Check out this recap of the 10 articles readers found most interesting, heart-warming, and astounding this year.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFUpdated: APRIL 15, 2021 11:08Israeli children's hold Israeli flags ahed of Israel 73rd Independence day, at a kindergarten in Moshav Yashresh, April 13, 2021. (photo credit: YOSSI ALONI/FLASH90)
1. Lab tests suggest Israeli-made face mask eliminates over 99% of coronavirus
By ZACHARY KEYSER | DECEMBER 27, 2020Sonovia mask (photo credit: COURTESY OF SONOVIA)
The SonoMask displayed an ability to neutralize the novel coronavirus at an effectiveness of 99.34%.
Sonovia’s reusable anti-viral masks are coated in zinc oxide nanoparticles that destroy bacteria, fungi and viruses, which it says can help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Results from the most recent round of testing showed that the mask has the ability to neutralize fallen traces of SARS-COV-2 within 30 minutes after making contact with the fabric. The SonoMask was also proven to maintain its protective properties throughout 55 wash cycles.
2. Former Israeli space security chief says aliens exist, humanity not ready
By AARON REICH | DECEMBER 10, 2020 NGC 4866, a lenticular galaxy, is shown in this NASA handout provided on July 19, 2013. Situated about 80 million light-years from earth, this image was captured by the Advanced Camera for Surveys, an instrument on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (photo credit: REUTERS/EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY/NASA/ESA HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)
Has the State of Israel made contact with aliens?
According to retired Israeli officer and current professor Haim Eshed, the answer is yes, but this has been kept a secret because "humanity isn't ready."
This "Galactic Federation" has supposedly been in contact with Israel and the US for years, but are keeping themselves a secret to prevent hysteria.
Eshed provided more information in his newest book, The Universe Beyond the Horizon – conversations with Professor Haim Eshed, along with other details such as how aliens have prevented nuclear apocalypses and "when we can jump in and visit the Men in Black."
3. Israeli scientists claim to reverse aging process
By MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN | NOVEMBER 21, 2020Hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber at Aviv Clinic in Florida (photo credit: AVIV CLINIC)
Israeli scientists say they have managed to successfully reverse the biological aging process – using only oxygen.
Recent research led by Tel Aviv University’s Prof. Shai Efrati, together with a team from Shamir Medical Center, found that when healthy adults over the age of 64 were placed in a pressurized chamber and given pure oxygen for 90 minutes a day, five days a week for three months, not only was the aging process delayed - it was actually reversed.
4. Tel Aviv research: 99.9% of COVID-19 virus dead in 30 seconds with UV LEDs
By MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN | DECEMBER 26, 2020 UV rays, illustrative (photo credit: ING IMAGE)
Ultraviolet radiation is a common method of killing bacteria and viruses. Now, researchers from Tel Aviv University have proven that the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, can be killed efficiently, quickly and cheaply using ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (UV-LEDs) at specific frequencies.
5. Davidic dynasty symbol found in Jerusalem: Once in a lifetime discovery
By TZVI JOFFRE | SEPTEMBER 3, 2020The symbol of the Davidic dynasty (photo credit: TZVI JOFFRE)
A “once in a lifetime” find is how the City of David described three immaculately preserved 2,700-year-old decorated column heads, or capitals, from the First Temple period that indicate a connection to the Davidic Dynasty.
Archaeologists from the City of David did not expect to find anything this special when they began digging near what is now the Armon Hanatziv Promenade.
6. Israel, UAE reach historic peace deal: ‘We can make a wonderful future’
By LAHAV HARKOV, OMRI NAHMIAS | AUGUST 14, 2020L-R: Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed, US President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (photo credit: REUTERS)
Israel and the UAE agreed to full normalization of relations in a phone call with US President Donald Trump on Thursday, marking the first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab country in 25 years.
The agreement will include establishing embassies and exchanging ambassadors, investments into the Israeli economy, trade, direct flights between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi, an investment in Israeli efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine – as first reported in The Jerusalem Post last month – and cooperation in matters of energy and water. An important element of the deal for the UAE is the expectation that its citizens would be able to visit the Al-Aksa mosque in Jerusalem.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deal “full, formal peace” with “one of the strongest countries in the world.”
7. Netanyahu short for right-wing coalition, would need Arab support
By GIL HOFFMAN | MARCH 24, 2021Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu celebrates with the Likud after Israel's elections, March 23, 2021. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not be able to form a government, according to preliminary results from 97% of the regular polling stations reported by the Central Elections Committee unless he gains support from the Arab-Islamist Ra'am Party.
Netanyahu's bloc of Likud, Shas, United Torah Judaism and the Religious Party was found to have won 59 seats along with Yamina, two short of a majority. Ra'am's leader Mansour Abbas has collaborated in the past with Netanyahu and pro-Likud advocates are already working to legitimize the formation of a coalition with Arab support in the media.
8. Hebrew U. scientist: Drug could eradicate COVID-19 from lungs in days
By MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN | JULY 15, 2020Nahmias’ Lab at Hebrew University’s Grass Center for Bioengineering (photo credit: DANIEL HANOCH)
Researchers at Israel’s Hebrew University of Jerusalem and New York’s Mount Sinai Medical Center believe they could potentially downgrade COVID-19’s severity into nothing worse than a common cold.
New research by Hebrew University Prof. Ya’acov Nahmias and Sinai’s Dr. Benjamin tenOever revealed that the FDA-approved drug Fenofibrate (Tricor) could reduce SARS-CoV-2’s ability to reproduce or even make it disappear.
9. Drone drops hundreds of bags of cannabis in Tel Aviv
By TOBIAS SIEGAL | SEPTEMBER 3, 2020A drone drops hundreds of bags of grass in the skies of Tel Aviv (photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI)
The bags of cannabis were dropped by the "green drone" Telegram group, which advocates for the legalization of cannabis in Israel, with "free love" being the group's slogan.
Before dropping the cannabis over Tel Aviv, the group published a message on Telegram, hinting at the planned operation.
"It's time my dear brothers. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's the green drone, handing out free cannabis from the sky... Enjoy my beloved brothers, this is your pilot brother, making sure we all get some free love," the message read.
10. Pfizer halts corona vaccine shipments to Israel after country fails to pay
By MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN | APRIL 5, 2021PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein meet a shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines at Ben-Gurion Airport on January 10. (photo credit: MOTTI MILLROD/REUTERS)
Pfizer has halted shipments of coronavirus vaccines to Israel in outrage over the country failing to transfer payment for the last 2.5 million doses it supplied to the country, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
Senior officials at Pfizer have said they are concerned that the government-in-transition will not pay up and the company does not want to be taken advantage of. They said that they do not understand how such a situation can occur in an organized country.
