Latest news with #WeizmannInstituteofScience
The Star
3 days ago
- Health
- The Star
Israeli-U.S. study stops cancer weight loss via nerve intervention
JERUSALEM, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Israeli and U.S. researchers have discovered that disrupted brain-liver communication drives severe weight loss, or cachexia, in cancer patients, Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science said Thursday in a statement. The study, published in Cell, found that cancer-induced inflammation damages the vagus nerve, a major pathway between the brain and liver, triggering the depletion of muscle and fat linked to nearly a third of cancer deaths, read the statement. Researchers blocked the right vagus nerve in mice non-invasively, preventing cachexia and improving their response to chemotherapy, read the statement, noting that the method boosted survival rates and overall health, with human trials underway. According to the researchers, using clinically approved technologies, the study promises rapid patient access, offering hope for up to 85 percent of cancer patients suffering from extreme weight loss in some types of cancer, such as pancreatic and lung tumors.
Hans India
23-07-2025
- Science
- Hans India
Researchers develop new ways for AI models to work together
Researchers have developed a set of algorithms that allow different artificial intelligence (AI) models to 'think' and work together as one. The development, by researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) makes it possible to combine the strengths of different AI systems, speeding up performance and reducing costs, Xinhua news agency reported. The new method significantly improves the speed of large language models, or LLMs, which power tools like ChatGPT and Gemini. On average, it increases performance by 1.5 times, and in some cases by as much as 2.8 times, the team said, adding that it could make AI more suitable for smartphones, drones, and autonomous vehicles. In those settings, faster response times can be critical to safety and accuracy. For example, in a self-driving car, a faster AI model can mean the difference between a safe decision and a dangerous error. Until now, AI models developed by different companies could not easily communicate or collaborate because each uses a different internal 'language,' made up of unique tokens. The researchers compared this to people from different countries trying to talk without a shared vocabulary. To overcome this, the team developed two algorithms. One allows a model to translate its output into a shared format that other models can understand. The other encourages collaboration using tokens that have the same meaning across different systems, like common words in human languages. Though initially concerned that meaning might be lost in translation, the researchers found that their system worked efficiently. The new tools are already available through open-source platforms and are helping developers worldwide create faster and more collaborative AI applications. The finding was presented at the International Conference on Machine Learning being held in Vancouver, Canada.
News18
07-07-2025
- Science
- News18
Reverse Evolution? Wild Galápagos Tomatoes Bring Ancient DNA To Life
Last Updated: Scientists find Galápagos wild tomatoes naturally reactivating ancient genes—offering insights into evolution, survival, and future biotech breakthroughs In a groundbreaking discovery that has stunned biologists, wild tomatoes growing on the rocky terrain of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, have been found to naturally activate ancient genes, a process once thought to be nearly impossible in real-time evolution. Two species, Solanum cheesmaniae and Solanum galapagense, are showing unexpected genetic reversals, suggesting that nature may be capable of 'reverse evolution'. The remarkable find comes from a team of researchers at UC Riverside and Israel 's Weizmann Institute of Science, and the study is now published in Nature Communications. What's Happening In Galápagos? The scientists collected 56 wild tomato samples from both the eastern and western regions of the Galápagos archipelago. What they uncovered was astonishing: Tomatoes on the eastern islands had modern crop-like alkaloids — naturally occurring chemicals often found in today's farm-grown varieties. Tomatoes on the western, younger, and harsher islands contained primitive alkaloids — chemicals similar to those in ancient relatives like wild eggplants (brinjal). The culprit? A tiny enzyme change. Just a few amino acid modifications in one key enzyme were enough to switch the tomatoes' genetic programming back by millions of years. A Case Of Genetic Atavism This rare genetic phenomenon is known as Genetic Atavism — where long-dormant genes are reawakened. In lab experiments, scientists have reactivated similar traits in animals (such as growing teeth in chickens), but this is one of the first known cases of a naturally occurring, population-wide genetic reversal in plants. Environmental pressures, particularly the barren, nutrient-scarce conditions on the western islands, are believed to have triggered this ancient defensive mechanism in the tomatoes, causing their genes to flip into survival mode. Why It Matters: Evolution And Biotechnology The implications go far beyond botany. This discovery offers a rare real-world view of evolution unfolding in reverse, and it has huge potential for biotechnology, agriculture, and medicine. Dr Adam Jozwiak, one of the lead researchers, notes: 'By changing just a few amino acids, a completely different chemical can be produced. This opens the door to creating pest-resistant crops, less toxic fruits, or even new medicines." Understanding how nature rewires its own genetic code could allow scientists to intentionally mimic these changes; leading to breakthroughs in crop design, pharmaceutical compounds, and sustainable agriculture. A Natural Wonder With Global Impact While these tomatoes may seem like a quirky island curiosity, they could be the key to unlocking ancient genetic blueprints that modern science is only beginning to understand. The Galápagos, famously known as Darwin's natural laboratory, continues to challenge what we think we know about life's adaptability. This isn't just a story of tomatoes, it's a reminder that evolution doesn't always move forward. Sometimes, nature takes a step back to survive the future. First Published:
