Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and Rambam Health Care Campus have established a joint fund for research in human health. The fund will be directed towards the development of new therapies, rapid diagnostics, technologies to protect medical staff, innovations in healthcare and more. These interdisciplinary projects will bring together physicians, engineers and scientists in collaborative research.
The fund was a joint initiative of Technion President Professor Uri Sivan and Rambam General Director Dr. Michael Halberthal, as the strong partnership between the two institutions intensified during the recent COVID-19 outbreak in Israel. As part of the cooperation during this period, joint research was carried out by Technion researchers and Rambam medical teams. These collaborations yielded innovative developments that have already had an impact on treating patients, reducing infection, and protecting medical staff.
Rambam General Director Dr. Michael Halberthal: “In recent months, the world has faced a health crisis which has affected all areas of life. A crisis of such proportions also presents opportunities. In our case, the situation boosted the collaboration between physician, researcher, inventor, and engineer in their shared fight to curb COVID-19 and was based on a longstanding partnership between Rambam and Technion. This is how connections and solutions were created for all aspects of diagnostics and therapeutics during this crisis – this is the strength of our partnership.”
Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan: “Following the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, the Technion has taken steps to tackle the situation on all fronts – diagnosis, exit strategy, personalized therapies, reducing the spread of infection, and protecting medical staff. This was done by pooling our expertise, from artificial intelligence and mathematical modeling to immunology, chemical engineering, robotics, and so on. The close ties between Technion and Rambam—as well as between medicine and engineering—is of enormous benefit in the war against COVID-19.”
The disinfection process occurs when a layer of carbon fibers in the mask is heated using a low current source, such as an electric mobile phone charger. A patent application for this invention has been submitted in the United States.
The Mask Prototype
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, demand for protective face masks has sky-rocketed in recent months, as wearing masks is now a requirement along with social distancing and hygiene measures. A wide range of masks is available, with the leading model being the N95. The authorities insist on the correct usage of masks, which means replacing it daily even if it kept clean and dry during the day.
These regulations, along with the urgent need to provide masks for the medical staff caring for coronavirus patients, has led to a surge in demand for these masks and a search for manufacturers and suppliers. In the U.S., for example, approximately 3.5 billion masks are required in order to protect against an acute epidemic – 100 times more than the number of masks readily available. An immediate shortage of masks also occurred in Israel and was accelerated when the Ministry of Health announced that mask-wearing is mandatory.
Prof. Yair Ein-Eli
Prof. Yair Ein-Eli, Dean of the Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, developed a reusable face mask that can be heated in a controlled manner – a process that destroys viruses that accumulated on the mask and renders it reusable. The new technology is based on an inner layer of carbon fibers spread within the mask in a homogeneous manner. When the layer of fibers is heated using a low current (2 amps) from a readily-available source – such as a mobile phone charger, USB connection or other mobile electronic device chargers – the viruses are destroyed.
Prof. Ein-Eli’s research group created the mask prototype and tested it together with Prof. Debbie Lindell and Prof. Oded Beja from the Faculty of Biology. A patent was submitted in the U.S. on March 31 and the research group is currently discussing commercialization with industrial companies.
Infra-red heat map of masks of the proposed variety, at various temperatures. The hot areas (yellow and red) indicate that the carbon fibers provide complete coverage.
Blocking the infection cycle: Technion scientists have developed effective and long-lasting disinfectants
Unlike household bleach and similar products used for disinfecting surfaces, the new substances target the virus infection mechanism and remain active for longer
Scientists from Technion’s Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering have developed smart disinfectants that destroy the coronavirus infection mechanism and remain active over time. These products are expected to replace household bleach and other chorine-based products whose disinfecting powers diminish rapidly.
Asst. Prof. Shady Farah, head of the research group, has been awarded an European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Health COVID-19 Rapid Response grant in order to accelerate its development process and market launch. This is the first time that a Technion scientist receives a prestigious EIT Health grant alone. “We are currently producing potential substances and testing them. We plan to select the optimal substance and begin mass production in the next few months,” says Farah.
