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A spacewalking astronaut on Friday added a small mirror to the millions of pieces of junk orbiting the Earth, as he lost the small object from his space suit, while stepping out of the International Space Station. U.S. Commander Chris Cassidy said the mirror floated away at about 0.3 meters per second. Mission Control said the mirror somehow became detached from Cassidy's spacesuit. Spacewalking astronauts wear a wrist mirror on each sleeve to get better views while working.  The mirror is just 12 centimeters by roughly 8 centimeters and came loose as the ISS was in darkness. Once he was in sunlight, Cassidy inspected his sleeve for clues that might explain how the mirror came off but told Mission Control he found no evidence of thread damage. Cassidy and fellow astronaut Bob…

The U.N.’s weather agency, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), says it has verified two “megaflashes” of lightning in South America that set records for longest distance and longest duration.The WMO says on its website Friday its Committee on Weather and Climate Extremes used new satellite lightning technology to verify that an October 31, 2018 lightning bolt that started in southern Brazil traveled just over 709 kilometers.   The WMO says the longest recorded duration for a lightning flash was 16.73 seconds set on March 4, 2019 by a flash that developed over northern Argentina.The agency notes both records are more than double the previous records for distance and duration, set in the U.S state of Oklahoma and in France.The committee maintains official records on global, hemispheric and regional extremes. The committee’s…

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the Trump administration on Thursday urged the Supreme Court to overturn the Affordable Care Act.The administration’s latest high court filing came the same day the government reported that close to half a million people who lost their health insurance amid the economic shutdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus have gotten coverage through HealthCare.gov.The administration’s legal brief makes no mention of the virus.Some 20 million Americans could lose their health coverage and protections for people with preexisting health conditions also would be put at risk if the court agrees with the administration in a case that won’t be heard before the fall.In the case before the Supreme Court, Texas and other conservative-led states argue that the ACA was essentially rendered unconstitutional after…

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory is known historically as an important nuclear research center. But as VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports, a critical present-day mission at the suburban Chicago facility is using some of the world’s most sophisticated technology to combat COVID-19. Video editor: Barry Unger ...

Eastern Congo marked an official end Thursday to the second deadliest Ebola outbreak in history, which killed 2,280 people over nearly two years, as armed rebels and community mistrust undermined the promise of new vaccines.Thursday's milestone was overshadowed, though, by the enormous health challenges still facing Congo: the world's largest measles epidemic, the rising threat of COVID-19 and another new Ebola outbreak in the north."We are extremely proud to have been able to be victorious over an epidemic that lasted such a long time," said Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe, who coordinated the national Ebola response and whose team also developed a new treatment for the once incurable hemorrhagic disease.The announcement initially was set for April but another case emerged just three days before the Ebola-free declaration was expected. That restarted the…

Germany-based Bayer will pay nearly $11 billion to settle thousands of current and future lawsuits over claims its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer, the company announced Wednesday. Bayer CEO Werner Baumann called it “the right action at the right time.” Along with the cancer lawsuits, Bayer will also pay a billion-dollar settlement over separate lawsuits involving a second weedkiller suspected of killing farmers’ healthy crops, and toxic chemicals dumped in various water supplies in the United States.FILE - A ship passes the main chemical plant of German Bayer AG in Leverkusen, Germany, August 9, 2019. The company has agreed to settlements in cases involving its glyphosate-based weedkiller Roundup.Roundup is used in more than 160 countries and will continue to be sold. Bayer’s subsidiary, Monsanto, developed Roundup's key ingredient, glyphosate, more than 40 years ago.…

Hannah Gjerde starts her day at her hot-mat yoga class on the front lawn of her parent’s home, right before settling onto the couch for the rest of the day. “Being home makes it hard because my dad will be in the kitchen working, or it’s too crowded in my room to do it,” says Gjerde.   Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many gyms have been deemed non-essential businesses and are not allowed to open. Closing fitness centers has created a sedentary lifestyle for many people.  So more people are moving their fitness routines online.  Gjerde, a Californian, also uses the backyard for her workout space, completing workouts online with an instructor at her usual yoga studio. Gyms and gym-goers alike are finding innovative ways to keep moving while practicing social distancing to thwart the spread of the coronavirus.Photo of Hannah Gjerde working…

