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://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://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://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://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://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.
Jun 17, 2022... Over the last quarter-century, artificial intelligence (AI) has made the leap from science fiction to everyday life. A world leader in computing since the 1950s, the Weizmann Institute of Science remains at the forefront of progress with its Artificial Intelligence Enterprise for Scientific Discovery. In this webinar, Prof. Roee Ozeri provided an overview of this growing flagship initiative and shared insight on how AI can help every scientist, in every discipline, on the Weizmann Campus. Prof. Yaron Lipman of the Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics later joined the session to discuss how AI is already beginning to transform daily activities – such as driving, computer graphics, and artwork – before elaborating on how Weizmann scientists are using this knowledge to accelerate progress in other applications, including cardiac ultrasounds and other health care needs. After the presentation, Prof. Lipman answered questions from webinar participants.
Jun 24, 2022... REHOVOT, ISRAEL—June 23, 2022—Weizmann Institute of Science researchers have found that people may have a tendency to form friendships with individuals who have a similar body odor. The researchers were even able to predict the quality of social interactions between complete strangers by first “smelling” them with a device known as an electronic nose, or eNose. These findings, published today in Science Advances, suggest that the sense of smell may play a larger role in human social interactions than previously thought.
Jul 13, 2022... “Dan, we have to talk.” These were the words Prof. Barak Dayan had for his old army buddy, high-tech entrepreneur Dan Harash, when they met at a class reunion three years ago. Dayan, head of the quantum optics laboratory at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, was excited. He had recently realized that a breakthrough achieved in his lab may remove key physical obstacles facing researchers and companies seeking to develop a quantum computer. “We realized that we were sitting on gold,” he recalls.
https://weizmann-usa.org/blog/chaim-weizmann-s-acetone-discovery-was-key-to-british-wwi-effort/
Nov 10, 2022...
More than a century ago, in 1915, a senior lecturer in biochemistry at the University of Manchester named Dr. Chaim Weizmann invented a fermentation process that converted starch — a poly-sugar readily available from corn and potatoes — into acetone and butyl alcohol, facilitated by a bacteria, Clostridium acetobutylicum, that Dr. Weizmann had previously isolated.
This novel method of acetone production became known as “the Weizmann process.” As serendipity would have it, acetone was a key component in the production of the smokeless gunpowder (cordite) used by the Allies in World War I. Acetone had previously been made from calcium acetate imported from Germany, but since the Allies were at war with Germany, this was no longer possible, and the U.S. had a sparse supply. So, Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, requested that the “Weizmann process” be used to mass produce acetone in England, Canada, and the U.S.
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