Now’s the time to catch Mars in the night sky. Next week, the red planet is making its closest approach to Earth in 15 years. The two planets will be just 35.8 million miles (57.6 million kilometers) apart …
Britain’s Prince Harry joined pop star Elton John on Tuesday to launch a campaign to raise HIV awareness among men, warning that “dangerous complacency” about the virus threatened the quest to wipe it out. The billion-dollar project “MenStar” will target …
On a recent weekday afternoon in Ho Chi Minh City, the passengers bouncing along on one of the city’s green buses breathed in mouthfuls of carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide and other chemicals that add to Vietnam’s notorious pollution. The toxic …
The eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano could last for months or years and threaten new communities on the Big Island, according to a report by U.S. government geologists. A main risk is a possible change in the direction of a …
An international team of scientists has moved closer to creating artificial embryos after using mouse stem cells to make structures capable of taking a crucial step in the development of life. Experts said the results suggested human embryos could be …
Scientists say the longest total lunar eclipse of this century will grace the night sky on Friday, turning the moon a reddish color. NASA says the lunar eclipse will last for 1 hour and 43 minutes with total viability in …
The use of packaging plastic continues to rise as the world’s population grows. Environmentalists say compostable and biodegradable packaging is needed now more than ever, particularly when it comes to plastics used to protect our food. But now, a biodegradable …
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has called for an investigation of a domestic drug manufacturer accused of violating regulations in making a rabies vaccine. Changsheng Biotechnology has been ordered to stop production and recall the vaccine after the China Food and …
Too few people with signs of mental decline or dementia are getting checked during routine medical visits or told when a problem is found, says a panel of Alzheimer’s disease experts who offered new guidance Sunday. The idea is to …
A group of Pakistani engineering students has developed a voice-operated wheelchair to help those disabled achieve more self-reliance. The chair is getting some traction, as we see in this report from Saman Khan in Lahore, narrated by Bezhan Hamdard. …
Doctors in central Somalia say a 10-year-old girl has died after undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM). Director of Hanano hospital in Dhusamareb, Dr. Abdirahman Omar Hassan, who was on the response team who tried to save the girl, told VOA …
A report by UNAIDS, “Miles to go—closing gaps, breaking barriers, righting injustices”, warns that the global response to HIV is at a critical point. Eastern and southern Africa remain the regions most affected by the HIV epidemic, accounting for 45 …
A cholera outbreak in Cameroon has claimed at least a dozen lives. Hundreds of people have been rushed to several hospitals in the central African state. It is feared some of the cases were imported from Nigeria and may contaminate …
A specially-outfitted bathroom in New York City has been converted into a safe haven for drug users. The goal: to curb an overdose crisis that’s sweeping the United States. New data shows drug overdoses killed 47,000 people nationwide in the …
U.S. regulators Friday approved a simpler, one-dose treatment to prevent relapses of malaria. Standard treatment now takes two weeks and studies show many patients don’t finish taking every dose. Malaria is caused by parasites that are spread to people through …
A federal appeals court on Friday rejected the Trump administration’s renewed bid to dismiss a lawsuit by young activists who say it is ignoring the perils of climate change. By a 3-0 vote, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals …
Admirers of Neil Armstrong and space exploration have a chance to own artifacts and mementos that belonged to the modest man who became a global hero by becoming the first human to walk on the moon. The personal collection of …
Doctors have been working for decades to find better ways to save people’s damaged or diseased arms and legs and avoid amputations. Their work paid off for Jeff Bopp, a passenger in a sport utility vehicle near Columbia, Missouri. The …
If there can be driverless cars on the road, why not driverless boats on the water? Faith Lapidus has details of a team building a robotic boat, and what they want it to do. …
For more than 30 years, doctors have worked to save people’s arms and legs. VOA’s Carol Pearson reports, saving a limb after an accident or infection can take an entire team of specialists at a limb preservation center. …
Massive fruit trees in the Thailand evergreen forest need massive herbivores to help spread their seeds, according to a new study. Based on the diets and habits of mammals, scientists found that elephants are the best allies for the Thai …
Japan on Wednesday approved its first national legislation banning smoking inside public facilities, but the watered-down measure excludes many restaurants and bars and is seen by critics as toothless. The legislation aims to lower secondhand smoking risks ahead of the …
The world is close to eliminating the threat from polio, but to eradicate the disease, it must be eliminated everywhere. Health officials say that’s the tricky part, because if the virus responsible for the crippling disease exists anywhere, it can …
The move to end polio started in 1985 with Rotary International. At that time, polio paralyzed hundreds of thousands of children every year. There is still no cure, but two scientists developed vaccines against the virus in the 1950’s. Dr. …