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.
Nov 19, 2014...
An aerial photo of a coral reef. Researchers developed a new tool to quantify the effect of ocean acidification on calcifying organisms. Credit: Boaz Lazar, Hebrew University
Following a 5,000 km long ocean survey, research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences presents a new way to measure how the acidification of water is affecting marine ecosystems over an entire oceanic basin.
Aug 04, 2005... Innovative solar technology that may offer a "green" solution to the production of hydrogen fuel has been successfully tested on a large scale at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. The technology also promises to facilitate the storage and transportation of hydrogen. The chemical process behind the technology was originally developed at Weizmann, and it has been scaled up in collaboration with European scientists. Results of the experiments will be reported in August at the 2005 Solar World Congress of the International Solar Energy Society (ISES) in Orlando, Florida.
Jan 09, 2018... Prof. Milo speaks at London’s how to: Academy about plants’ ability to metabolize CO2 and how it can help us.
Jan 11, 2015... Prof. Dan Yakir studies a forest in the desert, and how it could potentially mitigate climate change. By investigating the rate of change of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, he hopes to be able to predict future changes.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/saving-reefs-one-polyp-at-a-time/
Jun 01, 2016...
CORAL HUG: Two polyps of the reef-building coral Pocillopora damicornis imaged with fluorescence microscopy, showing the coral’s GFP, the chlorophyll of its symbiotic algae (red) and cilia-driven motion of microscopic particles (blue)ORR SHAPIRO AND ASSAF VARDI, WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE
Crucial habitats in underwater ecosystems, and harbingers of the damage inflicted by global warming on the world’s oceans, coral reefs epitomize the beauty – and the fragility – of marine life. But they’re also notoriously difficult to study.
Nov 27, 2019...
Scientists converted a strain of E. coli bacteria that is capable of eating carbon dioxide for energy. (Credit: Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock)
Even with growing awareness of climate change, global greenhouse gas emissions are still climbing. And, in recent years, scientists have worked to apply advances in synthetic biology — the the application of engineering principles to the study of organic life — toward some of our most pressing environmental challenges.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/power-without-pollution/
Jun 01, 2009...
Every time we use a plastic bag, eat a meal, or ride in an elevator, we take advantage of the energy invested in those materials. "Since people around the world want more materials to consume, the main question is how to generate energy without self-destruction," says Prof. Lubomirsky. "We have to find a way to produce it without burning fossil fuels and poisoning everything around us."
Prof. Lubomirsky, a researcher in the cutting-edge field of nanoscience, brings a background in materials science to his investigations of ways to diversify our energy supply. For example, he discovered that, under certain conditions, a common ceramic material called cerium gadolinium oxide behaves more like rubber than like a regular ceramic. It adjusts to an externally imposed shape, but returns to its original form once released from its constraints. And unlike an average ceramic, it does not buckle when heated or crack when cooled. The ceramic's ability to adapt to all temperatures could be useful in devices that undergo repetitive warming and cooling, such as fuel cells that convert chemical energy directly into electricity.
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.
Aug 14, 2008... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—August 14, 2008—Tons of soot are released into the air annually as forest fires rage from California to the Amazon to Siberia and Indonesia. Climate scientists have generally assumed that the main effect of smoke on climate is cooling, as the floating particles can reflect some solar energy back to space as well as increasing cloud size and lifespan. But new research by scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science; the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC); and NASA may cause them to rethink soot's role in shaping the Earth's climate.
Nov 27, 2019... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—November 27, 2019—Bacteria in the lab of Prof. Ron Milo of the Weizmann Institute of Science have not just sworn off sugar – they have stopped eating all of their normal solid food, existing instead on carbon dioxide (CO2) from their environment. That is, they were able to build all of their biomass from air. This feat, which involved nearly a decade of rational design, genetic engineering, and a sped-up version of evolution in the lab, was reported in Cell. The findings point to means of developing, in the future, carbon-neutral fuels.
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