Tech

The European Research Council has released the 2026 ERC Starting Grant results, with Tel Aviv University leading in Israel as five of its researchers receive significant funding for groundbreaking projects.

Perhaps one of the most dramatic events in the history of our solar system happened much faster than previously thought. According to a new study, the Moon could have formed almost entirely within just five hours following a massive collision approximately 4.5 billion years ago.

The European Research Council announced the winners of the prestigious grant, and a leading academic institution in the country took first place thanks to breakthrough developments in the fields of medicine, physics, and artificial intelligence.

Israeli researchers secured only 11 ERC grants under the Horizon program, a sharp decline from previous years. Experts attribute this to a mix of technical changes and potential academic boycotts.

Researchers have enlisted narwhals, known as "sea unicorns," to study the remote Arctic regions. By attaching satellite transmitters to six individuals, scientists gathered unique data on temperature and salinity in East Greenland's fjords, collecting in three years an amount of information equivalent to 130 years of observation.

More than three thousand years after her burial in Ancient Egypt, the mummy of a noblewoman still appears to be screaming in terror, her mouth frozen wide open. Researchers using modern medical imaging have confirmed that this is not the result of poor embalming, but a rare muscle reaction that occurred at the exact moment of death.

Researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Hebrew University have developed a method based on the "magnetic memory" of pottery. It can expose modern forgeries and assist museums, archaeologists, and law enforcement in the fight against the illegal antiquities trade.

The Turkish government has granted unprecedented permission for excavation and research on a mysterious structure near Mount Ararat, as initial findings reveal an exact match to the biblical description and deep cavities in the ground.

Prof. Ada Yonath, the 2009 Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry and Israel Prize laureate, has passed away at the age of 87. A pioneer in ribosome research, her work was instrumental in the development of new antibiotics.

Yonath was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2009 for her research on ribosomes. She worked for many years at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot and was a recipient of the Israel Prize.

In the late 1980s, an ambitious experiment was launched in Australia to answer a seemingly simple question: what is the best way to log trees without destroying the forest in the long term? Researchers marked areas, logged trees using different methods, and began tracking what grew in their place. Over time, the project faded, but decades later, researchers from the University of Melbourne...

Israeli scientists have developed an innovative saliva test that maps the human genome and is capable of detecting the risk of about 50 types of cancer, stroke, and heart disease years before they break out.

Researchers from the University of Haifa have reconstructed an ancient vessel to understand how the inhabitants of Neolithic Carmel coast settlements, now submerged, navigated the sea.

Archaeologists in Thailand have discovered two gold rings at a 2,000-year-old burial site in Phetchaburi province. One ring features an inscription in Brahmi script, an ancient Indian writing system. Experts believe the inscription translates to "protected by Pushya."

Researchers from the USA and the UK discovered that an almost invisible change in the shape of graphene — an extremely thin material — can dramatically affect the way electricity passes through it. In a study published in the journal "Advanced Materials", it was found that wrinkles smaller than a billionth of a meter are capable of changing the electrical properties of the material.

Researchers at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia have developed light-activated drugs that restored visual functions in blind mice. Two of the substances tested were effective as eye drops, requiring no genetic modification or device implantation. The findings were published in the "Journal of the American Chemical Society".

Researchers from Australia have developed "cyborg cockroaches" equipped with cameras and tiny syringes, capable of reaching those trapped in disaster zones and providing primary medical care in real-time. Here is how the surprising technology that will change the world of search and rescue works.

Years before the particle accelerator, Homer Simpson scribbled on a chalkboard an equation that predicted the mass of the “God Particle” with astonishing precision. Behind the scientific prophecy in the classic 1998 episode stood a writers’ guild with degrees in mathematics and physics from Harvard — who planted, in a single frame, real string-theory equations and delivered one of the most...

In 1963, a curious teenager from Tanzania discovered that a hot ice cream mixture freezes faster than a lukewarm one. As sometimes happens in science, the effect he discovered changed the way we understand reality.

TIME magazine's list of the world's 12 most prominent longevity researchers reveals where the science of life extension is heading. Also: who might make next year's list? The science of longevity, a new section.

