Teen vaping, which has been skyrocketing, fell dramatically last year in the United States. A government survey released Thursday suggests the number of high school and middle school students using electronic cigarettes fell to 2.2 million last year, from …
Among the people socializing in a tavern in Alexandra township in Johannesburg is Karabo Sathekge, who asked that VOA not give her real name. She is a slight, attractive 19-year-old in a veil of an orange dress, defying the winter …
Photosynthetic bacteria and light may offer hope to heart disease patients, a new study suggests. Researchers at Stanford University say that after injecting the bacteria into the hearts of rats with cardiac disease and using light to start photosynthesis, they …
A U.N. humanitarian aid adviser for Syria says trucks are being prepared to ship polio vaccine into Islamic State group-held areas of Deir Ezzor governorate following confirmation of a “very dangerous” outbreak of the virus. Jan Egeland made the …
A new report by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) finds child poverty and hunger are widespread in 41 of the world’s richest countries. The report says one in five children in rich countries lives in poverty, while one in eight …
Thailand’s industrial development faces fresh calls for greater local community participation in addressing the challenges of environmental pollution, especially as reports point to an escalation in the production of hazardous industrial pollution. Industrialization has been a core of Thailand’s economic …
Imagine that you could not see. Or hear. And that you were just a child. What would your world be like? How would you communicate? Who would teach you to speak, to sign or to read Braille? To play? For …
There’s not much middle ground on broccoli — people either love it or hate it. U.S. President George H.W. Bush, for instance, was not a fan. “I do not like broccoli,” he famously said. “And I have not liked it …
Researchers have identified an “Achilles heel” in the malaria parasite — a weakness that could stop the mosquito-borne infection in its tracks. The discovery offers the possibility of a cure, as well as a way to halt transmission. The malaria …
Nearly one third of all humans are now classified as overweight or obese. That’s the conclusion from a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that dropped this week. When it comes to childhood weight problems, the U.S. …
California Gov. Jerry Brown was named Tuesday as a special envoy to states at the next United Nations Climate Change Conference, further elevating his international profile as a leader on the issue as President Donald Trump backs away from a …
People who are aged 75 or older and take aspirin daily to ward off heart attacks face a significantly elevated risk of serious or even fatal bleeding and should be given heartburn drugs to minimize the danger, a 10-year study …
It sounds futuristic: drones carrying heart defibrillators swooping in to help bystanders revive people stricken by cardiac arrest. Researchers tested the idea and found drones arrived at the scene of 18 cardiac arrests within about five minutes of launch. That …
Bhutan and the Maldives have eliminated measles, becoming the first countries in their region to eliminate the highly infectious disease that is a major child killer globally, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. The milestone was reached after no measles …
People who survive a stroke often struggle with a range of devastating consequences. It can take months of physical therapy for them to be able to use their limbs or start to feel sensations. That’s why a prototype of an …
In the farm fields of Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, the start of a harvest that not even war could stop offers hope for farmers facing a time of crisis. Driven from their headquarters in Syria’s Aleppo province, the work continues of …
A study following more than 1.3 million premature babies born in Florida found that two-thirds of those born at only 23 or 24 weeks were ready for kindergarten on time, and almost 2 percent of those infants later achieved gifted …
Researchers tried a big serving of food psychology and a dollop of trickery to get diners to eat their vegetables. And it worked. Veggies given names like “zesty ginger-turmeric sweet potatoes” and “twisted citrus-glazed carrots” were more popular than those …
Ken Shefveland’s body was swollen with cancer, treatment after treatment failing until doctors gambled on a radical approach: They removed some of his immune cells, engineered them into cancer assassins and unleashed them into his bloodstream. Immune therapy is …
Nearly a third of the world’s population is obese or overweight and an increasing number of people are dying of related health problems in a “disturbing global public health crisis,” a study said on Monday. Some 4 million people died …
Katy Perry opened up about having suicidal thoughts during a marathon weekend livestream event. “I feel ashamed that I would have those thoughts, feel that low, and that depressed,” she said Saturday on YouTube during a tearful session with …
World Ocean Day, earlier this month, is an annual focus on the threats to our watery planet. It’s a long list: overfishing, climate change, algae blooms and plastic. Plastic is everywhere, on the surface, in the deep and along the …
The United States supported a global call to action at the United Nations on Friday to conserve and sustainably use oceans, seas and marine resources, even as it noted President Donald Trump’s plan to withdraw from a pact to fight …