Foto Friday – Yoram Reshef’s pride of researchers
Filed under: Art, Business, Environment, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Medical Breakthroughs, Profiles, Technology
Yoram Reshef heads a commercial photography studio that produces images for some of Israel’s leading brands. “I love taking pictures in factories,” he says. “The encounter with machinery, the steel, the noise is exciting to me. I’m very proud of Israeli industry which creates and produces a world of its own, just as I, as a photographer, produce photos and images for my clients.” Reshef also takes pride in the work he does for institutions such as Tel Aviv University (TAU), producing portraits of scientists and academics working on technology’s cutting edge.
For example, marine biologist Prof. Yehuda “Hudi” Benayahu, a world-renowned expert in the taxonomy, ecology and biology of soft corals. Benayahu has warned that coral extinction could mean a global environmental catastrophe.
Or archeologist Yifat Thareani-Sussely, whose doctoral dissertation focuses on the pottery of the 7-8th centuries BCE. Don’t be fooled by the antiquities around her: TAU’s Department of Archaeology includes a Laboratory for Comparative Microarchaeology, an Archaeobotany Lab, Pottery Restoration Lab and other high-tech methods used for exploring the ancient world.
Biochemist Prof. Gali Prag researches proteins, specifically ubiquitin, a dynamic regulatory signal that can affect protein activity. A former researcher at NIH, he was recruited to head his own lab and the university has high hopes for his future research.
Adv. Liat Golan is the professional director of the Alfred Akirov Institute for Business and Environment. An environmental lawyer by trade, she trains the next-generation of business leaders to meet the threats and opportunities created by rapidly changing environments, both natural and corporate.
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Tel Aviv University alumnus Chemi Peres, managing general partner and co-founder of venture capital firm, Pitango Venture Capital, continues to be involved by serving on the Board of Directors of Ramot, the commercial arm of the university that focuses on technology transfer with some very nice success stories to its credit.
By the way, Peres also chairs the advisory board of TAU’s Faculty of Management — as well as serving on the boards of the Weizmann Institute of Science and the IDC- Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya. More about those fine institutions another day.
Nostalgia Sunday – Ephraim Katzir
Filed under: General, History and Culture, Nostalgia Sunday, Politics, Profiles
Professor Ephraim Katzir, fourth President of the State of Israel, scientist and a founder of the Weizmann Institute, passed away yesterday at his home on the Institute grounds at the age of 93. Although perhaps best known abroad as Israel’s fourth president, Katzir’s contribution to the scientific development of this country was immense.
In addition to founding and heading Weizmann’s Biophysics Department, Katzir’s pioneering studies contributed to the deciphering of the genetic code, the production of synthetic antigens and the clarification of the various steps of immune responses. The understanding of polyamino acid properties led, among other things, to Weizmann scientists’ development of Copaxone, a drug manufactured today by Teva and used worldwide for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.
Another major success was in immobilizing enzymes. Katzir developed a method for binding enzymes, which speed up numerous chemical processes, to a variety of surfaces and molecules. The method laid the foundations for what is now called enzyme engineering, which plays an important part in the food and pharmaceutical industries. For example, it is used to produce fructose-enriched corn syrup and semi-synthetic penicillins.
Along with his scientific research, Katzir was profoundly involved in the social and educational aspects of science. He headed a governmental committee for the formulation of a national scientific policy, trained a generation of younger scientists, translated important material into Hebrew and helped to establish a popular science magazine. He served as Chief Scientist of the Israel Defense Ministry and Chairman of the Society for the Advancement of Science in Israel, the Israel Biochemical Society, the National Council for Research and Development and the Council for the Advancement of Science Education. He headed the National Biotechnology Council, was a member of the Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities and of numerous other learned bodies in Israel and abroad.
In 1973, Katzir was elected fourth President of the State of Israel, a position he held until 1978. Upon completing his term of office, he returned to research at the Weizmann Institute and also devoted himself to the promotion of biotechnological research in Israel and founded the Department of Biotechnology at Tel Aviv University.
In the later years of his scientific career, Katzir turned to new areas of research. In one project, he headed a team of Weizmann scientists that won an international contest for computer modeling of proteins. In another study, he was part of an interdisciplinary Institute team that revealed an important aspect of snake venom’s effects on the body.
