About Us
Founded in 1944, the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science develops philanthropic support for the Weizmann Institute in Israel, and advances its mission of science for the benefit of humanity.
Aug 26, 2015...
Special to Hudson Hub-Times: Irina Kopyeva, second from left, of Hudson, takes time out from a hike in Mitzpe Ramon in the final week of participation in the Weizmann Institute's annual Dr. Bessie F. Lawrence International Summer Science Institute in Israel.
Hudson—An accidental search during her sophomore year led a recent Western Reserve Academy graduate on a journey to a land of historical sites and ancient battles most people only see in books or on Television.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/young-scientist-travels-to-israel/
Sep 21, 2007... This article can be viewed by downloading the PDF.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/your-sense-of-smell-is-actually-pretty-amazing/
Apr 27, 2017...
Our sense of smell is incredibly fine tuned. Pixabay
The following is an excerpt from FLAVOR: The Science of Our Most Neglected Sense by Bob Holmes:
Our noses are a much more powerful tool than most of us realize—more sensitive, in many cases, than the most expensive piece of laboratory equipment.
Case in point: If you had happened to cross the University of California at Berkeley campus in the early 2000s, you might have noticed an undergraduate—blindfolded, earplugged, and wearing coveralls, knee pads, and heavy gloves—crawling across the lawn with nose to ground, zigzagging slightly back and forth. Was he rolling a peanut across the campus with his nose as punishment for some arbitrary offense during a fraternity initiation? Was he groveling before more senior fraternity brothers? No. He was following a scent trail laid down by a chocolate-soaked string—and doing it almost perfectly.
Jun 08, 2013...
Israel is now one of the world's tech powerhouses, second only to Silicon Valley as a hub for startups, but it wasn't always this way. Today, in honour of the 84th birthday of Professor Aviezri Fraenkel, we're delighted to share a short film sharing his story of working on the WEIZAC, Israel's first computer.
Short film produced with support from Google as part of our ongoing computing heritage series
Nov 24, 2016...
New research offers insight into why it’s so difficult for dieters to maintain their weight loss. (Getty Images)
For those who have lost the same 10, 20 or 50 pounds not once but many times over, new research may help explain why yo-yo dieters so often fail to maintain their hard-won weight loss.
The community of microorganisms that inhabit the gut are a key culprit, experiments in mice suggest. After being altered by obesity, this collection of bacteria, viruses and protozoa — collectively known as the gut microbiome — subverts any effort to keep lost weight off. Instead, it seems to encourage the body to regain lost weight by storing more calories as fat, and it does so in ways that exaggerate the body’s unhealthy metabolic response to weight gain.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/new-worlds-veggies-also-have-cholesterol/
Apr 30, 2017...
Vegetables: cucumbers and tomatoes. (photo credit:AMY SPIRO)
Many people eat green vegetables to lower their cholesterol levels, but contrary to common belief, most plants are not cholesterol-free. As reported recently in Nature Plants, researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science have now deciphered the biochemical reactions responsible for the plants’ cholesterol production. These findings may make it possible to engineer plant species so as to obtain biochemical compounds that are derived from cholesterol.
Mar 31, 2015...
Prof. Nir Orion
Teaching outdoors taps into children's natural learning instincts. But it demands systemic change, says Nir Orion.
During the last decade, there has been growing interest in implementing the Blue Planet educational programme developed at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. It is one of dozens of units my research group has developed under a curriculum titled Thinking Science - Understanding Environment that aims to awaken students' natural learning instinct by making the subject relevant to their personal lives.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/could-your-healthy-diet-make-me-fat/
Nov 28, 2015...
Marie Mirgaine
Some people eat as little fat as possible to lose weight and stay healthy, while others avoid carbohydrates. A vegan diet (with no animal products) and the paleo diet (with lots) both have enthusiastic devotees. One popular diet encourages intermittent fasting, another frequent small meals. Who’s right?
Perhaps they all are, according to the new field of “personalized nutrition.”
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/jerusalem-tower-younger-than-thought/
Jun 16, 2017...
Recently uncovered remains of a massive stone tower built to guard Gihon Spring – a vital water supply just downhill from the ancient city of Jerusalem
Gihon Spring, just downhill from the ancient city of Jerusalem, was crucial to the survival of its inhabitants, and archaeologists had uncovered the remains of a massive stone tower built to guard this vital water supply. Based on pottery and other regional findings, the archaeologists had originally assigned it a date of 1,700 BCE. But new research conducted at the Weizmann Institute of Science provides conclusive evidence that the stones at the base of the tower were laid nearly 1,000 years later. Among other things, the new results highlight the contribution of advanced scientific dating methods to understanding the history of the region.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/courage/
Oct 13, 2010... A five-foot-long snake helped identify a brain region associated with courage, according to a study in Neuron. One at a time, researchers placed 39 snake-fearing participants and 22 control subjects at one end of a long conveyor belt. On top of the belt, the researchers secured either a (non-poisonous) corn snake or a toy bear. Participants could move the snake or toy bear closer or further by pressing a button. Meanwhile, a functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner recorded the oxygen levels, which correspond to neuron activity, of various regions of their brains. When participants moved the snake closer despite their fears, activity in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) increased more than in other parts of the brain. When they instead moved the snake further away, or when they moved the toy bear in any direction, sgACC activity didn't spike. Previous studies have linked the sgACC with the emotions accompanying “negative autobiographical memories,” arachnophobia and other fearful responses. A better understanding of the biological basis of courage could lead to more-effective therapies for overcoming fear the researchers wrote.
©2023 American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science
FOR THE FOURTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR
