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.
Aug 07, 2018...
Israeli Nobel Prize winner Ada Yonath, who is also a professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science, at a press conference in Rehovot. (Flash90)
RIO DE JANEIRO — Ecuador’s National Congress honored an Israeli Nobel laureate.
Ada Yonath, who won the 2009 prize for chemistry, received a medal of scientific merit from the National Assembly’s president, Elizabeth Cabezas, at a ceremony Thursday in Quito, newspaper El Telegrafo reported.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/science-tips-august-2014/
Aug 11, 2014... Blood stem cells have the potential to turn into any type of blood cell, whether it be the oxygen-carrying red blood cells, or the immune system’s many types of white blood cells that help fight infection. How exactly is the fate of these stem cells regulated? Preliminary findings from research conducted by scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Hebrew University are starting to reshape the conventional understanding of the way blood stem cell fate decisions are controlled, thanks to a new technique for epigenetic analysis they have developed. Understanding epigenetic mechanisms (environmental influences other than genetics) of cell fate could lead to the deciphering of the molecular mechanisms of many diseases, including immunological disorders, anemia, leukemia, and many more. It also lends strong support to findings that environmental factors and lifestyle play a more prominent role in shaping our destiny than previously realized.
Nov 30, 2010...
Fabled as a site of biblical battles and spectacular palaces, Tel Megiddo today is a dusty mound overlooking Israel’s Jezreel valley. It is also host to one of the hottest debates in archaeology — a controversy over the historical truth of the Bible’s account of the first united Kingdom of Israel.
Ancient Megiddo is said to have been a key administrative and military centre in the kingdom ruled by King David and his son Solomon during the eleventh and tenth centuries BC. But the biblical narrative is challenged by archaeologists such as Israel Finkelstein of Tel Aviv University, who believe that David and Solomon did not rule over an Iron Age empire. Instead, they suggest, David and Solomon commanded a small and not terribly influential kingdom, and Megiddo’s peak came nearly a century after the united kingdom had divided.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/let-it-rain/
Jan 01, 2012... Rain can be a blessing or a disaster. An hour of steady rainfall can water the roots of plants and percolate underground to replenish water supplies. If the same amount of water falls in a five-minute downpour, however, the results are more likely to be uprooted plants, runoff and even flooding. According to new research, the effects of human activity on the atmosphere appear to be nudging rain patterns in the direction of faster and heavier.
Sep 04, 2015...
Dr Rafal Klajn of the Weizmann Institute’s Department of Organic Chemistry has developed a method for coaxing nanoparticles to self-assemble by focusing on the medium in which the particles are suspended.
The existing method of self-assembly requires nanoparticles to be coated with light-sensitive molecules; these then switch the particles’ state when light is shined on them.
However the new research indicates uncoated nanoparticles placed into a light-sensitive medium would be simpler, as the resulting system is more efficient and durable than existing methods. Possible applications range from rewritable paper (paper that does not use ink but instead uses dyes that respond to ultraviolet light), water decontamination, and the controlled delivery of drugs.
Jan 28, 2010...
Alone they may be ineffective, but used together two common antibiotics could fight off deadly antibiotic-resistant superbugs, according to a team of Israeli and American researchers.
Two pills are better than one: Israeli Prof. Ada Yonath and her researchers have discovered that a combination of two antibiotics can fight antibiotic resistant diseases.
Researchers from Israel and the US have discovered that two marginally useful antibiotics working together could be more effective in fighting off today’s deadly antibiotic-resistant superbugs than either drug working alone.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/study-reveals-clue-to-glass-mystery/
Aug 16, 2018...
The fictive temperature, which pertains to the material’s structure, can dramatically affect the toughness of metallic glass. Above, notched samples of metallic glasses of different fictive temperatures (increasing from left to right) change from brittle to ductile, as indicated by the yellow-marked region ahead of the notch.
Addressing a centuries-old question, researchers have uncovered a key element to how glasses transition into very resilient states. This breakthrough could allow for more reliable ways to use glasses — metallic glasses in particular — in a wide range of applications.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/a-rusty-green-early-ocean/
Jan 26, 2017...
Green rust (l) forming in Dr. Halevy’s lab in conditions similar to those in the Precambrian ocean. (r) Electron microscope images reveal the thin, hexagonal plates typical of green rust
Though they may seem rock solid, the ancient sedimentary rocks called iron formations – the world’s chief economic source of iron ore – were once dissolved in seawater. How did that iron go from a dissolved state to banded iron formations? Dr. Itay Halevy and his group in the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences suggest that, billions of years ago, the “rust” that formed in the seawater and sank to the ocean bed was green – an iron-based mineral that is rare on Earth today but might once have been relatively common. Their findings were published in Nature Geoscience.
Jul 29, 2015...
Moving large items requires many ants to work together
Scientists in Israel have discovered how ants co-operate to move big chunks of food back to their nests.
A large team of ants does the heavy lifting but they lack direction, while a small number of "scouts" intervene and steer for short periods.
They appear to have a mathematically perfect balance between individuality and conformism, the researchers said.
Feb 22, 2012...
Among Prof. David Milstein's various research projects, the one considered to be most important helped scientists understand the bonds between carbon and hydrogen.
Prof. David Milstein of the Weizmann Institute is the 5772 Israel Prize laureate for chemistry and physics, Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar announced Sunday.
Milstein won the prize for his innovative research that finds new ways to create compounds using materials containing metals. His studies have environmental ramifications because they can help develop cleaner industrial processes.
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