The researchers recently received a $1 million joint grant from the American National Science Foundation (NSF) and the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF) to study new aspects of RNA biology.

The team of researchers, led by Prof. Ruth Sperling of the Hebrew University Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, together with Prof. Stephen Stamm from the School of Medicine in Lexington, Kentucky, hypothesize that a new type of primate-specific proteins, translated from molecules of circular RNA, improves the brain’s function in relation to other organisms with a similar number of genes.

RNA is the mediator in turning instructions encoded in DNA into cellular proteins. As part of the process, the RNA is heavily modified: some pieces are cut out and the remaining parts are put back together, to assemble a new line of RNA – which fundamentally changes their composition. Sometimes, these parts form in circles, creating circular RNA.

Circular RNAs are mostly found in the brain and their formation is promoted by genomic elements specific to humans and other primates, called Alu-elements. The human genome consists of about 11% Alu-elements and their expansion in primates correlates with brain complexity.

“For the first time, the team of researchers will focus on new biological aspects of the circular RNA molecules, with the aim of revealing why humans have a stronger and more complex brain than other organisms with a similar number of genes,” Stamm says.

Prof. Sperling, a world-renowned expert in RNA processing, is seeking to understand how circular RNA is created by the splicing machinery in cells, to analyze when this occurs and how it is regulated in the brain.

According to Sperling, “If we do find that we have new proteins, this opens up a completely new research field with essential functions for the human brain.” Such a discovery may have wide implications, for example, on the detection of genetic materials correlated with schizophrenia, epilepsy, autism, or neurological disease.”

The hypothesis is that the new proteins, translated from these specific circular RNAs, substantially increase molecular complexity, which improves brain functions. “Do circular RNAs code for proteins? Do these proteins function? Can they be found in the brain? This is what we are analyzing. It has never been looked at,” Stamm says.

As part of the three-year project, there will be annual two-week RNA biology courses held in the summer at Hebrew University in Jerusalem led by Stamm and Sperling. Students from both universities will have theoretical lectures and do hands-on experiments during the course.

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Science Foundation under Award Number 2221921, and United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation under Award Number 2022602.

 

The prestigious Dan David Prize for the Study of History was awarded to nine scholars from around the world. The prize amounts to $300,000USD and is awarded for the second year in its new format by the Dan David Foundation at Tel Aviv University.

Among the winners of the distinguished Prize for 2023 is Dr. Karma Ben Johanan of the החוג למדע הדתות באוניברסיטה העברית - The Department of Comparative Religion whose groundbreaking research in the field of relations between religions advances historical research and sheds light on the past. She is the first Israeli woman to receive the prize since it was founded in 2001.

Dr. Ben-Johanan is a scholar of contemporary theology and Jewish-Christian relations. Her dissertation focused on mutual theological views of Catholic and Orthodox Jews in recent decades. She was awarded the Dan David Prize for her research on the relationships between different religious traditions, the Catholic Church's reconciliation initiative with Jews after the Second Vatican Council and the reactions of Orthodox Jewish thinkers and rabbis to these developments. This May, a special ceremony will be held in Tel Aviv where the Dan David Awards will be presented to the nine new winners.

The Dan David Prize was first awarded in 2001 by the late entrepreneur and philanthropist Dan David, with the aim of rewarding innovative and interdisciplinary research work that contributed to humanity. Starting in 2021, the award has been relaunched and focuses on significant and groundbreaking historical research. Today, the prize rewards leading historians, with the aim of helping them realize their research potential at a time when support for the humanities is diminishing.

Photo: Avigail Piperno-Beer

 

 

The findings of this study were published in ACS Nano Journal and featured on the cover of the latest issue, demonstrated positive therapeutic effects of MAPSULES in biological models carrying human breast tumors. The MAPSULES also boost drug therapeutic action and minimize damage to surrounding tissues.

This study, led by Arnon Fluksman, a Ph.D. student in Prof. Ofra Benny’s laboratory at the Hebrew University Faculty of Medicine’s School of Pharmacy, and  Dr. Borja Sepulveda and his team at the Instituto de Microelectronica de Barcelona, fabricated and evaluated MAPSULES in various cancer cell models.

“With over 18 million cancer cases worldwide in 2020, scientists and medical practitioners have grappled with advancing local drug delivery methods to improve treatment outcomes,” says Fluksman. Despite the promise of overcoming chemotherapy side effects, nanotherapies have been unable to meet expectations due to the low nanoparticle concentration that ultimately reaches the solid tumor. Our unique method enables us to remotely control the molecules with the help of a magnet, deliver drugs to the precise location of the tumor, and control drug release rates.”

