Most kids love digging in the sand … and many never outgrow that. A new and unusual attraction nicknamed “sand box for grown-ups” is a big hit among teenagers and adults in Las Vegas, Nevada. It’s a heavy equipment playground that gives customers a change to operate gigantic, earth-moving bulldozers …
your ad hereSearching for Coral That’s Resistant to Climate Change
The world’s coral reefs host an astounding amount of the ocean’s biodiversity, but warming waters are putting them at risk around the world. Now a group of Australian scientists is searching for corals that can thrive in warm, acidic waters. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …
your ad hereKorean Director Wins Cannes’ Top Prize
South Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s social satire Parasite, about a poor family of hustlers who find jobs with a wealthy family, won the Cannes Film Festival’s top award, the Palme d’Or, on Saturday. Parasite was the first Korean film to win the Palme. In the festival’s closing ceremony, jury president Alejandro Inarritu said …
your ad hereWhy Americans Obsess About Their Grass
In the United States, the last Monday in May is Memorial Day, a holiday that honors people who died in military service during wartime. The end of May also marks the beginning of a less serious kind of war. It is one many living Americans fight each summer. It is …
your ad hereUN Strengthens Measures to Combat Ebola Epidemic in DR Congo
The United Nations has drawn up new measures to strengthen its response to the Ebola epidemic in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and put an end to the spread of this deadly virus, which already has claimed more than 1200 lives. The plan is top-heavy with senior officials who will …
your ad hereDrones Monitor Whale Health In Australia
A water-proof drone is being used by Australian scientists to collect the highly-treasured nasal mucus of migrating whales. The snot is rich with fresh DNA, viruses and bacteria, and is collected by a drone that hovers over the blowholes of humpback whales as they embark on their epic annual journey …
your ad hereReport: ADHD May Explain da Vinci’s Procrastination
Leonardo da Vinci is renowned as a “Renaissance man” for his mastery in art, science, architecture, music, mathematics, engineering and cartography, but he was no master at completing his efforts. Five hundred years after his death, a professor of psychiatry in Britain has suggested that the reason da Vinci left …
your ad hereVinyl Records Are Back, and So Are Record Pressing Plants
Vinyl records are becoming more popular in the U.S., after almost disappearing from American markets when they were replaced over the years by audio tapes, CDs and digital music downloaded onto phones and other devices. With vinyl records coming back, record-pressing plants are being established, including one just recently opened …
your ad hereAt Pentagon’s Silicon Valley Outpost, Urgency Amid Tensions With China
In a building a few miles from Google and Facebook’s plush campuses is the Pentagon’s sparse outpost in Silicon Valley. Here, military personnel and civilians look for commercial technology that can help the armed services solve problems they face in the field. That could be working with a local commercial …
your ad hereWWII Code Talker and longtime NM lawmaker dies at 94
John Pinto, a Navajo Code Talker in World War II who became one of the nation’s longest serving Native American elected officials as a New Mexico state senator, has died. He was 94. Senate colleague Michael Padilla confirmed Pinto’s death in Gallup on Friday after years of suffering from various …
your ad hereMedicine Treats Fatal Genetic Disease — for $2M
U.S. regulators have approved the most expensive medicine ever, for a rare disorder that destroys a baby’s muscle control and kills nearly all of those with the most common type of the disease within a couple of years. The treatment is priced at $2.125 million. Out-of-pocket costs for patients …
your ad hereSpaceX Launches First Satellites for Its Internet Service
A SpaceX rocket has launched 60 satellites into orbit, which will be used to provide internet service from space. The rocket was launched Thursday night from Cape Canaveral in the southeastern U.S. state of Florida. It had been originally scheduled to launch last week, but was postponed because of high …
your ad hereStudents Worldwide Protest Inaction on Climate Change
Thousands of school students in Australia and New Zealand took to the streets Friday, initiating an international day of protests against the lack of action against climate change. Organizers expect that more than a million young people in at least 120 counties will participate in protests. Demonstrators are demanding that …
