When Dryness Intrudes, Floods Ensue
New findings from the Weizmann Institute of Science may improve flood warnings for millions living on the Indian subcontinent. In 2018, in the Indian state of Kerala, more than 400...
The Solar Forest
A new Weizmann Institute study shows that building solar farms in arid regions is a far more effective way to tackle the climate crisis than planting forests. A verdant forest...
Tracking the Winds of Climate Change
Why do parts of Earth become rainforests, whereas others turn into deserts? A new study from the Weizmann Institute of Science and Massachusetts Institute of Technology exposes the far-reaching impact...
The Weight of Responsibility: Biomass of Livestock Dwarfs That of Wild Mammals
We often think that our world is an infinite realm comprising great plains, jungles and oceans, teeming with wild animals featured in memorable nature shows like the BBC’s Planet Earth....
Building Better Enzymes – by Breaking Them Down
In a major step toward greener industry, Weizmann Institute scientists have created a computational method for generating effective enzymes with unprecedented efficiency. This new study is now published in Science,...
Harder Winters, Stronger Storms: New Data Reveals Climate Change Might Be More Rapid than Predicted
The Earth’s climate is changing faster than we expected. A new study led by the Weizmann Institute of Science reveals that storms in the Southern Hemisphere have already reached intensity...
GORKY Protein Turns Bitter Tomatoes Sweet
A new database developed in collaboration with the Weizmann Institute of Science is helping to reveal tomato riddles and may facilitate the breeding of delicious, disease-resistant tomatoes. Wild tomatoes that...
How Bushfire Smoke Travelled Around the World
A new study has uncovered how some Australian fires produced a spreading stratospheric haze rivalling that of a volcanic eruption. It’s not just how hot the fires burn – it’s...
Plastic’s Just Blowing in the Wind
As the plastic in our oceans breaks up into smaller and smaller bits without breaking down chemically, the resulting microplastics are becoming a serious ecological problem. Now, a new study...
The Mass of Human-Made Materials Now Equals the Planet’s Biomass
A new study at the Weizmann Institute of Science shows that we are doubling the mass of the human-made ‘anthropogenic’ part of the world every twenty years and the curve...
Scientists’ Ice Findings Could Help Measure Earth’s Magnetic History
Among other things, the history of our planet has been written in the periodic reversal of its magnetic poles. Scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science have now proposed a...
Marine Biomass: The Life that Stays Small, Lives Fast, Dies Young
A new census at the Weizmann Institute of Science asks why the oceans have so little biomass compared to land, and shows how small marine producers pull their weight. If...
The Greenest Diet: Bacteria Switch to Eating Carbon Dioxide
Bacteria in the lab of Professor Ron Milo at the Weizmann Institute of Science have not just sworn off sugar, they have stopped eating their normal solid food, existing instead...
Antifreeze Protein Can Also Promote Ice Formation Says New Research
Antifreeze is life’s means of surviving in cold winters: Natural antifreeze proteins help fish, insects, plants and even bacteria live through low temperatures that should turn their liquid parts to...
Semi-arid Forests Could Reduce Global Warming
Although new trees are cropping up in many places around the globe in an effort to fight climate change, it has become apparent that not all types of forests are...
Food Waste: The Biggest Loss Could be What You Choose to Put in Your Mouth
A new analysis from the Weizmann Institute of Science and partners suggests hundreds of millions more could eat from the same resources if we switched to plant-based diets. About a...
Solar Energy on Track for Hydrogen Fuel Production
Israeli and Dutch researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science and Eindhoven University of Technology have succeeded in almost fully suppressing the production of hydrogen peroxide – a major obstacle...
A Rusy Green Early Ocean?
Though they may seem rock solid, the ancient sedimentary rocks called iron formations – the world’s chief economic source of iron ore – were once dissolved in seawater. How did...
Factory Waste Morphs into Clean Syngas
Heavy industries generate a lot of heat and emit a lot of CO2 to the atmosphere. NewCO2Fuels turns these two streams of waste into profitable products. For millions of years,...