Results also showed that laser irradiation of MAPSULES could increase therapeutic impact by generating heat locally in the tumor site. These findings introduce the first design of a full nano-scale carrier containing large doses of chemotherapeutics with a thin external metal coating, effectively delivering chemotherapy to a solid tumor site.

“Creating an ‘Iron Dome’ of sorts for cancer, MAPSULES not only kill cancerous cells but also protect the patient from unnecessary damage to healthy tissue, thus augmenting cancer treatment outcomes,” said Prof. Benny. “With our discovery of MAPSULES’s efficacy, we can advance our solutions and offer a wide range of materials that can be manipulated and activated remotely to support a wide variety of therapies for diseases beyond cancer.”

 

 

Referring to the cancellation of Israel's sweetened beverage tax, as "a grievous blow to public health," Hebrew University Prof. Aron Troen, and a renowned worldwide group of senior health scholars have published a letter in The Lancet prestigious medical journal seeking to overturn the harmful, hasty, and costly decision. See attached for text of letter.

Approximately 64 percent of adults in Israel are overweight, defined as a body mass index over 25 according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Childhood obesity is on the rise, and its poor populations carry the greatest burden of associated chronic disease, like diabetes. The direct and indirect costs of obesity to Israeli society are estimated at 20 billion NIS ($5.8 Billion) annually.

"Since its introduction a year ago, the tax has reduced the consumption of sweetened drinks by about 10%," says Troen who is a member of the World Federation of Public Health Associations. “The fact that world health leaders have responded shows what an important issue we’re dealing with. Canceling the tax is irresponsible, an act of public health malpractice, and an outrage.”

In the letter, the authors state that, "Revoking the tax will undoubtedly harm lives and increase the direct and indirect economic costs to Israel's health system and economy, both in the short term and long term. More broadly, this act undermines hard won progress made elsewhere around the world. It is a serious setback for evidence-based public health policy and will be celebrated by vested interests who promote their products and disregard the need for policies that uphold the public's health and welfare. This decision will be seen as prioritizing sectorial political interests over incontrovertible scientific evidence and public health best practice."

The scholars conclude the letter by, "calling on the Government of Israel to reconsider and retract this ill-conceived and hasty decision. Instead, let the revenue from the soda tax be used to combat chronic diseases including obesity, as well as promote nutrition security by increasing economic access to healthy diets, narrowing health disparities, improving the health and welfare of all Israeli citizens, and setting an example for world health leadership."

Other co-authors include Darius Mozaffarian, Dean for Policy at Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science who co-chairs the task force that informed the White House Conference on Hunger and Nutritional Security, Barry Popkin, a world-renowned health economist, and Hagai Levin from the Hebrew University School of Public Health and chair of the Israeli Association of Public Health Physicians.

About the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is Israel's leading academic and research institution. Serving some 24,000 students from 80 countries, it produces a third of Israel’s civilian research and is ranked 12th worldwide in biotechnology patent filings and commercial development. Faculty and alumni of the Hebrew University have won eight Nobel Prizes and a Fields Medal. For more information about the Hebrew University, please visit http://new.huji.ac.il/en.

About American Friends of the Hebrew University

American Friends of the Hebrew University (AFHU) is a national, not-for-profit organization based in the United States. AFHU is headquartered in New York and has seven regional offices working in close partnership with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. AFHU provides supporters, Hebrew University alumni, and the public with stimulating programs and events, and organizes missions to Israel. The organization’s activities support scholarly and scientific achievement at HU, create scholarships, fund new facilities, and assist the university’s efforts to recruit outstanding new faculty.

For more information, please visit http://www.afhu.org.

Follow us on: Facebook | Linkedin | Twitter  | Instagram | YouTub

 

 

This report delves into each of the individual SDGs and outlines how the University is playing a role in making an impact on these goals.

To read this report, click here

 

Prof. Shalva Weil of the Seymour Fox School of Education at the Hebrew University, who established the Israel Observatory on Femicide, said: “After a decrease in 2021, this year there is a significant rise in the number of femicide cases in Israel in which a woman is killed because of her gender. We must stop the violence and eradicate this frightening trend.”

The report also found that:

The victim’s age was 38.1. The youngest victim was 14, and the oldest 68. The average age of the suspect/murderer suspects is 39; the youngest is 19 and the oldest is 65.

38% of the victims were stabbed to death, and 25% were shot with gunfire. The rest of the cases involved the use of an explosive device and drowning, and in some as yet unsolved cases, hanging and the use of substances.

