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New Type of Prehistoric Human Discovered in Israel

Written by AUFTAU on 28 June 2021. Posted in Newsroom.

A new discovery by Tel Aviv University researchers may change the story of human evolution. The bones of an early human, unknown to science, were found at an excavation site near the city of Ramla. Researchers believe the remains represent one of the “last survivors” of an ancient human group that lived here at the Levant alongside Homo sapiens (modern humans) between 140,000 and 120,000 years ago.

Two teams of researchers took part in the dramatic discovery, published in the prestigious Science journal: an anthropology team from Tel Aviv University headed by Prof. Israel Hershkovitz, Dr. Hila May and Dr. Rachel Sarig from the Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the Dan David Center for Human Evolution and Biohistory Research and the Shmunis Family Anthropology Institute, situated in the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History at Tel Aviv University; and an archaeological team headed by Dr. Yossi Zaidner from the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Until today, most researchers believed the small groups of Neanderthals arrived in the Levant from Europe about 70,000 years ago. The discovery of a new human group in this region, which resembles Pre-Neanderthal populations in Europe, challenges the prevailing hypothesis that Neanderthals originated from Europe, suggesting that at least some of the Neanderthals’ ancestors actually came from the Levant. In other words, TAU researchers are now suggesting instead that the famous Neanderthals of Western Europe are only the remnants of a much larger population that lived here in the Levant – and not the other way around.

Timeline: The Nesher Ramla Homo type was an ancestor of both the Neanderthals in Europe and the archaic Homo populations of Asia.

Another Piece to the Puzzle of Human Evolution

Prof. Israel Hershkovitz explains that the discovery of this new type of prehistoric human is of great scientific importance: “It enables us to make new sense of previously found human fossils, add another piece to the puzzle of human evolution, and understand the migrations of humans in the old world. Even though they lived so long ago, in the late middle Pleistocene (474,000-130,000 years ago), the Nesher Ramla people can tell us a fascinating tale, revealing a great deal about their descendants’ evolution and way of life.”

The important human fossil was found by Dr. Zaidner of the Hebrew University during salvage excavations at the Nesher Ramla prehistoric site, in the mining area of the Nesher cement plant (owned by Len Blavatnik) near the city of Ramla. Digging down about 8 meters, the excavators found large quantities of animal bones, including horses, fallow deer and aurochs, as well as stone tools and human bones. An international team led by the researchers from TAU and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem identified the morphology of the bones as belonging to a new type of earlier species, previously unknown to science. This is the first type of prehistoric human species to be defined in Israel, and according to common practice, it was named after the site where it was discovered – the Nesher Ramla Homo type.

WATCH: Researchers from TAU have identified a new type of early human at the Nesher Ramla site, dated to 140,000 to 120,000 years ago:

Neanderthals Made in the Middle East

“This is an extraordinary discovery,” notes Dr. Yossi Zaidner. “We had never imagined that alongside Homo sapiens, archaic Homo roamed the area so late in human history. The archaeological finds associated with human fossils show that Nesher Ramla Homo possessed advanced stone-tool production technologies and most likely interacted with the local Homo sapiens“. The culture, way of life, and behavior of the Nesher Ramla Homo are discussed in a companion paper also published in Science journal.

Furthermore, Prof. Hershkovitz explains that “Before these new findings, most researchers believed the Neanderthals to be a ‘European story’, in which small groups of Neanderthals were forced to migrate southwards to escape the spreading glaciers, with some arriving in the Land of Israel about 70,000 years ago. The Nesher Ramla fossils make us question this theory, suggesting that the ancestors of European Neanderthals lived in the Levant as early as 400,000 years ago, repeatedly migrating westward to Europe and eastward to Asia. In fact, our findings imply that the famous Neanderthals of Western Europe are only the remnants of a much larger population that lived here in the Levant – and not the other way around.”

Neanderthals and Sapiens Sharing Bed

Despite the absence of DNA in these fossils, the findings from Nesher Ramla offer a solution to a great mystery in the evolution of Homo: How did genes of Homo sapiens penetrate the Neanderthal population that presumably lived in Europe long before the arrival of Homo sapiens? Geneticists who studied the DNA of European Neanderthals have previously suggested the existence of a Neanderthal-like population which they called the ‘missing population’ or the ‘X population’ that had mated with Homo sapiens more than 200,000 years ago. In the anthropological paper now published in Science, the researchers suggest that the Nesher Ramla Homo type might represent this population, heretofore missing from the record of human fossils. Moreover, the researchers propose that the humans from Nesher Ramla are not the only ones of their kind discovered in the region, and that some human fossils found previously in Israel, which have baffled anthropologists for years – like the fossils from the Tabun cave (160,000 years ago), Zuttiyeh cave (250,000), and Qesem cave (400,000) – belong to the same new human group now called the Nesher Ramla Homo type.

“People think in paradigms,” says Dr. Rachel Sarig. “That’s why efforts have been made to ascribe these fossils to known human groups like Homo sapiens, Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis or the Neanderthals. But now we say: No. This is a group in itself, with distinct features and characteristics. At a later stage small groups of the Nesher Ramla Homo type migrated to Europe – where they evolved into the ‘classic’ Neanderthals that we are familiar with, and also to Asia, where they became archaic populations with Neanderthal-like features. As a crossroads between Africa, Europe and Asia, the Land of Israel served as a melting pot where different human populations mixed with one another, to later spread throughout the Old World. The discovery from the Nesher Ramla site writes a new and fascinating chapter in the story of humankind.”

The Nesher Ramla research team (left to right): Prof. Israel Hershkovitz, Marion Prevost, Dr. Hila May, Dr. Rachel Sarig and Dr. Yossi Zaidner.

