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 a formal apology. It also follows a string of apologies…
read moreChina’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 to discourage the popular practice of traveling to one’s hometown…
read moreAustralian 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 by the Beresheet 2 spacecraft, a private Israeli moon mission.…
read moreLebanon 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, where a cholera outbreak has infected more than 10,000 people…
read moreThe 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 and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday issued an alert to health…
read moreNASA 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. …
read moreUNICEF says the cholera outbreak in Syria has reached more than 10,000 patients and claimed the lives of at least 39 people, according to the Syrian Ministry of Health. For VOA, Mouneb Taim has this report from Idlib, Syria, with Heather Murdock in Istanbul. Videographer: Mouneb Taim, Moawia Atrash …
read moreDrought 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 aquatic species and led to water restrictions in Europe. It…
read moreThe 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 along with Indian regulators and the drugmaker, New Delhi-based Maiden…
read moreFor 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 the state last week. “I hope with this launch we…
read moreAfrica 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 countries that are struggling with more serious medical challenges…
read moreThe 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 Meldal of Denmark. For Sharpless, it is his second Nobel…
read moreEnzymes 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 each year despite international drives to reduce single-use plastics and…
read moreSouth 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 than 20,000 Cape cormorant birds since last year. Boulders Penguin…
read moreAustralian 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 intelligence to identify the shapes of animals being trafficked. Australia…
read moreThe 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 experiments using entangled quantum states, where two particles behave like…
read moreThe 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 it would reserve its Level 4 travel health notices “for…
read moreThis 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 evolutionary history.” The 67-year-old Swede overcame the extreme technical…
read moreClimate 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,” President Joe Biden said after the storm brought ferocious winds,…
read moreThe 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 brings the total number of confirmed cases to 35, with…
read moreThe 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 2030, U.N. officials say that is too many people to…
read moreThe Indian capital of New Delhi will enforce a 15-step action plan to curb pollution ahead of the arrival of winter, when a haze of toxic smog envelops the world’s most polluted city. High pollution is an annual sore point for Delhi, especially in October and November. Authorities urge people to stay indoors as burning…
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