University of Haifa

August 29, 2010  Telegraph.co.uk

Scientists have found that an aquatic insect known as a backswimmer, which is similar a water boatman, releases a “scent” that scares off mosquitoes – although it cannot be picked up by the human nose. Backswimmers prey on the larvae of the biting insects, and so female mosquitoes have developed a tendency to avoid areas where they detect chemicals given off by the predators.

The researchers now hope to use their findings to develop new repellents. . . . Professor Leon Blaustein, a ecologist at the University of Haifa, Israel, whose team have been researching the repellent, said applying the chemicals to sites where mosquitos breed could help to control their numbers.

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August 26, 2010  IBA News

Dr. Dan Schueftan, Director of the National Security Studies Center at the University of Haifa on whether this week’s Washington summit will advance the peace process: “The relations between Israel and the United States will change, the relations between the Palestinians and the Americans will change; there is nothing whatsoever between what is happening in Washington and between Israeli-Palestinian relations. It is a dual contest: an American-Israeli on the one hand, the Palestinian-American on the other, where both sides are trying to get on the good side of the Americans, both sides not trusting the Americans.”

The brain’s right hemisphere is not involved in the initial processes of reading in Arabic, due to the graphic complexity of Arabic script. Therefore reading acquisition in Arabic is much harder in comparison to English. This has been shown in a series of studies that were carried out at the Department of Psychology and the Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities at the University of Haifa. These studies have been published in the prestigious journal Neuropsychology. Continue Reading »

July 4, 2010  ISRAEL21c

Prof. Nurit Kliot, Dr. Noga Collins-Kreiner and their master’s student Paz Raveh from Israel’s University of Haifa (UH) were the first to document the growing popularity of cycling in the country in a report they published this year on the profile of Israeli cyclists. Their work is based on a survey of 539 mountain bikers at six locations throughout Israel.

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August 20, 2010  The New York Times, Hamodia (English)

“Everyone is dreaming about a golden calf,” lamented Brenda Shaffer, an energy policy specialist who teaches political science at the University of Haifa. “We should be thinking about reducing pollution, establishing energy security and reordering our priorities. Our coalition system leads to a very politicized allocation of money. Unfortunately, more money won’t mean it will be spent differently.”

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August 11, 2010  Haaretz

Dr. Brenda Shaffer, director of the energy policy management program at the University of Haifa, hasn’t been able to believe what she’s been seeing from her office on the slopes of the Carmel Mountain. Shaffer is considered one of the world’s experts on the politics of energy and how it influences gas markets around the world. She has been watching from the sidelines as her country inhales the sweet scent of newly discovered natural gas, and heads down the wrong path, doing things she warned her students at Harvard against.

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August 10, 2010  Science News

Any mammal breath, be it goats’ or gazelles’ or grad students’, is bad breath to an aphid. Exhalations send masses of pea aphids overboard, plummeting off the plant where they have been feeding, says Moshe Inbar of the University of Haifa in Israel. It’s combined warmth and humidity that gives breath its aphid-scaring power, Inbar and his colleagues report in the Aug. 10 Current Biology.

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August 10, 2010  DNA (Daily News & Analysis)

Plant insects have a unique way of escaping predators - they sense the mammal’s breath. The insects sense mammalian breath and simply drop to the ground to avoid being gobbled up. Moshe Inbar of the University of Haifa in Israel conducted the experiment.

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August 29, 2010  Haaretz

In a recent interview with TheMarker, Dr. Brenda Shaffer, director of the energy policy management program at the University of Haifa, ticked off several reasons why Israel shouldn’t count on Italy, Turkey or Greece as a destination for its natural gas. These include straightforward economic reasons, such as a decline in consumption due to recession and the lack of a need for another source of natural gas, as well as geopolitical ones involving Russia and Iran.

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August 2, 2010  SportsFeatures.com

In a peace promoting effort a group of young Israelis and Palestinians from the University of Haifa have set off on a climbing mission on Mont Blanc. The expedition takes place between the 2nd and the 5th of August.

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