Featured image: TAU’s Dr. Rachel Sarig, Dr. Hila May, and Prof. Israel Hershkovitz holding the Nesher Ramla fossils (photo: Tel Aviv University)

Care for A Glass of Tel Aviv Air?

Written by AUFTAU on 24 June 2021. Posted in Newsroom.

The best things in life are allegedly free, and a first-of-its-kind study in the world conducted at Tel Aviv University supports this belief. Researchers have found that nature’s very own champagne, generated from the air in the heart of an urban area, the city of Tel Aviv, complies with all of the strict drinking water standards set both by the State of Israel and by the World Health Organization. Have we finally found a solution to the global drinking water scarcity?

Like the Air that We Breathe

The constantly growing global shortage of clean drinking water requires thinking outside the box – and developing new technologies for producing potable water. The Earth’s atmosphere is a vast and renewable source of water, which may be an alternative drinking water resource. Our atmosphere contains billions of tons of water, 98% of which is in a gaseous state – that is, water vapor.

The study was conducted by a team of experts from the hydrochemistry laboratory at the Porter School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Tel Aviv University, led by graduate student Offir Inbar and supervised by Prof. Dror Avisar, Head of TAU’s Moshe Mirilashvili Institute for Applied Water Studies. Also participating in the study was Watergen’s research and development team, Prof. Alexandra Chudnovsky, and leading researchers from Germany. The study’s results were published in two leading journals: Science of the Total Environment and Water.

Wind Flavored Water

Offir Inbar explains that this is the first study in the world to examine air pollution through its effect on drinking water generated from the air. No filtration or treatment system was installed in the device used in the study; the water that was produced was the water that was obtained from the air. The researchers performed a wide range of advanced chemical analyses of the water, and found that in the vast majority of cases, including during different seasons and at different times of the day, the water extracted from the air in the heart of Tel Aviv was safe to drink. In addition, with the help of a variety of innovative technologies for monitoring the composition of the atmosphere and by applying advanced statistical methods, for the first time the researchers were able to quantitatively link the process the air goes through in the days leading up to the point of water production and the chemical composition of the dew.

Tel Aviv – a source of clean drinking water?

Offir Inbar explains: “The study showed that wind direction greatly affects water quality. When the wind comes from the desert, we find more calcium and sulfur – residues of desert dust aerosols – in the water. When the wind comes from the direction of the sea, we find higher concentrations of chlorine and sodium. We also found that the distant sources of the air, prior to when it reached the point of water production, can be identified in the water. Thus, water produced from air coming from the Sahara region differs in composition from water produced from air coming from Europe.”

Water quality is also affected by anthropogenic pollution from transportation and industry. “Using advanced methods, we found a direct link between the concentrations of ammonia, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide in the air and the concentration of their decomposition products in water,” says Inbar. “We found low concentrations of copper, potassium, and zinc in the water, which probably come from manmade pollution.

Minerals Should be Added

The chemical link we found between the meteorological parameters and the composition of the water makes it possible for the first time to study the atmosphere using water extracted from it. This link allows us to know what minerals should be added to water extracted from air in order to provide people with quality drinking water. In general, we found that potable water from air does not contain enough calcium and magnesium – and it is advisable to add these minerals to the water, just like they are added to desalinated drinking water in some countries.”

A significant portion of the water we drink in Israel today is desalinated seawater – a solution which Inbar says is only a partial solution, and not one that can provide drinking water to the vast majority of the world’s population. “In order to desalinate seawater, you need a sea. The sea, however, is not accessible from every place in the world,” says Inbar. “After desalination, a complete infrastructure must be built to carry the desalinated water from the waterfront to the various towns, and large parts of the world don’t possess the engineering and economic means for that. Water from the air can be produced anywhere, with no need for expensive transport infrastructure and regardless of the amount of precipitation. From an economic perspective, the higher the temperature and humidity, the more cost-effective the production of water from the air is.”

Devices for generating water from the air that include water purification and treatment systems are already in use in a lot of countries, and provide quality drinking water to people living in distressed areas. “The concern in this case was that water produced from air in the heart of an urban area would not be suitable for drinking. We have proved that this is not the case,” Inbar concludes. “We are currently expanding our research to other areas in Israel, including the Haifa Bay and agricultural areas, in order to investigate in depth, the impact of various pollutants on the quality of water extracted from the air.”

Featured image:Offir Inbar enjoys a glass of Tel Aviv atmosphere derived water in the lab

Combating Antibiotic Resistance

Written by AUFTAU on 23 June 2021. Posted in Newsroom.

A new TAU study revealed a mechanism through which “good” viruses can attack the systems of “bad” bacteria, destroy them and block their reproduction.

“Good” Viruses Kill “Bad” Bacteria

The researchers demonstrated that the “good” virus (bacteriophage) is able to block the replication mechanism of the bacteria’s DNA without damaging its own, noting that the ability to distinguish between oneself and others is crucial in nature. The discovery reveals one more fascinating aspect of the mutual relations between bacteria and bacteriophages and may lead to a better understanding of bacterial mechanisms for evading bacteriophages, as well as ways for using bacteriophages to combat bacteria. The study, published recently in PNAS – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was led by Prof. Udi Qimron, Dr. Dor Salomon, Dr. Tridib Mahata and Shahar Molshanski-Mor of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine. Other participants included Prof. Tal Pupko, Head of The Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research and also of TAU’s new AI and Data Science Center; Dr. Oren Avram of The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences; and Dr. Ido Yosef, Dr. Moran Goren, Dr. Miriam Kohen-Manor and Dr. Biswanath Jana of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine.

