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.
Jul 19, 2021... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—July 19, 2021—Until recently, before NASA’s Juno space probe entered its orbit around the planet Jupiter, no one knew that powerful cyclones approximately the size of Australia rage across its polar regions. Jupiter’s storms, as opposed to the earthly variety, do not disperse and rarely change. In an article published in Nature Geoscience, researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science reveal the mysteries of Jupiter’s cyclones: which forces affix these gargantuan storms to their polar locations and why the storms’ numbers and locations remain more or less constant over time.
Oct 28, 2021... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—October 28, 2021—Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is up there with the rings of Saturn and the blue marble of Earth for solar system icon status. In a study published today in Science, Weizmann Institute of Science researchers and their collaborators on NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter report that this spot – really a giant, persistent storm – extends to a depth of about 500 kilometers below the planet’s clouds. This revelation is among the mission’s findings being presented at a NASA press conference tonight and published in Science and in Geophysical Research Letters.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/going-out-with-a-bang/
Jan 12, 2022...
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—January 12, 2021—In the not-so-distant past, the discovery of a supernova—or exploding star—was considered a rare occasion.
When Prof. Avishay Gal-Yam of the Weizmann Institute’s Particle Physics and Astrophysics Department was a doctoral student, he only located seven supernovas over the course of four years. But today, advanced measuring instruments and analytical methods make it possible to detect fifty such explosions daily. While these improved means may have made these celestial events somewhat less notable over the years, the greater number of observations has also increased the probability that researchers will spot rarer types of explosions that have so far existed only as theoretical constructs. Gal-Yam and his colleagues recently discovered a rare-type supernova that has never been observed before. Their findings are being published today in Nature.
Feb 21, 2022... “It is a scientific breakthrough project that will place Israel at the forefront of astronomical research, position it as a rising force in the field of scientific satellites and provide excellent exposure to the Israeli industry,” says Professor Eli Waxman, astrophysicist at the Weizmann Institute of Science, principal investigator of the ULTRASAT mission and one of the fathers of the first Israeli space telescope, which is planned to be launched in 2025. “The beautiful thing about this mission is that it is led by science. We have set goals that are at the forefront of science, and to achieve them we have to be the first and the best.”
Mar 14, 2022... Are we truly alone in the universe? The Weizmann Institute of Science has joined a global consortium of distinguished institutions engineering the world’s most powerful telescope. The Giant Magellan Telescope will be able to probe the atmospheres of planets beyond our solar system for any indication of life.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/expanding-the-limits-of-the-possible-1/
Nov 07, 2022...
A rock star, a Paralympic swimmer, and a Nobel Prize in Physics laureate were among the nine recipients of honorary Doctor of Philosophy degrees from the Weizmann Institute of Science on Monday, November 7, bestowed upon them in recognition of their extraordinary contributions to society.
"Each one of tonight’s honorees has expanded the limits of the possible, while inspiring others to fulfill their own boundless potential," Prof. Alon Chen, president of the Weizmann Institute, said at the conferment ceremony, hosted by news anchor Lucy Aharish on campus at the Michael Sela Auditorium. Part of the Institute’s 74th Annual General Meeting of the International Board, the ceremony and related events are taking place in person — and as usual — for the first time since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jan 25, 2023...
WASHINGTON — The United States and Israel are finalizing an agreement that would see NASA contribute to an upcoming Israeli astrophysics mission.
The focus of the agreement, which could be signed as soon as later this month, involves a mission called Ultrasat under development by Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science with support from the Israel Space Agency and German research center DESY.
As part of the agreement, NASA would provide the launch of Ultrasat, which will operate in geostationary orbit. NASA will likely arrange to fly Ultrasat as a secondary payload on a commercial GEO launch, said James Rhoads, NASA project scientist for Ultrasat, during a session of the 241st Meeting of the American Astronomical Society Jan. 11.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/look-on-the-bright-side-of-earth/
Jan 26, 2023... January 23, 2023—When looking at the Earth from space, its hemispheres – northern and southern – appear equally bright. This is particularly unexpected because the Southern Hemisphere is mostly covered with dark oceans, whereas the Northern Hemisphere has a vast land area that is much brighter than these oceans. For years, the brightness symmetry between hemispheres remained a mystery. In a new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Weizmann Institute of Science researchers and their collaborators reveal a strong correlation between storm intensity, cloudiness and the solar energy reflection rate in each hemisphere. They offer a solution to the mystery, alongside an assessment of how climate change might alter the reflection rate in the future.
Feb 21, 2023...
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—FEBRUARY 21, 2023 NASA will launch Israel’s first space telescope – the Ultraviolet Transient Astronomy Satellite, or ULTRASAT – into high-Earth orbit in early 2026, as part of a newly signed partnership between United States’ NASA and Israel's Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology.
ULTRASAT, a premier project of the Israel Space Agency (ISA) in the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology and the Weizmann Institute of Science, is expected to revolutionize scientists’ ability to detect and analyze transient events in the universe, such as neutron star mergers and supernova explosions.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/look-on-the-bright-side-of-earth/
Feb 24, 2023...
While the Southern Hemisphere is mostly covered with dark oceans, the Northern Hemisphere has a vast, much brighter land area. However, when looking at the Earth from space, its hemispheres – northern and southern – appear equally bright.
For years, the reasons for this remained a mystery until Weizmann Institute of Science researchers and their collaborators revealed a strong correlation between storm intensity, cloudiness, and the solar energy reflection rate in each hemisphere. They offer a solution to the mystery, alongside an assessment of how climate change might alter the reflectivity of solar radiation, known in scientific lingo as “albedo.”
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