Category: Science and Health

A new study found that high levels of caffeine in the blood correlate with lower body fat levels and an overall reduced risk of type-2 diabetes.  The study, published in the peer-reviewed British magazine BMJ, located the genetic variants responsible for the processing and breakdown of caffeine in the bloodstream. Researchers found that there is a […]

US gains in the early identification of children with autism, considered critical in enabling them to reach their full potential, were largely wiped out by disruptions in evaluations in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, US health officials reported on Thursday. Such disruptions in connecting children to the services they need “could have long-lasting […]

The final chapter of Tractate Nazir opens on today’s daf with a mishnah that teaches this: Non-Jews do not have nazariteship. The Gemara will inquire about the source of this rule, citing the fact that the chapter of the Book of Numbers outlining the laws of naziriteship opens with the phrase: “Speak to the children […]

Can a person accomplish two goals with one act? That is the question raised on today’s daf by the students of Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai.  A pure nazir and a leper, what is the halakhah? May he shave one shaving and it will count for him for this and for that? Both a nazir at the end of […]

As regular students of Daf Yomi by now well know, sometimes when the rabbis start playing the what-if game, their imaginations lead them to concoct highly improbable scenarios. We saw one such scenario on yesterday’s daf, where the mishnah discussed a case in which a person informs two nazirites that he saw one of them become impure but he doesn’t know […]

Every year in the weeks leading up to Passover, I start to feel a little flutter in my stomach. It makes sense. With seder menus to plan, loads of groceries to buy, a kitchen to scour and turn inside out, and hours of cooking ahead, Passover’s to-do list is simply overwhelming. And this year, I […]

Researchers at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and Soroka-University Medical Center in Beersheba have developed a medication for statin myopathy, a condition that causes paralysis and leads to death. Statins are the most-commonly used medication in lowering blood cholesterol; it is taken by tens of millions of people in the West. They act […]

Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) discovered that changes in the processing of RNA molecules – and not genetic changes in the DNA – drive pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) tumors to become metastatic, spreading to other parts of the body. This multinational lab study was conducted in collaboration with Sheba Medical Center at […]

Gestational diabetes – a potentially dangerous condition for the mother and fetus – can be diagnosed as early as the first trimester of pregnancy, months earlier than typically detected, according to a new study at Bar-Ilan University (BIU) in Ramat Gan. GDM (gestational diabetes mellitus) is a condition in which women without diabetes develop glucose […]

Haroset (AKA charoset or halek/halaq) is a staple Passover spread or paste made with a mixture of fruit, nuts, honey, wine and spices, to symbolize the mortar that was used by Jewish slaves to make bricks in Egypt. While haroset is typically only seen on the Passover seder plate, I’ve used the flavors of my […]