In a third of cases, the suspect was known to the police or welfare authorities from previous violent incidents, or due to economic circumstances. In other cases, the murderer was known to have a criminal or mental health record.

In 36% of cases, at least one child of the victim was present during the event.

In two cases, the murderer committed suicide, and in five additional cases, the suspect or murderer attempted suicide.

 

A fruitful interdisciplinary collaboration between Prof. Haim Rabinowitch of the Hebrew University’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, and Prof. Lioz Etgar of from the Institute of Chemistry at the Hebrew University yielded a prototype for a new solar cell whose efficiency has been technologically proven and whose performance stands to dramatically change the rules of the game regarding solar energy and agricultural production. This innovative solar cell is designed to fully cover agricultural areas (including greenhouses, orchards, and fields) and water bodies while simultaneously generating green electricity and agricultural  production, without interruption of natural habitats under the PV panels, without using up natural resources, and without harming the environment.

The new solar cells are based on perovskite crystals and are produced in a relatively straightforward process using cheap and available materials. A chemical substitution makes the solar cells transparent to the most efficient area of the light spectrum that drives photosynthesis, while a great part of the rest of the light energy is transformed into electricity. Prof. Lioz Etgar explains: “For years, it has been obvious that most light energy in agricultural greenhouses is wasted, as plants use only a fraction of the sunlight energy, while the rest is radiated back into the atmosphere. In greenhouses, it becomes heat energy, that growers need to get rid of during most months of the year.” He continues: “Our solution maximizes the production of solar electricity on agricultural land by up to 300%.” The new cells are expected to have much lower production costs than silicon-based photovoltaic cells, and will also significantly improve cultivation conditions in greenhouses by reducing heat, lowering greenhouse gas emissions and evapotranspiration, saving water, and protecting crops from weather damage, as well as offering partial protection from pests and disease.

All existing technologies for the generation of green power on agricultural lands deploy silicon-based photovoltaic cells, which are either fully opaque or only partially transparent to most of the light spectrum or laid in alternative arrays, thus resulting in lower efficiency of power generation and concomitantly reduced agricultural production. Prof. Haim Rabinowitch: “This new development, which can be installed over any agricultural lands and any bodies of water, will make it possible to fully replace the roofs of most agricultural greenhouses, reduce heat levels and evapotranspiration in orchards and fields, and impairment of many fresh-water and coastal marine ecosystems on which rafts or islands of solar cells are installed.”

Calculations based on current data indicate that the use of these new cells will reduce the price of energy per kWh in Israel by 75%, which will lower agricultural costs and increase agricultural income and profitability. This is nothing less than a revolution. Israel has a total of around 90,000 dunams (9,000 hectares) of greenhouses. Covering the greenhouses roofs of half of these with the new solar cells will provide a quantity of green electricity that enable Israel to exceed its 2050 national targets for green electricity production and carbon emission reduction. To give a greater idea of the economic potential of this development, the Mediterranean basin alone holds around 2 million dunams (200,000 hectares) of greenhouses.

A study published in 2018 in Global Food Security showed that the value of vegetable cultivation constitutes around 30% of the overall value of all crops combined, measured at around $1.85 billion. The process of photosynthesis with which all crops are grown uses about 10% of the total available light energy from the sun. Thus, it was only a matter of time before groundbreaking creative research would come up with a far more efficient solution for the combined production of electricity and agricultural produce, utilizing the remaining 90% of solar energy that is not used in photosynthesis.

The idea developed by Prof. Rabinowitch and Prof. Etgar, and their research program, were assessed by the Israel Innovation Authority, which provided a generous research grant. The proven results of this research were promoted by the Hebrew University’s technology-transfer Yissum and formed the basis for partnership with the Red Solar Flower initiative, led by Dr. Shai Danziger and Ilan Sharon. The successful research project to develop the solar cells, along with the Yissum-Red Solar Flower partnership, were recently recognized with the award of first place in the Energy Tech Challenge, led by the Digital SolarEdge company, as part of the Climate Solutions Prize organized by Start-Up Nation Central.

 

A new research study, conducted by doctoral student Amal Khayat and led by Dr. Yael Bar-Zeev and researchers at the Hebrew University’s Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, shows that one of the world’s largest tobacco companies exploited loopholes in the law against advertising smoking products in Israel, and specifically targeted the Haredi population in Israel. The study findings, which were recently published in the academic journal Tobacco Control, reveal a series of advertising strategies that focused on the population group with the lowest rates of smoking in Israel.