Asst. Prof. Shady Farah holding his polymer
The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus belongs to an extensive family of viruses that the world has been aware of for many years, some of which can also infect humans. The novel coronavirus closely resembles one of its predecessors, SARS-CoV, which also originated in China and spread to many other countries; however, the steps that were taken to fight SARS-CoV are not effective enough against the current epidemic. To date, there is no approved “knockout” treatment for SARS-CoV-2 and there is no vaccine against it.
Given the situation, efficient disinfectants are crucial for blocking the spread of infection via contaminated surfaces. The novel coronavirus can survive on various surfaces for extended periods of time, depending on the type of surface and other conditions. Findings from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, where there were numerous cases of coronavirus, revealed that the virus can survive on surfaces for as long as 17 days. This fact increases the probability of infection from touching contaminated surfaces, in addition to person-to-person infection.
Asst. Prof. Farah’s research group develops innovative polymers for medical use and smart drug delivery technologies. When the Covid-19 epidemic broke out, the research group immediately devoted itself to developing special anti-viral polymers that act on the virus in two ways: by altering and damaging its structure so that its infection capability is impaired; and by attacking and destroying the virus’s envelope. No less important, the disinfecting substance is released in a controlled and continuous manner so that the new technology’s effect is long-lasting.
Disinfectants have been used since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in order to prevent infection from contaminated surfaces – mainly by applying hypochlorite solutions, more commonly known as household bleach. This method has several significant disadvantages: it evaporates quickly, and breaks down rapidly when exposed to sun/UV light. Consequently, its effectiveness is limited and short-term, requiring surfaces to be disinfected several times a day.
The new disinfectant technology developed by Farah’s research group is based on low-cost and readily available raw materials. The development was made possible thanks to interdisciplinary knowledge which combines the fields of combinatorial chemistry, polymer engineering and controlled release. “The materials we developed will be a gamechanger because they will block the cycle of infection from contaminated surfaces,” says Farah. “Infection from touching surfaces is a serious problem, especially in public places such as hospitals, factories, schools, shopping malls and public transportation. Our polymers will make these places safer. Although this development was accelerated due to the current coronavirus crisis, in the future it will also be effective against other microorganisms. We are enriching the arsenal of tools available to us and adding a new family of disinfectants that release the active substance in a controlled manner. In this way, they remain effective for long periods of time.”
Asst. Prof. Shady Farah completed three academic degrees at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, including a direct-track PhD in Medicinal Chemistry. He then pursued postdoctoral research at MIT (with Prof. Robert Langer and Prof. Daniel G. Anderson) and at the Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School. He is currently Assistant Professor in the Technion’s Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering, where he holds a Neubauer Chair, and is a fellow of the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute (RBNI). He received a Maof Fellowship for Outstanding Young Researchers and his lab received generous funding from the Neubauer Family Foundation.
Technion scientists have developed an unprecedented method for 3D imaging of nanometric processes inside living cells while they are moving
Technion researchers have developed a method for 3D imaging of nanometric processes, such as those in live flowing cells. The group, headed by Asst. Prof. Yoav Shechtman of the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering re-engineered an existing imaging machine worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. A result is a machine that produces 3D images of 1,000 cells per minute.
The research was led by postdoctoral researcher Dr. Lucien E. Weiss. The team’s findings were published in Nature Nanotechnology.
“Our goal is to enable 3D imaging within live cells under conditions that resemble their natural environment,” explained Asst. Prof. Shechtman. “No less important, we aim to do so at high throughput rates. It’s a huge challenge since 3D microscopy usually requires extensive amounts of time and some sort of scanning. Here we use single images while the cells are flowing.”