The Hindu
02-07-2025
- Science
- The Hindu
How India can overcome the quantum lag behind U.S., China
As India embarks on its ambitious $750 million National Quantum Mission, it finds itself at a historic inflection point—much like the 1970s when it declared self-reliance in nuclear technology. Then, as now, the engine driving this leap is theoretical brilliance paired with mission execution. Today's mission, however, seeks mastery over a frontier even stranger than the atomic nucleus: the quantum realm. Useful parallel The universe, at its most fundamental level, operates under principles that defy classical intuition. A groundbreaking experiment conducted at Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science in 1998, and reported in the prestigious journal Nature, vividly demonstrated one of quantum theory's most mind-bending assumptions: the act of observation influences reality. Researchers created a microscopic setup with a barrier containing two holes and directed electrons towards it. By employing an electronic detector as the observer, they meticulously tracked the electrons' behaviour. The experiment revealed that, when unobserved, electrons behaved as waves, simultaneously traversing both openings. However, upon observation by the detector, these same electrons were compelled to act as particles, passing through only one opening. Crucially, the degree of observation directly correlated with the extent of control over the resulting interference patterns validating fundamental aspects of quantum mechanics such as superposition, entanglement, and wavefunction collapse. These observations, amongst Richard Feynman's foundational work in the 1980s, would lay the foundation for Quantum Key Distribution computing, sensing and metrology, materials and devices, software and algorithms, optics, and photonics technologies. Around the same decade, India announced its self-reliance in nuclear technology that represented the culmination of decades of mathematical modelling, from Monte Carlo simulations for neutron transport to sophisticated algorithms for implosion dynamics. Starting in 1940s, under the leadership of Homi Bhabha, a theoretical physicist himself, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research-led mission successfully built capacity in neutron physics, reactor design calculations, and complex mathematical modelling. This helped physicists build Apsara, India's first research reactor, and later the entire nuclear power program possible. Both nuclear and quantum technology deal with the fundamental nature of matter at the atomic and subatomic levels and are built on the bedrock of Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. Quantum physics is the foundational framework describing matter and energy at the atomic and subatomic scales, encompassing all fundamental forces and particles like electrons and quarks. Nuclear physics, a specific branch within this framework, focuses intensely on the atomic nucleus—its protons and neutrons—and the powerful strong and weak nuclear forces that govern them, operating at much higher energy scales than typical atomic interactions. While quantum physics provides the universal rules for the microscopic world, nuclear physics applies these rules to unravel the complex behaviour and transformations within the nucleus itself, leading to phenomena like radioactivity, fission, and fusion. Quantum mechanics and nuclear physics depend greatly on mathematical structures such as linear algebra, differential equations and probability theory to model and predict the behaviour of subatomic particles, in which wave functions and probabilities are key concepts. This legacy of coupling theoretical brilliance with an almost obsessive focus on mission execution is profoundly relevant for India's quantum ambition today as it pursues its $750 million National Quantum Mission. Quantum computing demands exactly the skills India has cultivated: advanced linear algebra for quantum state manipulation, group theory for quantum symmetries, probability theory for quantum measurement, and number theory for quantum cryptography. The transition from nuclear to quantum represents an evolution in India's scientific journey. Where nuclear physics required mastery of differential equations and statistical mechanics, quantum computing demands tensor algebra and quantum field theory—domains where India's mathematical tradition provides natural advantages. The same institutions that powered nuclear success—TIFR, IITs, DRDO and BARC—now host quantum research centres and have built and tested India's first 6-qubit superconducting quantum processor, facilitating India's entry into the quantum hardware arena, a field dominated so far by only a few nations. Interestingly, all the major building blocks were conceived