Analyzing the marketing data of Philip Morris International, the researchers examined the differences in advertising expenditure over a four-year period between advertising focused on different major population groups in Israel—the general population, the Haredi public, Arab speakers, and Russian speakers. “We conducted a comparison among the advertising expenditures for all Philip Morris cigarette brands and the IQOS brand (a heated tobacco stick that entered the local market in December 2016), in light of regulatory changes that restricted the advertising of tobacco products,” explains Khayat.

While the restriction on advertising tobacco products led to a significant reduction in the company’s marketing expenditures, the study shows that the company exploited legal loopholes in order to subvert the law’s goals and increase its own profits as much as possible. “Even after the law came into effect, the company continued to spend almost NIS 3 million on advertising, with a focus on the printed press,” explains Dr. Bar-Zeev. “While the law restricted print advertising to one advert in each newspaper, 40% of the IQOS adverts placed were giant, two-page adverts, which effectively doubled the product’s advertising space, while still being considered a single advert as allowed by the letter of the law.”

Another strategy used by Philip Morris was adding a QR code to the advert, which readers could scan and then view additional content, beyond that contained in the advert permitted in the newspaper. Furthermore, the adverts featured people smoking IQOS devices in closed public spaces, despite the fact that the law forbids

 

the use of any tobacco products in such areas. According to the researchers, adverts like this give the impression that such behavior is legally permitted, and exploits the innocence of the majority of consumers, who are not aware of these distinctions.

The study further finds that before the law came into effect, Philip Morris significantly increased its advertising to all the population groups examined, with a particular focus on the Haredi population, which had the lowest rates of smoking in Israel. “Our data shows that since the introduction of the IQOS e-cigarettes, 216 targeted adverts were published, of which 55% were for the Haredi public, 6% for the Arab public, and the rest for the Russian-speaking public,” says Dr. Bar-Zeev. Similarly, for regular cigarette brands, 87% of advertisements were targeted at the Haredi population—a surprising finding given the company’s repeated claims that it is only interested in marketing its products to existing smokers. Dr. Bar-Zeev adds: “We expected that the company would focus on populations with the highest rates of smoking in Israel—men in the Arab sector—and not on the population which has hardly any smokers.”

In the wake of the study findings, the previous Knesset assembly decided to cancel the exception for advertising in the printed press, but deferred implementation of this step for seven years. In discussions, a series of additional restrictions were decided upon for this interim period, including prohibitions on the use of coupons, on the use of QR codes, and on featuring cigarette packs which do not carry the mandatory plain packaging in adverts in the printed press. However, Dr. Bar-Zeev concludes that this is merely “a drop in the ocean,” as the study has proved that the tobacco companies bypass such restrictions, and find creative ways to continue marketing their products and getting a new generation of smokers addicted to them. The researchers argue that only a full and immediate ban on all forms of advertising, combined with strict enforcement of the law, can stop this happening.

 

The academic articles presenting the study findings are available here:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/tc-2022-057585

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/tc-2022-057671

 

 

Excavating ancient DNA from teeth, an international group of scientists peered into the lives of a once thriving medieval Ashkenazi Jewish community in Erfurt, Germany. The findings, shared today in the Journal Cell, show that the Erfurt Jewish community was more genetically diverse than modern day Ashkenazi Jews.

About half of Jews today are identified as Ashkenazi, meaning that they originate from Jews living in Central or Eastern Europe. The term was initially used to define a distinct cultural group of Jews who settled in the 10^th century in Germany's Rhineland. Despite much speculation, many gaps exist in our understanding of their origins and demographic upheavals during the second millennium.

“Today, if you compare Ashkenazi Jews from the United States and Israel, they’re very similar genetically, almost like the same population regardless of where they live,” shared geneticist and co-author Professor Shai Carmi of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU). But unlike today’s genetic uniformity, it turns out that the community was more diverse 600 years ago.

Digging into the ancient DNA of 33 Ashkenazi Jews from medieval Erfurt, the team discovered that the community can be categorized into what seems like two groups. One relates more to individuals from Middle Eastern populations and the other to European populations, possibly including migrants to Erfurt from the East. The findings suggest that there were at least two genetically distinct groups in medieval Erfurt. However, that genetic variability no longer exists in modern Ashkenazi Jews.

The Erfurt medieval Jewish community existed between the 11^th and 15^th centuries, with a short gap following a 1349 massacre. At times, it was a thriving community and one of the largest in Germany. Following the expulsion of all Jews in 1454, the city built a granary on top of the Jewish cemetery. In 2013, when the granary stood empty, the city permitted its conversion into a parking lot. This required additional construction and an archaeological rescue excavation.

