Recent models of the evolution of preferences have provided profound new insights into the origins of risk attitudes. In most of these models the evolutionary “objective function” is the maximization of the expected number of offspring, or alternatively, the maximization of the...

Among the various sociological theories of gambling, only a handful are based on the ideas of Max Weber, and particularly on his thesis of rationalization. Using a Weberian framework, this study presents a socio-historical analysis of legal gambling in Israel. The analysis reveals that gambling...

Rhodium metal deposited on a cordierite support, in the form of a honeycomb or foam, was placed in a quartz reactor in the focal zone of the Schaeffer Solar Furnace at the Weizmann Institute of Science. It was used as a catalyst for the CO2 reforming of methane. The concentrated direct radiation...

A detailed computer model that incorporates the principal optical and thermal parameters of the system used in the gasification of oil shale by concentrated solar flux has been developed. The results of the calculations agree reasonably well with the experimental data. This model can serve as a...

Gasification of oil shales followed by catalytic reforming can yield synthesis gas, which is easily transportable and may also be used for producing liquid fuels. We report here on experiments performed at the Weizmann Institute's Solar Central Receiver involving the use of concentrated solar...

We present a non-conventional approach for studying the distribution of wealth in society. We analyze data from the 1996 Forbes 400 list of the richest people in the US. Our results confirm that wealth is distributed according to a power law. The measured exponent of the power-law is 1.36. As...

Allowing patients to take part in the initial investment for the development of cures for their illnesses can, under certain conditions, lead to the development of drugs that would have otherwise not been developed and to a dramatic welfare increase. We theoretically analyze these conditions....

The main problem of portfolio optimization is parameter estimation error. Various methods have been suggested to mitigate this problem, among which are shrinkage, resampling, Bayesian updating, naïve diversification, and imposing constraints on the portfolio weights. This study suggests two...

While a great deal is known about the topology of social networks, there is much less agreement about the geographical structure of these networks. The fundamental question in this context is: how does the probability of a social link between two individuals depend on the physical distance...