Katzir’s brother, Aharon was another founding member of the Weizmann Institute, who headed the Polymer Research Department until he was killed in the 1972 attack at Lod Airport (today Ben Gurion Airport) carried out by Japanese terrorists. Today, on the radio, Aharon’s grandson, LA-based filmmaker Dan Katzir, talked about his grand-uncle and his advice as a surrogate grandfather. Despite the extreme family pressure to go into the sciences (his father is pioneering laser technology engineer Dr. Abraham Katzir), Dan said that Ephraim told him to follow his heart’s desire and, whatever he chose to do, to do it well.
Upon viewing Dan Katzir’s film about Yitzhak Rabin, Out For Love, Be Back Soon, his grand-uncle said that he wept not only for Rabin, but for Sadat and all those who wanted — and died — for the cause of peace in this region.
The Weizmann Institute’s press announcement today, (from which I’ve borrowed liberally), cites an Annual Review quote from Katzir: “I have had the opportunity to devote much of my life to science. Yet my participation over the years in activities outside science has taught me there is life beyond the laboratory. I have come to understand that if we hope to build a better world, we must be guided by the universal human values that emphasize the kinship of the human race: the sanctity of human life and freedom, peace between nations, honesty and truthfulness, regard for the rights of others, and love of one’s fellows.”
They just don’t make ‘em like that anymore.
Foto Friday – Small World
Filed under: Art, Foto Friday, General, Technology
Let’s get small! For the past 33 years, Nikon has sponsored the international Small World Competition, the world’s foremost forum for recognizing excellence in photography with the optical microscope. This year, photomicrographer Dr. Sharona Even-Ram of Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Kerem in Jerusalem, received second place in the Popular Vote for an image of a cluster of neurons differentiated from embryonic cells. Even-Ram’s image was also named an Image of Distinction by Nikon.
Cluster of neurons differentiated from embryonic stem cells (40x) – Dr. Sharona Even-Ram
To enter this competition, first of all, you need access to some kind of light microscope — an advanced piece of equipment that most people don’t have lying around the house — and while the competition is open to both professionals and amatuers. it’s little wonder that most of the entrants work for hospitals, research institutes or laboratories.
Among the Israeli entrants, for example, Dr. Havi Sarfaty, who was awarded an Honorable Mention in the 2007 Competition, is a veterinary optometrist by day.
Desiccated garden flower (20x) – Havi Sarfaty
The first Israeli to enter the contest was Avinoam Tomar of the Nuclear Research Centre in Beer Sheva. He placed 13th and 17th in 1986 for these arresting images…
Early stage of sintering of powered bronze made for filter (20x) – Avinoam Tomar
…and given his place of work, one wonders to what these images might have been related!
Iconography at the edge of copper screen. Nickel electroless plated (10x) – Avinoam Tomar
For more amazing images or to download some screensavers, visit the Nikon Small World site.
Foto Friday – Solar UFOs Over Haifa
Filed under: Environment, Foto Friday, General, Pop Culture, Technology
Haifa is Israel’s home to UFO activity but these objects, although flying, aren’t unidentified. They’re prototypes for the SunHopes project, a breakthrough solar energy product developed by Dr. Pini Gurfil and Dr. Joseph Cory of the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology.
According to the project website, “Lightweight, thin-film photovoltaic cells are attached to the exterior surface of large helium balloons levitating at altitudes ranging from a few meters to a few hundred meters. The electricity generated by the cells is then conducted to the ground using electrical cables…” In other words, higly sophisticated balloon-on-a-string technology!
These magnificent photos document the project’s successful 2007 pilot, in which 50 watts of power were generated. That’s enough juice for only a single dim light bulb, but hey!, that’s what pilots are for. The project is seeking funding for the R&D phase for an upgraded prototype, capable of providing 1 kilowatt of power, and then, as my dad used to say, we’ll be cookin’ with gas.
A word about flying saucers and Haifa. In March 1950, Reuters reported that, “Flying saucers… have been reported skittering in all directions across the heavens above the Mediterranean. In Haifa today, reports circulated that they had been seen over northern Israel.” Throughout the 1980s, tales of mysterious flashing lights were periodically reported by local Haifa rag “Kol Haifa”. A quick flick through Google Hebrew reveals that UFO activity – at least on the part of those actively seeking UFOs – is alive and well. After all, wouldn’t seeing something like this floating over your home one bright day make a true believer out of you?
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