“Our goal was to fill the gaps in our understanding of Ashkenazi Jewish early history through ancient DNA data,” explained Carmi. While ancient DNA data is a powerful tool to infer historical demographics, ancient Jewish DNA data is hard to come by, as Jewish law prohibits the disturbance of the dead in most circumstances. With the approval of the local Jewish community in Germany, the research team collected detached teeth from remains found in a 14th-century Jewish cemetery in Erfurt that underwent a rescue excavation.

The researchers also discovered that the founder event, which makes all Ashkenazi Jews today descendants of a small population, happened before the 14^th century. For example, teasing through mitochondrial DNA, genetic materials we inherit from our mothers, they discovered that a third of the sampled Erfurt individuals share one specific sequence. The findings indicate that the early Ashkenazi Jewish population was so small that a third of Erfurt individuals descended from a single woman through their maternal lines.

At least eight of the Erfurt individuals also carried disease-causing genetic mutations common in modern-day Ashkenazi Jews but rare in other populations—a hallmark of the Ashkenazi Jewish founder event.

“Jews in Europe were a religious minority that was socially segregated, and they experienced periodic persecution,” described co-author Harvard University. Although antisemitic violence virtually wiped-out Erfurt’s Jewish community in 1349, Jews returned five years later and flourished into one of the largest in Germany. “Our work gives us direct insight into the structure of this community.”

The team believes the current study helps to establish an ethical basis for studies of ancient Jewish DNA. Many questions remain unanswered, such as how medieval Ashkenazi Jewish communities became genetically differentiated, how early Ashkenazi Jews related to Sephardi Jews, and how modern Jews relate to ones from ancient Judea.

While this is the largest ancient Jewish DNA study so far, it is limited to one cemetery and one period of time. Nevertheless, it was able to detect previously unknown genetic subgroups in medieval Ashkenazi Jews. The researchers hope that their study will pave the way for future analyses of samples from other sites, including those from antiquity, to continue unraveling the complexities of Jewish history.

“This work also provides a template for how a co-analysis of modern and ancient DNA data can shed light on the past,” concluded Reich. “Studies like this hold great promise not only for understanding Jewish history, but also that of any population.”

The research team, of over 30 scientists, included HU’s Shamam Waldman, a doctoral student in Carmi's group, who performed most of the data analysis.

 

Gentamicin is a commonly-used antibiotic, considered an essential medicine by the World Health Organization (WHO). Antibiotics of this kind (aminoglycosides) cause kidney damage in up to 25% of hospitalized patients. This is a major problem for more than 37 million Americans estimated to suffer from chronic kidney disease, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). In fact, the American Federal Drug Administration (FDA) considers the development of antibiotics for patients with chronic kidney disease to be a national priority.

A group of researchers, led by Professor Yaakov Nahmias, Director of the Grass Center for Bioengineering at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and founder of the biotechnology startup Tissue Dynamics, found a new mechanism of antibiotics-induced kidney damage, never identified before. “Most work in the drug development field is being carried out in mice”, said Nahmias, “and the mechanism we found is human-specific”.

The academic team partnered with Tissue Dynamics to develop a bionic micro-kidney in which electrooptical sensors—roughly half the width of a single human hair--are embedded in human kidney tissue. The chip emulates normal human physiology, producing far more accurate behavior than small animals.  The sensors allowed the Hebrew University team to measure glucose accumulation in the micro-kidneys, that led to rapid lipid accumulation and kidney damage. “Humans make lipids from sugar, while rodents mostly make lipids from dietary lipids”, explained Nahmias. Blocking glucose reabsorption in the kidney using the diabetic drug empagliflozin blocked the antibiotic toxicity.

“This is a dramatic demonstration that bionic technology, which blends sensors with human tissue, could rapidly propel drug development forward”, shared Nahmias, whose company Tissue Dynamics was recently selected as one of the top 5 organ-on-chip companies in the world.

A remarkable scientific discovery has been made by researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU), Tel Aviv University (TAU), and Bar-Ilan University (BIU), in collaboration with the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Oranim Academic College, the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research (IOLR) institution, the Natural History Museum in London, and the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz. A close analysis of the remains of a carp-like fish found at the Gesher Benot Ya’aqov (GBY) archaeological site in Israel shows that the fish were cooked roughly 780,000 years ago.  Cooking is defined as the ability to process food by controlling the temperature at which it is heated and includes a wide range of methods. Until now, the earliest evidence of cooking dates to approximately 170,000 years ago. The question of when early man began using fire to cook food has been the subject of much scientific discussion for over a century. These findings shed new light on the matter and was published in Nature Ecology and Evolution.

