Big Ideas

Robot Hears through Locust Ear

In a world first, an organic ear has been connected to a robot, which can receive electrical signals, “hear,” and respond accordingly.

To achieve this breakthrough, a team of TAU researchers used a special device, called Ear-ona-Chip, developed at the lab of Dr. Ben Maoz of the Fleischman Faculty of Engineering and Sagol School of Neuroscience. The device kept the ear—taken from a locust—alive by supplying it with oxygen and nutrients, while allowing the electrical signals to be taken out of the ear and then amplified and transmitted to the robot.

Based on the project’s success, the team plans to use this integrative model in other applications. Maoz

Idan Fishel and the robot

notes that biological systems are more sensitive and less expensive than their technological equivalents—and also consume less energy—thus making the hybrid system a winning option.

“Nature is more advanced than we are,” says Dr. Maoz, a Blavatnik Faculty Recruit. “The principle we have demonstrated can be applied to other senses. For example, some animals have amazing abilities to detect explosives or drugs. A robot with a biological nose could help us save human lives and identify criminals. The sky is the limit.”

The study was led by Idan Fishel, an MSc graduate, under the supervision of Maoz and Profs. Yossi Yovel and Amir Ayali of the School of Zoology and Sagol School of Neuroscience.

TAU Soars into Space

and tested at an Israeli university. The size of a shoebox, it hitched a ride into space on a NASA rocket and is now conducting experiments while in orbit, including the measurement of cosmic radiation. The achievement was the fruit of an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Center for Nanosatellites and New Space of the Fleischman Faculty of Engineering, the Porter School of the Environment Tel Aviv University soared out of this world with the festive launch of and Earth Sciences, and the Constantiner School of Education. TAU-SAT1—the first nanosatellite to The initiative included a strong be designed, developed, assembled educational element: In addition to TAU students and faculty, a diverse group of high school pupils were involved in TAU-SAT1’s development, from writing software to testing.

“The students come from all over the country, including the periphery, and hail from different cultural and religious backgrounds,” says Sharon Mishaal, a staff member of the Constantiner School of Education and the Nanosatellite Center. “Our goal is to make the field of space accessible to youngsters from across Israel.”

TAU researchers are now working on a new satellite that will measure climate change. It will be launched through TAU’s newly-created interdisciplinary Center for Climate Change Action.

BIG IDEAS TAU-Developed Pigment Could Revolutionize Skin Care

ATel Aviv University researcher has developed a new method for creating colorful melanin-like pigments, which outperform natural melanin. This and related discoveries by Dr. Ayala Lampel of TAU’s Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research could potentially be used to enhance sunscreen products to better defend against sunburn, signs of aging and skin cancer.

Melanin, the pigment responsible for our hair and skin color, serves multiple functions in our bodies, the most important being to protect our skin from the harmful effects of sunlight.

In her post-doctoral research, Dr. Lampel—together with Prof. Rein Ulijn and other colleagues at the City University of New York—synthesized slightly different types of pigments, which change color depending on the substances added to them. The composite pigments possess different rates of UV absorbance and fluorescent emission, which can thus serve different purposes.

Lampel is now working on the synthetic melanin to make it more suitable for large-scale use in the skincare industry.

Doron Levy

Common reading disorders also affect deaf people who “read” sign language. This groundbreaking finding was made by Prof. Naama Friedmann, academic director of the MiLa Center – the Cukier, GoldsteinGoren Center for Mind and Language at Tel Aviv University. The research was conducted in cooperation with PhD candidate Doron Levy whose

mother tongue is sign language—and serves as a basis for new diagnostic tools and interventions. Signers of Israeli Sign Language use fingerspelling to convey names of people, places or brand names that do not have a designated sign.

The TAU researchers discovered letter-position dyslexia among some deaf signers, a deficit that causes confusion in the order of letters both in written words and in finger-spelled words. The team also developed the world’s first tool for diagnosing the disorder. Together with PhD candidate Neta Haluts, they are developing additional tests to diagnose other common disorders among users of Israeli Sign Language.

