Category: Science and Health

Parashat Toldot uses the search for water as the basis for a profound lesson about grief and death. In the previous Torah portion, we learn about Abraham’s hostile encounter with Avimelech, the ruler of Gerar, an area scholars believe is located in what is now southern Israel. Abraham and Avimelech have a dispute over water […]

Whether or not we are able to enjoy this holiday weekend in the physical presence of family, Thanksgiving weekend is an opportunity to reflect on the longest-standing relationships of our lives: our siblings. We may no longer live in the same homes, and our lives may have long since gone in different directions, but there […]

Many people with illnesses are reluctant to talk about it with their relatives or even their doctors, especially when their condition is embarrassing like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.   Like most of the rest of humanity, chronically ill patients have taken to social media to discuss or chronicle their […]

In the mishnah on yesterday’s daf, we learned about someone who dedicates a tree to God “until it is cut down.” At the moment of dedication, the tree takes on the sanctity of being dedicated to God. But things that are dedicated to God can sometimes be redeemed with cash, so what happens if the dedicator redeems […]

Turkeys were found to be infected with the H5N1 strain of avian influenza in Kibbutz Shluhot in northern Israel on Tuesday in the first cases detected in Israel this season, according to the Agriculture Ministry. The infected birds were discovered at a slaughterhouse in the area. The slaughterhouse and all the farms raising turkeys within […]

Velma Thomas, an American citizen, is the holder of an unusual world record. In 2008, Thomas suffered a cardiac arrest at her Virginia home. Following hospitalization, she suffered two further heart attacks and was connected to a ventilator. During her stay in hospital, Thomas’ heart stopped beating a remarkable three times as she received treatment […]

A combination of low-frequency ultrasound and injected nanobubbles may work to remove malignant tumors in a non-invasive way, as observed in animal models. The new, non-invasive technology was developed by Tel Aviv University (TAU) researchers and published in the journal Nanoscale under the title “Low-frequency nanobubble-enhanced ultrasound mechanotherapy for noninvasive cancer surgery.”  The nanobubbles and […]

Do you remember what you did in April 1992? Or even during this whole year? Because this rather amazing story begins right then, with embryo freezing. Lydia and Timothy Ridgway, twins born on October 31, 2022, hold the record for the longest-frozen embryos ever born alive, according to the National Embryo Donation Center. The previous […]

Just a quick glance at haredi (ultra-Orthodox) yeshiva boys who spend most of their waking hours from childhood through adulthood studying Torah and Talmud shows that almost all of them have eyeglasses due to nearsightedness. Does that mean that overexerting your eyes from childhood causes myopia (nearsightedness)? Researchers led by Dr. Jeremy Guggenheim of Cardiff […]