Experiments using the new system were carried out on DNA molecules of live yeast cells and white blood cells with engineered nanometric particles in collaboration with Prof. Avi Schroeder’s lab of the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering.
iagram of the unique machine constructed by the research group. Photo by courtesy of Nature & Lucien Weiss
“This success can have important applications in basic science, such as understanding DNA’s 3D structure in a living cell, and also in the field of nanomedicine, meaning medical treatment based on engineered nanometric particles such as those created in Prof. Schroeder’s lab,” explained Shechtman. “For example, the new technology will enable us to measure the absorption rate of therapeutic particles in live cells, track their dispersal in the cell, and monitor their effect on the cell. Today there are techniques for mapping and measuring cells, but those that provide high throughput only show a partial and 2D picture. Our technology combines the advantages of the various techniques and provides a 3D image at a high rate.”
Asst. Prof. Yoav Shechtman of Technion Faculty of Biomedical Engineering
The innovative technology is based on the reengineering of ImageStream―a sophisticated imaging machine that was bought by the Lorry I. Lokey Interdisciplinary Center for Life Sciences and Engineering at Technion. This machine combines two different technologies―flow cytometry and fluorescent microscopy―making it possible to analyze cells at a rapid rate.
“The sampling rate and the number of cells sampled are very important in the biological context, since biology is typically ‘noisy’ and not precise, and in order to reach a conclusion it is necessary to have statistics for large quantities,”said Shechtman. “In certain cases, due to low sampling rates, it is impossible to collect this type of statistical information. By the time you finish collecting the data, the interesting phenomenon has already changed. Therefore, it is important to use a technology that enables high rates of sampling.”
ImageStream serves many purposes, including defining population attributes, diagnosing medical conditions, and testing new drugs. According to Shechtman, “It’s an excellent tool, but until now, it has only been used to record 2D images or projections of objects. For many applications, however, it is important to collect 3D data. For example, even if we just want to determine the distance between two particles, a 2D measurement is not sufficient, since the depth dimension also contributes to the distance.”
This was the main technological challenge in this research: transforming ImageStream into a 3D imaging system.
Dr. Lucien E. Weiss
“To that end, we needed to ‘open the hood’ and assemble our unique optical system inside. Keep in mind that this is a machine that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, and we couldn’t take for granted that the Lokey Center’s Imaging Unit would agree, but from the moment that we opened up the machine and looked inside, it was obvious what we needed to do it (without causing damage),” said Shechtman.
The research group installed the technology it has developed in recent years on the ImageStream ―technology for localization microscopy based on wavefront design. This is actually controlled distortion of the optical system so that the position of particles in 3D space can be mapped. This technology is based on imaging colored molecules embedded in the sample that mark important locations, such as cell nuclei. Using the shape obtained from the camera after it has passed through the distorted optical system, the machine analyzes the 3D location of the object being examined. To date, this technology has been used for 3D imaging of one or a few cells at a time, and connecting it to the cytometry instrument renders it capable of mapping flowing cells. This connection, which is in itself an enormous technological challenge, accounts for the successful sampling at an extremely high throughput―thousands of cells per minute.
The scientists expect that this technological achievement will lead to important scientific developments and applications in the fields of biological and biotechnological research, medical diagnostics, and the development of new medical treatments.
Asst. Prof. Yoav Shechtman and Dr. Lucien Weiss are both supported by the Mortimer B. Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program.
Dr. Onit Alalouf, Dr. Sarah Goldberg, and Ph.D. students Yael Shalev Ezra, Boris Ferdman, and Omer Adir also took part in this research.
