How bacteria hinder chemotherapy, and more - October 2017 issue of Weizmann Wonder Wander newsletter

October 2017

Weizmann Institute of Science, Weizmann Wonder Wander: News, features and discoveries from the Weizmann Institute of Science

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Hot off the press

Why are our teeth white? Why do we have so many facial expressions? Why do we kiss? Why can't we see to the edge of the solar system? Why can't we grow new body parts? These are just a selection of questions that can be found in the Weizmann Institute of Science's new publication: “100 Questions Why: Children ask, and scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science answer”.

The Hebrew version is currently available for purchase from the Levinson Visitors Center's souvenir shop at the Weizmann Institute of Science, and soon, from bookstores around the country. An English version will also be available in the near future.

Forefront of Science

How Bacteria Hinder Chemotherapy

Life Sciences

Scientists find bacteria in pancreatic tumors that metabolize a common drug

Bacteria (green) inside human pancreatic cancer cells (AsPC-1 cells). The cells’ nuclei are stained blue while their cytoplasm is stained orange

Florence Flies By

Space & Physics

A telescope at the Weizmann Institute of Science captures the path of an asteroid

Puzzling Out Unusual Solar Materials

Chemistry

Understanding the properties of these materials will help advance new photoelectric technologies

Perovskite before (top) and after (bottom) etching. Etching with acetone revealed a fingerprint of ferroelectricity in halide perovskite materials: structural units called polar domains. Scale: 20 ꭎm

Altitude Training for Cancer-Fighting Cells

Life Sciences

Oxygen starvation could toughen up immune T cells for cancer immunotherapy

Cancerous tumor tissue under a microscope: T cells grown under low oxygen conditions (green) and regular T cells (purple) show similar distribution patterns vis-à-vis blood vessels (red).

Genomic Recycling: Ancestral Genes Take On New Roles

Life Sciences

How some genes lost the ability to make proteins - and gained regulatory powers

Humans and fish share about 70% of their protein-coding genes, but only about 0.5% of their regulatory long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs)

Science Education

The Great Chemical Escape

Science Education

A popular pastime gets educational

(l-r) Drs. Ran Peleg, Malka Yayon and Dvora Katchevich led the chemical escape room project in the National Center for Chemistry Teachers

From Around the Web

Tang Prize Executive: Taiwan can learn from Israel’s Emphasis on Science Education

BDS | Building Dialogue through Science

Chern Jenn-chuan's visit to the Weizmann Institute of Science may lead to future cooperation

Tang Prize Chief Executive Officer Chern Jenn-chuan

NEW TECHNIQUE IMPROVES PROPERTIES OF SUPERCONDUCTORS

The Jerusalem Post

Israeli scientists at the Weizmann Institute and Hebrew University have made new discoveries

Science for All - Davidson Institute of Science Education

The Long and Winding Road to Mars

Challenge: sending a manned mission to Mars. Due date: 2030 or later. Dangers: many. Obstacles: almost incomprehensible. What technologies are still required for colonization of the red planet?

The Mysterious Bee Death

Is there a decline in the number of honey bees? And what about wild bees? Researchers have yet to agree on the subject and they do not know whether it is just one phenomenon or a number of different ones, or if the main cause is indeed pesticides

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