Rothberg International School Science Train

What were Einstein’s breakthroughs? Who developed cherry tomatoes? Can a spinning top rotate in the air?

To mark National Science Day (and Einstein’s Birthday) on March 14, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Israel Railways are organizing a ‘Science Train’ traversing Israel from Beer Sheva to Haifa, as part of the monthly ‘Scientists on the Trains’ lecture series.

Commuters on the train will be treated to lectures on the contribution of Albert Einstein to humanity; will meet one of the scientists who developed cherry tomatoes and learn how a scientist develops an invention; and will witness physics experiments during their train journey.

Prof. Hanoch Gutfreund, physicist and former president of the Hebrew University, will talk about Albert Einstein’s contribution to science, whose birthday on March 14 is marked by National Science Day. “In Einstein’s life, there were two years during which he made scientific breakthroughs that changed our outlook on the world forever and influenced not only modern physics but also our daily lives,” says Prof. Gutfreund. “Thanks to his understanding of the essence of light and its interaction with matter, many technologies have been developed – from the elevator door to ballistic missiles.”

Prof. Haim Rabinowitch, former rector of the Hebrew University, will talk about the development process of cherry tomatoes, which he developed with Prof. Nachum Kedar. “We were looking for a way to slow down the quick ripening of regular tomatoes, a phenomenon that is typical for large tomatoes in hot countries. After a great deal of work over many months, in 1973 we succeeded in identifying the appropriate genetic combination to slow down maturation, and developed a way to exploit the genes to enhance the tomatoes,” explains Prof. Rabinowitch.

Cherry tomatoes will be distributed to passengers on the train during the lecture.

Yehonadav Bekenstein, physicist and instructor in the Hebrew University’s youth science courses, will be demonstrating experiments to passengers that deal with the questions: What do mountain trains, nuclear submarines and riding bikes have in common? Why doesn’t a car turn over when it takes a sharp turn? And how is this related to planetary orbits around the sun? Can a spinning top rotate in the air? Newton’s law, angular momentum, centripetal force, centripetal acceleration, coriolis affect, inertia principal and movement without friction.

The first lecture by Prof. Gutfreund will take place on the train departing from Beer Sheva Central at 10:27 a.m., and the physics experiments will take place on the same line at 11:15 a.m. The lecture by Prof. Rabinowitch will take place when the train departs from Tel Aviv University towards Haifa at 12:20 p.m. At 1:28 p.m., Prof. Rabinowitch will give another lecture on the train leaving Haifa Hof HaCarmel to Tel Aviv.

To do the job properly, one must have the proper tools. That was the message of the African participants in a week-long workshop in February of Pears Foundation alumni of the International Master of Public Health program of the Braun Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Public Health and Community Medicine. A feature of the workshop was a one-day symposium focusing on current health issues in Africa. Fifteen Pears Foundation alumni, among the most senior public health officials in Africa, participated in the workshop. All had earned their master of public health degrees at the Braun School in previous years, with financing from the Pears Foundation of the UK. The foundation provides annual scholarships for African students at the school in order to “build a network of scholars in the developing world who benefit from academic expertise in Israel and transfer that expertise towards development efforts in their home countries,” according to Trevor Pears, executive chairman of the Pears Foundation. “The master of public health program at the Braun School gave me the opportunity to have the necessary tools to do my job,” said Dr. Olusola Bukola, 35, an MD who is the head of monitoring and evaluation of the national malaria control program in Nigeria. She particularly cites the training she received at the Hebrew University in epidemiology, for example, as being of great help to her in trying to cope with the widespread scourge of malaria in her home country – a disease particularly lethal to children and pregnant women. Dr. Bukola made the trip to Israel with her six-month-old son and had to manage her schedule carefully in order to continue nursing him. Having her younger sister along to watch the baby was a big help in enabling her to attend the workshop sessions, she said. Another high-ranking official participating in the workshop and symposium program was Dr. Norbert Rakiro, 36, of Kenya, who is the senior health officer of the International Federation of the Red Cross/Red Crescent, Eastern Africa Zone Office, covering 14 countries. He is responsible for providing technical support for program implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and best-practice documentation development. The areas coped with include public health emergencies, immunization programs, malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS “The tools that I acquired in my studies at the Hebrew University included how to assess health situations, how to utilize data to design, implement and evaluate programs, and how to create preventive initiatives that will create public feedback,” he said. “It is important is to create programs in a way that will get people to take preventive actions before getting to the state of curative medicine,” Dr. Rakiro said. Among the problems that have to be coped with in his region are malaria, yellow fever, meningitis, water-borne diseases and polio. Dr. Rakiro said he hoped that workshops and symposia like those just held at the Hebrew University could be held more often since they are valuable in providing updates and exchange of information among those in the field. Another participant in the Pears alumni get-together was Comfort Suku, a pharmacist who is the principal regulatory officer with the National Pharmaco-Vigilance Center of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control in Nigeria. She also pointed out the value of the knowledge that she gained while studying at the Hebrew University. “I acquired information in epidemiology and biostatistics which are essential in every field of health care management,” she emphasized. The international master of public health program was established at the Hebrew University in 1971 in coordination with the Center for International Cooperation of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It now has over 700 graduates from 90 countries in developing and transition regions, as well as from developed countries. According to program director Dr. Yehuda Neumark, “Our graduates take up key positions as public health leaders and teachers and make important contributions to the health of the people in their countries and beyond.”

