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Date: May 26, 2022
Harder Winters, Stronger Storms
Read More about Harder Winters, Stronger StormsAbout 30 massive, intricate computer networks serve the scientists who stand at the forefront of climate change research. Each network runs a software program comprised of millions of lines of code. These programs are computational models that combine the myriads of physical, chemical and biological phenomena that together form the climate of our planet. The models calculate the state of Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, land and ice, capturing past and present climate variability and using the data to predict future climate change.
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Date: April 26, 2022
Breakfast of Champions
Read More about Breakfast of ChampionsEven the smallest organism can have a major influence on the evolution of life on Earth. Microscopic algae that inhabit the sunlit waters of the ocean surface are not only responsible for about half of the photosynthesis on the planet but are also valuable as a nutrient-rich food source sustaining the entire marine ecosystem. In their recently published study, Prof. Itay Halevy and Dr.
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Date: October 28, 2021
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot Measured in Depth for the First Time
Read More about Jupiter’s Great Red Spot Measured in Depth for the First TimeJupiter’s Great Red Spot is up there with the rings of Saturn and the blue marble of Earth for solar system icon status. In a study published today in Science, Weizmann Institute of Science researchers and their collaborators on NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter report that this spot – really a giant, persistent storm – extends to a depth of about 500 kilometers below the planet’s clouds.
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Date: July 19, 2021
Jupiter's Super Polar Cyclones are Here to Stay
Read More about Jupiter's Super Polar Cyclones are Here to StayUntil recently, before NASA’s Juno space probe entered its orbit around the planet Jupiter, no one knew that powerful cyclones, approximately the size of Australia, rage across its polar regions. Jupiter's storms, as opposed to their earthly variety, do not disperse, hardly change, and are clearly not associated with flying rooftops and damp weather reporters.
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Date: May 18, 2021
In memoriam of Prof. Jacob Karni
Read More about In memoriam of Prof. Jacob KarniIn light of the untimely death of Prof. Jacob Karni from the EPS, we share here the words of the head of the department, Prof. Ilan Koren.
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Date: May 2, 2021
Summary of the LAG BAOMER 2021 measurement campaign at the EPS
Read More about Summary of the LAG BAOMER 2021 measurement campaign at the EPSThe non-stop LAG BAOMER 2021 measurement campaign, conducted by the aerosol group of Prof. Yinon Rudich, has come to an end. Now all is left is to wait for the analyses and results of the numerous measurements.
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Date: April 27, 2021
The lab that studies LAG BAOMER
Read More about The lab that studies LAG BAOMERFor the past 15 years Prof. Yinon Rudich’s group at the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences has been conducting groundbreaking research on LAG BAOMER. This year, we have a unique opportunity to follow their LAG BAOMER 2021 measurement campaign in real time.
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Date: April 4, 2021
Congratulations to Prof. Brian Berkowitz
Awarded an InterPore Honorary Lifetime Membership -
Date: March 22, 2021
Students on the blue marble - Shlomit Sharoni
Read More about Students on the blue marble - Shlomit SharoniShlomit Sharoni has successfully completed her PhD at the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, and is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Prof. Itay Halevy’s group. She is a modern-day Renaissance woman, in addition to her research career, she is also an aerial acrobatics instructor and a bass guitar player. She has an adorable 3-year old daughter, and currently lives in Eilat with her family. During her PhD, Shlomit investigated the impact of the elemental composition of microscopic algae on the oceanic environment, both in the present and in the geological past.
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Date: March 18, 2021
How Bushfire Smoke Traveled Around the World
Read More about How Bushfire Smoke Traveled Around the WorldIt’s not just how hot the fires burn – it’s also where they burn that matters. During the recent extreme fire season in Australia, which began in 2019 and burned into 2020, millions of tons of smoke particles were released into the atmosphere. Most of those particles followed a typical pattern, settling to the ground after a day or week; yet the ones created in fires burning in one corner of the country managed to blanket the entire Southern hemisphere for months.
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Date: March 8, 2021
Introducing Yael Kiro – an early career PI at the department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Read More about Introducing Yael Kiro – an early career PI at the department of Earth and Planetary SciencesYael Kiro is the second female PI to join the department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the Weizmann Institute. Her main research fields are Earth sciences and geochemistry, focusing on groundwater aquifers, chemical oceanography, and paleoclimate. She’s intelligent, eloquent, and an enthusiastic advocate of women’s equal opportunity in science, striving to find a deep and meaningful solution by getting to the root of the problem and bringing about a substantial change in perception.
