Author: Dmedia

A spacecraft that plowed into a small, harmless asteroid millions of miles away succeeded in shifting its orbit, NASA said Tuesday in announcing the results of its save-the-world test. The space agency attempted the first test of its kind two weeks ago to see if…

Energy infrastructure will become more vulnerable to extreme weather such as heatwaves and hurricanes, the World Meteorological Organization warned on Tuesday, with a senior official saying that climate change poses as big a threat to global energy security as the war in Ukraine. This year…

Malawi's health ministry says it will soon roll out Africa's first malaria vaccine for children under age five. The RTS,S vaccine, which was tested in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, took more than 30 years to develop. While the vaccine has a relatively low level of…

As awareness grows around the world about the problem of food waste, one culprit in particular is drawing scrutiny: "best before" labels. Manufacturers have used the labels for decades to estimate peak freshness. Unlike "use by" labels, which are found on perishable foods like meat…

Monday is World Mental Health Day. To mark the day, the World Health Organization has launched a campaign to “raise awareness and spur action” in regions where there are high rates of death by suicide. The world health body said that the pandemic has created…

Older people with limited mobility and those with chronic health conditions requiring the use of electrically powered medical devices were especially vulnerable when Hurricane Ian slammed into Southwest Florida, and experts warn such risks to society's oldest are growing as disasters increase with the impact…

The city of Philadelphia issued an apology Thursday for the unethical medical experiments performed on mostly Black inmates at its Holmesburg Prison from the 1950s through the 1970s. The move comes after community activists and families of some of those inmates raised the need for…

China’s annual Golden Week festivities wind down Friday under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic with sharply reduced travel, frequent COVID testing and tight security in the capital ahead of this month’s 20th Communist Party Congress. As in the past two years, authorities have sought…

Australian scientists are trying to grow plants on the moon by 2025 in a new mission unveiled Friday that they said could help pave the way for a future colony. Plant biologist Brett Williams, from the Queensland University of Technology, said seeds would be carried…

Lebanon reported its first case of cholera since 1993, Health Minister Firas Abiad said Thursday. The case, recorded Wednesday, was from the rural northern province of Akkar, Abiad said, adding the infected person was a Syrian national who was receiving treatment. Akkar province borders Syria,…

Around 3.9 million people in the United States received updated COVID-19 booster shots over the past week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday. he CDC said a total of 11.5 million Americans had received the shot as of Oct. 5, the…

The Biden administration will begin redirecting U.S.-bound travelers who had been to Uganda within the previous 21 days to five major American airports to be screened for Ebola as public health officials sent an alert to health care workers. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control…

NASA makes history yet again. Plus, why a Mars rover’s doom may signal a new beginning, and a look back at a pioneering spacecraft’s suicide mission to Saturn. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space. ...

VOA visits William Padilla-Brown, a self-taught citizen scientist and mycologist whose passion for mushrooms is leading to new discoveries as he teaches others and works to build a healthier, more sustainable world. Camera: Aaron Fedor Produced by: Kathleen McLaughlin ...

Drought that stretched across three continents this summer — drying out large parts of Europe, the United States and China — was made 20 times more likely by climate change, according to a new study. Drought dried up major rivers, destroyed crops, sparked wildfire, threatened…

The deaths of dozens of children in Gambia from kidney injuries may be linked to contaminated cough and cold syrups made by an Indian drug manufacturer, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.  WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters that the U.N. agency was investigating…

For the first time in 20 years, a Russian cosmonaut rocketed from the U.S. on Wednesday, launching to the International Space Station alongside NASA and Japanese astronauts despite tensions over the war in Ukraine.  Their SpaceX flight was delayed by Hurricane Ian, which ripped across…

Africa and Latin America have the highest rates in the world of treatable sight problems, but a Spanish NGO is finding innovative ways to reverse this situation. Conditions like glaucoma or cataracts, which are easily treated in developed countries, often go unattended in many poorer…

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced Wednesday three scientists won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for “the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry.” The prize and its $900,000 award went equally to Carolyn Bertozzi and Barry Sharpless of the United States and Morten…

Enzymes found in the saliva of wax worms can degrade one of the most common forms of plastic waste, according to research published Tuesday that could open up new ways of dealing with plastic pollution. Humans produce some 400 million metric tons of plastic waste…

South African conservationists are on high alert after an outbreak of bird flu killed close to 30 penguins at one of the country's most stable colonies and a popular tourist attraction. The disease, formally known as avian influenza, is untreatable and has already killed more…

Australian scientists are harnessing the power of Artificial Intelligence in the fight against wildlife trafficking.   The technique uses 3-Dimensional X-rays at airports and post offices to detect animals being smuggled in luggage or the mail, and algorithms then alert customs officers.   This technology uses artificial…

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced Tuesday that three scientists won this year’s Nobel Prize in physics for “pioneering quantum information science. The academy said Alain Aspect of France, John Clauser of the United States and Anton Zeilinger of Austria each carried out “groundbreaking…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Monday it had ended its COVID-19 country travel health notices as fewer countries reported enough data for accurate assessments. In April, the CDC dropped its "Do Not Travel" COVID-19 recommendations for about 90 international destinations, saying…

This year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to a Swedish scientist for decoding the DNA of the Neanderthal, modern humans’ closet extinct relative. In a statement Monday the Nobel Organization said Svante Paabo is being honored “for pioneering a new approach to study our…

Climate change increased the rainfall from Hurricane Ian by more than 10 percent, according to a new quick-fire analysis, as one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the United States devastated parts of Florida.  Ian "could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida history,"…

The World Health Organization and Ugandan authorities are seeking nearly $18 million to help contain the Ebola outbreak in the country for the next three months. The initiative comes as Uganda registers the death of the first health worker in the current Ebola outbreak and…

The United Nations is calling for an end to discrimination against older people and for recognition of their contributions to society, as it marks the International Day of Older Persons Saturday.    With 1.4 billion people estimated to have reached at least 60 years old by…