Year: 2023

Kenya is using the launch of its first operational observation satellite to promote space education and science through space clubs in schools. Kenya launched an operational 3U nanosatellite April 15 aboard the SpaceX Falcon Force base in the U.S. Victoria Amunga reports from Nairobi, Kenya. Camera: Jimmy Makhulo ...

Scientists found coastal species of shellfish and anemones living and breeding on floating islands of garbage in the Pacific thousands of miles from home, a study revealed Monday.  Environmentalists have for years been eyeing what they call the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" — masses of plastic rubbish combining bottles, fishing nets and much more. U.S. researchers who sampled rubbish from the northeastern Pacific between California and Hawaii said they found 37 kinds of invertebrates that originated from coastal areas, mostly from countries such as Japan on the other side of the ocean. "The high seas are colonized by a diverse array of coastal species, which survive and reproduce in the open ocean," they wrote in the study, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution. "Coastal species persist now in the open…

Two years ago, Paul's teacher noticed that the 10-year-old boy could no longer see anything on the board at the front of the class. An ophthalmologist confirmed that Paul was one of the soaring number of children worldwide with myopia, also known as nearsightedness, an eye condition projected to affect half of the world's population by 2050. But the ophthalmologist in the western French city of Nantes had some good news: specially designed glasses had just become available that could slow down the progression of Paul's myopia. "After a year, the results were quite positive because his eyesight seemed to have stabilized," Paul's mother Caroline Boudet told AFP. Previous research has suggested that myopia progresses 60% slower in children wearing the "Miyosmart" glasses compared to normal prescription glasses. A six-year…

Nigeria has granted provisional approval to Oxford University's R21 malaria vaccine, its medicines regulator said Monday, making it the second country to do so after Ghana last week.  The approvals are unusual as they have come before the publication of final-stage trial data for the vaccine.  "A provisional approval of the R21 Malaria Vaccine was recommended, and this shall be done in line with the WHO's Malaria Vaccine Implementation Guideline," Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said.  Malaria, a mosquito-borne disease, kills more than 600,000 people each year, most of them African babies and children.  Nigeria, the continent's most populous nation, is the world's worst-affected country with 27% of global cases and 32% of global deaths, according to a 2021 World Health Organization (WHO) report. …

The Group of Seven rich nations on Sunday set big new collective targets for solar power and offshore wind capacity, agreeing to speed up renewable energy development and move toward a quicker phase-out of fossil fuels. But they stopped short of endorsing a 2030 deadline for phasing out coal that Canada and other members had pushed for, and left the door open for continued investment in gas, saying that sector could help address potential energy shortfalls. "In the midst of an unprecedented energy crisis, it's important to come up with measures to tackle climate change and promote energy security at the same time," Japanese industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told a news conference. "While acknowledging that there are diverse pathways to achieve carbon neutral, we agreed on the importance of aiming…

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris made an appearance at an abortion rights rally in Los Angeles on Saturday, one of a number of such rallies held around the country following recent court rulings limiting access to abortion. “When you attack the rights of women in America, you are attacking America,” Harris told the crowd. On Friday, the Supreme Court temporarily kept in place federal rules for use of the abortion drug mifepristone, after lower court rulings sought to restrict the use of the drug, which women have been using for years. The justices are being asked to only focus on what parts of an April 7 ruling by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas, as modified by an appellate ruling Wednesday, can be in force while the case continues.…

Cindy Powers was driven into bankruptcy by 19 life-saving abdominal operations. Medical debt started stacking up for Lindsey Vance after she crashed her skateboard and had to get nine stitches in her chin. And for Misty Castaneda, open heart surgery for a disease she'd had since birth saddled her with $200,000 in bills. These are three of an estimated 100 million Americans who have amassed nearly $200 billion in collective medical debt — almost the size of Greece's economy — according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Now lawmakers in at least a dozen states and the U.S. Congress have pushed legislation to curtail the financial burden that's pushed many into untenable situations: forgoing needed care for fear of added debt, taking a second mortgage to pay for cancer treatment or…

