Israelis may have won only two bronze medals (still a significant achievement for a small country) at the Rio Summer Olympic games, but they've brought home 14 medals in a different kind of Olympic competition.
While almost all eyes were focused on the Rio Olympics in August,
four other Olympiads were taking place in the science arena around the
world. And Israel’s students brought home 14 medals from
the International Science Olympiads.
The latest Olympiad competition was a two-day computer science contest in Russia. Israel won silver and bronze medals.
...
The International Science Olympiads are worldwide annual competitions
in different areas of science. Four to six of the best high school
students from each participating country take part in the contests.
In the past month, Israeli students have won the two medals in
computer science, six medals in math, four in physics, and two in
chemistry.
We've always been much better at brains than brawn.
Rich Arab oil countries spend less than $15 per capita on scientific research
Just how backward is the Arab world compared with Israel? Please consider this from the Qatari publication The Peninsula.
Regarding patent rights, Israel has registered 16,805 patents. However, Arab countries have only 836 patents which is 5 percent of what Israel has.
Israel spends 0.8-1 percent of the total expenditure of the world on research work and Arab states spend 0.4 percent. It means Israel spends more than double that spent by Arab countries in this field.
Israel spends 4.7 percent of its income on research. However, Arab countries spend 0.2 percent of their total income on the same. United States spends about 2.7 percent of its income, UK 1.8 and Germany 2.6 percent on research work.
Asian Arab countries spend less than 0.1 percent of their total income on research work which is five times less than African countries which are spending 0.5 percent of their total income, according to a Unesco report. Arab countries spend about half of Israel though their GDP soared 11 times that of Israel and the area is more than 649 times.
Regarding per capita expenditure on scientific research, Israel stands at the number one position by spending $1272.8 per capita. United States ranks second with $1205.9 and Japan third by spending $1153.3. However, the Arab countries ranked hundred times less than Israel by spending an average of $14.7 annually per capita.
And the oil rich Asian Arab countries spend $11.9 per capita which is equal to African poor countries whose per capita expenditure reached $9.4.
All those rich Arab oil states spend less than $15 per person per year on scientific research. And you wonder why they're so far behind. Heh.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