in India: the qubits were designed and made at TIFR's Mumbai facility, with a new ring-resonator design created by TIFR researchers. The control electronics and software stack were integrated by DRDO's Young Scientists Laboratory for Quantum Technologies (DYSL-QT) in Pune with assistance from TCS, showcasing a synergy among defence labs, academics, and industry. Companies like QPiAi and QNu Labs are actively developing quantum computing and quantum-safe communication while the government is pursuing secure satellite-based quantum key distribution and advanced metrology systems. The successful demonstration of free-space quantum secure communication over more than one kilometre by DRDO-Industry-Academia Centre of Excellence (DIA-CoE) at IIT Delhi further highlights India's progress in practical applications. Further , start-ups such as Nav Wireless are pioneering indigenous Free space optical communication (FSOC) technology that can support interference-free quantum communication in urban and low resource rural settings. Despite India's progress in software-centric, theoretical and algorithmic aspects of quantum computing, the country lags China and the U.S. China leads in quantum communications, lags in computing (where the United States excels), and matches the United States in sensing. China excels in market-ready tech, while the U.S. dominates other high-impact areas. These progresses have been made possible due to their success in attracting top talent, providing enabling infrastructure/labs and sufficient funding (China's $15 billion public quantum funding) The crucial talent gap While India has a very large number of quantum-educated graduates and ranks second globally in quantum-ready workforce with approximately 91,000 graduates as of 2021 (based on quantum-relevant fields such as biochemistry, electronics, chemical engineering, mathematics, and statistics published by McKinsey Quantum Technology Monitor-April 2024), the human resource involved in developing quantum technologies is abysmally small. This critical shortage means entire subfields of quantum technology remain unexplored or underdeveloped within India. Furthermore, a notable weakness is the limited industry funding for research, with only 2.6% of surveyed PhD and postdoctoral researchers in India reporting industry support as per Office of PSA's April 2025- India's International Technology Engagement Strategy for Quantum Science, Technology and Innovationreport. This indicates a disconnect between the available academic talent and its effective integration into industrial quantum development. Building enabling infrastructure and self-reliance Recognising these gaps, the National Quantum Mission aims to significantly boost India's capabilities. Plans include expanding local fabrication facilities and supporting deep-tech startups through new funding initiatives, such as a recently announced $1.2 billion fund for deep-tech ventures. The structure of the mission consists of thematic hubs (T-Hubs) at world-class institutions such as IISc Bengaluru and Amravati Quantum Valley (Quantum Computing), IIT Madras (for Quantum Communication), IIT Bombay (for Quantum Sensing and Metrology), and IIT Delhi (for Quantum Materials & Devices) for creating research and skill-building in different quantum verticals. Further, India should also invest in the development of a robust domestic supply chain and talent base fabrication, cryogenics, and photonics on lines of the microelectronics commons programme in the US. While the Amravati Quantum declaration is a good start, India needs an accelerated roll-out of the enabling infrastructure to play catch-up with developed economies that have been investing 10X on Quantum initiatives. Fixing India's quantum talent woes The fragmented nature of India's research landscape, with few institutions appearing in top global rankings, could further hinder its ability to attract and retain top-tier foreign talent and lose Indian early-career researchers who often move to the U.S. and Europe for high-impact research opportunities. To reverse this trend, India should attract Indian-origin researchers working in international locations to contribute to its mission by offering innovative Visas (Europe's 'Talent Visas'), competitive salaries, better funding, and an enabling research environment. While a concerted effort is being made to create a qualified quantum workforce through numerous academic programs and collaborative research efforts, such as new undergraduate programs launched by the Department of Science & Technology (DST) and AICTE and efforts from not-for-profit organizations such as QIndia, the nation should focus on integrating quantum curriculum into K-12 education itself much on the lines of USA's National Q-12 education partnership. India's intellectual heritage, which enabled India's remarkable nuclear achievements, can now propel the nation toward quantum supremacy provided India focuses on Quantum communication and Computing as core areas as they are the foundational technology layers for enabling other critical missions on Healthcare, Energy and Defence. Sustained investment in specialized training, fostering stronger industry-academia collaboration, attracting and retaining top-tier talent, and developing a resilient domestic supply chain are all vital components for India to achieve its vision of becoming a global leader in the quantum revolution. (The author is an Emerging Technology expert with experience in setting up DeepTech public private partnerships and policy advisory in areas of AI, IoT, Quantum,5G, Geospatial, Autonomous and Data Centre Technologies.)
