Photo: Flickr

If you, like us, are enjoying a nice fluorescent tan  instead of the Austin Texas sun, this is a post for you.

Yes, unfortunately some of us do not get spring break to head down to one of the coolest music festivals around. Even if you’re not at South by South-West, we have a treat for you. In the next couple of days we’ll be showcasing the Israeli bands performing at SXSW. All in all 8 Israeli bands will be playing at the festival this year, a delegation that exceeds music nations like the UK, Canada and Sweden.While each of them is very unique, one thing does unite them all and that is the fact that all of them sing in English.

Our first clip today comes from singer/songwriter Nili Ohayon of Onili, who moved back to Israel after living many years in Paris France. Since returning to Israel she has managed to hit the Israeli charts with her electro-Hip-hop sound. While her music is perfect for an afternoon beach party in Tel Aviv, it can definitely suit cruising down the  Champs Elysees.

So whether you’re at home or at the festival, turn your speakers up and enjoy the new sounds of Israel.

For more information on the Israeli sound at SXSW follow: IsraelatSXSW

Picture attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ret0dd/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

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Photo: Wikipedia Commons

One of the great challenges of modern agriculture is how to use technology to mass produce crops while sparing consumers from the harmful chemicals and byproducts of the agricultural process. Though meant to kill harmful insects, pesticides carry a very serious risk to the environment.

While studies have shown that mankind is developing cancer and other diseases at a higher rate due to exposure to pesticides, the crop-killing vermin are only becoming more immune to its effects. At the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, researchers have discovered a way to safely eliminate insects without the need for harmful chemicals.

Professor Boaz Yuval at the university’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of Food, Agriculture and the Environment believes that sex is the key.

If you can sterilize male insects before they copulate with females, these females will be unable to lay eggs. The problem, however, is that males who are sterilized also lose their sex drive, leaving the females to mate with male insects who are not sterilized.

Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have created a special, high protein, bacteria-enhanced “breakfast of champions” to sterilize males. By greatly increasing their sex drive and sexual performance, females spend all of their time with these Casanova sex-crazed males and never are able to lay eggs of their own.

While original applications of this research will be for plant and animal pests, many are looking to see how this work can be applied to stop the spread of organisms carrying human diseases.

To read more about the Hebrew University study, click here.

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1st place winner, Major Dror of the Israeli Air Force

We’ve all heard of being “carbon neutral,” and while the technology does not yet exist for vehicles, let alone an entire army to have zero impact on the environment, the Israeli Defense Forces is pushing to be the first.

A self-declared “green” army, the IDF recognizes projects that connect its soldiers with the environment. In the 7th annual competition held by the IDF and Ministry of the Environment, soldiers who worked to protect sources of water were honored last week.

“Preventing harm to natural resources is vital to the same extent as protecting the state from its enemies,” said Environmental Minister Gilan Erdan. “Air, soil and water pollution is a real threat to our existence and quality of life.”

One of such campaigns which the army has taken upon itself is biological warfare, in the form of organic pesticides. In recent years the army has created nesting boxes for Barn Owls in various bases across Israel. These hungry birds make sure that pests like mice and snakes are taken care through the food chain and not by using harmful toxins.

Barn owls in an old amunition box, First Sergeant Amir Ezer

In addition to projects ranging from preserving the marine environment to “Green IT,” they also held a related photography exhibition titled, “The IDF and the Environment Through the Eye of the Camera.” Read all about the competition and see the other winners by clicking here.

For a full presentation of the pictures (in Hebrew) Click here

Source: Ynet

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For American fans of the Emmy-award-winning series, “The Office”, it’s easy to get attached to characters like Jim, Pam, Michael, and Dwight as if we actually knew them and forget that they are just incarnations of their British originals.

