Actor Arte Johnson, who won an Emmy for comedy sketch work on the television show Laugh-In, died Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was 90. Johnson died of heart failure following a three-year battle with bladder and prostate cancer, family representative Harlan Boll said. No services have been planned, but his ashes …
your ad hereArctic Mission Will Trap Scientists in Ice to Study Climate
Cranes hoist cargo onto the deck, power tools scream out and workers bustle through the maze of passageways inside the German icebreaker RV Polarstern, preparations for a yearlong voyage that organizers say is unprecedented in scale and ambition.In a couple of months, the hulking ship will set out for the …
your ad hereBen Gurion Incident Exposes West’s Vulnerability to GPS Disruption
This story originated in VOA’s Ukrainian service. A spate of GPS disruptions at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport has confirmed what several prominent tech analysts have long feared: that Western nations, and the U.S. in particular, are unusually vulnerable to foreign meddling with location-based technology. Most location-based software programs, such as …
your ad hereScientists Sound Alarm After 6 Rare Whale Deaths in One Month
Scientists, government officials and conservationists are calling for a swift response to protect North Atlantic right whales after a half-dozen died in the past month.All six of the dead endangered species have been found in the Gulf of St. Lawrence off Canada. At least three appear to have died after …
your ad hereSilicon Valley Puzzled as Trump Eases Restrictions on US Sales to Huawei
U.S. technology companies are struggling to determine where they stand in regards to selling products to Huawei Technologies Company, the Chinese telecommunications giant, in the wake of President Donald Trump’s concessions to China during the Group of 20 summit in Japan. Trump announced last weekend that he had agreed to allow …
your ad hereAmerica’s Troubled World Heritage Site: the Everglades
In the United States, the Everglades National Park has been on the U.N.’s ‘World Heritage in Danger’ list since 2010. UNESCO is meeting this week and is expected to keep the troubled wetland on that list, despite decades of restoration efforts. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …
your ad hereA Vision of the Future of Reality, Enhanced by Technology
With cellphones becoming more sophisticated, internet becoming faster, and VR headsets becoming cheaper, we are at the precipice of a whole new virtual world. Deana Mitchell talks to an expert who breaks down what this all means in, well—in reality. …
your ad hereKacey Musgraves’ Museum Exhibit Allows Her Time to Reflect
Kacey Musgraves’ career has been moving and changing fast over the last couple of years, leaving little time for reflection until she saw her life chronicled behind museum glass. Musgraves is the subject of a new exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum that opens Tuesday …
your ad hereShe Said, He Said: What’s Next with Taylor Swift’s Catalog?
Taylor Swift’s feuds can captivate the public almost as much as her music, and her latest emotional salvo against one of music’s top managers not only made headlines but got key players in the industry riled up, with the likes of Justin Bieber, Halsey and Demi Lovato publicly choosing sides …
your ad hereBlind Chileans ‘Listen’ for Solar Eclipse
In the minutes before a solar eclipse plunged Chile into darkness, a loudspeaker projected a deep baritone to a group of blind men and women who had traveled to the Atacama desert to “hear” what hundreds of thousands of others had come to see.Then, a moment of silence until the …
your ad hereStudy Finds Even Spiders Get Grumpy When They’re Alone Too Long
Baby spiders like to mingle, but adult spiders tend to eat each other.New research published in PLOS Biology found that adult spiders seem to forget how to behave with each other after being alone too long, which causes them to become aggressive. These findings could help researchers understand why some …
your ad hereLife on Titan? NASA’s Dragonfly Mission Aims to Find Out
Saturn’s moon Titan has all the right ingredients for life. NASA’s newly announced mission, Titan in front of Saturn as seen by Cassini. (Image credit: NASA)Titan’s surface is hidden from view by its hazy atmosphere, which is four times denser than Earth’s. Combined with the low gravity – just one-seventh …
your ad hereArtificial Intelligence Designs Flu Drug in Australia
Scientists in Australia say they have used artificial intelligence to develop a powerful new vaccine against the flu. The team from Flinders University believe it is the first time a computer has used its own machine learning to design a new drug for use in people. The computer’s name is Sam, …