Elon Musk's SpaceX is about to take its most daring leap yet with a round-the-world test flight of its mammoth Starship. It's the biggest and mightiest rocket ever built, with the lofty goal of ferrying people to the moon and Mars. Jutting almost 120 meters into the South Texas sky, Starship could blast off as early as Monday, with no one aboard. Musk's company got the OK from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Friday. It will be the first launch with Starship's two sections together. Early versions of the sci-fi-looking upper stage rocketed several miles into the stratosphere a few years back, crashing four times before finally landing upright in 2021. The towering first-stage rocket booster, dubbed Super Heavy, will soar for the first time. For this demo, SpaceX…

A man in Chile is infected with a bird flu that has concerning mutations, but the threat to people from the virus remains low, U.S. health officials said Friday. Past animal studies suggest these mutations could cause the virus to be more harmful or spread more easily, health officials said. But they also said there is no evidence that the mutations would make it easier for it to take root in a person's upper lungs — a development that would raise concerns about it spreading among people. The mutations do not change public health officials' assessment of the overall risk to people from the H5N1 virus, which "continues to be low," said Vivien Dugan of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The mutations, which have appeared only in the…

For 35 years, the Emsland nuclear power plant in northwestern Germany has reliably provided millions of homes with electricity and many with well-paid jobs in what was once an agricultural backwater. Now, it and the country's two other remaining nuclear plants are being shut down. Germany long ago decided to phase out both fossil fuels and nuclear power over concerns that neither is a sustainable source of energy. The final countdown Saturday -- delayed for several months over feared energy shortages because of the Ukraine war -- is seen with relief by Germans who have campaigned against nuclear power. Yet with energy prices stubbornly high and climate change a growing concern, some in the country and abroad are branding the move reckless. As Germany closes nuclear stations, other governments in…

A trio of health care bills enshrining access in Colorado to abortion and gender-affirming procedures and medications became law Friday as the Democrat-led state tries to make itself a safe haven for its neighbors, whose Republican leaders are restricting care.  The main goal of the legislation signed by Democratic Governor Jared Polis is to ensure people in surrounding states and beyond can go to Colorado to have an abortion, begin puberty blockers or receive gender-affirming surgery without fear of prosecution. Bordering states of Wyoming and Oklahoma have passed abortion bans and Utah has severely restricted transgender care for minors.  Many states with abortion or transgender care bans are also criminalizing traveling to states for the purpose of accessing legal health care.  The contradicting laws are setting the stage for interstate…

The Biden administration and a drug manufacturer asked the Supreme Court on Friday to preserve access to an abortion drug free from restrictions imposed by lower court rulings, while a legal fight continues.  The Justice Department and Danco Laboratories both warned of "regulatory chaos" and harm to women if the high court doesn't block an appeals court ruling in a case from Texas that had the effect of tightening Food and Drug Administration rules under which the drug, mifepristone, can be prescribed and dispensed.  The new limits would take effect Saturday unless the court acts before then.  "This application concerns unprecedented lower court orders countermanding FDA's scientific judgment and unleashing regulatory chaos by suspending the existing FDA-approved conditions of use for mifepristone," Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, the Biden administration's top…

Taifa 1, Kenya's first operational 3U nanosatellite, was set to launch aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in the U.S. state of California on Friday after being delayed twice. But the launch was scrubbed at the last minute because of unfavorable weather.   Teddy Warria, with Africa's Talking Limited, a high-tech company, traveled to the University of Nairobi in Kenya from Kisumu, 563 kilometers west of Nairobi. He said he'll stay as long it takes to witness the historic day.   "It shows us through science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and if we apply the lessons learned from STEM, we can go as far as our minds and imagination can take us," Warria said.  Regardless of the delay, Charles Mwangi, the acting director of…