A Great Scientific Challenge

Prof. Qimron explains that the antibiotic resistance of bacteria is one of the greatest challenges faced by scientists today. One potential solution may lie in further investigation of the targeted eradication of bacteria by “good” bacteriophages; namely, understanding bacteriophage mechanisms for taking over bacteria as a basis for the development of new tools to combat bacterial pathogens. With this solution in mind, the current study unveiled the mechanism by which the bacteriophage takes control of the bacteria. The researchers found that a bacteriophage protein uses a DNA-repair protein in the bacteria to “cunningly” cut the bacteria’s DNA as it is being repaired. Since the bacteriophage’s own DNA has no need for this specific repair protein, it is protected from this nicking procedure. In this way the “good” bacteriophage does three important things: it distinguishes between its own DNA and that of the bacteria, destroys the bacteria’s genetic material, and blocks the bacteria’s propagation and cell division.

The process by which the bacteriophage destroys the bacteria’s genetic material Prof. Qimron explains that, “The ability to distinguish between oneself and others is of enormous importance in nature and in various biological applications. All antibiotic mechanisms identify and neutralize bacteria only, with minimal effect on human cells.” The researchers discovered the process by searching for types of bacterial variants not impacted by this bacteriophage mechanism – those that have developed “immunity” to it. This inquiry led them to the specific bacterial mechanisms affected by the bacteriophage takeover. “Shedding more light on the ways in which bacteriophages attack bacteria, our findings may serve as a tool in the endless battle against antibiotic-resistant bacteria,” concludes Prof. Qimron. Featured image: Illustrative: Bacteriophage or phage virus attacking and infecting a bacterium

Leading the Global Yiddish Renaissance

Written by AUFTAU on 22 June 2021. Posted in Newsroom.

TAU’s Jona Goldrich Institute for Yiddish Language, Literature and Culture boasts vibrant, diverse curriculum and student body.

What do scholars, teachers, translators and aficionados of Yiddish have in common? They all flock to TAU’s influential Jona Goldrich Institute for Yiddish Language, Literature and Culture, which promotes academic depth and creativity in the field of Yiddish studies.

Founded in 2005 as the Goldreich Family Institute by TAU benefactor Jona Goldrich (1927-2016), today the Institute is supported by his two daughters, TAU Governor Melinda Goldrich and Andrea Goldrich, who chose to rename the Institute in honor of their late father and his leadership. The Institute’s summer program, supported by the Naomi Prawer Kadar Foundation since 2011, has hosted 995 participants from 33 countries. The Goldrich Family Foundation Advanced Yiddish Studies Forum brings top scholars to TAU from around the world.

“For me, the Institute is not only a place of advanced research, but a forum where my ideas can be put into practice,” says Mika Cohen, a first-year student in the Yiddish Studies MA Program, jointly supported by Yad Hanadiv. A creative writing workshop she’s running explores the theme of the shtetl as a way to think about modern notions of community. Participants read works by Sholem Aleichem and other legendary writers, and then produce their own vision of community with their 21st century literary voices.

Institute Director Dr. Hannah Pollin-Galay of TAU’s Department of Literature, Entin Faculty of Humanities, enthuses, “Students are eager to ask new questions about Jewish culture and to understand the experiences of their grandparents and great-grandparents.” Her own research combines Yiddish and Holocaust Studies, while the work of Prof. Hana Wirth-Nesher, the Institute’s Founding Director, focuses on multilingualism in Jewish and mainstream American writing. Other research conducted at the Institute explores the interplay between Yiddish and other languages and cultures in Europe, Israel and beyond.

“The Yiddish poet Avrom Sutzkever asked, in reference to Yiddish culture after the Holocaust, Ver vet blaybn? Vos vet blaybn? (‘Who will remain? What will remain?’),” says Dr. Pollin-Galay. “I think Sutzkever would be very proud to see my young students working hard to answer his question in a positive way. It is thanks to them, and to the support of the Goldrich family, that a beautiful Yiddish legacy will not only remain, but blossom and grow in the future.”

Featured image: Credit: Chen Galili

Celebrating 20 Years of Gender Studies

Written by AUFTAU on 17 June 2021. Posted in Newsroom.

Tel Aviv University this week alongside the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) are marking 20 years of partnership and the co-founding of the first-ever gender studies program in the Middle East. Established in 2001, the NCJW Women and Gender Studies Program at The Shirley and Leslie Porter School of Cultural Studies, at the Entin Faculty of Humanities was the first – and remains the only – B.A. degree program on gender studies in Israel. The Program has since expanded to offer M.A. and Ph.D. tracks. To date, it boasts approximately 600 alumni.

Changing Society, Changing Lives

In light of its two-decade anniversary, the Program’s head Prof. Daphna Hacker, from the Buchmann Faculty of Law, explains: “It’s a degree but it’s not only about intellectual theories, it’s about our own lives – our private most intimate relations, our political choices, our engagement in social activism. Once you’re exposed to feminist theories and gender studies, most likely your perspective will change not only on society, but on your own life.” Addressing the 20-year milestone, TAU President Prof. Ariel Porat lauded the Program and its founders, thanking NCJW for the endowment that made the Program possible. Additionally, he hailed the Program for its role in producing agents for social change, including graduates who have become educators, journalists, scholars, entrepreneurs and social activists. “We can see the important impact of the Program not just on its graduates and teachers, but also on the wider Tel Aviv University community,” he said in recorded remarks. “We’re seeing more women professors in the top management, as vice presidents, deans and heads of schools – and also a greater representation of women scientists and students in STEM fields.” Prof. Hacker sees the Program’s classrooms as microcosms of the type of pluralistic setting needed to further swing the pendulum toward gender equity in Israel. “Gender studies teach us how to open our eyes to reality,” she says. “Feminism, since it was established, has been about the connection between academic knowledge and activism for social change.”

