The 2017 Nobel Prize for Medicine has been awarded to three American scientists. Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael Young were awarded for their discoveries of the molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm. “Using fruit flies as a model organism, …
Animals that make the water their home are uniquely sensitive to changes in their liquid world. Oysters are very good at filtering dirty water, and crayfish are very sensitive to changes in water quality. Now scientists in the Czech Republic …
What makes autistic children different and how can their parents make the best choices to integrate them into daily life, especially with an overwhelming amount of clinical research to consider? In the United States, where an estimated one in 68 …
To mark the International Day of the Older Person, the World Health Organization is calling for a new, integrated approach to meet the health needs of an aging population. By mid-century, the World Health Organization reports one in five people …
A rescued green sea turtle named Picasso was released back into the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, carrying the ashes of a self-taught Texas oceanographer who founded the rehabilitation center that helped nurse it back to health. Hundreds of well-wishers …
The World Health Organization warns a highly infectious, deadly form of pneumonic plague is spreading rapidly in Madagascar and quick action is needed to stop it. Pneumonic plague, which is transmitted from person to person, has been detected in several …
U.S. billionaire innovator Elon Musk has unveiled plans for a new rocket that would allow passengers to travel from one continent to another in about 30 minutes. At a presentation Friday in Adelaide, Australia, Musk showed a video of images …
Cardiovascular disease is a growing health concern in Kenya and around Africa. In Nairobi, 100 motorcycle taxi drivers are riding stationary bicycles and being trained to provide emergency resuscitation using automatic electronic defibrillators. It’s all part of an ongoing campaign …
To the untrained eye, the Scottish wildcat looks quite similar to a normal domestic cat. But it is a unique species, and it could become extinct. As VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports, the greatest threat to these cats is other cats. …
A new simple dipstick test can provide fast results for people who may have contracted the Zika virus or dengue fever. People who fear they may have been exposed to the mosquito-borne viruses can seek immediate help. And women can …
Nearly 300 species of fish, mussels and other sea critters hitchhiked across the Pacific Ocean on debris from the 2011 Japanese tsunami, washing ashore alive in the United States, researchers reported Thursday. It is the largest and longest marine …
Melania Trump invited experts and people affected by addiction to opioids to the White House for a listening session and discussion about the epidemic. The first lady hosted Thursday’s event in the State Dining Room and invited journalists to …
Giant pandas Cai Tao and Hu Chun arrived Thursday to fanfare in Indonesia where a new “palace” like home that cost millions of dollars has been built for them. The male and female pair landed at Jakarta’s international airport from …
It is estimated that nearly 40 million people in the U.S. alone suffer from chronic sleep deprivation. But a new study, perhaps the first of its kind, is shedding light on how and why humans sleep, or don’t sleep. VOA’s …
In the Australian bushland, citizen scientists are helping conservation officials track invasive, and endangered species. Using a special app, nature lovers can mark the vulnerable or even invasive wildlife as they wander the countryside. VOA’s Kevin Enochs. …
Rocky outcrops in eastern Canada contain what may be some of the oldest evidence of life on Earth, dating back about 3.95 billion years. Scientists said on Wednesday they found indirect evidence of life in the form of bits of …
Researchers say the likelihood of scorching summer temperatures in southern Europe is increasing because of man-made climate change. Hotter-than-usual temperatures in the Mediterranean region – including an August heatwave in Italy and the Balkans dubbed ‘Lucifer’ – resulted in higher …
According to U.S. government statistics, nearly 40 percent of all pregnancies around the world are unwanted or unplanned. And yet the means to prevent every unwanted pregnancy in the world exists, and has existed for more than 50 years. VOA’s …
The United States and Mexico have agreed to renew and expand a far-reaching conservation agreement that governs how they manage the overused Colorado River, which supplies water to millions of people and farms in both nations. The agreement to …
Miami is a city that lives on air conditioning. When it fails, people can die. After Hurricane Irma knocked down power lines and disconnected the cooling system at a nursing home north of Miami this month, 11 residents perished when …
The World Health Organization reports 844,000 people in northeast Nigeria have been reached with one dose of oral cholera vaccine in an effort to prevent the fatal disease from spreading. The latest figures show nearly 4,000 suspected cases, including 54 …
Mount Everest is indisputably the world’s highest peak. But precisely how tall is it and did the powerful 2015 earthquake in the high Himalayas shrink the giant mountain? Nepal is setting out on an ambitious two-year project to re-measure the …
Venezuela’s doctors, fed up with what they called the World Health Organization’s passive attitude toward the country’s deep medical crisis, protested at the agency’s Caracas office on Monday to demand more pressure on the government and additional assistance. Venezuela is …
The latest Republican effort to overhaul the nation’s health care system appears to have failed after another Republican senator came out against the plan. Senator Susan Collins from Maine became the third Republican senator to oppose the measure, saying Monday …