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.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/feature-stories/sensing-autism-advances-in-research/
Apr 22, 2019...
There is a reason that a puzzle piece is the symbol of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Despite all the research, despite the advances, ASD continues to be an enigma. What causes it? Can it be diagnosed earlier? What are the differences between an autistic and a neurotypical brain?
One field of research – the role of the sense of smell – is producing surprising results that could lead to means of early diagnosis and intervention, as well as shed light on the misreading of social cues that is so common in autism.
Jan 28, 2016... As our sensory organs register objects and structures in the outside world, they are continually engaged in two-way communication with the brain. In research recently published in Nature Neuroscience, Weizmann Institute of Science researchers found that for rats, which use their whiskers to feel out their surroundings at night, clumps of nerve endings called mechanoreceptors, which are located at the base of each whisker, act as tiny calculators. These receptors continuously compute the way the whisker’s base rotates in its socket, expressing it as a fraction of the entire projected rotation of the whisker, so that the brain is continually updated on the way that the whisker’s rotation is being followed through.
Jul 11, 2018...
Nachum Ulanovsky with one of his research bats. Credit: David Vaaknin for Nature
On a sun-parched patch of land in Rehovot, Israel, two neuroscientists peer into the darkness of a 200-metre-long tunnel of their own design. The fabric panels of the snaking structure shimmer in the heat, while, inside, a study subject is navigating its dim length. Finally, out of the blackness bursts a bat, which executes a mid-air backflip to land upside down, hanging at the tunnel’s entrance.
Jul 27, 2010...
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—July 27, 2010—A unique device based on sniffing—inhaling and exhaling through the nose—might enable numerous disabled people to navigate wheelchairs or communicate with their loved ones. Sniffing technology might even be used in the future to create a sort of "third hand" to assist healthy surgeons or pilots.
Developed by Prof. Noam Sobel, electronics engineers Dr. Anton Plotkin and Aharon Weissbrod, and research student Lee Sela in the Weizmann Institute of Science's Department of Neurobiology, the new system identifies changes in air pressure inside the nostrils and translates these into electrical signals. The device was tested on healthy volunteers as well as quadriplegics, and the results showed that the method is easily mastered. Users were able to navigate a wheelchair around a complex path or play a computer game with nearly the speed and accuracy of a mouse or joystick.
Nov 05, 2019...
Photo via Shutterstock.com
Stinky cars — everyone knows them. We’ve all stepped inside vehicles with a lingering scent of cigarette smoke, a forgotten banana peel or other olfactory nastiness.
Car dealers and rental agencies typically spray perfume or air freshener to mask offending smells. But about 30% of people don’t like the smell of perfume. Many others are allergic to various scents.
Mar 09, 2020...
In a study published by scientists from Tel Aviv University and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Current Biology, participants were exposed to the scent of roses while they were asked to remember the location of words presented on either the left or right sides of a computer screen.
They were then tested on their memory of the word locations before proceeding to nap at the lab. While napping, the scent of roses was administered again, but this time only to one nostril.
Nov 12, 2017...
Photo by Shutterstock
Researchers on the quest to solve the puzzle of what causes deafness got one small step closer with the announcement that scientists at Tel Aviv University and the Weizmann Institute of Science have mapped a certain type of RNA (a molecule essential to the coding and expression of genes) that exists in close proximity to the genes related to hearing.
The molecules in question are known as “long non-coding RNAs” (lncRNA for short). Non-coding RNAs, as the name suggests, do not “code” for protein in the body, but they do act as regulatory molecules and they can have a large impact on where in the body and when during development or adulthood genes are expressed. As much as 98 percent of the human genome consists of these non-coding molecules.
Nov 04, 2010...
A fragrance that sends one woman into a pleasure-swoon might make another hold her nose. What creates the perfect match is a stroke of alchemical luck.
We may be drawn to a perfume for many reasons: because it reminds us of a garden—or a person—we once loved; because we hope it will reduce all men who cross our path to helpless, love-struck fools. It’s difficult to imagine reaching for a scent thinking, Here is a fragrance that will put people off. Yet a quick glance at the discussion boards on juice-junkie sites such as Nstperfume.com or Basenotes.net will verify that a perfume that sends one person into raptures of delight is practically guaranteed to be someone else’s eau no. Just as some will linger in the wake of a cigar with noses aloft while others flee its acrid aftermath, we all experience scent differently.
Feb 15, 2018...
Photo by Jesse Orrico on Unsplash, Science continually proves the pliability of our creativity.
I have an obsession and it is human creativity. It's why I'm in the advertising business. It's why I started an idea-generating company. And it's why I crave scientific studies that may give us clues as to how we can improve our creativity. Since 2013 I've been reporting here on Forbes.com the most interesting of those scientific studies and let's just say those scientists have been busy.
https://www.weizmann-usa.org/news-media/news-releases/the-scent-of-a-handshake/
Mar 03, 2015...
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—March 3, 2015—Why do people shake hands? A new study from the Weizmann Institute of Science suggests that one of the reasons for this ancient custom may be to check out each other’s odors. Even if we are not consciously aware of this, handshaking may provide people with a socially acceptable way of communicating via the sense of smell.
Not only do people often sniff their own hands, but they do so for a much longer time after shaking someone else’s hand, the study found. As reported today in the journal eLife, the number of seconds the subjects spent sniffing their own right hand more than doubled after an experimenter greeted them with a handshake.
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