Multiple sclerosis (MS), a neurodegenerative disease, causes periodic attacks of neurologic symptoms such as limb weakness and mobility defects. And while MS patients’ walking abilities and muscle strength are examined on a regular basis, doctors have yet to determine when the lower limb muscles begin to deteriorate. That’s important because with earlier identification of mobility problems, doctors would be able to implement early intervention programs that could make all the difference for those with MS.
Now, Dr. Alon Kalron and his fellow researchers from Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine …

The discovery of a carcinogenic substance has led officials to warn millions of people in southern China not to drink water from a pair of polluted rivers, various media outlets reported on Friday.
According to Reuters, more than three and a half million people living in Liuzhou in the Guangxi region have been advised to not consume water from the Liujiang River, the main source of drinking water in the area, due to high levels of the cancer-causing agent cadmium.
Earlier this week, the substance was also discovered in the Longjiang River, …

Scientists studying ocean microorganisms have encountered something they have never seen before. A marine virus that cons certain photosynthetic bacteria into letting it come inside because it appears to offer a “helping hand” by bringing resources very like their own to help them acquire phosphorus, a nutrient they are desperately short of. Once inside, the virus uses the host’s cellular resources to replicate itself. About ten hours later, the host cells explode and release the viral progeny back into the ocean.
Qinglu Zeng and Sallie “Penny” W. Chisholm of Massachusetts Institute …

According to a report published Monday, giving birth can be far more hazardous to a woman’s health than obtaining a legal abortion, noting that pregnant women were up to 14 times more likely to die due to complications associated with childbirth compared to abortions.
The purpose of the study, the researchers said, was not to encourage women to get abortions but rather to emphasize that abortion is a safer procedure than many have been led to believe.
“We wouldn’t tell people, ‘Don’t have a baby because it’s safer to have an abortion’ …

Thinking about religion gives people more self-control on later, unrelated tasks; according to results from a series of recent Queen’s University study.
“After unscrambling sentences containing religiously oriented words, participants in our studies exercised significantly more self-control,” says psychology graduate student and lead researcher on the study, Kevin Rounding.
Study participants were given a sentence containing five words to unscramble. Some contained religious themes and others did not. After unscrambling the sentences, participants were asked to complete a number of tasks that required self-control – enduring discomfort, delaying gratification, exerting patience, and …