your ad hereHotter But Less Deadly? Preparedness May Cut Toll of Europe’s Heat Wave
The impact of June’s extreme heat across France, Spain and other parts of Europe is likely to have been less damaging than in the past because governments put in place measures to cope after a deadly 2003 heat wave, scientists said Tuesday.Governments were spurred into action by a European heat …
your ad hereChileans, Argentines Ready to Gaze at Total Solar Eclipse
Tens of thousands of tourists flocked to cities and towns across northern Chile to stake out spots in one of the world’s best locations to witness Tuesday’s total solar eclipse.Millions are expected to gaze at the cosmic spectacle that will begin at 10:24 a.m. local time (1824 GMT) in the …
your ad hereReport: Nike Pulls Flag Sneaker After Kaepernick Complaint
Nike is pulling a flag-themed tennis shoe after former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick complained to the shoemaker, according to the Wall Street Journal.The shoe’s heel has a U.S. flag with 13 white stars in a circle on it, known as the Betsy Ross flag. Citing unnamed sources familiar with the …
your ad hereAtlanta OKs Ban on Smoking Inside Bars, Restaurant, Airport
Atlanta’s city council has approved a far-reaching ban on smoking and vaping in restaurants and bars – and inside one of the world’s busiest airports. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that city council members approved the ban on Monday. It covers cigarettes, cigars and electronic cigarettes. If signed by the …
your ad hereMalawi Musician Fight Myths About Albinism
In Malawi, a young albino man is using music to fight discrimination and misconceptions about the genetic condition in a country where more than 100 people with albinism have been attacked since 2014. Lazarus Chigwandali has long been performing on the streets of Lilongwe. But after catching the eye of …
your ad hereMalawi Musician Fights Myths About Albinism
In Malawi, a young albino man is using music to fight discrimination and misconceptions about the genetic condition in a country where more than 100 people with albinism have been attacked since 2014. As teens, Lazarus Chigwandali and his late brother, who also had albinism, played on the streets of Lilongwe, …
your ad hereUN: Rising Heat Could Cost 80 Million Jobs by 2030
Rising heat from climate change could lead to the loss of 80 million jobs by 2030, with poor countries hardest hit, the United Nations said Monday, as Europe sweltered in record temperatures.A temperature rise of 1.5C by the end of century could lead to a 2.2% drop in working hours, …
your ad hereScientists: Cigar-Shaped Object Not an Alien Spaceship
After investigating the nature of a mysterious and apparently cigar-shaped object called ‘Oumuamua spotted in 2017 speeding through our solar system, astronomers remain uncertain over how to classify it, but are confident it is not an alien spaceship.Its odd shape and motion had prompted some scientists to wonder whether ‘Oumuamua, …
your ad hereFloating Antarctic Ice Goes From Record High to Record Lows
The amount of ice circling Antarctica is suddenly plunging from a record high to record lows, baffling scientists.Floating ice off the southern continent steadily increased from 1979 and hit a record high in 2014. But three years later, the annual average extent of Antarctic sea ice hit its lowest mark, …
your ad hereViola Davis Determined to Go Above and Beyond on Diversity
When Viola Davis started her production company nearly a decade ago, she was determined to bring about change in Hollywood with a strategic mandate: Normalize people of color on screen.”We’re not social statements. We’re not mythical creatures all the time … you can literally put pen to paper and write …
your ad hereViral Photo Sparks Renewed Interest in Abolitionist Hero Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman, a slave, renegade and human rights activist, is still a topic of controversy three years after the U.S. government announced it was putting her face on the $20 bill.In May, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told a congressional hearing that plans to release the bill next year have been …
your ad hereLightweight Plastic Bags Banned In New Zealand
A tough new ban on single use plastic bags has come into force in New Zealand. Retailers caught still handing them out to customers could be fined up to $67,000 (US dollars). But critics say the legislation introduced July 1 does not go far enough.It is a small country …
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