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ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 628

Volcani Center

Wild olive trees exposed to westerly winds from the Mediterranean at Atlit, northern Israel, have taken on strange shapes, February 17, 2025. (Sue Surkes/Times of Israel)
March 8, 2025, 11:14 am
Experts unite to protect what could be the last wild olive trees in Israel – or the world
The largest known population of the ancient plants grows on fossilized sand ridges in the north and could prove helpful for the olive industry during climate change, researchers say
By Sue Surkes
Illustrative image of Zebrafish (kazakovmaksim; iStock by Getty Images)
December 15, 2024, 6:07 pm
Fish embryos decide when they want to be born, Israeli researchers find
Groundbreaking study of largest group of living vertebrates finds that embryos release a neurohormone that makes them initiate hatching, offering insight into survival strategies
By Diana Bletter
The Miraculous Draft of Fishes, Raphael, c.1515-16 (Public domain)
October 30, 2024, 12:19 pm
Scientists offer explanation for Jesus’ ‘miraculous catch of fish’
Analysis of rare mass fish mortality events in Sea of Galilee reveals that strong winds cause lower, oxygen-poor water levels to rise, suffocating fish and bringing them to surface
By Sue Surkes
Ellen Graber poses with one of her cacao plants at the Volcani Center in central Israel. (Courtesy: Ellen Graber)
March 27, 2024, 10:29 am
After surviving October 7, Israeli cocoa plants could help stave off world shortage
Chocolate-loving Ellen Graber’s ‘superhero’ seedlings, forced to fend for themselves after Hamas attack, survived 3.5 months without water or fertilizer, suggesting high resilience
By Sue Surkes
MK Yisrael Eichler (L) speaks to MK Moshe Gafni during a discussion on the state budget at the Knesset in Jerusalem, March 12, 2024 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
March 12, 2024, 8:41 pm
Lawmakers spar over amended 2024 budget ahead of Knesset vote
Finance Minister Smotrich ‘doesn’t see the Arabs in the budget,’ says Ra’am MK Waleed Alhwashla, claiming package set to pass Wednesday will widen gaps between sectors of society
By Sam Sokol
An aerial view of the Volcani Institute. (Yigal Elad, Wikipedia)
February 25, 2024, 10:02 pm
Agricultural research body says planned budget cuts will force it to halt activities
Volcani Institute fears having to renege on local, international research contracts, face lawsuits demanding return of funds, if Knesset approves amended 2024 budget
By Sue Surkes
Shock trauma specialist Prof. Avi Rivkind (center right) with members of a delegation from the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem, July 13, 2023. (Renee Ghert-Zand/Times of Israel)
August 2, 2023, 11:03 am
Impressed by Israeli science, Black universities plan student and faculty exchanges
‘If you send one or two students to start, you are changing their lives,’ says president of South Carolina State University, who joined recent trip of historically Black colleges
By Renee Ghert-Zand
The Golda hens when they were chicks. (Ori Peretz)
December 13, 2022, 4:36 pm
In first, Israeli scientists program hens to lay eggs that carry only female chicks
Gene editing technology developed by Volcani Center scientists, who say it has potential to stop ‘devastating’ destruction of 7 billion unwanted male chicks globally each year
By Sue Surkes
Illustrative image of radioactive waste barrels. (vchal, iStock at Getty Images)
September 12, 2022, 3:13 pm
Agricultural research body stored barrels of radioactive waste for years — report
Environmental Protection Ministry says the waste, recently removed from Rishon Lezion facility, was stored correctly and posed no risk
By Sue Surkes
A mountain gazelle is pictured on a hill next to a forest in a suburb of Jerusalem on January 7, 2021. (MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP)
January 15, 2021, 2:37 pm
Israel studies new forest home for endangered mountain gazelle
Wildlife experts hope population numbers can recover in woodlands like the Forest of the Martyrs west of Jerusalem
By Alexandra Vardi
A photo of the two altars found at the entrance to a shrine at Tel Arad in southern Israel, at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. (Israel Museum/Laura Lachman)
May 30, 2020, 12:46 am
1st high: Ancient Israelites at Biblical shrine used cannabis to spark ‘ecstasy’
Researchers find resin on altar at Tel Arad is marijuana mixed with animal dung, used 2,700 years ago ‘as deliberate psychoactive’ – first evidence of ritual cannabis use in region
By ToI Staff
Early infestation of an Indian fig prickly pear. (Courtesy Prof. Zvika Mendel of the Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center)
August 8, 2019, 4:14 am
Israeli scientists fight to save iconic Sabra prickly pear from devastating pest
Predatory flies from Mexico are being released to devour an insect that is decimating the Sabra cactus across northern Israel
By Sue Surkes
Dr Dvory Namdar, the chief chemist and research associate at the government's marijuana greenhouses at the Volcani Center in Rishon Lezion, holds a flowering cannabis plant on June 27, 2018. (Melanie Lidman/Times of Israel)
August 18, 2018, 12:43 pm
Weed firms fume as government rolls with cannabis research but stubs out exports
The Volcani Center’s medical marijuana research is part of Israel’s bid to be a world leader in medical cannabis, though businesses are angry over Netanyahu’s exports freeze
By Melanie Lidman
Illustrative image of a brown spider (JasonOndreicka; iStock by Getty Images)
April 30, 2018, 11:48 am
Male spiders prefer mature aggressive females over fertile young ones
Israeli researchers say older female mates are 50 percent more likely to eat males after sex
By Shoshanna Solomon
The Volcani Institute research helicopter, gifted by Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel to Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev on November 10, 2016, seen in action flying over agricultural fields. (YouTube screenshot)
November 25, 2016, 7:50 pm
Spain seeks answers for Israel’s drone gift to Russia
Madrid says license on Spanish-made $50,000 craft did not allow minister Uri Ariel to impulsively hand it over to Medvedev
By ToI Staff and AFP
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