For example, the story of Jim and Pam’s awkward yet adorable flirting that culminated this season with their wedding and then the birth of their baby girl, is based on that of Tim and Dawn from the British version.  Michael Scott, the American boss portrayed by Steve Carell describes himself as friend first, boss second, and entertainer third, just as Ricky Gervais’ character David Brent does.

The American version of the show has been praised for being true to the original idea of its British predecessor while also being innovative.  While many the story lines of international adaptations are based on the original’s, the international versions are not just carbon copies of the British scripts.  Characters and story lines must be adapted to the culture of the country in which the show takes place.

Let’s hope Gervais’ characters translate as well to Israeli culture as they did to American culture. “The Office” is opening in Yahud, outside of Tel Aviv.  David Brent will become Avi Meshulam (played by Dvir Benedek), Tim will become Yossi, and Dawn will become Dana. The series will also include an Arab character named Abed and a Jewish Ethiopian character named Abba.

The Israeli version of the “mockumentary” style series will be called “Super Office”.  Like the other international adaptations of “The Office”, the program will be written, directed, and acted by locals. Gervais commented, “I am thrilled and amazed that Israel is making The Office with local writers, directors and actors.”  He then joked “I mean, who ever heard of Jewish entertainers?”

For more information, see the BBC article.

Photo courtesy of geener on flickr used under Creative Commons License.

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A rare insight into the life’s work of the world’s most famous physicist has opened this week in Jerusalem, with a unique exhibition showcasing original handwritten manuscripts by Albert Einstein in his work on his Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity.

The Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities is holding a public exhibition of 46 pages of the original manuscripts written by Einstein. In one room the visitors are able to examine the original manuscripts (handwritten by Einstein in German), while another room features enlarged copies of those manuscript with detailed explanations in Hebrew and English.

By examining these copies, “one can almost look over Einstein’s shoulder while he was at work – his elegant handwriting, the corrections and equations, the erasures and additions,” explains Professor Hanoch Gutfreund, the exhibition’s curator.

This is a window not only to the operations of the world’s most famous physicist, but also to a scientific concept that revolutionized the way we perceive our universe, time and gravity.

The theory of General Relativity holds practical value, as well as theoretical one. General Relativity predicts (among many many other things) that clocks closer to the Earth’s gravity will seem to tick more slowly than clocks farther away. This prediction (which was experimentally verified) allowed for the creation of technology like GPS satellites (Global Positioning Systems) that are used today all over the world.

The exhibition is held courtesy of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, which owns the official “Albert Einstein” brand, including the use of his image. Einstein bequeathed his estate and the use of his image to the Hebrew University, which now licenses it to companies and institutions around the world. The Hebrew University in Jerusalem has long term collaborative projects to collect and maintain Einstein’s works and manuscripts online and through the “Albert Einstein Archives” project.

This exhibition marks the jubilee anniversary of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and opens the Israeli National Science Week, held around Einstein’s birthday at March 24th. It will be open to the public at the Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Jerusalem between March 7th and 25th 2010.

Read more about the exhibition in this New York Times’ article.

Or visit the official page of the Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

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Photo: Wikipedia Commons

The Lemba  have prided themselves on their ancestry for 2,500 years. Recent DNA evidence has proven that the Lemba people of Zimbabwe are indeed Jewish. According to legend, prior to the destruction of the Second Temple, their ancestors left Judea and settled in what is now Yemen, later migrating to East Africa. While many stayed in Ethiopia, the Lemba migrated farther south and now number 80,000 in central Zimbabwe and parts of South Africa.

While their religion is no longer traditional Judaism, they carry on very similar customs, including wearing yarmulkes, refraining from pork and other foods forbidden by the Torah, and even placing Stars of David on tombstones.

Perhaps most tantalizing is their famed relic, the “ngoma lungundu,” roughly translating to “drum that thunders.” Carried from the Holy Land, it is now believed to be a replica of the Ark of the Covenant, made while the Lemba were in Yemen. Thought to have been lost in the aftermath of the Zimbabwean Civil War, it has only recently been rediscovered and is now on display in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital.

