Who says that academia has to be detached from the real world? The world of academia is notorious for being detached from the real world. There are plenty of good reasons why it’s called the “ivory tower”. Because sometimes you just don’t care why Jacques Derrida chose to spell the word difference as differance, and […]
New studies looking at evolution sees nothing extra-ordinary about island communities. The Middle East region, particularly around Egypt, Israel and Jordan out East to Iraq is known as the cradle of civilization. It is no wonder then that much evolutionary thinking and discoveries are made from this region. More whale bones (and a fossilized whale […]
Family values, and having children are important in the Middle East. Here is a simple test done during pregnancy that if paid close attention to can help make women more health-smart in the long run. We know that pregnancy can be the elixir of life, and fountain of youth, but anyone who’s been pregnant knows […]
Barn owls as biological control. Arab farmers in the Levant use nesting boxes to encourage the owls to move in. This means much less pesticide to control rodents.
Looking at the proteins that “talk” between shoot and root of plants, Tel Aviv University unlocks a new tool for the biofuel industry. Plant geneticists are on a quest: they want to find out how to control auxin, a plant growth hormone which is very powerful. Auxin tells plants where to lay down roots, how […]
Tel Aviv highlights green buildings, spaces, construction techniques, and gardens during its annual “Houses from Within” weekend. [image via: Ykravitz] One spring weekend every year, for the past few years, Tel Aviv celebrates its architecture and invites the public to learn about the special structures that get to call the city their home. These structures […]
Fair is foul, but foul is not fair. A new technique for cleaning water using UV light. Does your drinking water smell foul, or are you worried that chemicals might be damaging your family’s health? Water treatment facilities currently use chlorine that produces carcinogenic by-products to keep your tapwater clean, but Tel Aviv University scientists […]
Genetically engineered animal tissue could spare millions of animals from the cruelty of experimentation. Image via likecool We green types are sensitive to animal suffering. We can’t stand it when we read that animals are going extinct (like tuna). We get excited to see videos about animal behavior (read about Isabella Rossellini’s new Green Porn […]
Five graduate students come up with a plan for conflict resolution and sustainable fishing in Gaza. A creative team of five graduate students currently studying at Tel Aviv University‘s Sofaer International MBA and Business Management and Conflict Resolution programs is, understandably, concerned with resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Which is why they formed Nets of Peace […]
Tel Aviv University students join Paul McCartney’s and Yoko Ono’s international effort to raise awareness about the impact of meat on our health and environment. [Photo credit: Erez Katsav] A couple of weeks ago, Tel Aviv University students joined others at Harvard, Oxford, Columbia, and many other universities worldwide in a campaign – Meat Free […]
An Israeli scientist has found a way to pull solar energy from pea plants. If harnessing the unlimited solar power of the sun were easy, we wouldn’t still have the greenhouse gas problem that results from the use of fossil fuel. And while solar energy systems work moderately well in hot desert climates, they are […]
New Tel Aviv University research investigates anti-fungal agents in the sticky “pitchers” of carnivorous plants. Biomimicry at its best. In the tropics, carnivorous plants trap unsuspecting prey in a cavity filled with liquid known as a “pitcher.” The moment insects like flies, ants and beetles fall into a pitcher, the plant’s enzymes are activated and […]
Some animals, it seems, are going on a diet, while others have expanding waistlines. It’s likely these are reactions to rapidly rising temperatures due to global climate change, speculates Prof. Yoram Yom-Tov of Tel Aviv University, who has been measuring the evolving body sizes of birds and animals in areas where climate change is most […]
Who doesn’t want to live the longest, fullest life? We all do right? That’s why we go to the gym, fight for the right for clean air and water, and eat healthy organic food. As environmentalists with eyes wide open, some of us take vitamin supplements, like Omega 3, and other multi-vitamin packs, hoping to […]
TAU’s nanosized “forest of peptides” can be used as the basis for self-cleaning windows and more efficient batteries. It’s cleaning up space junk, and is giving us lab-on-chip biofilters for detecting contamination. Now nanotechnology has produced a coating for windows or solar panels that repels grime and dirt. Expanded battery storage capacities for the next […]