A European spacecraft rocketed away Friday on a decadelong quest to explore Jupiter and three of its icy moons that could have buried oceans. The journey began with a morning liftoff by Europe's Ariane rocket from French Guiana in South America. Arianespace's chief executive Stephane Israel called it "an absolutely perfect launch." But there were some tense minutes later as controllers waited for signals from the spacecraft nearly an hour into the flight. When contact was confirmed, European Space Agency's Bruno Sousa declared from Mission Control in Germany: "The spacecraft is alive!" It will take the robotic explorer, dubbed Juice, eight years to reach Jupiter, where it will scope out not only the solar system's biggest planet but also Europa, Callisto and Ganymede. The three ice-encrusted moons are believed to…

The World Health Organization says that the focus of this year’s World Chagas Disease Day observation is expanding awareness of Chagas and on “providing access to crucial care and implementing disease surveillance, at the primary health care level.” The Centers for Disease Control says Chagas is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which is transmitted to animals and people by insects. It is often referred to as a silent killer because if it is not detected early, it can cause serious heart and digestive problems and can be fatal. It is found mainly in Latin America, but according to WHO, it has been detected elsewhere, including the United States, Canada, some European countries and some African, Eastern Mediterranean and Western Pacific countries. WHO reports 6 million to 7 million people…

A Zimbabwean actress battling cancer has asked wealthy citizens to buy a radiotherapy machine for government hospitals because she says the country's only unit has stopped working. As Columbus Mavhunga reports from Harare, many blame Zimbabwe’s high mortality rate among cancer patients on the country’s poor state of health care.] Camera: Blessing Chigwenhembe ...

The Republican-dominated Florida Legislature on Thursday approved a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, a proposal supported by the Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis as he prepares for an expected presidential run. DeSantis is expected to sign the bill into law. Florida currently prohibits abortions after 15 weeks. A six-week ban would give DeSantis a key political victory among Republican primary voters as he prepares to launch a presidential candidacy built on his national brand as a conservative standard-bearer. The policy would also have wider implications for abortion access throughout the South in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last year overturning Roe v. Wade and leaving decisions about abortion access to states. Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi have banned abortion at all stages of pregnancy, while Georgia…

The U.S. Department of Justice responded Thursday to a ruling that limits access to the abortion pill mifepristone and said it would ask the Supreme Court for an emergency order to put any restrictions on hold. After conflicting rulings by various courts on mifepristone, a pill that induces abortion and is the most commonly used method in the United States, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that it could be used for now but with some restrictions. They include reducing the period of time when the drug can be taken and prohibiting it from being mailed. Mifepristone has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for 23 years. Last week, Matthew Kacsmaryk, a U.S. district judge in Texas, reversed approval of the pill’s use following a lawsuit by opponents…

An activist in Ghana is swimming the nearly 500-kilometer-long Volta River, including Lake Volta, to bring attention to worsening water pollution. Yvette Tetteh is also collecting water samples along the way to test for pollution. Senanu Tord reports from Lake Volta, Ghana. ...

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center on Thursday issued an El Nino watch for the next six months, a climate pattern that is likely to play a role in this year's Atlantic hurricane season.  In a statement, NOAA said the indications are favorable — a 62% chance — for an El Nino pattern to form sometime from May to July. The pattern is characterized by warmer ocean temperatures and higher than normal precipitation in the central to eastern Pacific Ocean.  The El Nino pattern would follow nearly two continuous years of La Nina conditions in the Pacific.  El Nino and La Nina are opposite extremes of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climate pattern that occur across the equatorial Pacific and can influence weather across the…

Ghana has become the first country to approve a new malaria vaccine described as a "world changer" by scientists who developed it at the University of Oxford. The mosquito-spread parasitic disease kills more than 600,000 people every year. The majority are children in sub-Saharan Africa. A statement issued Wednesday by Oxford University says its new malaria vaccine called R21 has secured regulatory approval by Ghanaian officials for use in the age group at highest risk of death from malaria — children age 5-to-36 months. Malaria is an endemic disease in Ghana. The West African country's health service says it accounts for 38% of all outpatients, with the most vulnerable groups being children younger than 5 years old. "We have tested a lot of vaccines — and to be here now,…

NASA opens the door to its Mars simulator. Plus, a private spaceflight contender gets knocked out, and the hooves of a beloved children’s character return to British soil. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space. ...