Russian Osetra caviar brand farmed in the Golan and has won several international awards. The Russian Osetra fingerlings were imported from the Caspian Sea.[114][115]
Bamba (snack) is a peanut butter-flavored snack food manufactured by the Osem corporation in Holon, Israel.[116] In a clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine, infants exposed to Bamba had an overall 86% reduction in the development of a peanut allergy, measured at age 5.[117]
Bissli is an Israeli wheat snack produced by Nestle-owned Osem. Bissli is Osem's leading snack brand after Bamba.[118]
Paranormal Activity - A famous horror film series. Produced by Israeli video game programmer and film producer, Oren Peli, shortly after moving to the US.
DogTV - The first dedicated television network designed for dogs. Created by Israeli Ron Lev and originally launched in Israel.[119][120][121][122][1][123]
