Israel’s first exploration satellite, Venus, was successfully launched on a Vega launcher on Aug 2, 2017 at the Guiana Space Center’s Kourou site.
The country’s first environmental satellite is a major project of the Israel Space Agency and the French space agency CNES.
It was launched together with the OPTSAT3000, an advanced observation satellite designed for use by the Italian Defense Ministry.
Venus is another testament to Israel’s vast technological capabilities in all fields, and they are a force of science, technology and space with which the whole world wants to cooperate.
The findings that will be sent by the satellite will include data on the environment, agriculture, water and food.
Environmental satellites have become very important in recent years because of problems on Earth resulting from crowding of the population, the decline in space for agriculture and raising food, pollution and natural disasters.
Venus, which is the smallest satellite of its kind in the world, was built in the last few years by IAI.
It will observe fields and nature from space for environmental research and monitor land conditions, forestry, agriculture, the quality of water sources and more.
The mini-satellite is equipped with a special camera that can visualize details on Earth that are not visible to the naked eye.
It will take photos of set locations in Israel and round the world and provide researchers with scores of images daily, each of which will cover 760 sq.km.
It will revolve around the Earth 29 times within 48 hours and repeat exact photo angles, making it possible to note differences in conditions - characteristics that make the satellite unique, said the ministry.
Venus: Know More

Weighing only 265 kg., Venus reached its position of 720 km. above Earth within 37 minutes and 18 seconds.
The first sign with preliminary data was received on the ground five-and-a-half hours after launch, but the initial images will
arrive a week later.
Processed images will be sent to users three months after launch. Venus is due to remain in operation for 4.5 years, after which it will be shifted to a lower trajectory.
Some 110 research areas will be photographed around the world. When the satellite passes over Israel, Venus will photograph three swaths in the Galilee, the coastal area and the Negev where most national parks, forests, ecological stations and nature areas exist. The photos will also benefit university, government and state research institutes.
Although Venus is a joint project of Israel and France, all of the satellite’s hardware components were developed in Israel’s space industries.

India is making slow progress on covering the gap between “smart” and “feature” phones, according to a study, which said only 17 per cent of the Indian population owned a smartphone in early 2016. While cellphone pick-up is strong, the gap between “smart” and “feature” phones in circulation is wider than ever before, according to ‘Digital Evolution Index 2017’, a study by the Fletcher School at Tufts University in partnership with MasterCard. India’s stubborn cash economy meant it took demonetisation by government decree to wean Indians away from notes and coins – an event that saw mobile wallet provider Paytm claim 170 million users in just a few months. India is an interesting example of a nation with a growing mobile internet gap. The country has been adding more mobile subscriptions and fewer mobile internet subscriptions. Only 17 per cent of the Indian population owned a smartphone in early 2016. India has done a great job of adding more mobile users, but the country is tapering off its broadband, which presents a challenge. It is not a problem of availability – it’s a vast country and the most vibrant telecom market in the world. But affordability remains an issue. The study also noted the popularity of services like M- Pesa, rooted in older technology but demonstrating the potential for growth through data-enabled mobile solutions in India as well as across Africa. M-Pesa, a money transfer service launched in 2007 in Kenya, has spread across Africa, India and parts of Eastern Europe. Digital Evolution Index 2017: Know More The Fletcher School at Tufts University in partnership with Mastercard, unveiled the Digital Evolution Index 2017. This Index is a comprehensive research that tracks the progress countries have made in developing their digital economies and integrating connectivity into the lives of billions. The Index measures four key drivers – supply, consumer demand, institutional environment, and innovation. India has featured among 60 nations on Digital Evolution Index 2017, exhibiting a high potential in terms of digital payments.

Scientists have announced that the world’s smallest spacecrafts dubbed as Sprites ever launched are successfully travelling in low Earth orbit and communicating with systems on Earth.
The six prototypes of Sprites were launched in June 2017 as part of the Breakthrough Starshot project designed to test technologies that would eventually be used for interstellar missions.
They are smallest spacecraft that have managed to establish contact with ground stations.
Sprites have been developed by researchers at Cornell University.
Each of the mini Sprite spacecrafts are built on a single 3.5*3.5 centimeter circuit board.
They weigh just four grams each.
They are equipped with tiny solar panels and two antennas, plus a tiny radio, computer, magnetometer (to orient to Earth’s magnetic field) and gyroscope (to move and stabilize the craft).
Sprites Mission: Know More
The mission was designed to test the performance of the Sprites’ electronics when in orbit.
It will also demonstrates their novel radio communication architecture. It will also explore the concept of solar sail propulsion in which spacecraft can be powered using only the sun’s radiation.
These tiny satellites also mark the next step in the field of spacecraft miniaturization that can contribute to the development of centimetre and gram-scale StarChips envisioned under the Breakthrough Starshot project.
Breakthrough Starshot is a comprehensive space program launched under the US $100 million Breakthrough Initiatives, announced by Yuri Milner and Stephen Hawking to develop and launch practical interstellar space missions.
The program aims to demonstrate proof of concept for light-propelled spacecraft that could fly at 20 per cent of light speed.
Its main objective is to send one-gram chips to star systems beyond the solar system in search of extraterrestrial intelligence.

Scientists have developed a super strong, flexible Bio-glue for wound healing without causing toxicity. It has been inspired by an adhesive material (glue) secreted by slugs that sticks to biological tissues Slugs naturally secrete a special kind of mucus (adhesive material) in its place when threatened, making it difficult for a predator to pry it off its surface. The bio-glue is double-layered hydrogel consisting of an alginate-polyacrylamide matrix supporting an adhesive layer that has positively-charged polymers protruding from its surface. It bonds to biological tissues via three mechanisms – electrostatic attraction to covalent bonds between neighbouring atoms, negatively charged cell surfaces and physical interpenetration. This bond makes the adhesive super strong. It is the combination of a very strong adhesive force and has ability to transfer and dissipate stress. It can bind to tissues with strength comparable to the body’s own resilient cartilage.

Scientists from the Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER), Thiruvananthapuram have developed gelator that can suck up oil and congeal it. The gelator is hydrophobic material that has property of oleilophilic (oil-loving) and takes up oil when it comes in contact with it. It can be used to recover marine oil spills with a simple, efficient and cost-effective method. The gelator is developed using a cheap raw material mannitol and cellulose pulp through a one-step process. In this process the mannitol gets adsorbed on the cellulose fibre through hydrogen bonding. The adsorption process changes the cellulose matrix from being very hydrophilic (water-loving) to hydrophobic (water repelling). The property of gelator to self-assemble to form micro fibres makes congealing of oil possible and the oil loses its fluidity and gets trapped within the entangled fibrous network to form a rigid gel. Gelation essentially turns the liquid oil into semi-solid and this allows congealed oil to be simply scooped out using a scoop or a sieve. The gelator was able to absorb and congeal 16 times its own weight of oil. The absorbed oil can be recovered by applying pressure or fractionated by a simple distillation process.