The Jerusalem Theater hosted the “Circus” Purim party this past Sunday. In attendance were students from Hebrew U., Rothberg and the Bezalel Academy of Art & Design, who also contributed to some of the stage and interior design of the venue. Here are some pictures from that night.

O.

A section of an ancient city wall of Jerusalem from the tenth century B.C.E. – possibly built by King Solomon — has been revealed in archaeological excavations directed by Dr. Eilat Mazar and conducted under the auspices of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The section of the city wall revealed, 70 meters long and six meters high, is located in the area known as the Ophel, between the City of David and the southern wall of the Temple Mount. Uncovered in the city wall complex are: an inner gatehouse for access into the royal quarter of the city, a royal structure adjacent to the gatehouse, and a corner tower that overlooks a substantial section of the adjacent Kidron valley.

“The city wall that has been uncovered testifies to a ruling presence. Its strength and form of construction indicate a high level of engineering”, Mazar said. The city wall is at the eastern end of the Ophel area in a high, strategic location atop the western slop of the Kidron valley.

“A comparison of this latest finding with city walls and gates from the period of the First Temple, as well as pottery found at the site, enable us to postulate with a great degree of assurance that the wall that has been revealed is that which was built by King Solomon in Jerusalem in the latter part of the tenth century B.C.E.,” said Mazar

“This is the first time that a structure from that time has been found that may correlate with written descriptions of Solomon’s building in Jerusalem,” she added. “The Bible tells us that Solomon built — with the assistance of the Phoenicians, who were outstanding builders — the Temple and his new palace and surrounded them with a city, most probably connected to the more ancient wall of the City of David.” Mazar specifically cites the third chapter of the First Books of Kings where it refers to “until he (Solomon) had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.”

The six-meter-high gatehouse of the uncovered city wall complex is built in a style typical of those from the period of the First Temple like Megiddo, Beersheva and Ashdod. It has symmetrical plan of four identical small rooms, two on each side of the main passageway.  Also there was a large, adjacent tower, covering an area of 24 by 18 meters, which was intended to serve as a watchtower to protect entry to the city. The tower is located today under the nearby road and still needs to be excavated.  Nineteenth century British surveyor Charles Warren, who conducted an underground survey in the area, first described the outline of the large tower in 1867 but without attributing it to the era of Solomon.

“Part of the city wall complex served as commercial space and part as security stations,” explained Mazar. Within the courtyard of the large tower there were widespread public activities, she said. It served as a public meeting ground, as a place for conducting commercial activities and cult activities, and as a location for economic and legal activities.

Pottery shards discovered within the fill of the lowest floor of the royal building near the gatehouse also testify to the dating of the complex to the 10th century B.C.E. Found on the floor were remnants of large storage jars, 1.15 meters in height, that survived destruction by fire and that were found in rooms that apparently served as storage areas on the ground floor of the building. On one of the jars there is a partial inscription in ancient Hebrew indicating it belonged to a high-level government official.

“The jars that were found are the largest ever found in Jerusalem,” said Mazar, adding that “the inscription that was found on one of them shows that it belonged to a government official, apparently the person responsible for overseeing the provision of baked goods to the royal court.”

