ira

Yes, the actual development was don by Israeli engineers.

ira

Israel's economy grew at annual 6.6% in first half
GDP growth is above the 5% predictions of both the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Israel.
Zeev Klein 22 Aug 07 14:18
Israel’s GDP rose by an annualized 6.6% in the first half of the year, after rising by 3.4% in the second half of 2006 and 6% in the first half, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports. The growth is above the 5% predictions of both the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Israel.
The present growth rate is higher than in 2003-06, and the highest since the 8.7% growth rate in 2000. The economy has now recorded five years of continuous growth, the longest period in Israel’s history. GDP has grown 21% since 2003, an increase of NIS 135 billion. GDP is now at an all-time high of NIS 660 billion, and GDP per capita is NIS 92,338, or $21,500.


The rapid growth in the first half was driven by an 8.3% annualized growth in exports, 5.9% annualized growth in investment, and an annualized growth of 7.5% in private consumption. Business product rose by an annualized 7.9%, above expectations.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on August 22, 2007

ira

FactsOfIsrael.com News, Comments and Links

Israeli researcher creates featherless chicken
Planet Ark (www.planetark.org) reports that Avigdor Cahaner, from Israel's Hebrew University, has created a featherless chicken.

The Israeli featherless chicken,
a funny bird

Cahaner's red-skinned chicken looks a little ridiculous, but the lack of feathers keeps the birds cooler and leaner than their feathered cousins - useful in hot countries.
"(Boiler chickens) consume a lot of energy in order to grow rapidly but in the process they generate a lot of heat and they have to get rid of it otherwise their internal body temperature will go too high and they will die," he told Reuters this week. "That's why the growth rate of boiler (chickens) is significantly reduced in hot seasons or hot countries and that is why the poultry meat is expensive in these countries."

By keeping the chickens feather-free, the birds would direct their energy to growing larger rather than keeping cool.



Israeli's naked chicken plan may make feathers fly
Planet Ark - May 22, 2002
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/
newsid/16075/story.htm

JERUSALEM - Chickens could fly even faster to the dinner table if an Israeli geneticist gets his way and develops the featherless fowl.

Avigdor Cahaner, from Israel's Hebrew University, has crossbred a small, bare-skinned bird with a regular boiler chicken as part of a research project to develop succulent, low fat poultry that is environmentally friendly. Cahaner's red-skinned chicken looks a little ridiculous, but the lack of feathers keeps the birds cooler and leaner than their feathered cousins - useful in hot countries.

The hybrids, the geneticist believes, could revolutionise the chicken business.

"(Boiler chickens) consume a lot of energy in order to grow rapidly but in the process they generate a lot of heat and they have to get rid of it otherwise their internal body temperature will go too high and they will die," he told Reuters this week.

"That's why the growth rate of boiler (chickens) is significantly reduced in hot seasons or hot countries and that is why the poultry meat is expensive in these countries."

By keeping the chickens feather-free, the birds would direct their energy to growing larger rather than keeping cool.

Cahaner's naked birds would also save poultry farmers large amounts of money on ventilation to prevent their chickens from overheating. The lack of feathers would conserve large quantities of water used to pluck chickens at feathering plants.

"This water is full of feathers and drainage of fat from the carcasses. We believe that this part of the pollution can be reduced and feather plants can be completely eliminated," Cahaner said.

LESS WASTE

The featherless fowl would be well suited to poor countries where farmers can ill afford to lose birds to overheating.

"It's called sustainable agriculture," Cahaner said. "Feathers are a waste, the chickens are using feed to produce something that has to be dumped and the farmers have to waste electricity to overcome the fact."

Cahaner has already produced several dozen featherless birds but hopes to perfect the still diminutive fowl so they stand as tall as the normal boiler chickens that are the mainstay of the poultry industry.

"My objective is to transfer this (featherless) trait to modern fast-growing boiler chickens and learn and study the effects on growth rate, other aspects of welfare and its development and of course of the meat characteristic," he said.

But featherless chickens would not be suitable everywhere, Cahaner concedes. They might catch cold in chillier climates.

"It would harm them if we forced these chickens to be outside in cold weather...This is not a chicken for the open fields of England in the winter time," he said.

Story by Megan Goldin

josh007

lol. What people come up with sometimes, makes me wonder...

ira

Israel's population on eve of New Year: 7.2 million
The proportion of Jewish citizens is falling.
Zeev Klein 10 Sep 07 15:08
The population of Israel on the eve of the Jewish New Year 5768 is 7.2 million people. This figure includes 5,450,000 Jews, 1.4 million Arabs, and 315,000 "others", most of whom are non-Jewish immigrants who arrived in Israel under the Law of Return.
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics' abstract for 2007, there were more women, educated people, poor and urban residents this year, while social and economic gaps widened. The population grew by 55,000 people in the first half of 2007, after growing by 126,000 people in 2006. The proportion of Jews of the total population has narrowed further to 75.7%, while the proportion of Arabs now stands at 20%. The proportion of non-Jewish immigrant residents in Israel is now 4.3%.


The Jewish population grew by 39,000 people in the first half of 2007, after growing by 90,000 in 2006. The Arab population grew by 16,000 people after growing by 36,000 in 2006.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on September 10, 2007