Recent News

New sleep method strengthens brain’s ability to retain memories

A new joint study by Tel Aviv University (TAU) and Weizmann Institute of Science researchers has yielded an innovative method for bolstering memory processes in the brain during sleep. The method relies on a memory-evoking scent administered to one nostril. It helps researchers understand how sleep aids memory, and in the future could possibly help to restore memory… Read More

High blood pressure in young adulthood associated with cognitive decline and gait impairment in middle age

High blood pressure, or hypertension, affects everything from your arteries to your kidneys, from eyesight to sexual function. Among older adults, high blood pressure is also associated with cognitive decline as a result of interrupted blood flow to the brain, as well as strokes, heart attacks and impaired mobility. A new Northwestern University–Tel Aviv University study… Read More

TAU researchers discover unique non-oxygen breathing animal

Researchers at Tel Aviv University (TAU) have discovered a non-oxygen breathing animal. The unexpected finding changes one of science’s assumptions about the animal world. A study on the finding was published on February 25 in PNAS by TAU researchers led by Prof. Dorothee Huchon of the School of Zoology at TAU’s Faculty of Life Sciences and Steinhardt Museum of Natural History. The tiny, less than 10-celled… Read More

TAU researchers discover receptor chain involved in atopic dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis, a chronic inflammatory disorder, affects some 30 million Americans every year. It is the most common cause of eczema, a condition marked by unbearably itchy, flaky patches of skin. A new Tel Aviv University study identifies the precise receptor chain involved in the development of atopic dermatitis. The researchers hope to develop an antibody based… Read More

Disease found in fossilized dinosaur tail afflicts humans to this day

The fossilized tail of a young dinosaur that lived on a prairie in southern Alberta, Canada, is home to the remains of a 60-million-year-old tumor. Researchers at Tel Aviv University, led by Dr. Hila May of the Department of Anatomy and Anthropology at TAU’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine and Dan David Center for Human Evolution… Read More

TAU researchers demonstrate optical backflow of light

Researchers at Tel Aviv University have for the first time demonstrated the backflow of optical light propagating forward. The phenomenon, theorized more than 50 years ago by quantum physicists, has never before been demonstrated successfully in any experiment — until now. “This ‘backflow’ phenomenon is quite delicate and requires exquisite control over the state of a particle,… Read More

Induced flaws in metamaterials can produce useful textures and behavior

While a piece of paper is usually flat and floppy, the same piece of paper crumpled into a wad is stiff and round. This demonstrates that scrunching changes the texture and behavior of precisely the same material — paper. A new Tel Aviv University study shows how induced defects in metamaterials — artificial materials the properties of… Read More