Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on December 17, 1936, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, passed away on Monday, following a prolonged illness. His death prompted an outpouring of grief and tributes worldwide. Jewish leaders also expressed their condolences today, including the heads of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) and […]
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Kodiak Robotics, a leading developer of autonomous trucking technology and an OurCrowd portfolio company, has announced plans to go public through a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Ares Acquisition Corporation II (NYSE: AACT), according to TechCrunch. The deal values Kodiak at a pre-money valuation of approximately $2.5 billion and is anticipated to close […]
Continue ReadingThe Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has completed its internal investigation into the recent incident in Gaza, where IDF fire mistakenly targeted rescue teams and vehicles. The investigation was led by the General Staff Fact-Finding Mechanism, under the direction of Maj. Gen. (res.) Yoav Har-Even, and findings were formally presented to IDF Chief of the General […]
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Borrowing a nifty lyric from the Beastie Boys (those white-hot, hip-hop Jewish sensations): “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Hate Jews!).” Yes, the original rap song focused on an altogether different “Right”: the one to “Party!”—once an eager rallying cry at college. But those were different collegiate days—before social justice and self-importance transformed mirthful […]
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With plastic waste accounting for 80% of all marine pollution and up to 10 million metric tons entering the oceans annually, scientists are urgently seeking sustainable solutions. Now, researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering have made a breakthrough by developing a safer, biodegradable plastic alternative—using a mineral commonly found in seashells. The study, […]
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A groundbreaking study by scientists at the University of Oxford has uncovered compelling evidence that Earth’s water may have originated from the planet’s original building materials, rather than from asteroid impacts as previously believed. The research focused on enstatite chondrites—rare meteorites with a chemical makeup similar to that of early Earth, dating back 4.55 billion […]
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A breakthrough artificial intelligence (AI) tool RibbonFold is offering new insights into how disease-related proteins misfold, a process that plays a central role in neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Developed by Mingchen Chen of Changping Laboratory and Peter Wolynes of Rice University, the novel AI method—called RibbonFold—accurately predicts the structure of amyloids, twisted […]
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NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover continues to make groundbreaking discoveries as it traverses the lower slopes of ‘Witch Hazel Hill’ on the rim of Jezero Crater, a key region believed to have once held ancient water. Last week, the rover paused at a unique geologic boundary known as a “contact zone”, where light and dark […]
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After nine months on the job at Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Rabbi Leah Fein still can’t believe she’s back in Los Angeles. “I feel lucky Wilshire was looking when I was looking,” she said. But how could Wilshire resist hiring a member of its own family – even if she had been on the East Coast […]
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On March 27, the Los Angeles premiere of the new documentary “For the Living” was held at the Museum of Tolerance, in partnership with the L.A. Jewish Film Festival, Museum of Tolerance, Holocaust Museum LA and the Goldrich Family Foundation. The film screened to an audience of 300 guests, followed by a Q&A with the […]
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