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 future of humanity.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/blog/before-coronavirus-crisis-response-at-the-weizmann-institute/
Sep 30, 2020...
The Weizmann Institute of Science is small but mighty, not weighed down by artificial demands and committed to giving its researchers the freedom to pursue their curiosity. Because of such flexibility, the Institute was able to immediately pivot to take on COVID-19, quickly transforming scientific labs and lines of research to focus on testing, treatment, and prevention.
But as with so much at Weizmann, it’s the people that made the difference: when the pandemic began, a single scientist, Dr. Ron Diskin, was studying corona and other viruses in his lab; today 66 out of 250 labs are doing so, meaning that over 25% of our scientists faced the crisis by doing what they do best: applying their formidable skills to tackling this strange virus.
Sep 30, 2020...
Modern-day sukkah builders may find it interesting that recently created 3D scans of ancient pottery could reveal the original dimensions of the tefah, a unit of biblical measurement based on the dimensions of a male hand.
The tefah was used primarily by ancient Israelites. It appears frequently in the Bible and is the basis for many Jewish laws. It is an especially important measurement at this time of year, as it is used by observant Jews to calculate the precise dimensions according to Jewish law for building a sukkah, the outdoor structure where the holiday of Sukkot, which begins on Friday, is celebrated.
Oct 15, 2020...
A new questionnaire by the Weizmann Institute of Science could tell you what your chances of having COVID-19 are and help countries decide who to prioritize for testing as testing materials remain hard to get.
The survey was built based on a model detailed in a paper published by researchers from the Weizmann Institute, Rambam Medical Center, Maccabi and Clalit Healthcare Services, King’s College London and Tel Aviv University, among others.
Oct 15, 2020...
If one were to objectively examine the topics being discussed in their social media feeds, that person might reach he conclusion that COVID-19 is all that’s going on in this world. It’s all anyone is talking about, and rightfully so. The effects of this pandemic on the human species will be discussed and analyzed for many years to come.
What is not being discussed enough, however, are the effects COVID is having on our mental health. Loneliness, anxiety, depression, hopelessness; these are just some of the emotions a global pandemic can, and are causing – and it’s important that we acknowledge it.
Oct 15, 2020... This crisis has shown me just how fragile our social systems are — from the ways we do business to the ways we interact with family and friends. We’ve seen our world change at a pace we couldn’t have envisioned before this pandemic struck. As a result, I’m more sensitive to how quickly the fabric of our lives can be disrupted. And I’m more keenly aware of how important it is to find solutions before the next major disruption happens. Whether we’re attempting to address climate change, the global energy crisis, or another emerging virus, scientists will, once again, be instrumental in charting the path forward.
Oct 23, 2020... In July of 2016, incoming Harvard freshman Eric Sun gazed up at the starry night while camping in the Judean desert. For the first time, Sun, who spent a month in Israel as part of Weizmann’s Dr. Bessie F. Lawrence International Summer Science Institute (ISSI), was thousands of miles away from his family. And yet, the awe-inspiring experience felt to him like a piece of home on the other side of the globe.
Oct 24, 2020...
Most marathoners follow up long training runs with an ice bath and a nap. Gamini Sugathadasa, a bellman at the Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas, runs 20 miles and then spends eight more hours on his feet. According to his fitness tracker, he averages 14,000 steps during a typical shift.
When the hotel closed in mid-March due to the coronavirus, he made up for the steps by pounding out more miles on his treadmill. The concept of a marathon was foreign to Mr. Sugathadasa until 2009, when he was greeting guests who had finished the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon. “I just remember everyone looked so happy,” he says. Intrigued, he left work that day and ran 11 miles. Despite some stiffness, he went out and ran the same distance the following three days. He was a natural.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/blog/in-celebration-of-crispr/
Oct 29, 2020...
In February 2017, in Boston for the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s (AAAS’s) annual conference, The Curiosity Review snagged a chair in a packed ballroom of attendees.
The main attraction was Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier. Then a rock star to scientists, today she is headline news; along with her longtime collaborator, Dr. Jennifer Doudna, Charpentier just received the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of CRISPR. The method, which stands for “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats,” enables scientists to edit DNA.
Dec 18, 2020... On December 21, 2020, stargazers are in for a once-in-a-lifetime cosmic event: Jupiter and Saturn will appear closer together than at any time in almost 400 years, in an event known as a great conjunction. Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions happen every 20 years. But this year’s happening will be the closest the planets have come since 1623. In this video, Ilan Manulis, Director of the Weizmann Institute’s Martin S. Kraar Observatory explains the science behind this celestial event and shares how to watch it.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/blog/what-is-happening-to-our-sense-of-time-during-covid/
Dec 31, 2020...
We have all experienced a warped sense of time during these Groundhog Blursdays of the pandemic – but why?
Some reasons are obvious. We have lost our guideposts, and events that occurred like clockwork – holidays, birthdays – have largely been cancelled. Seasons and school days aren’t well-defined. Weekends – what’s the diff?
And if you are fortunate enough to work remotely, you no longer have the adjustment period of a commute; going straight from bed to the kitchen coffeemaker to one’s makeshift office is simply not the same. Our environment, clothing, and habits are unchanging.
©2023 American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science
