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://weizmann-usa.org/blog/spring-cleaning-find-joy-in-picking-up-trash/
May 01, 2019...
“I take every opportunity to clean up,” says Ron Milo, seen here with a helper as they collect trash along a trail. “It fills me with joy ... Our call is for people to take responsibility.”
There is always a flurry of environmental awareness activity around this time of year, with Earth Day and spring both making us more tuned in to our world. But being tuned in can be dispiriting, thanks to the relentless drumbeat of bad environmental news.
https://weizmann-usa.org/blog/fight-climate-change-plant-a-tree/
Mar 02, 2020...
Our new world order is particularly brutal for trees. Between climate change and economic greed, these lifegiving – and lifesaving – plants are not doing so well.
Besides well-known, large-scale devastations such as wildfires and deforestation (particularly of the Amazon, whose mighty forests are the reason the region is called – for now, anyway – the lungs of the planet), incremental changes are wreaking quieter, though no less devastating, impacts; for example, species native to the American South can no longer survive the warmer climate and so are spreading into cooler Northern climes. Behind them comes desertification.
https://weizmann-usa.org/blog/a-world-without-coral-damages-us-all/
Jun 20, 2018...
This is not a hoax: climate change is real, and it is killing coral. These Great Barrier Reef before-and-after photos show the degree of devastation that can take place in just a few months. Credit: XL Catlin Seaview Survey
The Curiosity Review remembers when we heard a distressing report last year: over nine months in 2016, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef – one of the world’s largest living entities, so tremendous that it’s visible from space – underwent the largest coral bleaching event in its history. And in April of this year, we heard such a report again when shocked scientists reported that a second huge event took place in 2017.
https://weizmann-usa.org/blog/new-year-of-the-trees/
Feb 05, 2018...
Just one view of the mighty and diverse trees on the Weizmann Institute campus. Credit: Matthew Roberts
All species of holidays get absorbed into the culture at large – and one that you might want to start celebrating is the Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shvat: New Year of the Trees.
After all, what would life be without trees? Besides likely nonexistent, since we need them for food, wood, climate regulation, ecosystem creation and maintenance, etc., it would be awfully bleak. Who hasn’t gone dreamy in drifts of cherry blossoms, or been grateful for the shade of an oak in August, or gained perspective among giant redwoods, or realized that an apple straight from the tree was the best thing you’ve ever tasted?
https://weizmann-usa.org/blog/medications-good-for-you-bad-for-the-rest-of-the-world/
Feb 25, 2019...
Everything is connected: pharmaceuticals can be found throughout the environment. Fish seem particularly susceptible. Plus, we eat them – and, thus, consume whatever drugs are in their bodies.
Billions of us take medications on a regular basis, and while they help manage common conditions like viruses, depression, pain, menopause, thyroid disease, and the like, they are not so good for the environment.
https://weizmann-usa.org/blog/storm-trackers/
Jul 29, 2019...
The Earth breaks its fever: After a historic heat wave, violent rainstorms flooded New York, including Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on July 22 (Screenshot: Adrienne Zhou)
No matter where in the world you are right now, odds are you’ve recently experienced severe storms. And if you feel like they’re becoming more common, you are correct: more frequent, more severe storms are one of the many devastating effects of global warming. This makes sense, given that storms are how the earth gets rid of heat.
https://weizmann-usa.org/blog/the-sahara-s-gritty-superpower/
Apr 11, 2018...
An unearthly scene is, quite literally, of this Earth. Orange snow and sky at a ski resort in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia, on March 23, 2018. Credit: Sergey Tsaun/Shutterstock
We are growing accustomed to the phenomena that our wild weather sometimes produces, but here’s one that struck us as particularly curious.
In late March, photos began to circulate that appeared to be taken with a sepia filter, but were, in fact, accurate, unadulterated images of … orange snow.
https://weizmann-usa.org/blog/nourishing-the-future-with-plants/
Aug 21, 2018...
Soy superhero: Asaph Aharoni is developing a soybean plant that is easy to grow, has all seven dairy proteins, is lactose- and cholesterol-free … and can help fight malnutrition in impoverished areas, too.
Evolution is all around us … and in us. Just one of the many proofs: lactose tolerance.
We are practically drowning in dairy products, and most of us consume them – even if we shouldn’t. Until fairly recently – “only about 20,000 years — the evolutionary equivalent of a hot minute,” as an NPR story puts it – human digestive systems could not tolerate lactose, the primary sugar in milk, after infancy. Furthermore, until the late 19th century, milk was regarded as a child’s food and was not the household dietary staple it is today.
Mar 14, 2019...
View of a research chip through a microscope: a high concentration of antifreeze proteins ensures that the drops freeze at temperatures that are less cold than usual. The frozen drops are dark. Photo: Bielefeld University
REHOVOT, ISRAEL—March 14, 2019—Antifreeze is life’s means of surviving in cold winters: natural antifreeze proteins help fish, insects, plants, and even bacteria live through low temperatures that should turn their liquid parts into deadly shards of ice. Strangely enough, in very cold conditions, the same proteins can also promote the growth of ice crystals. This was the finding of experiments carried out in Israel and Germany using proteins taken from fish and beetles. The results of this study, recently published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, could have implications for understanding the basic processes of ice formation.
https://weizmann-usa.org/news-media/in-the-news/ecosphere-inspires/
May 18, 2016...
The Weizmann Institute's Ecosphere. Credit: Sura Jeselsohn
I grew up on science fiction and in my opinion, the heyday of the genre occurred in the 50s and 60s. One staple of the genre was a spaceflight by conventional rocket that would attempt a journey that could not be completed in a normal lifespan. One standard solution was some form of hibernation or induced sleep in the astronauts in order to wait out the many years of the voyage without aging. My favorite solution, however, was the completely self-contained spaceship that would be a world unto itself for several generations.
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