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.
Oct 05, 2020...
Use of controlled fire was probably the most defining moment in the evolution of early humans. It was not just a mere technological advancement but was the starting point of everything we associate humans with—migration, civilisation, culture or language. But, when did we start controlling the fire? We may be getting closer to finding a definitive answer.
A new study, published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, shows that human ancestors in the Levantine region—countries along the eastern Mediterranean shores—used fire at controlled temperatures to make tools around 300,000 years ago. Using the cutting edge technologies like the Raman spectroscopy and AI modelling, researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science and Tel Aviv University in Israel found that early humans had a good understanding of the effects of heating the stone before flaking it into blades.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/a-measure-of-smell/
Nov 11, 2020... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—November 11, 2020—Fragrances – promising mystery and intrigue – are blended by master perfumers, their recipes kept secret. In a new study on the sense of smell, Weizmann Institute of Science researchers have managed to strip much of the mystery from even complex blends of odorants, not by uncovering their secret ingredients, but by recording and mapping how they are perceived. The scientists can now predict how any complex odorant will smell from its molecular structure alone. This study may not only revolutionize the world of perfumery, but eventually lead to the ability to digitize and reproduce smells on command. A proposed framework for odors, created by neurobiologists, computer scientists, and a master perfumer and funded by a European Commission initiative called Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) Open, was published in Nature.
Nov 11, 2020...
Israeli scientists say they have made a breakthrough that could pave the way for smellovision TVs, scented digital photos that have a whiff of vacation, and technology that can “print” any odor.
A Weizmann Institute team claims to have created a “smell map” that can determine how any odor will smell to humans based just on an examination of its molecular structure.
The researchers say this provides the theoretical framework to record the qualities of the smell as a set of numbers which can be used to recreate it by means of an electronic device that could be embedded in cellphones, computers, and elsewhere. They believe that a range of just 200 molecules is enough to recreate almost any smell on earth.
Nov 25, 2020...
Stripping down fragrances to their molecular structure, researchers at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science have opened the door to a future where any scent could be digitized and reproduced on demand by a computer.
The group of neurobiologists, computer scientists and a master-perfumer wrote about their achievement in Nature.
Enabling computers to digitize and reproduce smells is a long-held goal of the study’s co-author, Prof. David Harel of the Weizmann’s computer and applied mathematics department.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/video-gallery/wis-talks-prof-roee-ozeri-it-s-about-time/
Jan 19, 2021... We have been measuring time for millennia. Prof. Roee Ozeri of the Department of Physics of Complex Systems and Institute Vice President, provides an engaging history of these efforts, their inspiration, and their efficacy, from the sundial to the pendulum to modern atomic clocks.
Apr 21, 2021... In the latest episode of “Weizmann in Focus,” Dave Doneson invites us to gaze up at the stars and planets—and learn about the Institute’s efforts to uncover the mysteries of the cosmos. Dave highlights the ULTRASAT satellite mission, part of Weizmann’s flagship Frontiers of the Universe initiative, which will search for cosmic events such as supernovas and black holes. It will then alert astronomers around the world in real time to their occurrence. In partnership with NASA and others, Institute scientists plan to launch ULTRASAT into space in 2023.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/blog/will-ai-tell-us-what-whales-are-saying/
Jul 08, 2021... In the 70s, an album was released that shared something remarkable, even transformative: recordings of humpback whales singing. The whalesong on the soon-to-be-a-hit album moved people worldwide, and the raised awareness led to the “Save the Whales” movement. Half a century later, technology has evolved a bit from LPs and may be able to help us understand these highly intelligent, mysterious mammals and their eerie songs, their clicks and whirrs.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/blog/achy-knees-weizmann-discovery-may-help/
Aug 10, 2021...
The world’s population is trending older – in large part because we take better care of ourselves, such as through exercise. But those years of running, playing, even just of everyday living, take a toll on our joints, often leading to osteoarthritis.
Age is only one risk factor for osteoarthritis, which predominantly occurs in the knees, hips, and hands. Other factors include joint injury or overuse/repetitive stress, such as from running and other sports; gender, with women (of course) being more likely to develop the disease; weight; and genetics.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/israel-joins-quantum-computing-club/
Mar 22, 2022...
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—March 22, 2022—Building a working quantum computer is such a daunting venture that many believe it’s only for tech giants and superpowers, something on a scale beyond Israel’s reach.
Prof. Roee Ozeri of the Weizmann Institute of Science begs to differ: “One of the world’s first computers, WEIZAC, was built here in the 1950s, when all Israel had was swamps and camels. Today Israel is a technological empire; there’s no reason we shouldn’t be front-runners in the quantum computing race.”
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/a-new-way-to-measure-creativity/
Apr 07, 2022... Creativity is crucial—at the heart of human endeavors ranging from art to entrepreneurship. It’s also notoriously hard to study. Usually in psychological tests we see whether people produce a particular predetermined response to a particular question. The essence of creativity, however, is to spontaneously make something new, something no one could predict beforehand. The few measures of creativity we have are more than 50 years old, and they are hard to score and often unreliable.
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