Japan Today
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
Netanyahu sees Iran outcome opening door to Gaza hostage return
FILE PHOTO: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement during a visit to the site of the Weizmann Institute of Science, which was hit by an Iranian missile barrage, in the central city of Rehovot, Israel June 20, 2025. JACK GUEZ/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo By Howard Goller Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday the 12-day war with Iran had created opportunities for Israel, and the first was the return of hostages held in Gaza by Palestinian militants who attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. His remarks, coupled with the Jerusalem District Court's postponement of his testimony this week in his long-running corruption trial, gave rise to speculation that progress may be made to end the Gaza conflict and secure the hostages' release. The court accepted on Sunday Netanyahu's request for the delay, citing classified diplomatic and security grounds. U.S. President Donald Trump had suggested on Saturday the trial could interfere with the Israeli leader's ability to negotiate. Israel's military Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said on Friday the war in Iran, which ended on June 24, could help advance Israeli objectives against the Iranian-backed Hamas group in the Gaza Strip. Israeli public radio Kan said Israel's security cabinet had met on Sunday evening and would meet again on Monday. Israel's strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer, a confidant of Netanyahu's, was expected on Monday at the White House for talks on Iran and Gaza, Israeli media said. On a Sunday visit to a security facility of Israel's Shin Bet domestic intelligence service, Netanyahu said: "I want to inform you that as you probably know, many opportunities have opened up now following this victory, many opportunities." "First of all, to rescue the hostages. Of course we will also have to solve the Gaza issue, to defeat Hamas, but I estimate that we will achieve both tasks," he said, according to a statement issued by his office. Israeli advocates for the 50 hostages remaining in Gaza, known as the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters, said his statement prioritizing the hostages was a first. "The families of the hostages welcome the fact that after 20 months, the return of the hostages has finally been designated as the top priority by the prime minister," they said. "This is a very important statement that must translate into a single comprehensive deal to bring back all 50 hostages and end the fighting in Gaza," their statement said. Of the 50 hostages, only 20 are believed to be alive. Trump said on Saturday that Netanyahu was "right now" negotiating a deal with Hamas, though neither leader provided details, and officials on both sides have voiced skepticism over prospects for a ceasefire soon. The U.S. has proposed a 60-day ceasefire and a release of half the hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and the remains of other Palestinians. Hamas would release the remaining hostages once a permanent ceasefire was in place. On Sunday, the Israeli military ordered Palestinians to evacuate areas in northern Gaza before intensified fighting against Hamas. A Hamas official told Reuters the group had informed mediators it was ready to resume ceasefire talks, but reaffirmed the group's outstanding demands that any deal must end the war and secure an Israeli withdrawal from the coastal territory. Israel says it can only end the war if Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms. Hamas fighters killed 1,200 people and took 251 captives back to Gaza in their attack on Israel, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent military assault has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, displaced almost the entire 2.3 million population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
