In Honor of World Giraffe Day: How to Shave a Giraffe's Feet
On the giraffe's five horns, supercharged cardiovascular system and how to perform a pedicure on your giraffe
Science & Health
IBM's Argumentative Computer, Produced in Israel, Proves Formidable Against Human Debaters
IBM gave its first public demonstration of new artificial intelligence technology it’s been working on for more than five years, showing that computers are getting better at mastering human language and speech
Backing the Wrong Wild Horse: New Studies Demolish Equine Domestication Theory
Widespread beliefs about how Indo-European languages spread have also ridden into the sunset
TechNation: New App Lets Tourists Get VAT Refunds Online
Two startups win anti-terror contest, DreaMed gets U.S. nod for diabetes tech
Want to Work at Home in Israel? Find a Job in the High-tech Industry
Among people employed in Israel’s high-tech industry, 80% of people polled set their own hours reached and more than half said they had the option of working at home
Space Odyssey: Why Does Israel Need a Blue-and White Communications Satellite?
The government will soon decide between an Israeli and an American-manufactured one
Scientists Auction Off Right to Name New Species of Snail-sucking Snakes
The newly discovered mollusk-munchers are already endangered but now they're living on land bought with the proceeds of the naming auction
Purifying Water Using a Ceramic Pot in Uganda
When the well is contaminated: The Purifaaya pot, made by Spouts of Water, is 99.9% effective and its water is potable, say Ugandan authorities
Harvesting the Wind: Community Wind Farms in France
Locally generated, community oriented, wind energy is gaining popularity in France - thanks to a farmer and an artist
Dammed to Hell: Crowd-sourcing a Rescue for Rivers
The Italian project AMBER mobilizes people across the European Union in order to save their river systems, and their futures
Israeli Company Invents Plastic Packaging You Can Compost
Even if the TIPA film is tossed into the landfill as opposed to lovingly composted under optimal conditions, it will still vanish, unlike plastic that will stay with our children's children's children
Beyond the Bean: Turning Coffee Grounds Into Protein Powder
When you make coffee, you're using only 0.2% of the bean's biomass. You can grow mushrooms on the coffee waste and produce umami-flavored protein while about it
Next-gen Disposable Cutlery: Making Edible Spoons in India
Narayaana Peespaty is changing the way we think about the way we eat. Why have disposable cutlery when you could just eat it?
Ribbit Me This: What Do 99-million Year Old Frogs in Amber Found in Myanmar Tell Us?
Extremely rare specimen from a quarter-billion years of evolution sheds light on the environment preferences of early amphibians
IN PHOTOS Long-dead Critters Animate Israel’s Nature Museum
The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History places special emphasis on the flora and fauna indigenous to the Holy Land and Middle East
Hold the Bubbly: The Only Signs of Life Found on Mars Are Rover Tracks
Life probably existed on Mars but we haven't found it: Organic chemicals and methane bursts can be geologically explained
The Dawn of Agriculture: Not Born of Necessity, Says New Study
Never mind where or when: Why did Neolithics begin to domesticate plants and animals? It wasn't because they were starving, suggests new research
HIV on the Rise in Israel, Breaking Consistent Decline Since 2013
Increase evident among gay community, women and immigrants from former Soviet Union, expert says
We Need More Volcanoes: Eruptions Slowed Global Warming in Past
Warming slowed three times in the last 150 years because of natural causes, new paper shows – including solar cycles, unusual weather patterns and volcanic activity
Side Effects Unknown: When Transgender Kids Undergo Hormone Therapy
A pediatric endocrinologist describes the tough road faced by transgender children and teens who decide to undergo hormone therapy
Foreshocks Debunked as Earthquake Predictor, Turkish-U.S. Study Concludes
New data on the 1999 disaster in Izmit, Turkey, disappointingly shows the little quakes preceding the big one were unrelated and detecting foreshocks won’t help predict major quakes
Tiny Babies of Prehistoric Giant Shrimp Were Ferocious Killers Too
Not only the meter-long adults crawling around the primordial ooze had circular mouths with radiating teeth: So did the kiddies.