Levy, the only deaf student currently pursuing a PhD at TAU, is the former Chairman of the Association of the Deaf in Israel. “Until now assessment tools for reading disorders in sign language have been lacking,” he says. “This research is vital for identifying problems early on and designing better treatments. It could also shed light on how our mind reads and interprets language.”

In addition to her role at the MiLa Center, Friedmann is a researcher at TAU’s Constantiner School of Education and Sagol School of Neuroscience.

The MiLa Center was established in 2018 by the Cukier, Goldstein-Goren Foundation, a longstanding supporter of TAU.

TAU Researchers Identify Dyslexia in Sign Language

Students in the Columbia-TAU Dual Degree program on the TAU campus From left: Lemony David, Ann Mizrahi, Katie Friedman, Asher Dayanim and Kristupas Packauskas

TAU and Columbia University Launch Dual Degree Program

Despite the worldwide lockdown, an enthusiastic cohort of students arrived in Tel Aviv in fall 2020 for the inaugural year of the Columbia-Tel Aviv University Dual Degree in Liberal Arts program.

In a first-of-its-kind partnership between an Ivy League university and an Israeli institution of higher learning, the multidisciplinary program enables students to simultaneously earn two bachelor’s degrees—one from each institution.

Asher Dayanim, a first-year student from Philadelphia, chose the dual degree program because it “fit all of my goals: to spend time in another country and learn a new language.”

Although he studied remotely from his TAU dorm room until April, Dayanim says he loved the content of his classes. He was able to become acquainted with fellow students at the dorms through regulated social activities in-person as well as online.

Now, upon his return to the classroom, he says, “Meeting my classmates after only seeing them on a zoom screen for a whole semester is a profound experience. I have already started to bounce around ideas about philosophy, history, politics and economics and to learn from their experiences.”

Dual-degree students study in TAU’s International Liberal Arts Program at the Entin Faculty of Humanities for their first two years and spend their last two years at Columbia University in New York City.

“The Restart”: What Nature Can Teach Us

Restarting happens often in the natural world and has many benefits, according to Dr. Shlomi Reuveni of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler School of Chemistry.

“If until now, we thought that restarting a process is counterproductive and a waste of resources, we now know that restarting can help us finish processes quicker and with greater efficiency,” he says.

Reuveni, a graduate of TAU’s Adi Lautman Program for Outstanding Students, recently published a series of studies on the applicability and effectiveness of resetting—or restarting—across multiple scientific disciplines, with his interdisciplinary research group. In one of the studies, the team proved mathematically that resetting is effective in optimizing processes or overcoming challenges in conditions of high uncertainty. For example, when an animal searches for hidden food, returning home periodically can increase the effectiveness of the search.

Resetting provides a fresh start, which is often required to optimize random processes that involve elements of chance, he explains. This is true in a wide spectrum of phenomena in the natural world from the functioning of enzymes—the engines responsible for our bodily functions—to animal survival.

Prof. Noam Shomron (right) discusses test results with MD-PhD candidate Yazeed Zoabi (left) and doctoral candidate Meitar Grad in his lab.

Exploring New Frontiers in AI

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

Exploring New Frontiers in AI

By Judith Sudilovsky

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, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tasked two Tel Aviv University professors with leading the National Initiative for Secured Intelligent Systems. They are Major

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. TAU: AI Powerhouse

With its influential group of researchers in core AI, TAU is already considered a world leader in the field,

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 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 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 with strong performances in terms of Feder. “In addition, the Center will prestigious grants, publications in top enable all TAU students, no matter journals and industry ties. what they study, to gain a Collaborative AI projects in the basic education in AI and TAU pipeline include developing Data Science. We will automated tools for analyzing crop do this by building growth to help farmers in Africa a curriculum that improve yield; processing vast exposes them to amounts of data to understand AI concepts, to genome patterns and sources of be implemented diseases; and studying communication in the upcoming between caregivers and infants to academic year.” recognize patterns that can facilitate

AI, which better language development. revolves around TAU also has a relationship with the quest to build Russia’s largest technology company, machines that can Yandex, which founded the Yandex execute human-like tasks Initiative for Machine Learning to and behavior and beyond, has strengthen AI and machine learning been a “holy grail” for scientists for among TAU students and faculty, many years, says Prof. Amir Globerson Globerson notes. He adds that the of the Blavatnik School of Computer University views educating the Science and the AI Center’s academic next generation of researchers and management team. technologists in this field as a priority.