A conference hosted by the NCJW Women and Gender Studies Program (Photo: Tanya Gurov) The Program’s influence is evident in its impact on the lives of its students. For instance, it has provided Ph.D. researcher and lecturer Estee Rieder-Indursky an inroad to academia she wouldn’t have thought possible 20 years ago. As a Haredi social activist, Rider-Indursky is making strides giving voice to women previously unheard from in academic research. In 2020, she won the Dan David Prize for Doctoral Students for her research on discourses of Haredi women who study the Talmud. Going forward, Hacker’s hopes to broaden awareness of the gender studies Program to draw new students and future social leaders. This includes adding to its ranks more men, LGBTQ students, students with disabilities, ultra-Orthodox women, and Arab Israeli students. “Everyone should be included in the conversation and the research. Since we are shaping our research through our experiences and personal backgrounds, it’s crucial we have diversity among our students and faculty,” Hacker stresses.

Extending Academic Knowledge Beyond Campus

In addition to the gender studies Program at TAU, the partnership between the University and NCJW has borne additional projects. Now hosting its 2^nd cohort, “Connecting for Impact: Strengthening the Feminist Ecosystem in Israel” is one of the partnership’s most recent achievements extending academic knowledge beyond the walls of traditional university campus settings. Hacker hails the University’s partnership with NCJW – the oldest Jewish women’s volunteer organization in the U.S. – as a fruitful collaboration that facilitates valuable knowledge sharing between scholars, lobbyists, activist and community leaders from both the U.S. and Israel. An online event Thursday (June 17) celebrating the 20-year anniversary of the NCJW Women and Gender Studies Program at TAU will feature a panel of leaders exploring the state of gender equity in Israel. Along with NCJW President Dana Gershon and Prof. Hacker, guest speakers include Israeli Cabinet Minister Merav Michaeli, Director of Arab Community program at Yad Hanadiv Foundation Dr. Safa Abu-Rabia, and Ridur-Indursky. Former NCJW president, Florida State Senator Nan Rich, will moderate the event. To register for the panel, please visit here. Featured image: NCJW Women and Gender Studies Program at TAU (Photo: Jonathan Mizrahi)

TAU Alumni Fill Ranks in Israel’s New Government

Written by AUFTAU on 16 June 2021. Posted in Alumni News, Newsroom.

Upon the swearing in of Israel’s new Unity Government, the country’s 36^th government, on Sunday night, Tel Aviv University would like to extend special congratulations to all the TAU alumni who are now serving as cabinet ministers. The Knesset (Israel’s parliament) approved the new coalition government in the wake of four inconclusive elections over the past two years.

Most Diverse in Israeli History

The new government is noted as the most diverse in Israeli history as it comprises representation from across the political spectrum from left-wing, centrist and right-wing parties. For the first time in decades, the country’s ruling faction includes an Arab party. It also has the highest representation of women cabinet ministers (9 out of 28) in Israeli history. Reflecting Israel’s diverse societal makeup, the new government is comprised of lawmakers from a vast range of social, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including Jews (observant and secular, Ashkenazi and Mizrahi), Druze, Muslims, native Israelis along with immigrants from Russia, Ethiopia and more. Tel Aviv University alumni assuming ministerial posts include:

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, alumna of the Blavatnik School of Computer Science, Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences

Intelligence Minister Elazar Stern, alumnus of the Coller School of Management

Defense Minister Benny Gantz, alumnus of The Zvi Yavetz School of Historical Studies, Entin Faculty of Humanities

Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar, alumnus of The Buchmann Faculty of Law and the Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences

Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel, alumnus of The Chaim Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies & Archeology, Entin Faculty of Humanities

Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, alumnus of the Buchmann Faculty of Law

Agriculture Minister/Minister for Periphery, Negev and Galilee Development Oded Forer, alumnus of The School of Political Science, Government and International Affairs, Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences

Internal Security Minister Col. Omer Barlev, alumnus of the School of Political Science, Government and International Affairs, Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences

Aliyah and Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata, alumna of the Department of Public Policy, Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences

Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg, alumna of the Buchmann Faculty of Law

Furthermore, TAU alumnus of the Buchmann Faculty of Law, Idan Roll, has filled the position of Deputy Foreign Minister. In addition, due to the resignation as Knesset members of nine new ministers, six more TAU alumni have joined the Knesset, including two TAU professors – U.S.-born Prof. Alon Tal (chair of the Department of Public Policy) and Prof. Yossi Shain (School of Political Science). In total, 22 TAU alumni now serve as members in the current 24th Knesset. featured image: Israel’s 36th government

Exploring New Frontiers in AI

Written by AUFTAU on 14 June 2021. Posted in Newsroom.

With the global artificial intelligence market skyrocketing, TAU’s new Center for AI and Data Science leads the way in Israel—and beyond.

