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.
For Negin Nader Bazrafkan, Yiddish lessons have been an unexpected perk of moving into her Upper West Side apartment. Her roommate — and unofficial Yiddish teacher — is 96-year-old Rebecca Schull, a retired actress best known for her roles as Fay Cochran on the sitcom Wings and as protagonist Mike Ross’ grandmother on Suits. From Schull, Bazrafkan has learned words like chutzpah, schmuck, simcha, klutz, schmutz, and faynshmeker. Her favorite is tuches, slang for buttocks, a word that makes them both laugh and their cheeks flush. The unlikely roommates’ 61-year age gap might raise eyebrows on its own. But for some of Bazrafkan’s friends, it’s the fact that she’s Muslim and…
At 15, when a neurological condition took Tobias Weinberg’s ability to speak, aspects of his personality became more difficult to express. Typing to communicate, he struggled to keep up in conversations, especially to make the jokes or sarcastic comments that had been his norm. And his first text-to-voice device was monotone, with Mexican or Spanish accents but not his native Argentinian. “The monotone voices, the timing of interjections and conveying my personality through this new way of communication was definitely frustrating,” wrote Weinberg, now a doctoral student and Siegel PiTech Fellow at Cornell Tech. As part of the Matter of…
Every day, millions of people are discharged after extended hospital stays, but matching these patients with appropriate care facilities can be arduous, often reliant on months-old, inaccurate data. Now, a text message-based, hybrid computer-human system that regularly updates both patients’ and care facilities’ availability statuses, developed by a Cornell doctoral student, is smoothing that time-consuming process. The system was tested at a hospital in Hawaii for 14 months, beginning in early 2022, and helped place nearly 50 patients in care facilities. In fact, the system worked so well, the hospital is still using it. “I worked closely with the people…
President Isaac Herzog this evening, (Wednesday, 22 October 2025), conferred the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor upon nine distinguished laureates from diverse fields, in recognition of their lifelong contribution to the State of Israel and the Jewish people. The ceremony took place at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, in the presence of U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, and with the participation of freed hostages Matan Angrest and Segev Kalfon and their families. Initiated in 2012 by the Ninth President of Israel, Shimon Peres, the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor is awarded to those “who, by virtue of their skills,…
Imagine being able to peer into your immune system and see not just how healthy you are today, but how your body fights, adapts, and ages over time. Journalist David Ewing Duncan recently had the chance to do that. Instead of a standard blood test, he tried a new kind of immune analysis. This test doesn’t look at a handful of markers. It examines nearly a million immune signals with advanced technology and machine learning to create a personal immune health score. The idea is to detect illness before symptoms appear, understand how people will respond to treatments, and even…
Technion graduates have a high likelihood of success according to two recent independent studies. The first report, which came out earlier this year, concluded that the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, is the leading provider of talent for major tech companies in Israel and abroad. The second report, released in September, ranked the Technion in the top ten worldwide for entrepreneurial success for undergraduates. The release of these rankings is especially timely, as the Technion begins the academic year with a new cohort of international students participating in an immersive four-year bachelor’s degree program. The Technion is a prestigious…
Reddit bills itself as “the most human place on the internet,” but the proliferation of artificial intelligence-generated content is threatening to squeeze some of the humanity out of the news-sharing forum. Content moderators on some of Reddit’s most popular boards see some value in artificial intelligence-generated content, but they’re generally fearful that AI will reduce the utility and social value of a community that prides itself on authenticity. “They were concerned about it on three levels: decreasing content quality, disrupting social dynamics and being difficult to govern,” said Travis Lloyd, doctoral student in the field of information science. “And to…
Cornell Tech hosted the inaugural Disability and Access in Tech and AI Summit on Oct. 9-10 on its Roosevelt Island campus, bringing together researchers, technologists, and community advocates to explore how disability and accessibility intersect with innovation. The summit welcomed speakers, students, faculty, alumni, and community members from Cornell’s Ithaca campus, New York City, and around the United States. The event, designed to be a space for dialogue, lived experience, and cross-sector collaboration in addition to showcasing research, was co-organized by Omari W. Keeles, senior director for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, and Thijs Roumen, assistant professor of information science…
“Most shipping companies lack the tools to make data-driven voyage decisions in real time,” explained THETIS AI. “THETIS AI is democratizing access to advanced voyage planning for a wide range of operators, accelerating digitalization and sustainability efforts in a traditionally conservative industry.” Launched in 2025, THETIS AI was founded by former Israeli Navy officer Roei Shaham, who recognized the significant inefficiencies and environmental costs of traditional voyage planning, and teamed up with deep-tech entrepreneur Ohad Levin to address them. “THETIS AI’s mission is to drive a more efficient, sustainable, and intelligent future for global shipping,” they said. Ohad Levin, co-founder…
Last Tuesday marked the 40th anniversary of Excel, one of the most powerful and influential tools ever created by the global software industry. When Microsoft’s now-legendary spreadsheet program was born — originally for Apple’s rival Macintosh computer — it wasn’t the first of its kind. Its predecessor, Lotus 1-2-3, still dominated the market. What began as a simple, focused tool for accountants and bookkeepers evolved into a global powerhouse that helped drive the personal computing revolution. From students to CEOs, from startups to governments — Excel is now used by some 800 million people worldwide. What is less known is…
IceCure Medical’s tumor-freezing treatment ProSense has nabbed FDA approval, making it the first medical device of its kind to be endorsed for the local treatment of breast cancer. The Israeli medical technology company saw its shares jump more than 17% afterhours Friday, Oct. 3, after the company announced the approval. Shares lost some of their gains by Monday morning and were trading up about 8% from Friday’s close. Treatment with ProSense involves a minimally invasive outpatient procedure that aims to destroy tumors by freezing them, all without the need for surgical removal of breast tissue. This approach also allows for…
Pigs have long carried a bad reputation. They are often described as dirty, greedy animals that eat everything in sight and spend their days lying around. In reality, none of these stereotypes are true. Pigs are intelligent, have a highly developed sense of smell, and like to stay clean. They often roll in mud, not because of laziness but to cool down and protect themselves from parasites. But there is another, far more important fact about pigs: they are now at the center of a medical revolution that could transform the future of organ transplantation. With demand for donor organs…