Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Major Israeli study finds flu vaccine during pregnancy does not increase autism risk Researchers from Soroka, Ben-Gurion University and Clalit analyzed data from more than 153,000 births, debunking conspiracy claims and finding no link between flu vaccination in pregnancy and autism

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Analyzing data from more than 153,000 births, the research shows that receiving the influenza vaccine at any stage of pregnancy does not increase the risk of autism, reinforcing long-standing medical guidance and offering reassurance to expectant parents.
Evidence matters. Science matters.

New Israeli study dispels a major vaccine myth
A large-scale study led by Prof. Idan Menashe and Prof. Gal Meiri of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev finds no link between flu vaccination during pregnancy and autism in children.

Ben-Gurion University professor recommended for UN global panel on artificial intelligence Prof. Lior Rokach of Ben-Gurion University was selected by the UN secretary-general as the sole Israeli on a new global scientific panel examining the opportunities, risks and societal impact of artif...

worldwide to help shape evidence-based global AI policy.

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www.ynetnews.com/article/ska7...

Congratulations to our very own Prof. Lior Rokach, who has been recommended by the UN Secretary-General to serve on a new global scientific panel on Artificial Intelligence.
Prof. Rokach is the only Israeli expert selected among 40 leading scientists

linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0924977X26000040

Can a strand of hair reveal the parent–child bond? 💞
A new study from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, led by Prof. Florina Uzefovsky, shows that oxytocin measured in hair, reflecting months, not moments, is linked to the quality of parent–child emotional connection.

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Boeing and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev are launching a $10M+ Aviation Cybersecurity Research Center in Israel to secure next-gen autonomous and connected aerospace systems.
🚀 Safer skies start here.

Israel's Ben-Gurion University tops on-time graduates list | The Jerusalem Post According to the report, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) recorded Israel’s highest on-time graduation rate, with 91%, followed by Bar-Ilan University at 87%

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has achieved Israel’s highest on-time graduation rate, with 91% of students finishing their degrees on schedule, highlighting our commitment to student success!

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WEF agenda fails to address antisemitism | The Jerusalem Post To ignore the spread of antisemitism at a gathering that claims to champion global cooperation would be a moral and strategic failure.

Prof. Sharon Pardo from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev calls on the World Economic Forum in Davos to confront the global rise of antisemitism and include it on the global agenda, stressing that ignoring this threat undermines moral leadership and global cooperation.
www.jpost.com/opinion/arti...

Protective Alumina Nanolayers Enhance Ozone Resistance of Polyamide Reverse Osmosis Membranes Water scarcity is an escalating global challenge, leaving billions without consistent access to clean water. Desalination, particularly through reverse osmosis (RO), has become a critical method of producing fresh water from saline sources. However, thin-film composite (TFC) polyamide (PA) RO membranes, the industrial desalination standard, have a high propensity for biofilm formation, which leads to biofouling, reducing efficiency and increasing energy demand. Ozone disinfection is a simple, effective method to control biofilm development; however, PA membranes undergo chemical degradation when exposed to oxidizing disinfectants, even at very low concentrations. This work presents a novel approach to enhancing the durability of TFC-PA membranes against ozone. This was achieved by applying ultrathin alumina coatings via atomic layer deposition (ALD) on the membrane surface, creating a protective layer that provides active and passive defense against oxidative damage. The thin-film alumina-coated membrane at optimal coating demonstrated 5-fold higher tolerance to ozone exposure than uncoated membranes. They also maintained stable water permeate flux and salt rejection after prolonged filtration and effectively prevented biofilm formation. These findings offer a promising pathway to enhancing the sustainability of RO membranes by addressing critical barriers to their long-term desalination performance, thereby contributing to addressing the problem of global water scarcity.

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pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Longer-lasting membranes, lower costs, more reliable access to fresh water. 💧🌍
The study was funded by the Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology and the German Ministry of Education and Research (MOST-BMBF).

In a new study, Prof. Eran Edri and Prof. Roy Bernstein at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev show that an ultrathin alumina coating, applied using atomic layer deposition, can protect membranes from ozone without reducing performance.