“Almost every aspect of our daily Recently, the “AI for Social Good” lives can and will be changed by initiative, funded by Google at TAU’s AI these emerging technologies,” says Center, announced grants for 10 new Globerson. “These include the way we interdisciplinary projects. The winning

Prof. Amir Globerson at the Check Point Building Almost every aspect of our daily lives can and will be changed by these emerging technologies. Prof. Meir Feder

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. 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 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 Shlomo Shmeltzer Institute for 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

TAU researchers from different disciplines use advanced AI methods to decipher and evaluate the Dead Sea Scrolls.

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 AIbased 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

We’re always looking at the next frontier. That is what we do in academia: We try to invent the future. 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 Prof. Niva Elkin-Koren 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 and also responding to new theoretical challenges about legal agency and collective action. 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.”

Dr. Bruria Adini If you enable open dialogue, authorities can provide information that the public needs in a way that builds trust.

How Will We Brave the Post-COVID Era?

TAU’s Dr. Bruria Adini spoke to TAU Review about mental health, resilience and hope in the post-Corona world

By Melanie Takefman

Dr. Bruria Adini, head of the Emergency and Disaster Management Program at TAU’s School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, and a member of TAU’s Center for Combating Pandemics, has been measuring Israelis’ resilience for years. When COVID-19 broke in March 2020, Adini and her team surveyed a sample group of Israelis regarding their mental well-being. They continued to do so every 2-3 months to evaluate their levels of distress, depression and anxiety as well as individual, community and national resilience.

How has COVID-19 affected Israelis’ mental health?

It affected them in almost every facet of their lives. Until October 2020, the rates of distress rose significantly— both anxiety and depression. We got to the point where one in five people had high levels of depression, and one in three had high levels of anxiety.

All three levels of resilience— individual, community and national— dropped through much of the first year of COVID-19. Then, in January 2021, we saw a small increase in community and national resilience, most probably a result of the vaccination campaign.

We can explain this by the fact that the vaccination campaign offered hope that things will get better. People felt that the country was standing by their side. The authorities were doing something.

At the same time, there was a substantial decrease in individual resilience. People didn’t feel the vaccination campaign was impacting their lives yet. They were still stuck at home. They didn’t know what was going to happen with their children’s

education. They were still experiencing economic instability. How has resilience varied with age?

We expected to see the highest threat and the lowest resilience among the elderly population, because we heard that they were the most at risk and COVID-19 could be lethal for them. But what we found was the opposite.

It was the younger populations, aged 31-40, who showed the lowest level of resilience and the highest levels of stress, anxiety and perceived threat. The younger people felt the most impact economically because they are the backbone of the workforce, while those who live on pensions were less affected. This younger group also worried about the impact of the pandemic on their children, as the school system was closed.

In addition, we found that the resilience of university and college students was lower than that of the average population. Their distress and anxiety levels were higher, as was a perceived threat to their academic success. In addition, many of them lost jobs in the industries that were shut down during the pandemic, such as restaurants and bars.

How can governments help people be more resilient during a pandemic?

Transparency is key to the management of any emergency. Having a clear and unified message is also important. If you enable open dialogue, authorities can provide information that the public needs in a way that builds trust. In other words, the government needs to make the public part of the solution, to make them a partner and to empower them. For example, the government and other bodies can invite the public to relay what is happening on the ground. In this way, citizens can have an impact on policy and crisis response.