In addition to the pottery shards, cult figurines were also found in the area, as were seal impressions on jar handles with the word “to the king,” testifying to their usage within the monarchy. Also found were seal impressions (bullae) with Hebrew names, also indicating the royal nature of the structure. Most of the tiny fragments uncovered came from intricate wet sifting done with the help of the salvaging Temple Mount Sifting Project, directed by Dr. Gabriel Barkai and Zachi Zweig, under the auspice of the Nature and Parks Authority and the Ir David Foundation.

Between the large tower at the city gate and the royal building the archaeologists uncovered a section of the corner tower that is eight meters in length and six meters high. The tower was built of carved stones of unusual beauty.

East of the royal building, another section of the city wall that extends for some 35 meters also was revealed. This section is five meters high, and is part of the wall that continues to the northeast and once enclosed the Ophel area.

he excavations in the Ophel area were carried out over a three-month period with funding provided by Daniel Mintz and Meredith Berkman, a New York couple interested in Biblical Archeology.

The excavations were carried out in cooperation with the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, and the Company for the Development of East Jerusalem. Archaeology students from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as well as volunteer students from the Herbert W. Armstrong College in Edmond, Oklahoma, and hired workers all participated in the excavation work.

Lake Victoria used to provide a wealth of food and protein for the  families of Uganda. But that was until bigger business got involved and altered the course of nature. Fifty years ago, the Nile Perch was introduced into Lake Victoria in order to grow local fisheries. The Nile Perch is a predator and it started to eat most of the other fish. While the Nile Perch became the primary export of the countries around the lake – namely Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania – depleted supplies over the last ten years of the smaller fish around the shores of the lake on which local fishermen subsisted meant that the local population was deprived of their main source of protein. Furthermore, it was not possible for the local fishermen  to fish the larger Nile Perch was not possible as the fish resided in the middle of Lake Victoria and larger fishing boats were required. To help rectify the situation, researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Makerere University in Kampala, have established ’boutique’ fish farms in small villages around the Lake’s shore in Uganda. Spearheaded by Prof. Berta Levavi-Sivan of the Hebrew University’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment – this group have found a way to spawn several species of African carp and cultivate thema. The project started five years ago and has been financed by USAID-CDR (US Agency for International Development), in collaboration with Dr. Justus Rutaisire from Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.

Last year, the developers of the project began establishing ponds in small villages around the shores of Lake Victoria, stocking them with fish from the fish farms – thus enabling the local population to eat carp. The project has since developed and now, four large fish farms, whose owners were trained in Israel, produce enough fingerlings to populate small ponds in villages around the lake. The people of each village, and especially their children, consume the project-fish as their main source of protein.  Prof. Levavi-Sivan hopes that soon, every village around the shores of Lake Victoria will have its own ’boutique’ fish farm and that the project will be expanded to include other countries in Africa. “We succeeded in inducing spawning in the carp – and these 14 villages are the success story of this project.” Helping her in this initiative is a group of students from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda, who came to the University’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food & Environment as part of a program organized by Mashav (Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation) and the Hebrew University’s Division of External Studies to study inland water aquaculture and help develop the existing project in Uganda.

A new challenge
However,  Prof. Levavi-Sivan and Dr. Justus Rutaisire are now facing another challenge. With the depletion of the smaller fish in the Lake, now the Nile Perch have nothing to eat and are themselves becoming depleted. Prof. Levavi-Sivan and Dr. Justus Rutaisire are therefore beginning a new project. Financed by the World Bank, they are working on finding ways to cultivate the Nile perch in aquaculture – thus helping to boost Uganda’s fish export industry, as well as the nutrition of the local population.

After spending Thursday evening out in Jerusalem Center, we headed to Masada to watch the sunrise. Having no sleep, I must say it was somewhat of a rough climb to the top at 5 am, but I knew that the view would be worth it once I get up there. Happy to say I wasn’t disappointed. I’m glad I did the climb now in February, last time I climbed Masada was 5 years ago in June, it was scorching hot. So if you’re planning on visiting, I suggest the winter/spring months. This is a site you should definitely visit. So much emphasis and importance is given to the mythology of Masada in Israeli history and society. When you hear the stories and see it for yourself you realize why. The tour was great, our guide was very knowledgeable and was able to keep us on our toes.