Reverse osmosis desalination supplies drinking water to hundreds of millions, but it has a long-standing weakness: biofouling. Bacteria build up on membranes, raising energy costs and reducing efficiency.
Disinfectants like ozone prevent biofouling, but even small amounts rapidly damage RO membranes

The convenience economy: Product flows and GHG emissions of returned apparel in the EU Each year, consumers return billions of new products to retailers. Despite growing concern over product destruction, post-return product flows are not…

from producing clothes that never get used, sometimes up to 16× higher than all post-return transport and processing combined.
If sustainability matters, returns can’t be an afterthought.

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published in Resources, Conservation & Recycling, finds that 22–44% of returned clothing items are never worn again, they’re discarded, destroyed, or downcycled instead of being reused.
The biggest impact isn’t return shipping, but the wasted emissions

Click. Buy. Return. Repeat.
New research shows this everyday online shopping habit has a much larger climate cost than most people realize.
A study by Prof. Tamar Makov (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) and Prof. Vered Blass (Tel Aviv University),

YouTube video by Jonathan Sacerdoti Does Europe still love Israel? What war, intelligence, trade and Eurovision tell us about diplomacy

language of values while acting through interest. In the aftermath of October 7, those tensions have hardened, exposing fractures between governments and peoples, ideology and reality, rhetoric and reliance.

WATCH & SHARE:
👉🏻YouTube: youtu.be/8Y9hd1yyDkg

YouTube video by Jonathan Sacerdoti Does Europe still love Israel? What war, intelligence, trade and Eurovision tell us about diplomacy

In partnership between BGU Radio and Jonathan Sacerdoti:
NEW INTERVIEW: EUROPE & ISRAEL

Europe’s relationship with Israel has never been simple. It is shaped by history soaked in blood, by moral claims born from catastrophe, and by institutions that insist on speaking in the

Can social media reliably estimate unemployment? Abstract. Digital trace data hold tremendous potential for measuring policy-relevant outcomes in real-time, yet its reliability is often questioned. Here,

economic statistics, especially in times of crisis.
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often beating industry forecasts. The research, with Do Lee (@nyu.edu), Manuel Tonneau (@ox.ac.uk & World Bank), Boris Sobol (Ben-Gurion University), and Samuel Fraiberger (World Bank & NYU), highlights how responsibly used digital trace data can complement traditional

Can social media detect economic shocks before official data does?
A new PNAS Nexus study led by @nirg.bsky.social and Samuel Fraiberger shows that AI models tracking job-loss disclosures on social media can predict U.S. unemployment insurance claims up to two weeks early,

Neonatal Surgency Moderates the Association Between the Home Environment and Executive Functions in Children With a Family History of ADHD Contemporary perspectives suggest that some children are more sensitive to their caregiving environment than others. This prospective longitudinal study examined the role of environmental sensitivity...

#ADHD #ChildDevelopment #DevelopmentalPsychology #EarlyIntervention #LongitudinalResearch #BGU

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onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

For these children, enriched early environments predicted stronger cognitive functioning, and fewer ADHD symptoms later on.
The takeaway: child sensitivity exists on a continuum, and early, well-matched support can make a lasting difference.

The study, led by Andrea Berger and Judy Auerbach, with Tzlil Einziger, found that infants with high motor activity and parents with elevated ADHD symptoms were especially shaped by environmental quality.

What if ADHD risk isn’t fixed at birth, but shaped by how early environments meet a child’s sensitivity?
A 17-year longitudinal study from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev shows that some children are more sensitive to their early home environment, for better and for worse.

Maladaptive daydreaming should be included as a dissociative disorder in psychiatric manuals: position paper - PubMed Maladaptive daydreaming is a distinct syndrome in which the main symptom is excessive vivid fantasising that causes clinically significant distress and functional impairment in academic, vocational and social domains. Unlike normal daydreaming, maladaptive daydreaming is persistent, compulsive and d …

and other institutions worldwide, calling for better diagnosis, awareness, and treatment.
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pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40094484/

The paper brings together evidence and expertise from collaborators at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, @haifaresearch.bsky.social , @stanford.edu, @mcgilluniversity.bsky.social, @lund-university.bsky.social , @unileiden.bsky.social, University of Canterbury, University of Queensland,

What if daydreaming could become a mental health disorder?

That’s the question raised by new research led by Prof. Nirit Soffer-Dudek, arguing that maladaptive daydreaming, compulsive, immersive fantasizing that disrupts real life, deserves formal recognition as a dissociative disorder.