The study was led by a team of researchers:  Dr. Irit Zohar, a researcher at TAU’s Steinhardt Museum of Natural History and curator of the Beit Margolin Biological Collections at Oranim Academic College, and HU Professor Naama Goren-Inbar, director of the excavation site.  The research team also included Dr. Marion Prevost at HU’s Institute of Archaeology; Prof. Nira Alperson-Afil at BIU’s Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology; Dr. Jens Najorka of the Natural History Museum in London; Dr. Guy Sisma-Ventura of the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute; Prof. Thomas Tütken of the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz and Prof. Israel Hershkovitz at TAU’s Faculty of Medicine.

Dr. Zohar and Dr. Prevost: “This study demonstrates the huge importance of fish in the life of prehistoric humans, for their diet and economic stability. Further, by studying the fish remains found at Gesher Benot Ya’aqob we were able to reconstruct, for the first time, the fish population of the ancient Hula Lake and to show that the lake held fish species that became extinct over time. These species included giant barbs (carp like fish) that reached up to 2 meters in length. The large quantity of fish remains found at the site proves their frequent consumption by early humans, who developed special cooking techniques. These new findings demonstrate not only the importance of freshwater habitats and the fish they contained for the sustenance of prehistoric man, but also illustrate prehistoric humans’ ability to control fire in order to cook food, and their understanding the benefits of cooking fish before eating it.”

In the study, the researchers focused on pharyngeal teeth (used to grind up hard food such as shells) belonging to fish from the carp family. These teeth were found in large quantities at different archaeological strata at the site. By studying the structure of the crystals that form the teeth enamel (whose size increases through exposure to heat), the researchers were able to prove that the fish caught at the ancient Hula Lake, adjacent to the site, were exposed to temperatures suitable for cooking, and were not simply burned by a spontaneous fire.

Until now, evidence of the use of fire for cooking had been limited to sites that came into use much later than the GBY site--by some 600,000 years, and ones most are associated with the emergence of our own species, homo sapiens.

Prof. Goren-Inbar added: “The fact that the cooking of fish is evident over such a long and unbroken period of settlement at the site indicates a continuous tradition of cooking food. This is another in a series of discoveries relating to the high cognitive capabilities of the Acheulian hunter-gatherers who were active in the ancient Hula Valley region. These groups were deeply familiar with their environment and the various resources it offered them.  Further, it shows they had extensive knowledge of the life cycles of different plant and animal species. Gaining the skill required to cook food marks a significant evolutionary advance, as it provided an additional means for making optimal use of available food resources. It is even possible that cooking was not limited to fish, but also included various types of animals and plants.”

Prof. Hershkovitz and Dr. Zohar note that the transition from eating raw food to eating cooked food had dramatic implications for human development and behavior.  Eating cooked food reduces the bodily energy required to break down and digest food, allowing other physical systems to develop.  It also leads to changes in the structure of the human jaw and skull. This change freed humans from the daily, intensive work of searching for and digesting raw food, providing them free time in which to develop new social and behavioral systems. Some scientists view eating fish as a milestone in the quantum leap in human cognitive evolution, providing a central catalyst for the development of the human brain.  They claim that eating fish is what made us human. Even today, it is widely known that the contents of fish flesh, such as omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, iodine and more, contribute greatly to brain development.

The research team believe that the location of freshwater areas, some of them in areas that have long since dried up and become arid deserts, determined the route of the migration of early man from Africa to the Levant and beyond. Not only did these habitats provide drinking water and attracted animals to the area but catching fish in shallow water is a relatively simple and safe task with a very high nutritional reward.

The team posits that exploiting fish in freshwater habitats was the first step on prehistoric humans’ route out of Africa. Early man began to eat fish around 2 million years ago but cooking fish—as found in this study—represented a real revolution in the Acheulian diet, and is an important foundation for understanding the relationship between man, the environment, climate, and migration when attempting to reconstruct the history of early humans.

It should be noted that evidence of the use of fire at the site—the oldest such evidence in Eurasia—was identified first by BIU’s Prof. Nira Alperson-Afil. “The use of fire is a behavior that characterizes the entire continuum of settlement at the site,” she explained. “This affected the spatial organization of the site and the activity conducted there, which revolved around fireplaces.” Alperson-Afil’s research of fire at the site was revolutionary for its time and showed that the use of fire began hundreds of thousands of years before previously thought.