O.

I just saw this entertaining video of an interview with an Arab Christian, Emil Zofan, who’s a taxi driver in Jerusalem. He talks about the city, the people, what it’s like being Christian here and he even shows off his German to the camera. It’s also just fun to watch because the whole time, he’s driving around the city so you get some great shots of the stony place so many of us call home.

Click here to watch it.

We arrived in Old Jerusalem just after Shabbat. We wanted to explore the city at night and visit our friend, who just rented an apartment in the Armenian Quarter. None of us being endowed with the sense of directions we soon realized that we were lost. For the next hour or so we all got the opportunity to see and experience the Old City in way that you just can’t as part of a tour group. Shown in the photos are my two roommates, Felix and Luca and our friend, Francesca. Eventually our friend from the Armenian Quarter, Kathryn had to come and find us as we were lost beyond hope. All in all a great night.

O.

Dina Wachtel is delighted to present Dylan Segal with his iPod touch for writing the winning blog in the Hebrew You launch competition. Below are his wise words:

I am currently a post-secondary student, and can hopefully shed some light for those up and comers contemplating a post-secondary institution. I went to Uvic for my first year (living on res) then transferred to UBC after as I wasn’t overly happy at Uvic. The way I see it, choosing a school is hard to do because you’re not just choosing a school – you’re choosing a location, a city, and an environment. On top of that, they say it is the people that make the place, and you have to consider the type of personalities attracted to post-secondary institutions, and as well, whether you want to go to a school where you have other friends attending, or, if you want to be a lone wolf out to explore on his own. One must also balance societal expectations with personal expectations with parental wishes. Parental advice is key (and usually comes with much needed financing) but unless you, the student, is happy – others’ joy is irrelevant. So consider all the variables, but in the end, make a decision based largely on your reasoning – and remember nothing is set in stone, if you are unhappy in your school, you can always transfer.

We know exactly where an object is when we say it is “within the reach of our hand.”  But if we don’t have a hand, can we still see the object just where it is?

Apparently not, say researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Hadassah Hospital-Mount Scopus. The space within reach of our hands — where actions such as grasping and touching occur — is known as the “action space.” .Research has shown that visual information in this area is organized in hand-centered coordinates — in other words, the representation of objects in the human brain depends on their spatial position with respect to the hand.

The team at HU sought to investigate how hand amputations affect visuospatial perception in near space. Volunteers with either left- or right-hand amputations participated in this experiment. They were instructed to look at a central cross on a screen while two white squares were briefly shown to the left and right side of the cross. The volunteers had to indicate which of the squares was farther away from the cross.

The results reveal that hand amputations affect visuospatial perception. When the right square was slightly farther away from the center, participants with right-hand amputations tended to perceive it as being at the same distance from the center as the left square; this suggests that these volunteers underestimated the distance of the right square relative to the left. Conversely, when the left square was farther away, left-hand amputees perceived both squares as being equally far away from the center — these participants underestimated the left side of near space.

Interestingly, when the volunteers were seated farther away from the screen, they were more accurate in judging the distances, indicating that hand amputations may only affect perception of the space close to the body.

The findings suggest that losing a hand may shrink the action space on the amputated side, leading to permanent distortions in spatial perception. According to the researchers, “This shows that the possibility for action in near space shapes our perception — the space near our hands is really special, and our ability to move in that space affects how we perceive it.”

The researchers note that these results have implications for spatial hemineglect — a condition (often following brain injury) in which the patient cannot perceive objects on one side of space. This condition is very often associated with paralysis of the hand in the neglected side, which, based on the current study, might exasperate the perceptual neglect.

The authors suggest that, based on their findings, “current rehabilitation approaches that emphasize action on the affected side may reverse this process.” For example, encouraging the use of the affected hand or by providing visual feedback (through prism adaptation or mirrors) may help overcome hemineglect by increasing the size of the action space on the affected side.

Published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, amputation of the hand results in distorted visuospatial perception of the action space. The article was written by neuroscientists Dr. Tamar R. Makin, Meytal Wilf and Dr. Ehud Zohary of the Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem along with Dr. Isabella Schwartz of Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital in Jerusalem