For the full article inNature Nanotechnologyclick here
Creating an Open and Safe Campus. Monitoring the sewage system for COVID-19 residue to track the spread of the virus, Prof. Eran Friedler, Civil and Environmental Engineering*
Using AI to evaluate a patient’s condition, Profs. Shie Mannor, Uri Shalit, Joachim Behar, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Management, Biomedical Engineering
Genetic changes in COVID-19 patients over time as a tool for predicting disease progression, Prof. Yael Mandel-Gutfreund, Biology
Using AI to evaluate a patient’s condition, Profs. Shie Mannor, Uri Shalit, Joachim Behar, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Management, Biomedical Engineering
Identifying and quantifying RNA using nanopores, Prof. Amit Meller, Biomedical Engineering
Sensor for rapid COVID-19 diagnosis using CRISPR technology, Prof. Daniel Ramez, Biomedical Engineering
Even during the coronavirus crisis, Professor Erez Hasman’s research group at Technion is emitting a ray of innovation. The researchers have invented a groundbreaking technology that combines nano-optics and magnetics for identifying nanometric non-uniformity in electronic and photonic chips
Applying a magnetic field on a disordered nanometric structure. The measurement is carried out on a nanometric scale using the photonic spin Hall effect―measuring the photons’ split spins scattered from the structure using ‘weak measurement’. The spinning tops (blue and red) present the spin up and spin down of the photons. (Credit: *Ella Maru Studio)
The research group of Professor Erez Hasman, head of Technion’s nano-optics laboratory, recently published a pioneering paper in Nature Nanotechnology. The research was led by Dr. Bo Wang in collaboration with Dr. Kexiu Rong, Dr. Elhanan Maguid, and Dr. Vladimir Kleiner.
Electronic chip technology, nano-mechanics, and nano-photonics deal with components on the nanometric scale, requiring extremely precise quality control of the chip production process. An inaccuracy of more than a few nanometers will cause the chip to malfunction. In the micro-nanoelectronics field, chip quality is tested using an electron-beam microscope, where the chip is placed in a deep vacuum chamber. This is an extremely long and complicated process that precludes extensive production control. Quality control using optics overcomes this problem since the measurement is carried out without vacuum and is rapid; however, because of the light’s wavelength, it is not sufficiently precise.
The solution devised by Prof. Hasman’s research group is based on intensive scientific research in fields that combine the interaction of light and materials with magnetic fields. Electronic chips consist of nanometric components that must be very precise and uniform (they cannot differ by more than 1-5 nanometers) in a cycle that is smaller than a wavelength of visible light. Therefore, if the chip is illuminated, the light reflected or transmitted from it will make it impossible to measure the nanometric dispersal ― a critical parameter for the chip’s functioning.
This scientific breakthrough combines operating a magnetic field in an optical microscope and illuminating with polarized light on ferromagnetic meta-atoms displaying nanoscale disorders. This splits the light beam angle as such that the light is reflected as two beams with opposite circular polarizations (in scientific language, circular polarization is called ‘photonic spin’―photon being a light particle). The split angle is tiny and therefore the researchers use a technique known as “weak measurement” that Prof. Yakir Aharonov of Tel Aviv University suggested for quantum measurements.
In addition, this discovery opens the doors to new possibilities for measuring extremely small disorders in magnetic fields and in magnetism of various materials, as well as researching various fluctuation phenomena in quantum mechanics and other areas.
According to Prof. Hasman, “Publishing the research in this prestigious journal shows that even during difficult times, such as the current coronavirus crisis, Technion continues to publish groundbreaking articles in leading scientific journals. Our research group includes scientists from a variety of disciplines, including physics, materials, and engineering, studying fundamental science and applied research that leads to numerous applications in the high-tech industry. This interdisciplinary research leads to growing numbers of successes that have an impact on scientific advancement and on the development of important and diverse technological applications.”
The research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation, the Israel Ministry of Science, Technology and Space, the United States−Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF), the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research and, in part, by Technion via an Aly Kaufman Fellowship. The fabrication was performed at the Micro-Nano Fabrication & Printing Unit (MNF&PU), Technion. The lab’s website is hasman.technion.ac.il
Israel’s Independence Day 2020 is about the interplay between independence and interdependence, between personal and social responsibility, and between community and immunity. At this historic moment in 2020, as Israel celebrates its 72nd year, we wish resilience, healing, and prosperity to the entire Technion family.
With greetings from Technion City, The Technion LIVE Team
Prosperity and wellbeing are a direct result of our ability to evolve and evolution involves responsiveness – the ability to respond to challenges in real-time.
