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.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/science-tips-february-2009/
Feb 03, 2009... Even when our eyes are closed, the visual centers in our brain are humming with activity. Weizmann Institute scientists and others have shown in the last few years that the magnitude of sense-related activity in a brain that’s disengaged from seeing, touching, etc., is quite similar to that of one exposed to a stimulus. New research at the Institute has now revealed details of that activity, explaining why, even though our sense centers are working, we don’t experience sights or sounds when there’s nothing coming in through our sensory organs.
Dec 05, 2017...
Archaeologists working at the Shubayqa 1 site. Credit: University of Copenhagen
UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN - FACULTY OF HUMANITIES—New research by a team of scientists and archaeologists based at the Weizmann Institute of Science and the University of Copenhagen suggests that the 15,000-year-old ‘Natufian Culture’ could live comfortably in the steppe zone of present-day eastern Jordan - this was previously thought to be either uninhabitable or only sparsely populated.
Apr 11, 2007... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—April 11, 2007—Muscle fibers are large cells that contain many nuclei. They begin, like all animal cells, as naive embryonic cells. These cells differentiate, producing intermediate cells called myoblasts that are now destined to become muscle. New myoblasts then seek out other myoblasts, and when they find each other, they stick together like best friends. In the final stage of muscle fiber development, the cell membranes of attached myoblasts open up and fuse together, forming one large, unified cell.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/rethinking-lymphatic-development/
Aug 01, 2015... For 10 years, Karina Yaniv has worked to find out just how much zebrafish have in common with mice—at least when it comes to their lymphatic systems, the open-ended networks of vessels best known for draining fluids from tissues and providing thoroughfares for immune cells throughout the body. Yet in doing so she ended up discovering something that had very little in common with the findings of numerous earlier studies on other animals’ lymphatic systems. Contrary to the widely held view in developmental biology, she found, lymphatics don’t always originate from veins.
Nov 30, 2017...
Scallop eyes. They feel the magic between you and I. Credit: Dan-Eric Nilsson, Lund University
In 2019, if everything goes according to plan, the much-delayed James Webb Space Telescope will finally launch into orbit. Once assembled, it will use an array of 18 hexagonal mirrors to collect and focus the light from distant galaxies. This segmented-mirror design was developed in the 1980s, and it has been so successful that it will feature in almost all the large telescopes to be built in the near future.
May 10, 2018...
A top view of the ants carrying the cargo item (wheel-like object). Credit: Jonathan Ron, Ehud Fonio
Ants working together to carry a large piece of food get around obstacles by switching between two types of motion: one that favors squeezing the morsel through a hole and another to seek a path around the barrier. Jonathan Ron of the Weizmann Institute, Israel, and colleagues present these findings in PLOS Computational Biology.
Jan 17, 2011...
Click here to watch the video from Voice of America.
A new study in Israel finds that a woman’s tears have a physical and psychological effect on men. The scientists involved in the study say they were surprised that tears lower a man’s sex drive. Some women here in Washington are surprised with the findings, too.
A woman’s tears not only invoke romance in Hollywood, Mamie Parker says she’s experienced first hand what her tears can do to a man. “If I cry they just seem to be more affectionate or touchy-feely and in some cases more sexy,” she said.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/science-tips-september-2015/
Sep 01, 2015...
Tiny sea sapphires’ iridescence, created by a regular array of thin, transparent crystal plates, is also the secret of their “disappearance”
Tiny ocean creatures known as sea sapphires perform a sort of magic trick as they swim: One second they appear in splendid iridescent shades of blue, purple, or green, and the next they may turn invisible (at least the blue ones turn completely transparent). How do they get their bright colors and what enables them to “disappear?” New research at the Weizmann Institute of Science has solved the mystery of these colorful, vanishing creatures, which are known scientifically as Sapphirinidae. The findings, which recently appeared in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, could inspire the development of new optical technologies.
Mar 17, 2019...
Taking a deep breath in through the nose appears to help the human brain create a laser-like focus on visuospatial tasks, according to a new study by a team of researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. This paper, “Human Non-Olfactory Cognition Phase-Locked with Inhalation,” was published March 11 in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.
As the title of this electroencephalography-based study suggests, the researchers found that breathing in through the nose—without the intention of sniffing a scent or catching a whiff of something based on the olfactory-based sense of smell—synchronized EEG brain activity on a wavelength that helped to optimize visuospatial acuity. In many situations, survival of the fittest requires a perfect blend of nasal inhalations, laser-like mental focus, and quick thinking.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/trained-bacteria-can-lead-to-better-biofuels/
Jun 05, 2009... Bacteria are not dumb. Israeli researchers have proven that these pathogens can anticipate a future event and prepare for it. The discovery - just published in the prestigious journal Nature - is not merely a curiosity. The scientists believe that if bacteria gain the genetic ability to prepare themselves for the next step in a process, the conditioned response could be used for fermenting plant materials and producing more efficient biofuels.
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