HU’s Goren-Inbar added that the archaeological site of GBY documents a continuum of repeated settlement by groups of hunter-gatherers on the shores of the ancient Hula Lake which lasting tens of thousands of years. “These groups made use of the rich array of resources provided by the ancient Hula Valley, and left behind a long settlement continuum with over 20 settlement strata,” Goren-Inbar explained. The excavations at the site have uncovered the material culture of these ancient hominins, including flint, basalt, and limestone tools, as well as their food sources, which were characterized by a rich diversity of plant species from the lake and its shores (including fruit, nuts, and seeds) and by many species of land mammals, both medium-sized and large.

Dr. Jens Najorka of the Natural History Museum in London explained: “In this study, we used geochemical methods to identify changes in the size of the tooth enamel crystals, as a result of exposure to different cooking temperatures. When they are burnt by fire, it is easy to identify the dramatic change in the size of the enamel crystals, but it is more difficult to identify the changes caused by cooking at temperatures between 200 and 500 degrees Celsius. The experiments I conducted with Dr. Zohar allowed us to identify the changes caused by cooking at low temperatures. We do not know exactly how the fish were cooked but given the lack of evidence of exposure to high temperatures, it is clear that they were not cooked directly in fire, and were not thrown into a fire as waste or as material for burning.”

Dr. Guy Sisma-Ventura of the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute and Prof. Thomas Tütken of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz were also part of the research group, providing analysis of the isotope composition of oxygen and carbon in the enamel of the fishes’ teeth. “This study of isotopes is a real breakthrough, as it allowed us to reconstruct the hydrological conditions in this ancient lake throughout the seasons, and thus to determine that the fish were not a seasonal economic resource but were caught and eaten all year round. Thus, fish provided a constant source of nutrition that reduced the need for seasonal migration.”

 

The alphabet was invented around 1800 BCE and was used by the Canaanites and later by most other languages in the world.  Until recently, no meaningful Canaanite inscriptions had been discovered in the Land of Israel, save only two or three words here and there. Now an amazing discovery presents an entire sentence in Canaanite, dating to about 1700 BCE. It is engraved on a small ivory comb and includes a spell against lice.

The comb was unearthed at Tel Lachish in Israel by a team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) and Southern Adventist University in the United States, under the direction of Professors Yosef Garfinkel, Michael Hasel and Martin Klingbeil.  The inscription was deciphered by semitic epigraphist Dr. Daniel Vainstub at Ben Gurion University (BGU). The ivory was tested by HU Prof. Rivka Rabinovich and BGU Prof. Yuval Goren and was found to originate from an elephant tusk.  Their findings were published in Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology.

The letters of the inscription were engraved in a very shallow manner. It was excavated in 2017 but the letters were noticed only in subsequent post-processing in 2022 by Dr. Madeleine Mumcuoglu. It was cleaned and preserved by Miriam Lavi.

The ivory comb is small, measuring roughly 3.5 by 2.5 cm.  The comb has teeth on both sides. Although their bases are still visible, the comb teeth themselves were broken in antiquity. The central part of the comb is somewhat eroded, possibly by the pressure of fingers holding the comb during haircare or removal of lice from the head or beard. The side of the comb with six thick teeth was used to untangle knots in the hair, while the other side, with 14 fine teeth, was used to remove lice and their eggs, much like the current-day two-sided lice combs sold in stores.

There are 17 Canaanite letters on the comb. They are archaic in form—from the first stage of the invention of the alphabet script. They form seven words in Canaanite, reading: “May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard.”

“This is the first sentence ever found in the Canaanite language in Israel. There are Canaanites in Ugarit in Syria, but they write in a different script, not the alphabet that is used till today. The Canaanite cities are mentioned in Egyptian documents, the Amarna letters that were written in Akkadian, and in the Hebrew Bible. The comb inscription is direct evidence for the use of the alphabet in daily activities some 3700 years ago. This is a landmark in the history of the human ability to write,” shared Garfinkel.

Ancient combs were made from wood, bone, or ivory. Ivory was a very expensive material and likely an imported luxury object.  As there were no elephants in Canaan during that time period, the comb likely came from nearby Egypt—factors indicating that even people of high social status suffered from lice.

The research team analyzed the comb itself for the presence of lice under a microscope and photographs were taken of both sides. Remains of head lice, 0.5–0.6 mm in size, were found on the second tooth. The climatic conditions of Lachish, however, did not allow preservation of whole head lice but only those of the outer chitin membrane of the nymph stage head louse.