In this issue of Technion LIVE we will explore just some of the ingenuity within the response of the Technion scientific community to the challenge of COVID-19.
The slow ones are the fastest: a new microfluidic method for microscale bio separations
Collaborative research between IBM Research and Technion – Israel Institute of Technology has led to a new method for the separation of particles and molecules from small samples, based on their diffusivity, a molecular property that correlates well with size. The researchers are currently adapting the method for rapid and direct detection of coronavirus from throat swabs.
In a recent paper published in Angewandte Chemie and designated by the journal as a “Very Important Paper,” researchers at IBM Research Europe in Zurich and at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology presented a new method and device for separation of particles and biomolecules.
Dr. Govind Kaigala, Prof. Moran Bercovici, Vesna Bacheva, Dr. Federico Paratore: Group photo via Zoom
The device makes use of virtual channels, a concept presented by the same team a year ago in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, wherein unique flow fields can be generated in a microfluidic chamber using electric field actuation. In their latest findings, the authors used this technology to create bidirectional flows – alternating stripes carrying fluid in opposite directions. Such a flow field is impossible to create using traditional pumps and valves, and when particles are introduced into this flow they behave in a well-explained yet initially non-intuitive manner: small particles remain stationary, while large particles flow away quickly.
“We know that all particles in a fluid move in random directions in a process called Brownian motion” said Vesna Bacheva, a PhD candidate in the Technion Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, and a co-first author of the paper. “This is the same mechanism that allows us to smell a small drop of perfume from across the room – the molecules simply make their way randomly in a process also known as diffusion. However, small particles diffuse much faster than large ones, and when placed in the bidirectional flow they move across the opposing flow streams very quickly. This makes them move very slightly back and forth but overall – stay in place. Larger molecules or particles diffuse much slower and end up being carried away by the flow.” The team calls their method BFF, meaning “bidirectional flow filter.” This separation mechanism was defined by one of the paper reviewers as “afundamentally significant contribution to the field that only comes along every 10-20 years.”
“It really is very simple,” added Dr. Federico Paratore, postdoctoral researcher at IBM Research in Zurich, who also co-first authored the paper. “Surprisingly, it hasn’t been done so far, most likely because of technological limitations. Whereas developing the concept certainly took time and iterations, with today’s microfabrication capabilities the final device is rather a simple solid-state device that can be produced on a large scale”.
In the paper the team demonstrated the separation of antibodies and particles from small molecules and provided the theory and engineering guidelines for separation of wide variety of biomolecules. “The reason this might be very useful is because the majority of biological assays rely on a reaction between a probe and the target molecule in the sample, followed by removal of the excess probe molecules that did not find their target. This last step is often very involved and is extremely challenging when the volume of the sample is small,” said Prof. Moran Bercovici. “Our method does this very well, provided that the two reacting elements are of sufficiently different size.”
The team is currently working to adapt the method for rapid detection of the novel Coronavirus.
Dr. Govind Kaigala explained the concept: “Fortunately, the coronavirus is fairly large – about 100 nm in diameter. This is much larger than antibodies or other probes that can be used to bind to it. Using our method we hope to be able to place a patient’s sample into our chip where it will mix with visible probes, and then see only the viruses flowing out while the unbound probes stay behind.”
This work was funded by the European Research Council (MetamorphChip) and by the BRIDGE program (project 40B1-0_191549), funded by Innosuisse and the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Studying without Worry: Technion Steps up Financial Support for Students
Technion, renowned for its extensive students support programs, has announced a series of extraordinary steps to alleviate financial difficulties during the current crisis: interest-free loans of up to NIS 20,000 per student, additional scholarships, flexible tuition payment schedules, and dormitory refunds
Technion is helping its students get through the current crisis by offering additional financial relief, including the postponement of loan repayment until after graduation, additional scholarships, flexible tuition payment schedules, refunds for dormitories not in use, and refurbished computers at a token price. These unprecedented steps are the result of a collaborative effort by the Technion Management, the Dean of Students, and the Technion Students Association (TSA).
