American billionaire Warren Buffett is donating $10 million, which comes out to approximately how much he makes in seven hours, to Haifa’s Rambam Hospital, in honor of the medical facility’s 75th year.

The contribution was announced by Eitan Wertheimer, according to Globes business newspaper. Buffet paid the Wertheimer family $6 billion in 2006 and this past May for all of the shares of the Iscar toolmaking company, his first acquisition in Israel.

His closeness with the Wertheimers and his stated love of Israel as a pot of gold for investors now has paid off for Rambam.

Buffett made approximately $37 million a day this past year, based on an estimated $12.7 billion increase in his net worth in 2012, thanks to the raging bull market in the United States.

However, Buffett will have to settle for being only the second richest American with a new worth of only $59.1 billion. First place was taken over by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, whose net worth is now estimated at $61.1.

So far he has not donated to Rambam.

Israeli Prof. Havazelet Bianco-Peled of Haifa’s Technion University has invented a new super glue that mechanically seals areas of potential leakage after surgery, without the need for sutures.

Bianco-Peled set up the Sealantis start-up at Technion in 2007, and the company now is expecting FDA approval for the “Seal-V” glue, developed from the cell walls of brown algae.

Seal-V retains its sealant capacity even on wet surfaces,” said Bianco-Peled. The glue also is biorestorbable, meaning that the body automatically absorbs it after the wound heals.

Israel provides new proof that cigarette smoking has a bad effect on children.

A woman took her baby, age 18 months, to the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa  Saturday night after the toddler chewed up and swallowed two cigarettes.

The mother had left the room and left a package of cigarettes on the table. When she returned, she discovered two filters on the table.

The doctors examined the baby to make sure there were no ill effects from the nicotine, and the baby was released from the hospital after several hours.

“Chewing tobacco can cause vomiting, changes in blood pressure, rapid pulse, incapacitation and even death, said Prof. Yedidya Bentor of the Rambam Institute on Poison. He said eating cigarettes by children is not common.

It is not known if the mother decided to give up smoking following the incident.

At first we thought the article in Globes was a joke, but it turns out its not.

Haifa’s mayor, Yona Yahav, petitioned the Ministry of the Interior to expand his city’s boundaries an additional 90 kilometers west of the shoreline, which would then place the Tamar and Dalit gas field within his city limits, and thus subject to Arnona (city tax).

While the gas fields are inside Israel exclusive economic zone (EEZ), it’s considered to be outside the territorial boundaries of the state.

Yahav told Globes that he is still waiting for an answer.

The Haifa airport will remain closed overnight due to the rocket fire from Lebanon.

Passengers returning from Eilat will instead land in Sde Dov in Tel Aviv, and from there, they will be bused to Haifa.

A Jewish couple from the former Soviet Bloc country of Georgia are the proud parents of a bouncing baby girl, born to the mother who was treated in Israel after having gone through nine abortions in 17 years in her home country.

Michael and Tamari Barikswili, both age 39, had all but given up hope to become parents. Their friends in the medical profession in Georgia suggested to them two years ago that they travel to Israel’s Rambam Medical Center in Haifa for examinations that might help them achieve their dream.

Last year, the couple met with Rambam’s Prof. Binyamin Brenner, head of the hematology department.

“We did not know what the problem was with us,” Michael said after the birth of their daughter Maryam last week.

After several examinations by Prof, Brenner, it became clear that Tamari suffers from a problem called in laymen’s terms “excessive blood clotting.”

It is a common problem of women who suffer from recurring abortions, and Rambam doctors have established a clear connection between the malady and abortions.

Tamari’s problem was identified through a simple blood test, which the couple said was not available in Georgia, where the standard of medicine is far below that of Israel.

They returned to Georgia but turned again to Rambam because of her history, and in her 13th week of pregnancy, they rented an apartment in Ramat Gan, adjacent to Tel Aviv and traveled back and forth to Haifa for examinations and constant monitoring.

“After the couple went through so much to become parents, everything becomes all the more significant,” notes Dir. Ido Sholat, of the Rambam unit overseeing women with difficult pregnancies.

“During all the months of check-ups, there were many different emotions, pressures and fears,” he added. “But the moment we saw that the pregnancy was advancing normally, all of us began to relax and enjoy this tremendous experience,” he adds.

Tamari said after the birth, “It is not so simple to go through all this when we are in Israel and everyone in the family is Georgia. But we waited 17 years for this, and I was prepared to do anything to become a mother.”

She and her husband kept in touch with family through e-mails and Skype and sent videos and pictures.

Michael and Tamari went back to Georgia with their daughter this past Sunday but they promise to return to Rambam next year – with a brother for sister for Maryam.

Israeli archaeologists have unearthed 12,000-old Natufian society graves that are the oldest-ever proof that flowers were used for decorating graves.

The Natufian society is considered to be one of the first, if not the first, to reside in permanent villages instead of being nomadic, according to University of Haifa archaeologist Daniel Nadel. Carbon dating revealed that the graves were between 11,700 and 13,700 years old.

The graves were discovered in the nearby Mount Carmel area overlooking Haifa, with imprints of flowering plants, such as mint and sage, stamped into the dirt of the ancient graves.

“From [the Neanderthal] example until the Natufians,” a period spanning some 50,000 years, “there is not one example” of flowers decorating graves, Nadel and his team wrote in study published Monday in the journal of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

People may have been using flowers during the entire period, but “finding such flowers is very difficult” since they decay, Nadel added.

He based the importance of the use of flowers on evidence that indicates that the place of burial was dug out and that a thin veneer of mud, a form of primitive plaster, was used to cover the sides. Plants lined the bottom of the grave before bodies were buried, and scented flowers were likely chosen as much for their aromas as their appearance.

“There are hundreds of flowers on Mount Carmel during the spring, but only a small group provide very strong fragrances. It’s impossible that the Natufians didn’t recognize the smell,” Nadel explained.

Twenty-nine skeletons, all within a 160 square-foot area, were found several years ago, but meticulous research recently led Nadel to reach his conclusions. The impression from plant stems and flowers indicated that they may have been from sage and mint and other aromatic plants.

The researched were able to identify them under a scanning electron microscope.

Nadel estimated that the burial were very ceremonial because animal bones also were found in the cave cemetery.

“They didn’t just place the bodies inside the graves and leave,” he said. “We have to envision a colorful ceremony that maybe included dancing, singing, and eating. They may have hunted a few animals and had a big meal around the graves and then threw bones or meat inside.”

Like today, the grave flowers were intended both for those who died and for the survivors.