Israel

It’s only natural that during a crisis we look to single, “silver bullet” technical solutions, after all, they are supposed to be effective against werewolves, witches, and other monsters. For monsters like the ongoing severe California drought, the current favorite silver bullet is seawater desalination.  And why not? California sits at the edge of the largest body of salt water in the world – the Pacific Ocean – and taking salt out of water is a successful, commercial, well-understood technology. Look at how Israel has solved their water problems by building desalination plants, we’re told…

This post was co-authored by Ali Arab, Ph.D., an assistant professor of statistics at Georgetown University. We are living in a global society driven by innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. Success depends upon free access to information and unfettered research by scholars. Yet targeted academic boycotts are increasingly common, throwing more and more roadblocks on the way to progress. Earlier in May 2013, the decision by the world-renowned British cosmologist Stephen Hawking to withdraw from a major academic conference in Israel reignited discussions among scholars on whether or…

In this well-written, painstakingly annotated and beautifully designed book, physicist Baruch Sterman (with contributor Judy Taubes Sterman) traces the history and prehistory of a certain blue pigment, along with its cultural and religious significance through the ages. It's what the Torah and Talmud calls tekhelet, and it's made from a gland harvested from Murex sea snails. Though greatly interested in history, archaeology and biology, I find myself poorly equipped to engage with the book's subject matter. Or put differently, I don't think I'm part of its intended audience. Because there's a…

TThe Institute's Prof. Ruth Arnon was elected President of the Israel Academy of Sciences and the Humanities (IASH) last week - the first woman ever elected to the post. We spoke with her briefly: You have held a number of leadership positions over the years. How is this one different? My previous posts were mostly appointments; the president of the IASH is chosen by the entire body (of 100 elected members; 55 in the natural sciences and 45 in the humanities). I've served as vice president for the last six years. My name was brought forward by the search committee, but their recommendation…

Don't look at me, I'm hideously bloated! Researchers at Ben-Gurion University in Negev, Israel, have identified whiteleg shrimp as the only known species where the male has a reproductive cycle or "period." The male whitelegs--actually a type of prawn--generate two sperm packets per month which they attach to their female mates during reproduction. If, however, these packets are not used, they can solidify and prevent the male from getting rid of them. Thus, these prawns have developed a period or cycle of every two weeks, whereby they lose their sperm packets and develop new ones. Scientists…