“We have always offered attractive student loans, but they were means-tested,” says Prof. Boaz Golany, Executive Vice President and Director-General. “As a result of the current crisis, we have introduced a special loan package of up to NIS 20,000 per undergraduate student, including those in their sixth year of medical or architecture studies. The students are permitted to repay the unlinked and interest-free loan after they graduate. This special loan is part of our emergency student aid program and positions Technion as the number one Israeli university in terms of the support available to its students to cope with the financial ramifications of the corona crisis.”
“It was obvious that we needed to find solutions for this unique situation,” says Prof. Ayelet Fishman, Dean of Students, “and we made some far-reaching decisions so that our students would be able to continue focusing on their studies without excessive financial worries. As expected, the students responded enthusiastically to the new loans and stipends on offer. In March alone we approved loans totaling over half a million shekels, and the scope of Technion scholarships has doubled compared to last year, amounting to over NIS 700,000. We also received special permission to grant additional scholarships from several external funds, which will enable us to assist even more students.”
“The issues that most worry all Israeli students are tuition and dorm fees,” says Linoy Nagar-Shaul, TSA Chair, “and therefore we dealt with these subjects first. Regarding tuition, we notified the students that a delay in tuition payment would be acceptable this semester; and that students who left the dorms during the corona crisis will receive a refund for this period. In spite of the situation, at the beginning of the spring semester (March) new students moved into the dorms, and, as a result of the pandemic, Technion allocated apartments to students required to self-isolate. As part of the “Melech” (Computers for Everyone) project, we are offering students refurbished computers for a token price of NIS 100, and in cases of severe economic hardship, we also provide students with food donations. If you are a Technion student and have encountered financial difficulties, we invite you to contact us (social@asat.technion.ac.il)and we will help in every way that we can.”
The Dean of Students service units are currently functioning in a reduced capacity, but they respond to all inquiries― and provide online psychological and emotional counseling via Zoom lectures about reducing anxiety, career planning, tips for distance learning, relaxation exercises, and more. The Student Aid Unit offers help to students with extenuating needs, and in particular, students who are alone in Israel, ultra-Orthodox students, and students from the Israeli-Ethiopian community.
Scientists at Technion’s Rappaport Faculty of Medicine have modified a coronavirus rapid and simple detection method that does not require special lab equipment, only hot water, and reagents
Prof. Naama Geva-Zatorsky Photo credit: Rami Shlush, Haaretz
Prof. Naama Geva-Zatorsky from the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, together with her research team, is currently developing a home test that can rapidly diagnose the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It is a simple test that produces results in less than an hour. Partners in developing this innovative test include: members of the Geva-Zatorsky lab, Dr. Moran Szwarcwort-Cohen, Virology Laboratory Head at Rambam Health Care Center; Prof. Mical Paul, Rambam’s Infectious Diseases Unit Head; and Prof. Michal Chowers, Infectious Diseases Unit Head at Meir Medical Center.
Further development can lead to using this method as mass testing kit in the workplace, points of care, and households. According to Geva-Zatorsky, “We developed a protocol for a test that requires only a saliva sample, reagents, and a thermal cup. The new test’s reliability was measured using 200 biological samples from confirmed coronavirus patients and patients suspected of infection with the virus. The samples were supplied by the coronavirus biobank at Rambam Health Care Campus. One only needs to immerse the saliva sample in a test tube that contains the reactive material and then in the thermal cup with hot water. If the color of the reaction changes, that indicates the presence of the coronavirus. The result is obtained within an hour and does not require lab analysis. This test is not designed to replace the current conventional method.”