The central solenoid of the ITER project has been installed in southern France, marking a milestone in nuclear fusion research. Weighing 1,000 tons and capable of generating a 13-tesla magnetic field, this superconducting magnet is essential for controlling the plasma required to harness the same energy process that powers the Sun.

A large-scale archaeological discovery was revealed this month in Egypt: a mission on behalf of the Supreme Council of Antiquities exposed at the Kom el-Khilgan site in the Dakahlia Governorate, in the eastern Nile Delta, an ancient cemetery and remains of a residential area documenting human settlement for thousands of years. The earliest findings date back to the first half of the fourth...

When thinking about fungi, one usually imagines them in a forest, on trees, or in the ground. However, it turns out that fungi also live under the sea, and a new study published in the scientific journal "PLOS Biology" points to their surprising role: they may help store carbon on the ocean floor. Researchers discovered that tiny fungi in the Arctic region absorb substances from the environment.

Researchers from Ben-Gurion University have developed a "smart sponge" capable of absorbing oil and fuel in amounts up to one hundred times its weight. The material attracts bacteria that break down the pollution and subsequently the sponge itself, and the development is in the process of being patented.

The new species, about 71 cm long, was discovered in the forests of New Guinea. The researcher who named it after the Guns N' Roses guitarist has admired Slash since her childhood and remembered his love for reptiles, museums, and zoos.

Researchers have discovered 14 fossilized shark teeth belonging to five extinct species on the Abu Tartur plateau in Egypt. The findings confirm that this arid desert region was once a thriving marine ecosystem.

A new study has discovered that dozens of animal species are capable of breaking down PHA, a type of natural plastic produced by bacteria. Researchers estimate that this ability has existed for hundreds of millions of years and may change the understanding of the carbon cycle in nature.

Scientists have revealed a method that allows standard Wi-Fi networks to identify individuals with near-perfect accuracy, even without connected devices. This discovery turns common routers into potential tools for mass surveillance.

Researchers from Harvard University have grown brain tissue from stem cells, maintaining its activity for six years. The findings revealed internal "biological clocks" within nerve cells, offering new avenues for studying autism and schizophrenia.

Researchers have identified a neural circuit in the brainstem capable of stopping neuropathic pain at its source. The goal: to develop targeted drugs that will prevent the danger of severe addiction to opioid painkillers.

Nir Barzilai and Uri Alon were selected by TIME for the list of 12 groundbreaking researchers paving the way for a longer and healthier life. Barzilai is testing whether existing drugs can delay age-related diseases, and Alon found that genetics may account for about 50% of life expectancy.

A 2026 study based on Gaia telescope data questions a 50-year-old astronomical assumption. Researchers from the University of Missouri found that the ratio of high-mass to low-mass stars is not universal and varies depending on the local environment.

Researchers have identified previously unknown immune structures within the skull bone marrow that act as a local brain defense center. The study, published in Nature, could lead to new treatments for brain tumors and neurological conditions.

How do some people manage to live over 100 years and successfully resist aging processes? A new study published in the journal "Cell Reports" points to the important role of the immune system. Long-lived individuals were found to have an increased level of rare immune cells capable of destroying damaged and cancerous cells.

Did you put out a gel bait and are you sure the product is ineffective because the ants are just feasting on the counter? A new study from the University of California reveals the bizarre process they go through just before the nest collapses. Do not rush to throw away the poison.

The remains were discovered in a canal near an ancient pyramid at the Huaca Pucllana site, a former ceremonial center of the Lima culture. The body's position and the site's structure suggest he was buried as part of a ritual ceremony.

A new study reveals that the evolution of snakes was much more diverse than previously thought: a fossil discovered in Brazil indicates that as early as 80 million years ago, they inhabited different habitats and developed different sensory strategies.

An unusual gold discovery in an area that has so far been barely explored is raising expectations in Suriname. The company Founders Metals reported that in a drilling in the Maria Geralda area, a 22.5-meter-long section was found where an average concentration of 11.88 grams of gold per ton of rock was measured.

A study by the University of Haifa reveals that members of the Natufian culture on Mount Carmel systematically ate snakes and lizards. Cut marks found on reptile vertebrae prove that this was not incidental food.