Quasicrystals on Tap

If you followed this year's chemistry Nobel, you know about the quasicrystal design on the ties made for Prof. Dan Schechtman's 70th birthday. Even the prime minister was seen sporting one last week. But did you know there is also a quasicrystal scarf?

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While Prof. Schechtman was getting his white tie and tails ready for the formal ceremony, this scarf was on display in fashionable Tel Aviv around the shoulders of Prof. Gitti Frey, a nanoscientist at the Technion.

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Despite the photo op, fashion took a back seat to science last Thursday evening. Frey was the guest speaker at a Science on Tap evening the Weizmann Institute held in Tel Aviv in honor of Schectman and our sister institute, the Technion. As usual, the event was spread across a number of bars and cafes in Tel Aviv, and these were filled to capacity.

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Ariela Saba, who attended the event, adds: When the doors to the bar opened, every available space was quickly filled, and more continued to show up. Micah Edelson, a neurobiology doctoral student, refreshed his brain with a pint of dark beer before giving a riveting talk on false memories. After his talk, questions ranged from whether it is possible to improve one's memory to whether women have better memories for detail.

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In another lecture, research student Anat Arzi related a study in which volunteers were asked whether they would rather give up their Facebook account or their sense of smell. The majority answer? You guessed it. Their sense of smell.

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I'd give up a lot for Anat. Hello there.