study

The destruction of medical and scientific research in the Trump-Musk administration. Illustration: Avi Blizovsky via DAKEE

Musk's cuts threaten US science, education, and healthcare infrastructure and will harm generations

Cuts in direct and indirect research budgets at NIH, NOAA, FEMA, and many other agencies will lead to a decline in research infrastructure, stunted scientific innovation, and loss of talent, which could critically impact the development of treatments and public health.
Minister of Science and Technology Gila Gamliel and the head of the Isfaia Local Council, Munib Sabaa. Photo: Idan Media, for the Government Advertising Bureau

Oral bacteria linked to increased risk of stroke

The lead researcher from the National Heart Disease Center in Osaka, notes: "In the future, if a rapid test is developed to identify harmful bacteria in the mouth and intestines, we could use this information to calculate stroke risk."
Light pollution in Israel as seen from space. Image: depositphotos.com

Is light pollution costing us more than we thought? The heavy price of the bright night

Tectonic map of the faults in the eastern Mediterranean including the Dead Sea Depression and the Anatolian Depression. From Wikipedia

Despite the proximity and direction, the Dead Sea replica and the replica in eastern Turkey are not connected

Researchers at Haifa University and the Geological Institute found that, contrary to the accepted assumption in science to this day, the Dead Sea and Eastern Anatolian areas in Turkey are not tectonically connected, and therefore the strong earthquakes that occurred in Turkey in
memory. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Humans or machine: Who is better at evaluating memories?

Research from Ben-Gurion University reveals that humans can assess the veracity of others' memories at the same level as language processing models, and in some cases even better than them.
A park in Shanghai. Photo: Avi Blizovsky

Again this year, three Israeli universities star among the top 100 in the Shanghai Index

The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Weizmann Institute and the Technion in Haifa are three Israeli institutions that entered the Shanghai Index 2024, the list of the XNUMX best academic institutions in the world
The Gulf Stream - the hot parts in red and the cold in blue. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Will the climate crisis turn off the strong Gulf Stream?

New research from University College London reveals that the Gulf Stream was stronger during the last ice age due to stronger winds. Could future climate change weaken the current and affect the
On the left - a photo of a couple in the kitchen, on the right - a photo created by the computerized model after it was shown the original photo along with the instruction: "Two robots dancing in the kitchen"

The video giant

Dr. Tali Dekel is at the forefront of generative AI research and a partner in the development of Lumiere - Google's video generator. "We want to know if machines can allow us to see the world better,"
Red worms dig in the compost. Even the worms that exist today mix substances. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Worms - uncredited heroes of evolution

The researchers examined the relationship between sediment mixing caused, in part, by burrowing worms with a mineral called pyrite, which plays a key role in oxygen accumulation. As more pyrite is formed and buried under the mud, sand or
A fitness pill. Credit: The Science website via DALEE

New 'workout pill' can cause fitness benefits without exercise

Researchers report new compounds that appear to be able to mimic the physical drive of exercise—at least in rodent cells. This discovery may lead to a new way to treat muscular dystrophy and other medical conditions in people,
The cover of the magazine ADVANCED SCIENCE and on it a study by Ben Gurion University on increasing the chances of rooting of an in vitro embryo. PR photo

Fetal siblings contribute to predicting the success of IVF

Researchers from Ben Gurion University have developed an artificial intelligence model that predicts the embryo's chances of rooting, based on information from fetal siblings from the same treatment cycle
Researchers at the University of Queensland have found that humans can understand the emotional state of chickens from the sounds of their clucking. This ability, which is not affected by previous experience with chickens, has significant implications for improving poultry welfare and can assist in the development of artificial intelligence-based surveillance systems. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Interspecies communication: Humans have cracked the chickens' clucking code

Research led by the University of Queensland has found that humans can tell if chickens are excited or disappointed, simply by the sound of their clucking
The Homo erectus tribe participates in the hunt. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Continuing the Tracing of Human Descent: The Impact of Climate on Out-of-Africa Migration

Sediment studies in the Mediterranean reveal the existence of a green corridor in the Sahara desert that emerged at the exact time when our ancestors migrated from Africa about 2.1 million years ago
Japanese woman stereotype. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Family, Work and Gender in Contemporary Japan - The National Science Foundation

More Japanese women are entering the labor market in recent years, and more men are staying at home with the children
blind rat Illustration: depositphotos.com

Build muscle and stay young

Researchers have discovered that the skeletal muscle composition of the blind rat is preserved throughout its life, delaying its aging
Clusters of satellites, such as the BlueWalker 3 prototype, are causing concern among astronomers due to possible interference with night sky observations and radio astronomy. Balancing the global needs for communication and maintaining astronomical research is critical. Credit: AST SpaceMobile

A prototype of a large low-orbit communications satellite is troubling astronomers

The BlueWalker 3 satellite whose antenna area is 64 square meters has become one of the brightest objects in the night sky, the fear is that when there are a hundred satellites in this constellation and hundreds in other constellations it will be impossible to watch the sky
Soft corals of the Dendronaphtia species, which are common in the Eilat and Red Sea region, were found at a depth of 42 meters in the Mediterranean Sea. Photo: Hagai Nativ, Morris Kahn Sea Research Station

