Galatz interview: Facebook announced a new feature

Sheizaf Rafaeli

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced yesterday a new possibility on the world’s largest social network – erasing our browsing history. Mark Zuckerberg says many websites need information such as cookies, cookies and browsing history to operate, but you should have the option to delete your browsing history at any time! We’re working on a similar version on Facebook. This is a simple setting to delete your browsing history, what you clicked, the sites you visited, and so on. Call it simply cleaning history. But of course do not rush now to try to erase your Facebook history because this tool will be launched in just a few months.

Because of Russian involvement in the US presidential election in 2016, where she bought political ads on Facebook, among others. Facebook will now give us, users, tools for transparency in publishing political messages. We’ll know who posted the ad, how much money was invested in the campaign, and which ads are shown to other people on the social network.

Listen to the interview here

Bug 8200: Will the move of the intelligence center save Beersheba?

Reuven Gal

The demands presented this week by the Defense Ministry as a condition for transferring the IDF’s intelligence units to the Negev have raised again the question of the utility of relocating military camps to the south.

A new study by researchers from the Samuel Neaman Institute at the Technion, in cooperation with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, published in recent months, found that there is a disturbing gap between optimistic forecasts and reality. While the state estimated a potential of about 6,000-7,000 career soldiers, from which only 2,500 to 3,600 would actually move to the Negev, the projection of the research team stands on a few hundred permanent service men and women only.

Is it possible to slow the birthrate within 30 years – and how do artificial islands and underground life fit into the picture? Israel’s population is expected to double by 2048

How many Israelis would choose to live in a country where overcrowding permeates all areas of life, open spaces are in short supply, and large parts of the population live in towers that suffer from maintenance problems and take hours to get to work? How many Israelis are prepared to live in a country where infrastructure is on the verge of collapse and the construction of schools lagging behind the number of children? There is such a place in the world, or rather such a place is emerging. This is the State of Israel, 2048.

The way to deal with this issue is, on the one hand, to reduce fertility and on the other hand, to increase the area, which is already limited, by building artificial islands and exploiting the subsoil.

Why is the electric car revolution in Israel is on hold?

Ofira Ayalon, Idan Liebes

Car manufacturers worldwide are preparing to produce millions of electric cars a year, but in Israel the government has not adapted the market to change and thus contributes to the continued air pollution.
The Ministry of Energy: The Ministry has worked to formulate standards for charging an electric vehicle, and the Electricity Authority is currently completing regulation
According to data compiled by Ofira Ayalon and Idan Liebes of the Samuel Neaman Institute, the cost of driving an electric vehicle is about sixth of that of a gasoline or diesel-powered vehicle. At the head of the recommendations formulated at the end of the discussion at the Technion’s Energy Forum, it was proposed to formulate a national plan for the assimilation of public and private electric transportation in Israel. Public transportation, especially urban, should be electric, clean and efficient. Integration with interurban transportation e.g. electric trains can even obviate the need for two vehicles per family. According to the recommendations, the plan should include quantitative targets, indicators of success and appropriate budgeting.

The regulator needs an Electroconvulsive therapy

In the five years that have passed since the collapse of Better Place, the automotive world has shown renewed interest in electric vehicles over gasoline/ diesel cars. Many countries invest in public charging stations, tax benefits, purchase assistance and even monthly basis grants, directly to the driver’s salary. And in Israel there is a significant lack of public charging infrastructure and low awareness of electric vehicles. The environment and energy team of the Samuel Neaman Institute passed on updated data to the Knesset Information Center.

The test result shows: The plastic bag law completely failed

Ofira Ayalon

Ministry of Environmental Protection is satisfied with the carrier-bag law, which came into force last year and prohibits the free distribution of plastic bags in retail chains. The numbers show a sharp decline in the use of bags in retail chains. In addition, the “Clean Coast Index” also improved, according to the Ministry’s 2017 report, which was the cleanest year for beaches in the last 12 years, and the carrier- bag law has a significant impact on the index.
However, the number of bags consumed by the public can not be a measure. This is because the purpose of the law is not to reduce the number of bags consumed, but to reduce the damage that the legislators believe us caused by these bags.
The work done at the Samuel Neaman Institute shows that carrier bags are not such a significant environmental nuisance, and that there are other policy means (instead of such a high tax) that can be used to reduce the use of bags.

The rural sector in Israel is underprivileged

A new study by Prof. Rachelle Alterman of the Technion proves that the rural agricultural sector in Israel is discriminated against in land-related issues, as no rural sector in any developed country. Kibbutzim and moshavim suffer from deliberate governmental discrimination that stems from prejudice and a distorted image. The language and images used when referring to kibbutz or moshav members use is reminiscent of the language in which the anti-Semites attack the Jews. They are described as being the rich people of the country who squeeze the public coffers and steal privileges at the expense of others – while the reality is the opposite.
The rural sector in Israel, composed mainly of communal kibbutzim and cooperative moshavim, is trampled by a land policy promoted by government authorities which was suitable for the initial years of the State of Israel but which has been frozen since then, and even regressed, so as to weak these exemplary communities socially and economically. The study has found that the “basket of property rights” for land and housing of farming communities in Israel is 50 to 80 percent lesser than the “basket of rights” of farmers in several OECD countries, including Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Hungary.

Prepare for the revolution: 2018 is expected to turn electric vehicles standard

Ofira Ayalon, Idan Liebes

The year 2017 has broken records with regard to the sale of fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles. Will the year 2018 be the year of the breakthrough of the electric vehicle?

According to Prof. Ofira Ayalon of the Samuel Neaman Institute, the state provides two benefits for hybrid vehicles: “The first is a low purchase tax, the second is validated when it comes to a car that is leased from a leasing company.

“Hybrid vehicles are approaching their maximum efficiency potential” says Idan Liebes, also from the Samuel Neaman Institute. “The hybrid is only a stage on the way to the electric vehicle”. Where 2017 was the year of the hybrids, according to Liebes the current year will be a transitional year for electric vehicles. “In 2018 we will see a shift is the market offering, characterized by the debut of multiple mainstream models”.

The gaps will be preserved: The career soldiers who move to the south will live in the prestigious neighborhoods of the Negev

Reuven Gal, Emil Israel, Eran Leck

According to a new study, the mobilization of IDF bases southwards will have no Socio-economic impact on the Negev: The bases will be cut off the neighboring communities and the career soldiers and their families will live in affluent suburbs or in separate settlements that will be built for them.
This is the third study that arrives at similar conclusions.

New worrying findings on mathematics studies in Israel

The soul-searching of the research community in mathematics education: This is how the summation of the conference can be defined Annual research in mathematics education held last week at the Lev Academic Center in Jerusalem. Prof. Nitsa Movshovitz-Hadar of the Technion, Senior Research Fellow at the Neaman Institute for Policy Studies And former director of the National Museum of Science (Madatech), emphasized to hundreds of participants the urgent need to update the mathematics curriculum in Israel. In lectures and discussions, the researchers referred to the changes required in mathematics studies from preschool age until the end of high school. Movshovitz-Hadar’s soul-searching was indeed directed at her colleagues the researchers, but it should be heard well among decision makers.