Science, Medicine, & Education

ZOA joins fight over Brooklyn College instructor’s suitability to teach about Middle East

NEW YORK (Press Release)–In a letter Thursday to Brooklyn College President Karen L. Gould, the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) criticized the college for rehiring Kristofer Petersen-Overton to teach a graduate course on the Middle East this spring.  After  Petersen-Overton was initially hired, the college was provided with evidence regarding his publications and professional background, […]

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Science, Medicine, & Education

Learn two languages and the third will come easier

HAIFA, Israel (Press Release) — Bilinguals findit easier to learn a third language, as they gain a better aptitude for languages, a new study from the University of Haifa reveals. Prof. Salim Abu-Rabia and Ekaterina Sanitsky of the Department of Special Education, who conducted the study, set out to examine what benefits bilingualism might have in

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Science, Medicine, & Education

Did you hear the one about the glass that was so cool it melted?

TEL AVIV (Press Release)— Prof. Eran Rabani of Tel Aviv University’s School of Chemistry and his colleagues at Columbia University have discovered a new quantum mechanical effect with glass-forming liquids. They’ve determined that it’s possible to melt glass — not by heating it, but by cooling it to a temperature near Absolute Zero. This new

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Science, Medicine, & Education

Software will show plastic surgery patients what they will look like after the operation

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

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Science, Medicine, & Education

Mathematical model may encourage bike-sharing for commuters

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

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Science, Medicine, & Education

Academic Freedom or Academic License at Brooklyn College

By Bruce Kesler ENCINITAS, California — Those of you spending tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars for your children’s college education, and paying taxes to support colleges, may be interested in a current brouhaha at my alma mater, Brooklyn College. A doctoral student, Kristofer Petersen, 1 ½ years into his studies, was hired

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Science, Medicine, & Education

Doctors giving ‘second opinions’ may be influenced by non-medical factors

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

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Science, Medicine, & Education

Pioneering work on cellular repair processes wins Clowes Award for cancer research

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

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Science, Medicine, & Education

Researcher says fibroblasts can both hinder and aid cancer growth

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.

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Science, Medicine, & Education

Similarities found between psychopaths and people with frontal brain injuries

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

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Science, Medicine, & Education

Measuring ‘Social IQ’ of bacteria may advance efforts to enlist some strains as alliles

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

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Science, Medicine, & Education

Larvae become salamanders quicker if they sense danger but the process holds other dangers

HAIFA (Press Release)–Fast development is often perceived as an advantage, as it enables better harmony with one’s environment and readiness to cope with the challenges that it poses. However, research conducted at the University of Haifa, Israel, and University of California, Santa Cruz, and published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE*, found that the acceleration

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Science, Medicine, & Education

Admiral who headed Shin Bet named chair of University of Haifa executive committee

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

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Science, Medicine, & Education