Sodium Consumption in Israel Almost Twice the Recommended Amount
National study says level of salt consumption has not fallen in last five years despite Health Ministry plan
Dozens of Top Doctors Urge Israel to Let Cancer Patients Leave Gaza for Treatment
Around 45 women waited 6 months or more to be treated in Israel in the last year, says rights group. Delayed treatment, oncologists charge, could lead to worsening of disease and death
How Rapidly Changing Technology Threatens Future Scientific Discoveries
Why are religion and science so closely linked, and what do Muslim kids in Brussels have to do with ultra-Orthodox youngsters in Jerusalem? An interview with science historian Lorraine Daston
Quarter-billion-year-old Lizard Found in Alps Changes Evolution Model
Lizard precursors survived the Permian-Triassic mass extinction and were fruitful and multiplied, resulting in the first modern lizards: geckos
WATCH Blue Whale Makes Unprecedented Visit Off Eilat's Red Sea Coast
Specimen of the world's largest animal spotted off Israel's Red Sea coast in what is thought to be the first-ever sighting in the area
Barbecuers Beware: Exposing Skin to Smoke Poses Greater Cancer Risk Than Breathing It
Actually eating barbecued meat is the greatest hazard, but Chinese study shows bystanders in cookout-plagued Israeli beaches and parks should also keep their distance
Jurassic Scurf: Earliest Case of Dandruff Found in 125 Million-year-old Dinosaur
Head & Scales shampoo might have been handy for Cretaceous dinosaurs shedding scaly skin through feathers, scientists report after microscopic analysis of fossils
Israeli Study Gains Pace in Seeking Treatment for ALS
Any drug remains a long way away, but Tel Aviv University researchers have identified a molecule for stopping the secretion of toxins and hopefully slowing the development of Lou Gehrig’s disease
Israeli Mental Health Patients Are Being Denied Help by Welfare Departments
Municipal welfare departments categorically refuse to help poor people with psychiatric problems, and when they seek aid from the Health Ministry it poses multiple hurdles
Superman Coral in Red Sea Can Take Climate Change but Not Sewage Too, Scientists Warn
Hardy coral by Eilat and Aqaba voted most likely to survive global warming, but even it can't overcome explosive algal growth fed by effluence and the rise in floodwaters
Giant Flatworms Invade France, Science Finally Notices
Paper's authors 'amazed' how nobody in power reacted to the arrival of brightly colored hammerhead flatworms, until 'citizen scientists' took photos of them
Scientific Shock: Sweet Potato Originated in India, Not the Americas
Fossil plant 57 million years old found in Meghalaya seems ancestral to the sweet potato, and indicates the split from tobacco and tomatoes occurred a lot earlier than thought
Humans Have Primordial Gene That Helped First Mammal Eat Bugs, Scientists Find
The gene codes for an enzyme that degrades the shell of insects, enabling us to eat locusts to this day, originated in the first mammals living among dinosaurs
How to Make Your Dog Not Bite: Study Unveils What Triggers Man’s Best Friend
Obviously you shouldn’t steal Fido’s steak or sit on him, but with the help of YouTube, the University of Liverpool noticed some lesser-known provocations that even dog owners don't know
Ancient Europeans May Have Given Leprosy to the World – and to Squirrels, Study Finds
Study of ancient European bones suggests leprosy had been on that continent more than 4,500 years ago, maybe even spreading from there across the world – even to the animal kingdom
Scientists Identify 405,000-year Climate Cycle on Earth
Ancient rocks prove theory of overriding orbital behavior that exacerbates shorter-term effects, like those Milankovitch cycles that cause ice ages
Can the World Cope With Half a Billion Refugees? Philosopher Jonathan Glover Talks Death and Decency
Dan David Prize winner and bioethics expert Jonathan Glover explains why we shouldn’t kill even if life is not ‘sacred,’ how to overcome tribalism, and his mental exercise for Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers
Major Drop in Mediterranean Pollution Off Israeli Coast, Report Says
The biggest source of pollution was removed last year when the Dan Region’s sewage treatment plants stopped pumping their sludge into the sea and began dealing with it on land
WATCH How to Drop a Raw Egg From Roof Without Breaking It? 85-year-old Kibbutznik Solves It
Simplicity in innovation: Family team nabs 10,000-shekel prize for EggCopter X20, part of the Technion University's annual Doctor Bob TechnoBrain competition
The Graph Netanyahu Didn't Want You to See: Iran Surpasses Israel in Scientific Research Rankings
20 years ago Israel led research rankings in the Middle East, but other nations have since overtaken it. Yet in terms of quality rankings, Israel still holds the lead
Israeli Science Puzzled by Suicidal Sexual Compulsion in Widow Spiders
The male's predilection for age could be understandable if older females were less likely to eat them, but they’re not, and why do the males throw themselves into the female’s mouth?
‘The Ocean Is Suffocating’: Dead Zone Bigger Than Scotland Identified in Gulf of Oman
Pirates and war had discouraged researchers from Arabian Sea, until new mapping was made possible by robots
An Einstein We Didn't Know
Despite his famed line about God ‘not playing dice,’ evidence in letters shows that Einstein was the living spirit behind quantum mechanics
Zebrafish May Solve the Riddle of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, Israeli Researchers Say
Experiments on the fishes' sleeping patterns help explain why a rise in the baby’s temperature because of overdressing or a hot room might lead to 'crib death'
Ice Age Artists at Chauvet Cave Made Charcoal From Pine to Draw
The exclusive use of pine, one of the few trees to survive cold, shows how harsh the conditions were when the prehistoric masters of Chauvet drew their evocative animals 37,000 and 28,000 years ago
Prolonged Paracetamol Use in Pregnancy Linked to Higher Autism, ADHD Risk
But don’t throw away the Tylenol yet, says Hebrew University meta-analysis covering over 130,000 women: Short-term use during pregnancy is safe
Life-threatening Heart Attacks in Israel Drop by 50% Over the Past Decade
Deaths from severe heart attacks also fell because of better preventative treatment and gradual lifestyle changes, the Israel Heart Society says
Early Hominins Were Fully Erect 3.6 Million Years Ago, Footprints Found in Tanzania Show
We knew ‘Lucy’ could walk, but the Laetoli hominins predate our Australopithecine ancestor by almost half a million years