A massive cloud of Saharan dust darkened much of Cuba on Wednesday and began to affect air quality in Florida, sparking warnings to people with respiratory illnesses to stay home.The dust cloud swept across the Atlantic from Africa over the past week, covering the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico since Sunday and hitting south Florida in the United States on Wednesday, authorities there said.Conditions over the Cuban capital, Havana, are expected to worsen on Thursday, specialists on the Communist-run island reported.Francisco Duran, head of Epidemiology at the Ministry of Health, said the cloud is likely to "increase respiratory and allergic conditions."Air quality in Miami is currently "moderate," the city's health department said, asking people with respiratory problems to stay home.Powered by strong winds, dust from the Sahara travels across the…

Germany is banning the sale of single-use plastic straws, cotton buds and food containers, bringing it in line with a European Union directive intended to reduce the amount of plastic garbage that pollutes the environment.The Cabinet agreed Wednesday to end the sale of plastics including single-use cutlery, plates, stirring sticks and balloon holders, as well as polystyrene cups and boxes by July 3, 2021.Environment Minister Svenja Schulze said the move was part of an effort to move away from "throw-away culture." Up to 20% of garbage collected in parks and other public places consists of single-use plastic, mainly polystyrene containers.Plastic takes decades to degrade and microscopic particles have been found inside the bodies of fish, birds and other animals. ...

The Trump administration’s recent decision to roll back civil rights protections for transgender people in health care has outraged civil rights activists and organizations advocating for transgender rights.  The administration move comes as the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling protecting gay and transgender workers from workplace discrimination.  Now, the nation’s largest LGBTQ rights organization says it will sue the administration over its decision to roll back health care protections. Maxim Moskalkov has the story.Camera: Yuriy Zakrevskiy    ...

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said Tuesday it is seeking to investigate record high temperatures reported from inside the Arctic Circle June 20.   At a news conference in Geneva, WMO spokeswoman Clare Nullis told reporters the U.N. weather agency is seeking to verify the reported 38 degrees Celsius temperature in the Russian town of Verkhoyansk, amid a prolonged Siberian heat wave and increased wildfire activity.   The WMO says it will confer with Russia’s weather agency, Roshydromet. If the temperature is confirmed, a team of investigators will then search the WMO’s archives to ensure it is indeed a record.   Nullis said the Russian weather agency reports that the region of Eastern Siberia where the record was reported “has very, very cold extremes in winter but is also known…

Honeybees are coming back after record losses in 2019, a survey of U.S. beekeepers says. The Bee Informed Partnership says this past winter was one of the smallest loss of colonies in 14 years. Researchers credit better management by beekeepers for the resurgence in colonies. "The reason why colonies can die are very multiple and that's unfortunately, the complex reality of honeybee health is that there are multiple drivers that are affecting honeybee health. We usually categorize them in categories of what we call the four Ps, which is pests, pathogens, poor nutrition and pesticides.” Dr. Nathalie Steinhauer of the University of Maryland says.  According to the partnership survey, beekeepers lost a little more than 22% of their colonies over the past winter compared to the average wintertime loss of 28%. According to the Bee Informed Partnership, which includes the University of Maryland, more than 3,377 beekeepers managing 276,832 colonies across the United States responded to the survey. The university says…

American honeybee colonies have bounced back after a bad year, the annual beekeeping survey finds. Beekeepers lost only 22.2% of their colonies this past winter, from Oct. 1 to March 31, which is lower than the average of 28.6%, according to the Bee Informed Partnership's annual survey of thousands of beekeepers. It was the second smallest winter loss in the 14 years of surveying done by several different U.S. universities. Last winter's loss was considerably less than the previous winter of 2018-2019 when a record 37.7% of colonies died off, the scientists found. After that bad winter, the losses continued through the summer of 2019, when beekeepers reported a 32% loss rate. That's much higher than the average of 21.6% for summer losses. Those summer losses were driven more by hives of…

The COVID-19 pandemic could affect availability and distribution of antiretroviral medicine used to treat HIV, UNAIDS said Monday.A recent survey conducted by UNAIDS showed the impacts that lockdowns and border closures imposed to stop the spread of the coronavirus will impede supplying prescriptions, particularly to low- and middle-income countries.A new study by UNAIDS shows the potential impacts that #COVID19 could have in low- and middle-income countries around the world on supplies of the generic antiretroviral medicines used to treat HIV. — UNAIDS (@UNAIDS) June 22, 2020But the survey said that measures can still be taken to mitigate the risks."It is vital that countries urgently make plans now to mitigate the possibility and impacts of higher costs and reduced availability of antiretroviral medicines," Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS, said in…