The endless possibilities of artificial intelligence (AI) have ignited human imagination for decades. From Star Wars and Blade Runner to the recent Superintelligence, people have imagined a world powered by AI. And although those realities are still in the realm of the future, AI and machine learning are quickly becoming the next frontiers for academic institutions such as Tel Aviv University as well as businesses and governments. With the global AI market expected to grow to $800 billion annually in the coming years, former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tasked two Tel Aviv University professors with leading the National Initiative for Secured Intelligent Systems. They are Major Gen. (Ret.) Prof. Isaac Ben-Israel, Head of the Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center (ICRC), and Prof. Eviatar Matania, Head of TAU’s Security Studies program. The pair’s resulting report recommends making AI a top national priority and is a blueprint for positioning Israel as a top five global AI superpower in the coming decade. TAU has already taken a leadership role in advancing AI in Israel with its annual AI Week Conference. At the February 2021 conference, which took place virtually, TAU’s Prof. Meir Feder announced the launch of a new interdisciplinary Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, which he heads. “By deepening and disseminating AI expertise, the new Center will boost Israel’s flourishing high-tech and biotech industries and impact all aspects of life. It will create new opportunities in many fields including personalized medicine, drug design, social sciences, neuroscience, materials science and digital humanities,” says Feder. “In addition, the Center will enable all TAU students, no matter what they study, to gain a basic education in AI and Data Science. We will do this by building a curriculum that exposes them to AI concepts, to be implemented in the upcoming academic year.” AI, which revolves around the quest to build machines that can execute human-like tasks and behavior and beyond, has been a “holy grail” for scientists for many years, says Prof. Amir Globerson of the Blavatnik School of Computer Science and a member of the AI Center’s academic management team. “Almost every aspect of our daily lives can and will be changed by these emerging technologies” says Globerson. “These include the way we clean our homes, receive health care or drive a car to the way we predict natural disasters.” To use AI technologies in real-world solutions, AI research must be an interdisciplinary effort, he explains. This means combining core disciplines of engineering, statistics and computer science with complementary fields such as law, medicine, psychology, economics and humanities. “It is essential for us to build up the capabilities of the Center to help researchers fulfill the potential of AI in all of these fields,” he says.

Prof. Amir Globerson (Photo: Moshe Bedarshi)

TAU: Multidisciplinary AI Powerhouse

With its influential group of researchers in core AI, TAU is already considered a world leader in the field, with strong performances in terms of prestigious grants, publications in top journals and industry ties. Collaborative AI projects in the TAU pipeline include developing automated tools for analyzing crop growth to help farmers in Africa improve yield; processing vast amounts of data to understand genome patterns and sources of diseases; and studying communication between caregivers and infants to recognize patterns that can facilitate better language development. TAU also has a relationship with Russia’s largest technology company, Yandex, which founded the Yandex Initiative for Machine Learning to strengthen AI and machine learning among TAU students and faculty, Globerson notes. He adds that the University views educating the next generation of researchers and technologists in this field as a priority. Recently, the “AI for Social Good” initiative, funded by Google at TAU’s AI Center, announced grants for 10 new interdisciplinary projects. The winning projects include: an early warning system for invasive fish species from the Red Sea into the Mediterranean Sea; a technical solution for ensuring fair use of copyrights online; and an image recognition system to allow Dead Sea Scroll scholars to compare old photographic images with new high-resolution spectral images of ancient scroll fragments.

Dead Sea scrolls (Photo: Shai Halevi)

AI and the War against COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Prof. Irad Ben-Gal, head of TAU’s AI, Machine Learning, and Business & Data Analytics lab, collaborated with Dr. Dan Yamin, both of The Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering, to correlate human mobility with outbreak patterns. They used AI mapping technology to determine ideal implementation of movement restrictions. For example, they designed a system to optimize the lockdown structure in a smart city according to the movement of people, instead of shutting down an entire metropolis such as Tel Aviv. Moreover, by using data collected from groups of 50 people—either through car sensors or mobile-phone tracking—rather than individuals, they protected people’s privacy. Though the system was never fully implemented, both the Prime Minister’s Office and the Health Ministry used the data compiled by the TAU researchers to gauge reactions to those lockdowns, says Ben-Gal, who co-heads the Koret Program for Smart Cities and Digital Living in collaboration with Stanford University and serves as a Board Member of TAU’s Shmeltzer Institute of Smart Transportation. Modeling human mobility patterns can optimize a city’s allocation of smart utilities such as electricity, lighting systems and transportation routes, Ben-Gal explains. “In Israel, this modeling has been used for placement of mobile missile shelters, using data collected during missile attacks in the South to indicate where people were concentrated.”

A Game-Changer for Biomedicine

As head of the Functional Genomics Laboratory at TAU’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Prof. Noam Shomron also uses AI and machine learning to better lives. He does this by exploring new aspects of genomics through DNA and RNA research. In one study, his lab followed thousands of pregnant women from their 10-week blood tests through to the end of their pregnancy, when a small percentage of women suffer from the life-threatening condition of preeclampsia. Though physicians can sometimes predict the possibility of preeclampsia based on high blood pressure or stress, Shomron’s lab reduced 20 million possible RNA molecular markers for preeclampsia to only 25. He accomplished this by using AI and data methods to analyze RNA snippets in blood samples both of women who suffered from preeclampsia and those who didn’t. “Using this data, you can predict to a certain probability at the beginning of a pregnancy if a woman will suffer from preeclampsia later on. With this knowledge, you can prescribe early preventive treatment, which is a low dosage of aspirin—a simple remedy that can save lives,” says Shomron. Using the same blood samples, his lab computationally separated the embryonic DNA from the mother’s DNA. Applying AI-based algorithms, the team was then able to decipher the entire DNA of an embryo using just a blood sample from a woman at week 10 of her pregnancy. This testing method could be an effective alternative to amniocentesis, an invasive prenatal testing method which uses a needle to remove fluid from the uterus, and other similar tests. Cooperation with physicians from among TAU’s 17 affiliated hospitals has been vital to his team’s research, Shomron says. “We work closely with clinical teams who will eventually use the data and need to trust it,” he says. “Algorithms won’t replace clinical teams, but they will assist them in their decision-making.”