Geva-Zatorsky added, “We are now completing the experiments in order to improve sensitivity to the presence of the virus, even in low concentrations. We have found that, when tested on standard swabs, in medium and high concentrations of the virus, the test identifies 99% of the cases, but in low concentrations a second test is necessary a few days later. Once we receive the Health Ministry approval, the kit can be widely distributed. We see this test as suitable for use at entrances to hospitals, workplaces, nursing homes, airports, and in drive-through facilities.
“The current protocol was validated on standard swabs. As a proof of concept, we successfully detected the virus in saliva samples, and are now validating it on a larger cohort of saliva samples. The new test will primarily increase the scale of testing in the community, and will enable the population to be surveyed faster and on a much wider scale,” said Prof. Michal Chowers. “The most significant innovation is that the test can be carried out on site, within an hour, eliminating the need to send the saliva to a special lab.”
The bank of coronavirus samples was recently set up at the Rambam Health Care Campus Biobank, which was established in 2014 as part of the Israeli Biorepository Network for Research (MIDGAM). Rambam immediately realized the vital need for a bank of biological samples from coronavirus patients for research purposes and established in record time Israel’s first coronavirus biobank, containing blood tests and respiratory tract samples.
“The coronavirus biobank consists of samples collected from our patients, not only for diagnosis and verification but also for research purposes,” noted Dr. Shlomit Yehudai-Reshef, Clinical Research Institute Director at Rambam. Dr. Danny Eytan, a senior physician in Rambam’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and a member of the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine added, “Each sample includes clinical data – detailed information about the patient’s medical history before and during infection with coronavirus. This data provides an important tool for decision-making and resource allocation.”
Dr. Tal Gefen, Nadav Ben-Assa, Rawi Naddaf, Dr. Tal Capucha, Haitham Hajjo, Noa Mandelbaum, Lilach Elbaum, Dr. Shai Kaplan and Dr. Asaf Rotemtook part in the research.
A model developed at the Faculty of Physics at the Technion, in collaboration with German scientists at Tübingen, explains the unique properties of Arrokoth – the most distant object ever imaged in the solar system. The research team’s results shed new light on the formation of Kuiper Belt objects, asteroid-like objects at the edge of the solar system, and for understanding the early stages of the solar system’s formation.
The researchers’ findings, published in Nature, explain the unique characteristics of the “Snowman”, known formally as Arrokoth. It is the farthest imaged object in the system, and pictures of it were first taken last year by the New Horizons space mission.
The story begins in 2006 when the New Horizons robotic spacecraft was sent to take, for the first time, a close look at the last planet in the solar system, Pluto, which was had not yet seen up close, and to study its features and terrain. After launch, New Horizons fixed its trajectory towards Pluto, starting a long journey that will last about 9 years. In order not to waste fuel and resources, most of its systems were put to “sleep” until it was close to its target Pluto.
Professor Hagai Perets
Meanwhile, back on Earth, the international astronomical union decided in to demote Pluto, from its status as a planet, to a dwarf planet. In short, the New Horizons robotic spacecraft was sent to investigate a planet, fell asleep, and awoke to discover that Pluto was no longer considered a planet. But this does not detract from the importance of the mission. New Horizons provided spectacular images of Pluto and its moon Charon, and provided invaluable scientific information that is now still being investigated, and will likely be studied for years. These studies will provide important input for understanding the formation of the solar system, and in particular the Kuiper Belt.
But there is still more to the New Horizons adventure. While Pluto is the largest object at the far ends of the solar system, it is not the only one. Beyond Neptune, in a region called the Kuiper Belt, there are numerous asteroid-like objects ranging in size from a few feet to thousands-of-miles-big objects. The conditions in this area are different (and in particular much colder), than its “sister” asteroid belt in the inner regions of the solar system, and Kuiper Belt objects typically consist of much more icy materials. Even before its arrival to Pluto, it was planned that the New Horizon spacecraft would still have enough resources left to closely watch another Kuiper Belt object, if such an object could be found that was not too far from the spacecraft’s original trajectory.
