NASA is once again turning its focus to the moon. Nearly 50 years after the last lunar mission, the U.S. space agency is unsealing some of the samples brought back by Apollo astronauts for study. The lunar samples were collected by astronauts during the Apollo 15, 16 and 17 missions.  …

Production of methamphetamine is skyrocketing in Southeast Asia, with prices dropping and usage expanding, the U.N.’s anti-drug agency said Monday.   Even as seizures of the drug known as speed, ice and “ya ba” in its various forms reached a record high last year, street prices have dropped, indicating increased …

U.S. air pollution is disproportionately caused by white consumers, while African-Americans and Hispanics are burdened most by the emissions, a peer-reviewed study showed on Monday. On average, African-Americans are exposed to about 56 percent more fine particulate matter pollution than is caused by their consumption of goods and services, said …

As climate change accelerates, the United Nations Environment Assembly will this week consider whether to start assessing, and setting rules on, technologies that could pull carbon out of the atmosphere or block some of the sun’s warmth to cool the Earth. Delegates at the week-long meeting in Nairobi will debate …

The Seychelles Islands are located in the Indian ocean hundreds of miles off the coasts of Somalia and Kenya. It’s a great place to do scientific research because the isolated set of islands is relatively pristine. That’s why researchers are studying corals in the region, monitoring plastics, and looking for …

The Independent Expert on the Enjoyment of Human Rights by Persons with Albinism reports people with this condition have great difficulty getting justice or recompense for physical attacks and other harmful practices against them and their families. The expert’s latest report has been under debate at the UN Human Rights …

Armed assailants on Saturday attacked an Ebola treatment center in the Democratic Republic of the Congo less than a week after it reopened following a previous attack.     The attack in Butembo came in the early-morning hours and left one police officer dead and several workers injured.    Butembo Mayor Sylvain Kanyamanda told reporters that …

The Sixth Annual World Ocean Summit was this week in Abu Dhabi. The event brought together a diverse group of political leaders, activists and academics trying to keep our oceans solvent in the face of climate change. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …

The HPV virus is so common that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control says nearly all sexually active men and women get it at some point in their lives, unless they are protected by vaccination. The HPV virus can lead to cancer in both men and women. That’s why those …

SpaceX’s swanky new crew capsule made an old-fashioned splashdown in the Atlantic on Friday, ending a six-day test flight to the International Space Station. The Dragon capsule pulled away from the orbiting lab early Friday. Six hours later, the capsule carrying a test dummy parachuted into the ocean, a couple …

Record high ultra-fine dust levels in South Korea this week are creating urgency for political leaders to take action towards ensuring more breathable air. Levels of particulates smaller than 2.5 micrometers (PM 2.5) in diameter hit new records on Monday and Tuesday, soaring in excess of what international health officials …

An unmanned capsule from Elon Musk’s SpaceX was due to return to Earth on Friday after a short-term stay on the International Space Station, capping the first orbital test mission in NASA’s long-delayed quest to resume human space flight from U.S. soil later this year. A SpaceX rocket had launched …

The charity Doctors Without Borders warns a climate of deepening mistrust and suspicion in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is hampering efforts to bring an Ebola epidemic under control. The outbreak, which started, last year, has killed more than 500 people in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. Doctors Without …

The U.S. space agency NASA has confirmed that it has scheduled a spacewalk by two female astronauts for the first time. A NASA spokeswoman told CNN Wednesday, “As currently scheduled, the March 29 spacewalk will be the first with only women.” The spacewalk, staffed by astronauts Anne McClain and Christina …

Many new mothers worldwide express anxiety and guilt about leaving their babies to return to work, and some worry their nations’ maternity policies reflect societies that value productivity over raising children. In a series of interviews for Reuters ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, mothers from the United …

An HIV-positive man in Britain has become the second known adult worldwide to be cleared of the AIDS virus. At a conference in Seattle, the U.N. agency leading the global effort to end AIDS said the agency is greatly encouraged by the possibility of an HIV-positive man being cured, but …

Perhaps none of the communist legacies shared by Vietnam and North Korea highlighted during Kim Jong Un’s “goodwill visit” to Hanoi is stranger than the embalmed leaders on display in their capital cities, and the secretive team of Russian technicians that keeps the aging bodies looking ageless. Kim laid a …

An environmental movement is growing in Europe and looking to come to the U.S.: Kids and teenagers skipping class to protest and raise awareness of climate change issues. While their cause is mostly praised, their method is controversial. Should students go on school strikes for political issues? VOA’s Markus Meyer-Gehlen …

A hospital in Jordan has given a victim of Yemen’s war new hope for the future, thanks to the cutting edge technology of 3D printed prosthetics. Abdullah Ayed, 21, lost one arm and badly damaged the other when his home in Aden was hit by an explosive in 2017. He …

Last month’s visit by roaming polar bears that put a Russian village on lockdown may be just the beginning. For as Moscow steps up its activity in the warming Arctic, conflict with the rare species is likely to increase. More than 50 bears approached Belyushya Guba, a village on the …

Did you hear what happened when Bill Gates walked into a bar? Everybody there immediately became millionaires — on average. That joke about a very rich man is an old one among statisticians. So why did Peter Smibert use it to explain a revolution in biology? Because it shows averages …

Women’s rights activists from 128 nations are launching a public campaign Tuesday for an international treaty to end violence against women and girls, a global scourge estimated by the United Nations to affect 35 percent of females worldwide.   The campaign led by the Seattle-based nonprofit organization Every Woman Treaty …

A succession of tornadoes ripped through Alabama’s Lee County on Sunday with winds of 150 miles per hour (241 kph), killing at least 23 people including children in the deadliest such storms to strike the United States in almost six years.              What is a tornado? Tornadoes, described as a …

Human rights advocates are calling for an end to the discrimination that denies children with disabilities the same right to an equal education and other opportunities available to other children in society. The U.N. Human Rights Council is holding a special session in Geneva on the empowerment of children with …

Yetnebersh Nigussie lost her sight at the age of five, but she has not let her disability slow her down. A tireless advocate for people with disabilities in Africa, she has received prestigious prizes, including the Spirit of Helen Keller Award and the Alternative Nobel Prize. Yetnebersh Nigussie recently spoke …