Thai scientists administered a second dose of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine to monkeys on Monday, looking for another positive response to enable clinical trials in humans as early as October.   The Thai vaccine is one of at least 100 being worked on globally as the world reels from a devastating virus that has infected more than 8.7 million and killed 461,000, with Sunday's 183,000 cases the highest reported in a single day.   Thirteen monkeys were immunized on Monday and the next two weeks will be critical in determining whether researchers can proceed with further tests.   "We're going to analyze the immune response once again. If the immune response is very, very high, then this is a good one," said Kiat Ruxrungtham, lead researcher of the COVID-19 vaccine development program at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.   Thailand's…

AIDS activist Larry Kramer used to wear an oversized rectangular turquoise ring on his left finger, tinged with variations of green.  A turquoise band circled a second finger.  Two large turquoise rings decorated his other hand.When Kramer first moved to New York in the 1970s, a fortune teller told him he "must always wear something turquoise to look after your health."  He trusted the superstition, surviving hepatitis B and a liver transplant — and battling an HIV infection for more than 30 years."God knows how," Kramer told VOA in his final interview before he died of pneumonia on May 27, less than a month before his 85th birthday.Turquoise's health benefits are unproven, but a revolutionary generation of antiviral drugs, the first of which was studied and approved 25 years ago,…

One of the coldest places on Earth on Saturday became one of the hottest places on Earth. A Russian heat wave sent the thermometer in the Siberian town of Verkhoyansk soaring to 38 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). Meteorologists say that would be the highest temperature ever recorded north of the Arctic Circle.  Verkhoyansk is about 10 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. Temperatures in the town average 40 degrees below zero Celsius (-40 Fahrenheit) in winter, and it rarely gets warmer than 20 degrees (68 Fahrenheit) in summer.  Experts blame the unusual heat wave on a massive high-pressure system that has been stalled over Siberia for almost two weeks, preventing cooler air from flowing south. All of Russia has experienced an uncharacteristically warm winter and spring this year with average temperatures breaking records in the first five months of the year set in 2016.   ...

Many amateur astronomers in Africa and Asia had the chance to observe Sunday, for the summer solstice, a rare solar eclipse of the "ring of fire" type, despite the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus and sometimes unfavorable climatic conditions.This astronomical phenomenon, which occurs once or twice a year, started soon after sunrise in central Africa, passing through the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), South Sudan and Ethiopia before heading to Asia, to finish in the Pacific Ocean, south of the island of Guam, at 09:32 GMT, after having notably crossed India and China.  In this type of eclipse, the moon passes in front of the sun, in an alignment with the earth, but instead of completely blocking the sun, there remains a ring, called "ring of fire."It was above…

Sickle cell patients in Cameroon on this year's World Sickle Cell Day on June 19, asked to be given additional care and support. They say the genetic disorder primarily seen in people of African descent puts them more at risk of COVID-19.About 200 sickle cell patients visited hospitals and the Cameroon Red Cross office in the capital Yaoundé, Friday to complain that they were being sidelined in efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus in the central African state. Forty-year old Dieudonne Mackiti, father of two children living with the disease, says he expects the government to provide face masks and hand sanitizers free of charge and to ask hospitals to give preferential treatment to sickle cell patients when they visit.He says he has come out on World Sickle…

Giant footprints found in a disused coal mine belong to Australia’s biggest predatory dinosaur, according to new research.Analysis by the University of Queensland estimates this huge meat-eating predator was about 10 meters long, almost as big as a Tyrannosaurus Rex. The tracks were found in the ceilings of old coal mines in the 1950s but were only recently scientifically examined.For years, they lay untouched in a museum but have now been investigated by paleontologist Anthony Romilio. He said they are likely to have been made by a fearsome prehistoric creature. His study is published in the journal Historical Biology.Romilio says while no bones have been found, the tracks provide a fascinating window into the distant past.“We find many more footprints than what we do skeletons, and we can tell by…

Commercial insurers are scrutinizing building managers' efforts to avoid outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease as they reopen movie theaters, gyms, schools and offices that had been closed for months because of the coronavirus pandemic, industry sources told Reuters. Legionnaires' disease is a severe, sometimes lethal form of pneumonia caused by the Legionella bacteria that build up in pipes. Environmental insurers, which collect roughly $2 billion in annual premiums, would be on the hook for damages if there are outbreaks at buildings they cover. "Legionella could be the deadliest waterborne illness in the U.S. and another deadly consequence of COVID," said Veronica Benzinger, environmental service group leader for insurance broker Aon plc, referring to the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. The pandemic shutdown of businesses and schools has led to an unprecedented amount of…