Advances for the Justice System

In addition to revolutionizing health care, education and transportation, AI technology is also transforming the legal world, says TAU’s Prof. Niva Elkin-Koren of The Buchmann Faculty of Law. For more than two decades, Elkin-Koren has been studying the implications of digital technology and AI on the legal sphere. Lawyers already use machine learning systems to predict damages and analyze what lower courts say about an issue, says Elkin-Koren, who is a member of the academic management team of the AI Center. Some judges in the US have begun to use AI risk-assessment systems to support their decision-making process when determining whether to release criminal offenders or impose criminal sanctions. “I am excited about these new opportunities, but also uneasy because in the absence of sufficient safeguards, they could lead to infringements on democracy and civil rights,” she says. “Lawyers are accustomed to thinking in terms of legal concepts, rules, rights and procedures. We have to start thinking of new procedures and legal protections that are more appropriate for this time and age.” For instance, she says, as police begin to depend more on predictive policing to justify a search —wherein they use computational algorithms based on compiled data to predict whether a person is about to commit a crime—tools must be developed to safeguard civil rights. This requires close collaboration among the lawyers, social scientists, and AI specialists developing these systems; together, they must ensure that the AI systems meet ethical standards and promote societal good, Elkin-Koren explains. A major challenge, she continues, is to assure AI systems are inclusive of minorities and marginalized populations. Learning models are typically based on historical data, which may lead to unintended biases. Her research involves redesigning systems in law and AI to include checks and balances starting from the creation stage, as a means of protecting citizens’ civil rights. Other issues the law must tackle with AI technology, according to Elkin-Koren, are ownership of AI output, regulation of copyrighted material, liability for harm caused by autonomous cars in accidents, and moderation of online speech. Finding the answers to these questions involves revising existing legal doctrines, but also responding to new theoretical challenges about legal agency and collective action.

Prof. Niva Elkin-Koren (Photo: Moshe Bedarshi) Shomron says the same is true in his field of medicine; as society evolves, he says, TAU researchers must continue to study and find ways to respond to emerging challenges. “Our world is changing all the time so we’re always looking at the next frontier,” he says. “That is what we do in academia: We try to invent the future.” By Judith Sudilovsky Featured image: Prof. Noam Shomron (right) discusses test results with MDPhD candidate Yazeed Zoabi (left) and doctoral candidate Meitar Grad in his medical genomics lab. (Photo: Yoram Reshef)

TAU Graduates Bolster Israel’s Global Standing

Written by AUFTAU on 14 June 2021. Posted in Alumni News, Newsroom.

Alumni in top diplomatic positions driven by a passion for Israel, share success stories from the field.

As a young girl growing up on a kibbutz, Galit Ronen wanted to change the world. At the time, she thought the way to do so was to become a geneticist: to learn how to feed the world and cure its diseases. This led her to TAU, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology. Today, she is Israel’s Ambassador to Argentina. Like Ronen, many TAU alumni serve Israel on the global frontlines as diplomats. They include Rony Yedidia-Clein, Deputy Head of Mission at Israel’s Embassy in India, and Ehud Eitam, Israel’s Consul General in Istanbul. All three see their alma mater as an important stepping stone in their careers.

Diplomacy from the Heart

Ronen took a job with Israel’s Foreign Ministry more than 25 years ago, when she tired of her post-university research job. “I honestly think Israel is a miracle. Look at where we started,” she says. “It’s a country I believe in and I love its people.” As for her current posting, she says Israel and Argentina enjoy good relations. President Alberto Fernandez visited Israel one month after his inauguration in 2019, only the second time that a sitting Argentinian president made a state visit. In the context of that trip, he also attended the 75^th anniversary ceremony of the liberation of Auschwitz—a meaningful statement. In addition, much of the meat that Israel consumes comes from Argentina. During the first COVID-19 lockdown in spring 2020, Ronen was instrumental in securing the entry of shohetim, Jewish ritual slaughterers, into Argentina, thus ensuring that Israelis had sufficient kosher meat for Passover. On the global stage, Ronen thinks that Israel is in a better place than it has been in previous years. She attributes this to Israel’s vaccination campaign—“the whole world wants to learn from us”—and the recent peace accords with Arab nations. Besides representing the country she loves, she enjoys the opportunity to reinvent herself every few years when she moves to a new assignment. “You have no friends or contacts; by virtue of your personality and what you represent, you have to start from zero and prove yourself.” The flip side, she says, is the loneliness. Though her training as a scientist is far behind her, she has fond memories of TAU. “Most of my best friends to this day are from my time at University,” says Ronen. They include Prof. Udi Gazit, Founding Director of the BLAVATNIK CENTER for Drug Discovery. She mentions Prof. emer. Eliora Ron, with whom she remains in close touch, as having influenced her in the academic and personal spheres.

Galit Ronen (Photo: DEF)

“Zionism is Not a Dirty Word”

Like Ronen, Rony Yedidia-Clein was attracted to the Foreign Ministry because of a deep love of Israel. “Some people think Zionism is a dirty word but it’s not,” she says. The daughter of Israelis raised in the US, she made aliyah at age 18 to join the army. She went on to complete an undergraduate degree in English literature at TAU, where, she says, she learned critical thinking and communication skills that serve her until today, while enjoying “Tel Aviv’s special vibe.” As Deputy Chief of Mission in India, Yedidia-Clein says she is proud of the robust relationship that has developed in the nearly 30 years since the two countries initiated diplomatic relations. This good relationship paid off during COVID-19. India provided emergency masks and equipment to Israel at the beginning of the outbreak, before Israel could produce enough for its own emergency staff. More recently, during the COVID-19 outbreaks in India this spring, the Embassy, in cooperation with Israeli government bodies, organized a massive airlift of aid supplies to the country’s hospitals and clinics, including ventilators, oxygen concentrators and medication, in an effort to save as many lives as possible. Aside from COVID-19, one of the Embassy’s main focuses now is a large-scale water project. Despite the fact that India possesses massive amounts of water, most of the population doesn’t have access to a clean, drinkable supply, Yedidia-Clein says. Through the Embassy, an Israeli expert will work with Indians to optimize use of this great resource. Though Yedidia-Clein has served as a diplomat in many countries, the achievement that stands out is her work coordinating Israel’s response to the massive earthquake in Turkey, where she was posted in 1999. “At three in the morning, I was woken up by the earth shattering and shaking.” Immediately, Israel sent civilian and military teams to help. “They used Israeli engineering ingenuity and chutzpah to get to places it should have been impossible to reach, such as taking a boat down a river because the roads weren’t accessible.” In addition to the many skills and “inner strengths” she has acquired throughout her career, Yedidia-Clein says that a diplomat’s most important quality is honesty. “It’s important to have people trust you and that means that you have to speak the truth,” she explains. “Israel is a country with problems like every other country in the world, whether we’re talking about migrant workers or our issues with the Palestinians or anything in between. The main thing is to show that we recognize our problems, and we’re doing our best to solve them.”

