For us at the Weizmann Institute of Science, joining the Scienceblogs site is something of an experiment: a blog for a whole institute. As we envision it, there will be several kinds of contributors. The Institute's leadership will add their thought-provoking views about science, both at the Institute and around the world. Other top scientists will be invited to contribute guest posts, as well. Finally, our team of Weizmann science writers will be blogging on some of the latest research that we write about in our magazines and press releases.
If you have never heard of the Weizmann Institute of Science, there are a few facts and figures in the profile on the left and in the About section.
What makes us unique? It's the rare combination of deep and wide approaches. The Weizmann Institute is one of the few research institutes that, rather than focusing on a single scientific field - say biotech or astrophysics - includes research in all the natural sciences: physics, chemistry, biochemistry and biology, as well as math and computer science. Our focus is overwhelmingly on basic research (more on that in future posts).
The upshot? Multidisciplinary studies are the rule here. They're the natural consequence of our set-up. A theoretical physicist drinks a cup of coffee with a molecular biologist in the cafeteria. The next thing you know, they're enlisting a mathematician to help them map complex gene networks in cancer. Or a chemist is inspired to mimic biological molecules in assembling nanostructures. Everywhere one looks, scientists from different fields are talking to each other and working together, and once in a while these collaborations even help give rise to new whole new areas of research.
Naturally, many of our posts will link back to our website. Unfortunately, we couldn't coordinate launching this blog with the launch of our new website (slated for later in the summer). In the mean time, we'll link the posts to the existing (old) website, so please be patient.
- Log in to post comments
this isn't one of your little WORD GAMES...
blasphemy is a DEATH SENTENCE...
you people actually BELIEVE the BS you preach!
GOD 1 - atheists 0
Atheists,
you are ENEMIES OF GOD AND ARE GOING TO BE ANNIHILATED...
Repent and turn to God or be destroyed...
YOU HAVE NO CHOICE...
my interpretation of the STATUE FIRE... it symbolizes the SPIRITUAL DEATH of atheism...
latimes.com/news/custom/topofthetimes/national/la-naw-0616-jesus-statue-lightning-20100616,0,4295974.story
static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/6/16/1276680110544/The-King-of-Kings-statue--005.jpg
latimes.com/media/photo/2010-06/54332292.jpg
friendlyatheist.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/butterjesus-1.jpg
PRINCESS DI IS WEARING A NEW DRESS!
princeofwales.gov.uk/speechesandarticles/a_speech_by_hrh_the_prince_of_wales_titled_islam_and_the_env_252516346.html
_________________________________________
skepticblog.org/2010/04/06/would-i-ever-pray-for-a-miracle/
Shermer, I WANT TO SEE YOU BEG FOR A MIRACLE...
___________________
we do like your music Lady Gaga, but...
The B**BQUAKE - 911
Let me show you the FATE OF TRAITORS...
loiterink.com/photos/products/182_3424_500x500.jpg
they are incapable of telling the difference between SCIENTIFIC *FACT* AND RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL *TRUTH*... FATAL ERROR!
they also preach a *VALUE FREE SCIENCE* called *POSITIVISM* that ignores the inequalities of wealth and power in capitalist civilization...
for a sample taste of PZ Myers' GARBAGE...
scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/06/sunday_sacrilege_imagine_no_he.php
HIJACKING IN PROGRESS!!!
hawaiiwebgroup.com/maui-design/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/website-hijacking.jpg
HIJACKING IN PROGRESS!!!
how can these HEADLESS IDIOTS BET AGAINST GOD!!!
