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The October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel resulted in widespread trauma, impacting not only the direct victims but also the broader population. Many experienced posttraumatic symptoms. This collective trauma blurred the lines between witnesses and victims, leading to a shared experience of pain and grief across Israeli society. In the wake of these attacks, a notable phenomenon emerged: memorial tattoos reflecting personal narratives while also representing collective trauma experienced by the entire nation. A new study by researchers at Bar-Ilan University uses Terror Management Theory (TMT, Solomon et al., 1991) to explore the rise of memorial tattoos in Israel following the attacks, offers insights into how individuals cope with trauma and find meaning through tattoos, using TMT as a theoretical framework, and ultimately contributing to the understanding of psychological resilience in the face of terror.

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Biological components are less reliable than electrical ones, and rather than instantaneously receive the incoming signals, the signals arrive with a variety of delays.

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Later this month Bar-Ilan University will host an international conference dedicated to the advancement of research, development and education in the field of healthy longevity.

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A new study led by Prof. Omry Koren and graduate student Atara Uzan-Yuzari from the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine at Bar-Ilan University has unveiled significant evidence connecting the gut microbiome to aggressive behavior in mice. Published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, the research explores how disruptions in the microbiome, particularly due to antibiotic use in early life, can lead to increased aggression.

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How the brain works is a question that has intrigued scientists for centuries, raising multiple hypotheses and theories. In 1996, statistical physicists attempted to explain how the brain uses a combination of excitatory and inhibitory connections to reach a balanced network similarly to magnetic models.

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In a landmark study published today in Science Advances, Dr. Shai Bel and his research team at the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine of Bar-Ilan University have uncovered crucial insights into how antibiotic use increases the risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

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In humans and fruit flies alike, rna editing prevents autoimmune responses and adjusts protein functions. However, in humans, most editing occurs in non-coding regions, with only a small fraction leading to changes in protein function. In contrast, in flies, the majority of rna editing events occur in sequences that directly produce proteins.

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With the assistance of a novel motion simulator, researchers at Bar-Ilan University in Israel have discovered that rats rely on airflow to navigate their surroundings. When they move, the flow of air relative to their bodies provides crucial information, complementary to their sense of balance, to perceive their own motion in space. This might explain their agility in the dark as they scurry through pipes and tunnels, turn corners, and effortlessly travel from one location to another, all while knowing exactly where they’re headed.

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A novel study led by Prof. Mira Barda-Saad and her research team at the Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences at Bar-Ilan University has unveiled a novel method to rejuvenate natural killer (NK) cells in the fight against cancer. The study, published on the cover of The EMBO Journal, addresses a critical challenge in cancer immunotherapy -- NK cell exhaustion.

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A newly-published study, conducted in the midst of last year's widespread protests in Israel, has uncovered extreme polarization in public opinion regarding the judicial reform introduced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

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Bar-Ilan University researchers have uncovered a new universal law detailing how artificial neural networks handle an increasing number of categories for identification. This law demonstrates how the identification error rate of such networks increases with the number of required recognizable objects.

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Habitat change, fragmentation, and reduction caused by human activity are significant threats to the natural environment, leading to a decline in biodiversity and increased species extinction. Among the most vulnerable are social animals, whose intricate social structures and cooperative breeding behaviors are closely linked to their habitats. A new study led by Prof. Lee Koren, from the Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences at Bar-Ilan University, explores the profound effects of habitat disturbance on the Arabian babbler, a social bird species known for its cooperative breeding.

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Researchers from Bar-Ilan University, in collaboration with Sheba Medical Center, have developed a novel platform to model human muscle diseases in the C. elegans worm. This innovation facilitates the study of diseases in a versatile, scalable way, opening the door to more personalized approaches to disease modeling.

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Researchers at Bar-Ilan University have unveiled a technology that promises to improve cancer treatment decisions based on a patient's biopsy.

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A new Bar-Ilan University study has achieved a milestone in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI) by addressing a fundamental question: Can deep learning architectures achieve greatly above-average confidence for a significant portion of inputs while maintaining overall average confidence?

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Following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, Bar-Ilan University Prof. Amit Shrira led a study measuring acute stress and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among Israelis between November-December 2023, shedding light on the impact of the conflict on mental health across generations.

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Pharmaceutical waste and contaminants present a growing global concern, particularly in the context of drinking water and food safety. Addressing this critical issue, a new study by researchers at Bar-Ilan University’s Department of Chemistry and Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials has resulted in the development of a highly sensitive plasmonic-based detector, specifically targeting the detection of harmful piperidine residue in water.

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A collaborative effort between Israeli and Italian researchers has led to the development of a new treatment strategy targeting the early-stage aggregation of A-beta before the formation of toxic oligomers.

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Researchers have unveiled the extraordinary behavior of weakly-bound three-atomic molecules, defying conventional understanding of quantum mechanics.