Rony Yedidia-Clein

At the Heart of Global Change

Ehud Eitam, Israel’s Consul General in Istanbul, another TAU graduate, boasts a diplomatic career of nearly 35 years. Prior to his current posting, he served as Israel’s Ambassador to Costa Rica and Peru, among other postings. Even after so much time, he still finds his job fascinating. “From the first stages on the job, you work directly with the top echelons of other countries,” he says. “You find yourself in the middle of huge and meaningful things.” He recalls when, during one of his postings, anti-Israel groups in Latin America attempted to prevent an Israeli company from winning a lucrative tender. The public pressure was so intense that Shimon Peres, then Foreign Minister, and Reuven Rivlin, Israel’s current President and then Communications Minister, got involved. The campaign culminated with Eitam appearing on a popular TV talk show, hosted by a local Palestinian. He knew that the interview would determine the campaign’s fate. Ultimately, the Israeli company won the tender, and Eitam views the episode as a tipping point in garnering more legitimacy for Israel in the region. One of his biggest achievements was during his first posting in Helsinki in the late 1980s. Finland had become a transit station for Jews flooding out of the Soviet Union, and, finding himself at a milestone of Jewish history, he became involved in many facets—economic, political, security and logistical. Eitam cites David Ben-Gurion who said that all diplomats wear two hats—as representatives of the State of Israel and of the Jewish community. “You have to make important practical decisions that could have wide-ranging consequences for the Jewish people as a whole.” Subsequently, Eitam established the Israeli Embassy in the Ukraine, one year after the country gained independence. He undertook the momentous task of building Israel’s ties with the country from scratch. His work there was especially significant because of the Ukraine’s rich and complicated past with the Jewish people; aliyah from the country was strong at the time, and Eitam facilitated and attended the first state visits between the countries’ leaders. After he’d been working in the field for nearly 20 years, Eitam returned to academia to complete a master’s degree in security and diplomacy at TAU. His studies allowed to him to gain insights on the vast experience he’d accrued, alongside other experienced professionals. He recalls courses with Profs. Nissan Oren and Azar Gat as well as Major Gen. (Ret.) Prof. Isaac Ben-Israel, which is an “experience in and of itself.” He was able to apply this knowledge in his subsequent positions. Eitam, Ronen and Yedidia-Clein are among thousands of TAU alumni who are members of TAU’s Alumni Organization, headed by Sigalit Ben Hayoun. The Organizaton’s goal is to leverage the influence of TAU alumni through shared knowledge and opportunities. And like Ronen and Yedidia-Clein, Eitam concludes that his main motivation to serve as a diplomat is Zionism. For Ronen, this same deep-rooted ideology means that he has fulfilled her childhood dream of tikkun olam. “I think representing Israel, changing one opinion at a time, is changing the world.”

Ehud Eitam with the Japanese Consul and his wife By Melanie Takefman Featured image: Rony Yedidia-Clein (center, in white) in Rishikesh, during the Indian holiday of Holi.

We Are Part of the Problem and the Solution

Written by AUFTAU on 11 June 2021. Posted in Newsroom.

Tel Aviv University last week launched the multidisciplinary Center for Climate Change Action, with the aim of finding solutions to the global crisis. The new Center, the first of its kind in Israel, will operate under the auspices of the Porter School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, and will investigate the subject from all angles, drawing on the knowledge and resources of all faculties on campus. The Center will collaborate with partners from industry, academia and government, in Israel and abroad, in an effort to develop technological solutions, raise public awareness, promote environmental legislation and policy, and more. The initiative was launched by researchers from various disciplines, among them Prof. Colin Price and Dr. Orli Ronen from the University’s Department of Environmental Studies, Prof. Marcelo Sternberg from the School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Prof. Dan Rabinowitz from the Gershon H. Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences and others. Scores of students, faculty, researchers, dignitaries and guests attended the festive event marking the Center’s launch, which took place in the award-winning Porter School building overlooking the Tel Aviv skyline. Israel’s outgoing President, Reuven Rivlin, lauded the University’s new initiative as a significant demonstration of institutional action on the global climate crisis. “The need to address the climate crisis isn’t a luxury, it’s an inevitability,” he said in recorded remarks, noting the dire need for immediate change for benefit in this lifetime and for generations to come.