For more about the ngoma lungundu, click here.

We thank Ynet for this story.

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While the end of May is usually pretty hot and dry in Tel Aviv, Israeli R&B fans are looking forward to Rihanna bringing her “um-bre-ella” to Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv-Jaffa on May 30, 2010.

Details of the multi-platinum artist’s one-night performance will most likely be revealed in a press conference this week.  Rihanna’s itinerary also includes tour dates in the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and more.

Rihanna’s 2007 album Good Girl Gone Bad featured five top-10 singles in America including “Umbrella”,  “Disturbia”, and “Don’t Stop the Music”.  Her new album, Rated R,  already has three top 10 singles, giving her more top ten hits than any other female artist of the past 10 years.

In addition to Rihanna, Tel Aviv will soon be hosting other big names such as Elvis Costello, Metallica, and Elton John. This summer will be an exciting one for Israel’s music scene!

For more details, see Ynet.

Photo by SpreePix Berlin on Flickr. Used under Creative Commons License.

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Photo: Wikicommons

As the financial crisis spread from Wall Street to seemingly every corner of the world, the Bank of Israel’s governor, Stanley Fischer has been praised for steering Israel’s economy out of harm’s way. In an interview last week, Fischer explained to Fox Business how Israel survived the financial crisis.

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It’s not only pure solace on a chilly day, but also a true remedy for colds, sore throats, and even broken hearts!

People say that mothers know best but let me tell you, Jewish grandmothers know even better. And if this is their recommendation, I believe them.

Even if you don’t have your grandma around, you can cook it yourself. It’s very easy and only requires basic ingredients. To make things even easier, you can search for “winter package” in your supermarket. It contains the basic elements of this soup: parsley and/or celery root, onion, potato, carrot and a few dill strings.

One thing to bear in mind: the chicken you use must be fresh! You could use different parts. Even cheaper parts like wings or neck will do just fine. I personally love to use drumsticks (aka “poolke” in Yiddish).  Also, for a meatier flavor use chicken, turkey, and beef knee joint bones.

Classic Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

8-10 drumsticks

1 bunch dill, tied

1 bunch parsley, tied

2 onion, quartered

2-3 carrots cut coarsely

1 parsnip, cut coarsely (can sub for turnip)

1 celery root, cut coarsely

1 parsley root, cut coarsely

2 potatoes cut coarsely

Salt

10 black peppercorns

1-2 bay leaves

Method:

1. Line the bottom of a large pot the drumsticks (and other parts or bones if you have them).
2. Add 2 ½ quarts of water and bring to boil. Skim the foam that forms on top.
3. Add the vegetables, bay leaves, salt and pepper and bring again to boil.
4. Cook covered on a low heat for about an hour.
5. Add the herbs. Cook for another 20 minutes. Towards the end of the cooking, taste and adjust the seasoning.
6. Turn off the heat. If you like, remove some or all of the herbs from the soup (for a clear soup).

Serve to the ones you love

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According to Trevor Johnson, Facebook’s head of strategy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Israelis spend more time on Facebook than any other people in the world. Even if this is adjusted for population, for a country smaller than most U.S. states, amassing more than a billion minutes a month is quite impressive. In fact, Israelis spend more time on Facebook than Google and YouTube… combined!

While many would argue that there is no correlation between the amount of Facebook friends one has and how popular they are in real life, with a user average of over 140 friends, Israelis are well above the global average.

Israel’s love for Facebook has even caught the attention of military brass. With so many soldiers “plugged in” virtually 24/7, Israeli soldiers have been cautioned against publishing sensitive information on social networking sites.

It’s hard to imagine that a website started in a Harvard dorm room would, in just a few years, impact military policy halfway across the world.

As a final note from everyone at isRealli, bonus points if you accessed this article through Facebook.

We thank Haaretz for this story.

Photo provided by Flickr by smileham. Used under Creative Commons License.

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