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/news-media/news-releases/science-tips-may-2008/
May 27, 2008... Is the smell of almonds closer to that of roses or bananas? Weizmann Institute scientists have now answered that question (roses) by showing for the first time that smells can be mapped and the relative distance between various odors determined. Their findings, which appeared recently in Nature Methods, may help scientists to unravel the basic laws underlying our sense of smell, as well as potentially enabling odors to be digitized and transferred via computer in the future.
Jan 01, 2017...
Prof. Noam Sobel. Credit: Tomer Appelbaum
Talking to: Prof. Noam Sobel of the neurobiology department and the Azrieli Center for Human Brain Imaging, Weizmann Institute of Science, in Rehovot, who studies brain mechanisms related to the sense of smell. Where: His laboratory. When: Sunday, 10 A.M.
How does the sense of smell affect human behavior?
Our primary field of research dealing with that question concerns chemical communication between animals, and in our case, human beings. All animals communicate by means of chemical signals, and we, too, land mammals with an amazing nose, are no different.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/june-is-men-s-health-month/
Jun 01, 2012...
Anchored by a Congressional health education program, Men’s Health Month aims to heighten awareness of preventable health problems and encourage early detection and treatment of disease.
The broad-ranging research of Weizmann Institute scientists addresses multiple areas of men’s health, including fighting cancers that are common to men. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), “Every year, cancer claims the lives of nearly 300,000 men in America.” Weizmann research, such as a method for timely detection of prostate cancer, can help protect our fathers, brothers, husbands, friends. Read on for just a few examples of how Institute science is benefitting men’s health.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/sleep-off-addiction-to-cigarettes/
Nov 20, 2014...
Nov. 20, 2014 — Bad smells during sleep may teach smokers to dislike cigarettes and help them cut back, a new study hints.
Smokers who were exposed to the smell of cigarettes along with an unpleasant odor during a single night of sleep smoked less for days afterward, the researchers found.
This study shows that "sleep learning can influence later wake behavior," says Anat Arzi. She's a PhD student at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.
Feb 04, 2010... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—February 4, 2010—The best way to track a moving object with a flashlight might be to aim it to one side, catching the object in the edge of the beam rather than the center. New research from the Weizmann Institute of Science reveals that bats, which "see" with beams of sound waves, skew their beams off-center when they want to locate an object. The research, which recently appeared in Science, shows that this strategy is the most efficient for locating objects.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/left-handed-women-s-quirk-over-sense-of-smell/
Nov 07, 2019...
Image via Shutterstock
Scientists say they have discovered a biological anomaly that could change how we understand our sense of smell.
The study in the journal Neuron shows some people can smell normally, despite missing the part of the brain that is considered to be crucial for smell - the olfactory bulbs.
Lacking bulbs should cause anosmia (being unable to smell).
Curiously, the phenomenon mostly affects left-handed women, and has never been detected in men.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/sense-for-scents-traced-down-to-genes/
Aug 01, 2013...
Although the genetics of smell are usually highly involved, people's ability to sense the distinctive fragrance of sweet violets (Viola odorata) has been traced back to a single gene. Wild Wonders of Europe/Bartoch/Naturepl.com
When it comes to our sense of smell, we are all experiencing the world in very different ways.
Scientists already know that humans' sensitivity to smelly molecules varies considerably from person to person (see: 'Soapy taste of coriander linked to genetic variants'). But evidence that genetic variations — as opposed to habit, culture or other factors — underlie these differences has been hard to come by.
Apr 07, 2016...
Here’s an interesting problem. When it comes to human senses, we’ve found ways to reproduce the look and sound of the real world reasonably accurately. There are even technologies for reproducing the feel of certain experiences, such as flight and car simulators.
But the problem of reproducing smell is much more intractable. The 1960 SmelloVision experiment is a case in point. This involved some 30 odors that were released into the cinema at certain times during a movie. Only one film – Scent of Mystery – ever used the system, which rapidly failed.
Jun 30, 2015...
Close your eyes and conjure up your paradise vacation: umbrellaed drink in hand, trashy detective novel perched on your knee, the rhythmic swell of waves in your ears, and of course – the fresh, briny smell of the sea.
That poetic smell comes, in part, from a not-so-poetically-named sulfur compound called dimethyl sulfide, or DMS, a key player in ocean ecosystems and weather patterns. Now, scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel have figured out how a particular ocean algae – one that dwells in the upper sunlit part of the sea – makes the aromatic chemical.
Jun 13, 2017...
Thanks to advances in healthcare, sanitation, safety, and nutrition, people today are living longer than ever; in fact, in the West, the fastest-growing demographic is age 85 and up.
Fortunately, Weizmann Institute of Science researchers from across the disciplines have long made it a priority to investigate neurodegenerative and neurological disorders, including those that tend to strike older people; just some of these areas of research include Parkinson’s, glaucoma and advanced macular degeneration (AMD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease), nerve degeneration as a result of trauma or stroke – and, especially, Alzheimer’s disease.
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