Science, Medicine, & Education

TEL AVIV (Press Release) ― For some plastic surgery patients, expectations are unrealistically high.  Basing their hopes on the before-and-after albums offered in surgeons’ offices, they expect to achieve a perfect body or to look just like a favorite celeb.  But those albums only show how someone else’s liposuction, breast augmentation, or Beyonce bum enhancement turned

TEL AVIV (Press Release) — The new environmentally-friendly concept of municipal “bike-sharing” is taking over European cities like Paris, and American cities like New York are also looking into the idea. It allows a subscriber to “borrow” a bike from one of hundreds of locations in the city, use it, and return it to another location

BEER SHEVA, Israel (Press Releasse)A new study by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers indicates that physicians who give second opinions may be influenced by the first opinion and other external factors. In the study, the researchers presented hypothetical scenarios with no clear cut clinical answers to a national sample of orthopedic surgeons and

TEL AVIV (Press Release) — Prof. Yosef Shiloh of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine is the first Israeli researcher ever to win the prestigious Clowes Award for cancer research, which will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Florida later this year. The prize includes

TEL AVIV (Press Release) — The most common connective tissue cell in animals is the fibroblast, which plays an important role in healing wounds. But Dr. Neta Erez of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine has now demonstrated that fibroblasts can also do a body great harm, helping to ”recruit“ immune cells for tumor growth.

HAIFA (Press Release)–People diagnosed as psychopathic have difficulty showing empathy, just like patients who have suffered frontal head injury. This has been shown in a new study from the University of Haifa. “Our findings show that people who have psychopathic symptoms behave as though they are suffering frontal brain damage,” said Dr. Simone Shamay-Tsoory, who

TEL AVIV (Press Release)― IQ scores are used to assess the intelligence of human beings. Now Tel Aviv University has developed a “Social-IQ score” for bacteria ― and it may lead to new antibiotics and powerful bacteria-based “green” pesticides for the agricultural industry. An international team led by Prof. Eshel Ben-Jacob of Tel Aviv University’s

HAIFA (Press Release) –Admiral (ret.) Ami Ayalon has been appointed Chairman of the Executive Committee of the University of Haifa, Israel. Ayalon, 65, has previously served as commander of the Israeli Navy; director of the Israeli Security Agency (the Shin Bet); member of Knesset; and cabinet minister. He is currently chairman of AKIM Israel, the

TEL AVIV (Press Release) ― Although we’re convinced that baby is brilliant when she mutters her first words, cognitive scientists have been conducting a decades-long debate about whether or not human beings actually “learn” language. Most theoretical linguists, including the noted researcher Noam Chomsky, argue that people have little more than a “language organ” ― an

TEL AVIV (Press Release)—Privacy in the digital age is a sensitive issue for both governments and individuals, as recent news about WikiLeaks and Facebook proved. A new research project at Tel Aviv University may better educate citizens of the virtual world about their privacy ― and even help Facebook users avoid truly embarrassing moments. It’s

PHOENIX, Arizona (Press Release)–The Early Childhood Educators of Reform Judaism (ECE-RJ), an affiliate of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), will honor 11 years of Reform Judaism’s support of Jewish early childhood education at their annual meeting here this week. The conference, from Jan 12-15, will explore the theme “Ani V’Atah: You and I Can

TEL AVIV (Press Release) ― Lasers have revolutionized the communications and medical industries. They focus light to zap tumors and send digital TV signals and telephone communications around the world. But the physical length of an ordinary laser cannot be less than one half of the wavelength of its light, which limits its application in many