Mobilizing for Change

Ahead of the Center’s launch, TAU President Prof. Ariel Porat stated: “Tel Aviv University is a committed partner in dealing with the dangers of global warming and climate change. Confronting this challenge requires examination from many perspectives: technological, social, moral, economic, sociological, legal, and more.” Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality also endorses the project. Tel Aviv, listed among the world’s greenest cities, launched its climate change preparedness plan about a year ago as it realized long ago that being able to live here in the future requires action today. Deputy Mayor of Tel Aviv, Reuven Lediansky, hailed the launch of the Center and spoke about the University’s role in writing the municipal plan for dealing with the crisis. “The [municipal] program positioned us among big cities in the world, such as Berlin, Amsterdam, New York and Paris, that have all been working resolutely for some time in order to influence and prepare to handle the climate crisis. I am proud of the long and thorough professional process led by the Environmental Protection Authority, with the professional assistance of Dr. Orli Ronen to formulate such a comprehensive and professional plan. Parts of the program have already been incorporated in the municipality’s work plan for 2021.” Prof. Noga Kronfeld-Schor, Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and researcher from the School of Zoology at The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, called for action: “The third decade of this century is characterized by the understanding that in order for us and our children to lead healthy and equal lives, we need to take nature into consideration, and we need to protect it. Global warming is threatening the life on our planet. The consequences are complex and we are only starting to grasp them. Extensive research is required. We need to develop the ability to predict the broad effects of rising temperatures, ecologically, economically and socially, in order to develop ways and means to deal with them if possible.”

Prof. Noga Kronfeld-Shor used the platform to call for action (photo: Yael Tzur)

Too Little Water for Too Many People

Prof. Hadas Mamane, Head of the Environmental Engineering Program at The Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering, discussed the predicted imbalance between the amount of rain fall and clean drinking water due to the climate crisis and offered creative ways to address the problem. She emphasized the expected increase in the world’s population, which corresponded well with insights from Prof. Tal Alon from The Department of Public Policy at the Gershon H. Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences, who pointed to the close link between demographic stability and the successful handling of the climate crisis where greenhouse gas emissions are concerned. Dr. Dov Khenin, Head of the Parliamentary Clinic of The Buchmann Faculty of Law, discussed the ‘Change of Direction’ program, aimed at decision-makers and intended to promote rapid change of direction in the State of Israel’s approach to the climate crisis. Prof. Shoshi Shiloh from The School of Psychological Sciences, discussed how to leverage the worrying environmental situation so that it stimulates us to act. Is instilling fear the way to go when confronting a problem of this magnitude, or are there more efficient approaches? Prof. Avi Kribus from the School of Mechanical Engineering presented renewable energy solutions that are particularly suitable for Israel, allowing us to make use of the resources that we have plenty of, such as solar energy.

The Green Revolution in the Naftali Building

Prof. Itai Sened, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, presented a practical plan for transforming the Naftali Building to become the greenest building on campus. Lior Hazan, Chair of the Student Union of Tel Aviv University also spoke at the event, calling on her fellow students to take an active part in mobilizing as ambassadors for environmental change. Head of the Climate Center and the University’s Department of Environmental Studies Prof. Price concluded the meeting alluding to the Center’s unique position for driving change: “We have expertise and brainpower from nine faculties, and in each of those faculties there are people dealing with the climate issue. We also have non-university organizations, partners who wish to work with us. We need to start by influencing the behavior of the general public. We can demonstrate to the government that it is financially worthwhile to switch to renewable energy. However, we need to do both to succeed.”

Head of the Climate Center Prof. Colin Price gave the closing remarks at the event (photo: Noam Wind)

Bats ‘Social Distance’ Too

Written by AUFTAU on 6 June 2021. Posted in Newsroom.

The Covid-19 pandemic has introduced us to expressions such as ‘lockdown’, ‘isolation’ and ‘social distancing’, which became part of social conduct all over the world. And while bats have been widely assumed to be source of coronavirus, apparently they too maintain social distancing, which might help prevent the spread of contagious diseases. Researchers from Tel Aviv University demonstrate that sick bats, just like us humans when we are sick, prefer to stay away from their communities. This is probably a means for recovery and possibly also a measure for protecting others. The study was conducted by postdoctoral researcher Dr. Kelsey Moreno and PhD candidate Maya Weinberg at the laboratory of Prof. Yossi Yovel, Head of the Sagol School of Neuroscience and a researcher at the School of Zoology at the George S. wise Faculty of Life Sciences. The study has been published in Annals of the New York Academy of Science.

“If we protect them, they will also protect us”

The study monitored two colonies of Egyptian fruit bats – one living in an enclosure and the other in its natural environment. To examine the behavior of bats when they get sick, the researchers injected several bats in each group with a bacteria-like protein, thereby stimulating their immune response without generating any real danger to the bats. Tests revealed symptoms such as a high fever, fatigue and weight loss, and the ‘ill’ bats’ behavior was tracked with GPS. The researchers discovered that the ‘sick’ bats chose to keep away from the colony. In the first group, they left the bat cluster of their own accord and kept their distance. In the second group the ‘ill’ bats likewise moved away from the other bats in the colony, and also stayed in the colony and did not go out in search of food for two successive nights. Research student Maya Weinberg explains that this social distancing behavior is probably caused by the need to conserve energy – by avoiding the energy-consuming social interactions in the group. Weinberg emphasizes, however, that this behavior can also protect the group and prevent the pathogen from spreading within the colony. Moreover, the fact that sick bats don’t leave the cave, prevents the disease from spreading to other colonies. “The bats’ choice to stay away from the group is highly unusual for these animals. Normally these bats are extremely social creatures, living in caves in very crowded conditions,” says Weinberg. “In fact, the ‘sick’ bats’ behavior is very reminiscent of our own during recovery from an illness. Just as we prefer to stay home quietly under the blanket when we are ill, sick bats, living in very crowded caves, also seek solitude and peace as they recuperate.” Prof. Yovel adds that the study’s findings suggest that the likelihood of bats passing pathogens to humans under regular conditions is very low, because sick bats tend to isolate themselves and stay in the cave. “We observed that during illness bats choose to stay away from the colony and don’t leave the cave, and thus avoid mixing with other bats. This suggests that in order to encounter a sick bat, people must actually invade the bats’ natural environment or eliminate their habitats. In other words, if we protect them, they will also protect us.”