Coffee linked to reduced risk of MS

Coffee linked to reduced risk of MS

Drink up, coffee lovers. Neurologists say a healthy appetite for coffee may reduce your risk of developing multiple sclerosis.

We’re not talking a cup or two of joe in the morning. Even a triple espresso might not be enough to register a difference.

In a new study, researchers found that Americans who downed at least four cups of coffee per day were one-third less likely to develop multiple sclerosis than their counterparts who drank no coffee at all. They also found that Swedish adults who guzzled at least six cups of coffee each day were also one-third less likely to get MS.

Put another way: People who eschewed coffee were 1.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with MS than people with a serious coffee habit.

Woman hit by train survives

PHOENIX

An inattentive woman wearing headphones and eating taquitos survived being run over by a locomotive Thursday despite being surrounded by flashing lights and bells at a nearby railroad crossing while the engineer blared the horn, Phoenix police said.

The woman was struck as she walked on BNSF Railway tracks near the intersection of three major streets, said Sgt. Trent Crump, a police spokesman.

The first of two locomotives hit her, and she fell between the rails but escaped being crushed by the wheels, police said. She lay in between the rails on the track while the train passed over her.

“What a lucky day for this woman,” Crump said.

Scientists offer reasons for ‘hiatus’ in global warming

It’s been dubbed both a “pause” and a “faux pause,” and it’s ignited debate among climate scientists and their critics.

After a period of rapid global warming throughout most of the 20th century, the pace of global temperature rise has slowed greatly over the past 10 to 15 years.

This unexpected slowdown has raised questions about the accuracy of climate change forecasts, and sent scientists searching for an explanation.

In a paper published Thursday in the journal Science, climate researchers argue that this slowdown is the result of natural and decades-long variations in sea water temperatures in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

These decadal oscillations, or swings, in sea temperature are tied to changes in ocean currents and wind patterns, according to researchers, and will play out for years before reversing themselves. Currently, the Pacific Ocean is in a cooling state and therefore masking the effects of human-caused global warming, according to the study authors.

Ukraine, rebels start pulling back heavy weapons

KIEV, Ukraine

Warring parties in Ukraine took a major stride toward quelling unrest in the country’s east Thursday with the declared start of a supervised withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line.

Ukrainian and separatist officials have noted a sharp decline in violence, although the chances of a long-lasting settlement remain clouded by lingering suspicions.

While announcing the pullback, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry warned that it would revise arms withdrawal plans in the event of any attacks.

“Ukrainian troops are in a state of total readiness to defend the country,” it said in a statement.

Combined dispatches