Corals from the Red Sea have invaded Israel's Mediterranean coast

Until now, the low temperatures of the Mediterranean water in winter have been a barrier to the arrival of tropical corals. The establishment of the Dendronaphtia we found indicates that at least last winter, the waters of the Mediterranean Sea were warmer than before
Histological sections of the leg muscles without injury (left) and five days after it (center, right) in a control mouse and a transgenic mouse. It can be seen that the area of ​​the muscle fibers that develop after the injury is smaller in the transgenic mouse, which indicates a disturbance in the differentiation of the stem cells into muscle cells

overcome the damage

Researchers have discovered that two epigenetic events (removing and adding methyl from DNA) lead to the differentiation of stem cells into muscle cells and thus to the regeneration and healing of muscles after their injury
This map depicts the global temperature anomalies for the meteorological summer in 2023 (June, July and August). It shows how much warmer or cooler different regions of the Earth were compared to the baseline average from 1951 to 1980: NASA Earth Observatory/Lauren Dauphin

The climate crisis delivered a strong blow: the summer of 2023 was the hottest ever

This raw data is analyzed using methods that take into account the variable distance between temperature stations around the world and the effects of urban heat islands that may distort the calculations.
The famous prehistoric rock paintings of Tsili N'Air, Algeria. Illustration: depositphotos.com

The evolutionary changes following the extinction of the large animals

The need to hunt small animals caused prehistoric man to improve his mental abilities in order to perfect his hunting tools
Dr. Aya Sofer, Director of the IBM Research Center in Israel at the Silicon Club meeting, Usafia, June 2023. Photo: Avi Blizovsky

"Artificial intelligence has the potential to improve our lives in a variety of ways"

Dr. Aya Sofer, director of IBM's research laboratory in Israel, was a guest at the high-tech Silicon Club managers' forum: "Besides the many advantages, there are also, of course, not easy challenges, such as a built-in bias in models or data,
The works in the ancient canal. Photo by Emil Eljam, Antiquities Authority

A mystery in Jerusalem: What were the mysterious canal facilities from the days of Kings Jehoash and Amaziah that were uncovered in the City of David National Park used for?

The canal facilities, the likes of which have not yet been discovered in Israel, were in use about 2,800 years ago - during the time of the First Temple; According to the researchers from the Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University, "it is possible that the canals were used to soak some product. the location
Bacterial cells before phage infection (left) and after (right). The virus replicates itself inside them and leads to the explosion of the cells and the spilling of their contents (in red - the bacterial DNA spilled from the cell)

Survive with 0% battery: an immune system that drains the cell of energy has been discovered

The new system was discovered in bacteria - but is also used in corals, bees and others
Computing for artificial intelligence applications. Illustration: depositphotos.com

The Innovation Authority chose Next Silicon to establish a supercomputer infrastructure for R&D organizations in the field of artificial intelligence

The Authority will invest up to NIS 30 million in the establishment of the infrastructure so that it will serve all the companies and researchers in Israel and will be used for research and development of accelerators, hardware components, communication and infrastructure software. The new infrastructure should provide a response
Lung macrophages infected with human cytomegalovirus. In bright green - the cells where there is an active infection

On dormant viruses and protective proteins

New discoveries about how the result of infection with a virus from the herpes family is determined and where dormant viruses may hide in the body
A new study by Prof. Ofra Bani from the School of Pharmacy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Dr. Sharon Marims - dermatology specialist and senior physician at the dermato-oncology clinic at the Hadassah Medical Center and the Hadassah Cancer Research Institute, published in Science Translational Medicine courtesy of the Hebrew University

A new way to solve side effects of cancer treatment

Researchers at the Hebrew University and the Hadassah Medical Center have developed an ointment to treat the severe side effects of targeted cancer treatment and significantly improve the quality of life of patients.
Prof. Hermona Sorek (right). Photo: Yosef Edst, courtesy of the Hebrew University

Breakthrough in Alzheimer's research among women

Professor Hermona Sorek, one of the world's leading researchers of gene expression in the brain, was able to find, in collaboration with her research colleagues, a molecular mechanism that occurs in the brains of Alzheimer's patients, which does not occur in men and which explains the acceleration
Clusters of microglial cells (in green) and T cells (in red) in the brain of a mouse with MS-like disease (left: general view, right: close-up)

Deaf people with sclerosis

The scientists of the institute have identified the cells in the brain that are responsible for the grace periods of the multiple sclerosis patients. The findings may pave the way for new treatments
relocation. Illustration: depositphotos.com

73% of faculty members fear that they will be forced to leave the country if the coup goes ahead

This is according to a new survey conducted by the Israeli Young Academy during the month of March. In the segmentation of the results by age, it can be seen that there is an increase in the chances of leaving at all ages, but it is more pronounced for faculty members
One of the gates of Peking University in Beijing. Illustration: depositphotos.com

China is increasing ethics oversight in science and emphasizing innovation and quality over quantity

Under the new system, Chinese researchers will be evaluated based on the quality and impact of their work rather than the number of publications they produce. Researchers who are found to have been involved in research misconduct will be prosecuted
Winter storms in the Southern Hemisphere / NASA Worldview

Warning storms: the truth data reveals - the climate crisis is progressing faster than expected

A new study led by Weizmann Institute of Science scientists reveals that the intensification of winter storms in the Southern Hemisphere has already reached the level of predictions for the end of the 21st century
Scientist in the lab. Illustration: shutterstock

Israeli researchers this week received a flood of ERC grants - the European Research Council

Among others: three ERC grants were awarded to three researchers from Tel Aviv University, three from the Hebrew University - some of them for the third time, four from the Technion and one researcher from the University of Haifa. Grant value: 2 million euros each
Tovia Kushnir. From Wikipedia

In memory of Tovia Kushnir