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Date: January 28, 2021
In honor of Tu Bishvat, the holiday of trees – where to plant a forest?
Read More about In honor of Tu Bishvat, the holiday of trees – where to plant a forest?In the year 2000, Prof. Dan Yakir, the 2019 Israel prize recipient for Earth sciences, established the research station in the Yatir forest in order to explore the interplay between vegetation, the atmosphere, and the climate system. Recent findings from data analysis of the measurements conducted at the station indicate a considerable carbon sink potential in semiarid soils and forest plantations, and imply that afforestation of even 10% of semiarid land area under conditions similar to that of the study site, could sequester ~400 billion kg of carbon per year over several decades.
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Date: January 18, 2021
Introducing Rei Chemke, the newest faculty member at the EPS
Read More about Introducing Rei Chemke, the newest faculty member at the EPS2020 wasn’t the easiest year, one might say it was somewhat apocalyptic. Still, it also had some bright moments. One of them, for the department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, was the addition of Rei Chemke as a principal investigator. Rei’s research focuses on climate dynamics. He’s interested in large scale processes, particularly in the atmospheric and oceanic flows, temperature and sea ice due to both natural and anthropogenic processes.
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Date: January 13, 2021
The most accurate clock of its kind to be sent to Jupiter
Read More about The most accurate clock of its kind to be sent to JupiterIsraelis are not usually known for their exceptional punctuality, but Prof. Yohai Kaspi and Dr. Eli Galanti of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Earth and Planetary Sciences designed a clock so accurate, it will lose less than a second in ten million years. Kaspi is the PI of the atmospheric science experiment of the European Space Agency’s JUICE mission to Jupiter. The clock will be used to perform atmospheric radio-occultations of Jupiter in order to study the properties of its atmosphere.
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Date: December 23, 2020
Plastic is Blowing in the Wind
Read More about Plastic is Blowing in the WindAs the plastic in our oceans breaks up into smaller and smaller bits without breaking down chemically, the resulting microplastics are becoming a serious ecological problem. A new study at the Weizmann Institute of Science reveals a troubling aspect of microplastics – defined as particles smaller than 5 mm across. They are swept up into the atmosphere and carried on the wind to far-flung parts of the ocean, including those that appear to be clear.
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Date: November 26, 2020
Entering the Cloud “Twilight Zone”
Read More about Entering the Cloud “Twilight Zone”Clouds: We see them as objects with clear-cut shapes and outlines. The satellites that collect cloud data and the climate models built on this data work on this supposition as well. But the line between “cloudy” and “clear” is much hazier than we think.
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Date: October 27, 2020
Cool in the Shade: How Ice Could Exist Near the Lunar Surface
Read More about Cool in the Shade: How Ice Could Exist Near the Lunar SurfaceIf humans are to establish any sort of settlement on the Moon, they might do so near one of its poles, where its meager supply of water is stored in the form of ice. That ice has been detected in difficult-to-reach spots: at the bottoms of large, deep craters, down where sunshine cannot reach and temperatures remain below -160o Centigrade.
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Date: October 25, 2020
Congratulations to Prof. Brian Berkowitz
Awarded the 2021 John Dalton Medal by the European Geosciences Union -
Date: July 29, 2020
Congratulations to Prof. Yinon Rudich
Elected as a Member of the Academia Europaea -
Date: June 28, 2020
The Magnetic History of Ice
Read More about The Magnetic History of IceThe history of our planet has been written, among other things, in the periodic reversal of its magnetic poles. Scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science propose a new means of reading this historic record: in ice.
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Date: June 16, 2020
Congratulations to Prof. Itay Halevy
Elected as a Member of the Israel Young Academy -
Date: May 25, 2020
Congratulations to Dr. Eli Galanti
Maxine Singer Prize for Outstanding Staff Scientists -
Date: May 14, 2020
NASA’s Next Destination? Israelis Hopeful as Trident Team in the Finals
Read More about NASA’s Next Destination? Israelis Hopeful as Trident Team in the FinalsIf life does exist outside of Earth in our Solar System, it could be hiding in subterranean oceans flowing under the surface of icy moons. One of the most promising candidates for such an underground liquid body is Triton – aptly named for the son of the sea god Neptune – the planet around which it orbits.