________________________________________
what happens when you LOSE Pascal's Wager...
peterkreeft.com/topics/pascals-wager.htm
_____________
you FIGHT PAPER MONSTERS...
the blood and bodies of the atheist movement...
you mofos killed MICKEY MOUSE!!!!
this has more TRUTH then what Dawkins, Randi, Harris, Myers, and Shermer
combined have said in their entire lives...
youtube.com/watch#!v=5R2wE8Sduhs&playnext_from=TL&videos=hht1U_19anc&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_fresh%2Bdiv-1r-3-HM
they tried to BULLDOZE the entire METAPHYSICAL DIMENSION...
they LOST THE WAR......
you have FORFEIT YOUR SOUL, shermer... you have become an object in the
material world, as you WISHED...
youtube.com/watch?v=eUB4j0n2UDU
farm1.static.flickr.com/7/11792994_ffaaee87fa.jpg
we're gonna smash that TV...
They had become ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE AND OF GOD...
you pushed too much and *CROSSED THE LINE*
degenerates (PZ) or children (HEMANT) - ATHEISTS!
youtube.com/watch?v=bRRg2tWGDSY
do you have anything to say, you STUPID LITTLE F*CKER?
how about I tell you, Mr. Shermer, EVERYTHING YOU THINK ABOUT THE WORLD is
*WRONG*
THE BOOBQUAKE - 911!
dissidentphilosophy.lifediscussion.net/philosophy-f1/the-boobquake-911-t1310.htm
youtube.com/watch?v=sx7XNb3Q9Ek
RUN, ATHEISTS, RUN!!!
-------------------
4degreez.com/misc/dante-inferno-information.html
the 9th and FINAL RING of Dante's Inferno is designed for little blaspheming traitors like you...
"This is the deepest level of hell, where the fallen angel Satan himself resides. His wings flap eternally, producing chilling cold winds that freeze the thick ice found in Cocytus..."
but at least FREE AIR CONDITIONING is included!
Hi all;
A fatal flaw was that they failed to have any representative posts ready to go up when the blog went live.
Had they done so, and had the content been surprisingly acceptable, the reception might have been better.
Instead we get this "Hi! Welcome to ShillBlog!" (crickets) and everyone, quite reasonably, expects the worst.
Welcome to Science Blogs!
Good luck with the new blog!
Welcome to Science Blogs!
I look forward to reading about your approach, especially the guest posts by top scientists which should provide an insight into how it all works. It would be great to learn about the process of science at the Weizman Institute as well as the outcomes (which we often read via press releases anyway).
Welcome!
Welcome!
Thanks all. It's nice to feel welcome.
As a Weizmann PhD student, it's great to see that we've made it to ScienceBlogs... keep up the good work!
BTW, coordinating events on the blogoshere does not necessarily make sense. You may or may not get more impact if you do two different things on the same day, but if you do them on different days you get two separate events. Two events will probably get you more of what you are looking for. The average person kinda paying attention to you (or to Sb) may well miss one event because our bloggy/email-based lives are so full of stuff. Several events at different points of time but that are linked will be noticed by more people.
I'd rather cast a simple spoon a dozen times than cast a Mepps spinner bait once.
The only things I know about the Weizmann Institute is that it was the original home of the Journal of Irreproducible Results, and that "Kinetics of the Inactivation of Glassware" is one of the funniest things I have ever read on any subject, anywhere.
Will you be posting anything b'Ivrit? The Sb crowd is a little Americocentric for my tastes at times and could use a little nana in the recipe. :)
Of course, Sb is hosted inthe US, and it would seriously limit the ability of most people to read our posts if they were in Hebrew. You can always check out our Hebrew website: http://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/site/HE/homepage.asp.
Serious question here:
I am coming up on Grad School Application Time and because of my fairly focused interests am mulling over studying, at some point, at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where people who are studying what I want to study are at.
1) It seems like most classes are taught in Hebrew, which I have absolutely no knowledge of. Are there any options - in science - in English?
2) What are the relative safety issues for foreign students/postdocs living in Israel? Unless one was living under a rock one would know about the problems it deals with.
The official language of the Weizmann Institute is English. If you have a specific interest, you might try getting in touch with the department/professors at Hebrew University and asking about the possibilities of an English program.
As to safety - don't believe everything you read in the news. I can't make any promises about next week or next year, but today, (as long as you stay away from certain parts of the West Bank) things are quite safe, certainly here in Rehovot.