The Technion’s story has been intertwined with Israel’s for more than a century, from laying the foundations for a new nation to shaping its future.
Since it was founded nearly 100 years ago, the Technion’s world-class scientists have immersed themselves in developing innovative technologies that have not only been crucial for Israel’s economy, society and security, but have also impacted humanity on a global scale. Well before António Guterres, the U.N.’s Secretary General, stated last month that, “the climate time-bomb is ticking,” Technion researchers were prioritizing projects that could help reverse our planet’s grim prognosis, mainly by reducing the consumption of natural resources and restoring balance to the Earth’s carbon cycle. In a nutshell: by focusing on solutions that promote sustainability. At the Technion, a…
Titanium-air batteries have been recently tested by a team of scientists from Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and Forschungszentrum Jülich, and the results are promising. These batteries have the potential to store up to three times more energy than standard batteries, making them a great candidate to replace current zinc-air batteries used in small devices such as hearing aids and other sensors. The breakthrough in utilizing an ionic liquid to enhance the battery’s efficiency and longevity means that these batteries could be a significant upgrade to the zinc-air batteries currently used in hearing aids. These batteries have a limited lifespan and can…
AI-powered writing assistants such as ChatGPT are creeping into everything from office tools to search tools – but using them actually puts ideas into people’s heads. Researchers found that people using an AI writing tool programmed with one idea (that social media is good, for example) are twice as likely to write a paragraph agreeing with the assistant. Maurice Jakesch of Cornell University asked more than 1,500 participants to write a paragraph answering the question, “Is social media good for society?” People who used an AI writing assistant that was biassed for or against social media were twice as likely to write a…
Researchers have theorized a new mechanism to generate high-energy “quantum light,” which could be used to investigate new properties of matter at the atomic scale. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, along with colleagues from the U.S., Israel and Austria, developed a theory describing a new state of light, which has controllable quantum properties over a broad range of frequencies, up as high as X-ray frequencies. Their results are reported in the journal Nature Physics. The world we observe around us can be described according to the laws of classical physics, but once we observe things at an atomic scale,…
Hospitals have begun using “decision support tools” powered by artificial intelligence that can diagnose disease, suggest treatment or predict a surgery’s outcome. But no algorithm is correct all the time, so how do doctors know when to trust the AI’s recommendation? A new study led by Qian Yang, assistant professor of information science in the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, suggests that if AI tools can counsel the doctor like a colleague – pointing out relevant biomedical research that supports the decision – then doctors can better weigh the merits of the recommendation. The researchers will…
Throwing out trash can be an icky, and sometimes even confusing, experience. To better understand how humans interact with robots, Cornell University researchers recently created and released two trash and recycling bots to do some dirty work in a Manhattan plaza. And for most of the people who interacted with the adorable barrel bots, the robots’ helpful interceptions of waste were welcomed. The study involved two robots. One was blue, and one was gray, and they were mounted on recycled hoverboard parts and equipped with 360-degree cameras. The bots received all sorts of reactions, from onlookers expressing their appreciation to treating…
Glioblastomas are one of the most malignant and lethal cancers. Despite recent treatment advancements, median survival is only 12 to 16 months. In 2015, the Optune device, a novel, non-invasive treatment modality was approved by the FDA for use alongside standard treatment regimens for newly diagnosed glioblastomas after a large-scale clinical trial found that it extended overall survival by at least 5 months (1,2). The Optune device is a wearable, portable instrument that uses external electrodes attached to the scalp to continuously deliver electric fields to the tumor site. But what exactly is going on under the cap? In 2000,…
“One of the most important factors in the success of the treatment of a disease is early diagnosis, but what happens when the patient does not feel bad and there are no external symptoms of the disease? There is a huge gap today between the importance of early diagnosis and what actually happens, a lack of continuous contact between the population and the medical centers. In our laboratory at the Technion we are trying to bridge the gap between the clinics and the patients through technological developments. How do we do this? Devices and facilities that can be kept in…
A tiny robot developed in Israel is no bigger than a pen, yet it has all the tools a brain surgeon needs to operate on a patient. Tamar Robotics has developed the world’s smallest and most accurate robotic system for minimally invasive brain surgery, with a diameter of just 10mm (0.4in). It’s equipped with a camera, two steerable and bendable robotic arms that can hold classic surgical tools, and an extendable scaffolding that makes it easier to see and maneuver the tools within the target workspace. The company is based near Haifa and was founded by Prof. Moshe Shoham, who…
How agile are your fingers? Finger dexterity is a highly developed human skill that is vital for a huge range of activities including eating with a knife and fork, tying shoelaces, typing and playing musical instruments. This ability is based not only on the unique anatomy of the human hand, but also on complex brain capabilities. The brain controls finger dexterity via intricate mechanisms that have long challenged scientists in various fields. Now, a study conducted at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa sheds light on this subject and, according to the researchers, is likely to lead to the…
For hundreds of years, Passover Seder meals have looked remarkably similar in households across the world. Alongside the matzah are symbolic foods including a flame-broiled egg, bitter lettuce and roasted shank bone as well as raw veggies and a cinnamon-scented fruity dip. A typical Seder dinner menu begins with chicken-and-matzah-ball soup and a fish appetizer followed by poultry, lamb or beef and topped off by a cake made with multiple eggs for leavening. Today, this picture is starting to look out of sync with animal-free dietary trends. Flexitarians are the primary drivers of this shift, as well as vegans, vegetarians…
The Fluidic Telescope (FLUTE) project team, jointly led by NASA and Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, envisions a way to make huge circular self-healing mirrors in-orbit to further the field of astronomy. Larger telescopes collect more light, and they allow astronomers to peer farther into space and see distant objects in greater detail. These next-generation large space observatories would study the highest priority astrophysics targets, including first generation stars – the first to shine and flame out after the Big Bang – early galaxies, and Earth-like exoplanets. These observatories could help address one of humanity’s most important science questions:…