On the flipside, we saw that messaging that inspired fear among the populace worked only for a short time. Also, the threat of cash fines didn’t convince people to follow the guidelines, such as wearing masks. What does have an impact is helping people understand how their behavior will impact those they care about— their community, family members and so on.

During the pandemic, we also saw fruitful connections between academia and decision-makers. We provided data and evidence of what the public feels, which they could take into consideration in determining policy. We collaborated with the Ministries of Health, Social Equality and Welfare.

Some people think that the next pandemic will be a mental health pandemic. Do you agree with this statement?

If you’re asking me is this pandemic going to have long-term mental health repercussions, the answer is certainly yes.

No type of adversity or pandemic is singular. The health risk caused economic instability. The economic instability created political instability. Mental health impacts your ability to function, your ability to function impacts your economic situation, your economic situation impacts your mental health, your self-confidence, your certainty of what the future holds, and so on. So it’s not only about mental health; it affects our economy and society as well. What are the main lessons that COVID-19 has taught us?

Even when we need to make drastic changes in our lives, we have the power to overcome and continue to function. For example, the education system closed and distance learning was a severe blow but in academia, for example, we didn’t miss one day of teaching. We switched to Zoom, and that’s going to impact online learning in the years to come. We saw the same concerning the economy. People worked from home.

I think the pandemic led to some positive insights, and these are becoming clearer as time passes. We’re going to see that our society can make the necessary modifications to improve our way of life.

That’s the exact definition of resilience: To adapt to what is happening and still bounce forward.

Dubai Calling

In wake of Abraham Accords, TAU launches academic collaboration with UAE

By Rava Eleasari and Lindsey Zemler

These days, diplomatic relations can start with an Instagram message.

That is how Ido Montaniez, Head of Culture, Sports and International Affairs at Tel Aviv University’s Student Union, started a relationship with his counterpart at the University of Dubai (UD).

When the Abraham Accords between Israel and several Arab countries were announced last year, Montaniez said he saw an opportunity to reach out to students in the Gulf countries.

This paved the way for a blossoming relationship, along with new connections and collaborative events. For example, in spring 2021, the two universities’ student unions co-hosted “UD-TAU Week,” offering five joint virtual events for their respective student bodies. TAU professors were matched with their UD counterparts for lectures, and cultural events for students included live cooking, discussions about daily Israeli and Emirati life, and more.

“Until recently, Israelis had few connections in the Middle East or the Arab world—it’s a new era for TAU and the region,” says Montaniez. Peace through Water

While students are exploring ties, the

TAU leadership is moving quickly to forge research alliances with UAE partners. An agreement to establish a joint Israeli-Emirati Water Research Institute was signed in Abu Dhabi in the presence of TAU President Prof. Ariel Porat; TAU Vice Presidents Prof. Milette Shamir and Amos Elad; TAU Governor Dr. Michael Mirilashvili, CEO of Watergen and founder of the Moshe Mirilashvili Institute for Applied Water Studies at TAU; and senior UAE business executives and officials. The research will be carried out as part of wider commercial collaboration between

Watergen and the Emirati company Baynunah. “Thanks to the Abraham Accords,” said Dr. Mirilashvili at the signing ceremony, “we are able to cooperate with one of the region’s neighbors to solve one of the region’s most pressing problems—water scarcity—and help build peace and a common future.” In another development, TAU’s Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, led by Prof. Uzi Rabi, launched the Gulf-Israel Policy Forum. Through it, academics, practitioners and members of civil society hold discussions—mostly online now but the plan is to engage in faculty and student exchange. “The feeling that you have sources on the ground and can talk openly about issues in our region—this is what was previously missing in Middle Ido Montaniez Eastern studies,” Prof. Rabi says. “Now, all this has changed.” Water and Mideast studies are just the start, says TAU Vice President Shamir. She notes that a number of cooperation agreements are currently being discussed between TAU and top UAE academic institutions in cyber, AI, smart cities and medicine.