Despite its small size, the inscription on the comb from Lachish has very special features, some of which are unique and fill in gaps and lacunas in our knowledge of many aspects of the culture of Canaan in the Bronze Age.  For the first time, we have an entire verbal sentence written in the dialect spoken by the Canaanite inhabitants of Lachish, enabling us to compare this language in all its aspects with the other sources for it. Second, the inscription on the comb sheds light on some hitherto poorly attested aspects of the everyday life of the time, haircare and dealing with lice.

Third, this is the first discovery in the region of an inscription referring to the purpose of the object on which it was written, as opposed to dedicatory or ownership inscriptions on objects. Further, the engraver’s skill in successfully executing such tiny letters (1–3 mm wide) is a fact that from now on should be taken into account in any attempt to summarize and draw conclusions on literacy in Canaan in the Bronze Age.

Lachish was a major Canaanite city state in the second millennium BCE and the second most important city in the Biblical Kingdom of Judah. To date, 10 Canaanite inscriptions have been found in Lachish, more than at any other site in Israel. The city was the major center for the use and preservation of the alphabet during some 600 years, from 1800-1150 BCE. The site of Tel Lachish is under the protection of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.   

 

Dr. Amir Capua, Faculty Member, HU’s Department of Applied Physics, shared, “the chip industry in Israel is flourishing, as hi-tech giants open new development centers. At the same time, there is a severe lack of engineers at all levels.  In our role to prepare the next generation of engineers, Hebrew University’s curriculum for electrical engineering and applied physics is attentive to market needs.  We provide our students with the most up-to-date studies, including the skills and knowledge they will need when they complete their studies. It’s is a complex field, with technology changing at a dizzying speed.” Capua continued, “in our proposal to the Intel’s SyllaBoost Program, we went deep to equip our graduates with the final and critical stage of chip design: the backend stage, just before a chip is rolled out on the most advanced production lines.”

Thanks to support for the new syllabus by HU’s management, headed by VP and CEO Mr. Yishai Fraenkel, an industrial working environment based on cloud infrastructure was created for students. This allows for continuous updating of course content, distance learning for students, and tech support from an external company.  HU plans to expand this infrastructure to other VLSI courses offered in microelectronics specialization, enabling more students to gain gain hands-on experience of the most up-to-date technologies and methodologies used in the chip-making industry.

Mariana Waksman, Head of Academic and Education Relations at Intel Israel, shared, “our collaboration with Hebrew University is important to us and will continue on in the future. HU’s new course will benefit not only students in its Department of Applied Physics but also the chip design industry at large—a growing industry in Israel and particularly in Jerusalem.  We are committed to advancing academic teaching in all areas of chip design and development, and will continue to strengthen Israel’s academia by supporting and conducting strategic partnerships with various universities.”

 

Artificial intelligence (AI) plays a role in all our daily lives, and is now a central growth engine in the business sector. The rapidly growing quantities of data that need to be handled demand that organizations develop advanced technological capabilities and apply AI on a large scale—a challenge that requires significant investment in R&D.  In light of the fact that Israel has a severe shortage of people with advanced degrees in computer science, and given higher education’s need for funding and skills from the business world, IBM Research has decided to launch a collaboration with the Technion and the Hebrew University.

Under the terms of the 3-year agreement, research will be conducted to search for new solutions in AI in the following 3 areas: natural language processing; accelerating discoveries for new drugs; and multi-cloud computing to support decentralized AI computation.  IBM will fund these studies, which will be carried out by doctoral students at the Technion and Hebrew University, totaling several million NIS.

Prof. Asher Cohen, President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem: “The combination of IBM, one of the world’s leading technological companies, and our top-notch researchers offers an optimal edge to the knowledge- and computing- revolutions. With growing demand for experts who specialize in machine learning, algorithms, and computer science, the relationship with IBM, even from the earliest stages of research, will lead to outstanding breakthroughs in both science and medicine.”

Prof. Koby Rubinstein, Executive Vice President for Research at the Technion: “The Technion and the IBM Research Lab in Israel have had a very close relationship for years, ever since the lab was founded.  In recent years, the Technion has been home to a wide range of intensive research activity in AI. This partnership with IBM, which will be led by researchers in the field, will have a multiplier effect on AI research and development. We are delighted by this research collaboration, which will contribute much to both organizations.”

Dr. Aya Soffer, Vice President, AI Technologies and Director IBM Research: “The Israeli hi-tech industry is receiving a significant boost to its continued success. The collaboration with the Technion and Hebrew University will give rise groundbreaking research aimed at leveraging artificial intelligence and improving our lives. I am proud that IBM Research has decided to invest in this important undertaking that we have initiated here in Israel.”