Category: Science and Health

Welcome to Tractate Nazir, which describes the practices of naziriteship, a kind of pseudo-priesthood that a person could enter, ideally for the purposes of experiencing heightened holiness. As per Numbers 6, people who take this vow are required to abstain from three things for a set — or, in some cases, indefinite — period of […]

A new genetic risk factor of adult-onset macular degeneration (AMD) has been discovered by genetics researchers at Tel Aviv University (TAU), advancing the understanding of the leading cause of visual impairment in older adults. Combining a map of gene regulatory sites with disease-associated loci (specific genes on a chromosome), Prof. Ran Elkon and Prof. Ruth […]

Recently, in an interview with Channel 12’s weekend news, Ron Kaufman and his wife Sarit were revealed as the parents of an adopted child with fetal alcohol syndrome. Sagi, age 10, was diagnosed not long after being adopted from Russia as suffering from the syndrome that leads to severe tantrums and violent outbursts that require […]

Researchers at CU Boulder and Loyola University are the first in the United States to find an association between childhood trauma and civic engagement later in life.  The novel new study, published in December in the peer-reviewed Scientific Report, found that undergoing trauma as a child may lead an individual to volunteer, donate money or […]

Today our tractate wraps up with a discussion of the following mishnah: Initially the sages would say that three women are automatically divorced and receive their ketubah: (1) the wife who says to her husband, “I am defiled to you,” (2) the wife who says “Heaven is between me and you,” and (3) the wife […]

People tend to have their worst and shortest sleep between their early 30s and 50s, a new study revealed. The study, led by researchers from the University College of London, the University of East Anglia and the University of Lyon, reveals that one’s sleep duration can effectively be used to divide life into three distinct […]

Women and men are paying high prices for anti-aging creams, plastic surgery, gym memberships, exercise machines and more to look younger – but what does science have to say about aging?  Dr. Debra Toiber of the life sciences department at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba has uncovered what seems to be a key […]

A teenager in high school who receives lower or below-average grades in math, history or other subjects is more likely to have been born prematurely, according to a recent study. Being more prematurely means being born between 34-39 weeks of pregnancy. The peer-reviewed study, published in the journal The BMJ last week, looked at a […]

All medical services, barring emergencies, will strike from 7 a.m. on Monday to 7 a.m. on Tuesday in protest against recent incidents of violence occurring in hospitals, the Israel Medical Association (IMA) announced Sunday. They will all work on a reduced Shabbat schedule, except for emergencies or in hospitals’ departments of oncology, hematology and obstetrics […]

People who are active social media users know that Einav Booblil recently gave birth to her fifth daughter by French cesarean section. How is this procedure different from a normal C-section? Let’s start with the name. The operation was named after Dr. Denis Fauck, a French surgeon and gynecologist who developed this method. This procedure […]