Evgeni Grishin
On June 26, 2014, after an extensive survey in search for such objects, one was identified by the Hubble Space Telescope. Following that identification, the New Horizons research team has designed the spacecraft’s trajectory so that it would pass next to the newly found object after completing its mission in mapping Pluto. Five years later (and four after its encounter with Pluto in 2015), New Horizons passed by the object. On January 1, 2019, humanity won its first close-up shot of a small Kuiper Belt object, thanks to the New Horizons spacecraft passing just 3,500 miles away.
Immediately after the arrival of its first images, the Kuiper Belt object (hitherto known as 2014 MU69) was nicknamed “the Snowman,” because of its unique appearance (see photo). New Horizons researchers initially called it Ultima Thule (“The Edge of the World” in Latin), because of its remote location at the edge of the solar system). But the object eventually earned its professional name: 486958 Arrokoth, for “sky” or “cloud” in the (now extinct) Powhatan native-American language.
New Horizons photos and gathered information provided the scientific community with a wealth of information about the Snowman: it is a 30-kilometer contact-binary that consists of two different sized lobes interconnected with a thin neck (see photo), which appears to be the product of two smaller Kuiper Belt objects that collided to form Arrokoth.
Although various models have been proposed to explain the formation of Arrokoth and its peculiar properties, these encountered major challenges, and could not well explain important features of the Snowman, in particular its slow rotation speed around itself and its large inclination angle. In their Nature article, the Technion researchers present novel analytic calculations and detailed simulations explaining Arrokoth’s formation and features.
The research was led by Ph.D. student Evgeni Grishin, postdoc Dr. Uri Malamud, and their supervisor Professor Hagai Perets, in collaboration with the German research group in Tübingen.
“Simple high-speed collision between two random objects in the Kuiper Belt would shatter them, as they are likely to predominantly made of soft ice,” said Mr. Grishin. “On the other hand, if the two bodies orbited each other on a circular orbit (similar to the moon orbiting the Earth), and then slowly in-spiraled to more gently approach each other and make contact, Arrokoth’s rotation speed would have been extremely high, while the measured speed was actually quite low in respect to such expectations. Arrokoth’s full rotation, ‘a day,’ takes 15.92 hours. In addition, its angle of inclination (relative to the plane of its orbit around the Sun) is very large – 98 degrees – so it almost lies on the side relative to its orbit, a peculiar feature in itself.”
Dr. Uri Malamud
“According to our model, these two bodies revolve around each other, but because they revolve together around the Sun, they basically constitute a triple system,” he continued. “The dynamics of such triple systems are complex and notoriously known as the three-body problem. The dynamics of gravitating triple systems is known to be very chaotic. In our study, we showed that the system did not move in a simple and orderly manner, but also did not behave in a totally chaotic way.”
“It evolved from having a wide, relatively circular orbit, into a highly eccentric, elliptic orbit through a slow (secular) evolution, much slower compared to the orbital period of Arrokoth around the Sun,” said Prof. Perets. “We could show that such trajectories eventually lead to a collision, which on the one hand will be slow, and not smash the objects, but on the other hand, produce a slowly-rotating, highly inclined object, consistent with Arrokoth properties.”
“Our detailed simulations confirmed this picture, and produced models closely resembling Arrokoth’s snowman appearance, rotation and inclination,” said Dr. Malamud, in conclusion.
The researchers also studied how robust and probable such processes are, and found them to potentially be quite common with as many as 20% of all Kuiper Belt wide binaries, and potentially evolving in similar ways.
Until now, said the researchers, it was not possible to explain the unique features of Arrokoth. It is a counter intuitive result, but the likelihood of collision in such configurations actually increases as the initial binary is more widely separated (but still bound) and the initial tilt angle is closer to 90 degrees.
“Our model explains both the high likelihood of collision as well as the unique data of the unified system today, and in fact predict that many more objects in the Kuiper Belt,” said Mr. Grishin. “In fact, even Pluto’s and Charon’s system might have formed through a similar process, and they appear to play an important role in the evolution of binary and moon systems in the solar system.