your ad hereSilicon Valley Carefully Navigates US-China High Tech Cold War
Silicon Valley has long been a power center of American innovation. Now that high-tech is also becoming a focus of tensions between the U.S. and China, companies based here are trying to understand how they fit in. VOA’s Michelle Quinn speaks with the head of the U.S. Defense Department’s local …
your ad hereAnacondas Born to ‘Virgin Mother’ at Boston Aquarium
Anna, a female green anaconda that has lived most of her life in an all-female enclosure at the New England Aquarium, has given birth. The anaconda produced 18 snakes in early January. A DNA test has confirmed that the births were a result of a nonsexual reproduction process known as …
your ad hereScientists: Chile’s Southern Patagonia Ice Field Ruptured by Climate Change
Chile’s 12,000 square kilometer (4,633 square mile) Southern Patagonia Ice Field split in two and is likely to continue to fracture amid climate change, according to a team of Chilean scientists who were in the region in March. Gino Casassa, chief of the Snow and Glacier Division of Chile’s DGA …
your ad hereTrump ‘Honored’ to Provide US Farmers with $16 Billion in Aid
President Donald Trump says he is “honored” to give U.S. farmers hurt by the trade war with China another $16 billion in aid. Flanked by potato growers, ranchers and dairymen in the White House, Trump said Thursday the aid “will help keep our cherished farms thriving and make clear that …
your ad hereEast Africa Closer to Banning Hydroquinone Skin-Lightening Products
East African countries are set to ban skin-lightening products that contain hydroquinone, a medical agent linked to health problems when used in high concentrations. The East African Legislative Assembly last week passed a resolution calling for a region-wide ban on the manufacturing and importation of products containing hydroquinone. At a …
your ad hereWHO Certifies Algeria, Argentina Free of Malaria
The World Health Organization has certified Algeria and Argentina as malaria-free, following three consecutive years where no new cases of the deadly disease have been reported. The malaria parasite, which kills more than 400,000 people each year, was discovered in Algeria in 1880. Most of the victims are children under …
your ad hereMass Cleanup of Italian Beaches Planned for Weekend
Every year, 8 million tons of waste suffocate beaches and sea beds, says Italy’s environment league, Legambiente. Its Beach Litter report issued this week revealed that more than 80 percent of the waste found on 93 beaches was plastic. A mass cleanup is planned next weekend, involving thousands of …
your ad hereCricket Fans in Pakistan Turn to Night Matches in Ramadan
During Ramadan, when many in Muslim-majority Pakistan do not eat or drink during the day, sports enthusiasts turn to night games. For years, amateur cricketers in the capital, Islamabad, used empty roads or local play grounds — any open space with lights — to fulfill their passion. VOA’s Ayesha Tanzeem …
your ad hereBelgian Monks, Israeli Researchers Tackle Ancient Beer-Brewing Traditions
A Belgian abbey is reviving its centuries-old tradition of beer-making after 220 years. The monks at Grimbergen Abbey are using ancient recipes to offer specialty beers in their new microbrewery. Meanwhile, researchers in Israel have made beer with yeast from jars that are thousands of years old. Beer is one …
your ad hereUK Study: E-Cigs can Double Success Rates of Quitting Smoking
People using e-cigarettes to quit smoking are about 95% more likely to report success than those trying to quit without help from any stop-smoking aids according to the results of a large study in England. The research, funded by the charity Cancer Research UK and published in the journal Addiction …
your ad hereStudy: Children of Opioid Users More Likely to Attempt Suicide
The U.S. opioid crisis is taking a toll on children of users as a study published on Wednesday showed they were more likely to attempt suicide. The study in JAMA Psychiatry published by the American Medical Association found children whose parents were prescribed opioids were twice as likely to attempt …
your ad hereCanada, Europe to Choose When 737 MAX Is Safe as Regulators Meet
In a potential challenge to U.S.-led efforts to build consensus on the Boeing Co 737 MAX flying again, Canada and Europe said on Wednesday they would bring back the grounded aircraft on their own terms if their specific concerns are not addressed. Global regulators will meet in Fort Worth, Texas, …
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