The first American commercially built-and-operated crew spacecraft in eight years docked successfully Sunday at the International Space Station. There was, however, no crew aboard the spacecraft, just a test dummy named Ripley, in a nod to the lead character in the Alien movies. The docking was carried out autonomously by …

Exercise and diet are keys to a healthier life, as many studies show, but a heart specialist also recommends something more. “One, two, three — twirl.” Kendra Martin is taking photographs of three little girls in chiffon dresses. As they twirl, Martin tells them to smile. “All right, big smiles!” …

Exercise and diet are keys to a healthier life, as many studies show, but here’s something that may surprise you: A heart specialist also recommends smiling to improve your health. VOA’s Carol Pearson explains. …

Scientists estimate half of the world’s corals have been devastated as climate change has led to warmer oceans. When water temperatures get too high, corals become stressed and expel the algae that coats their tissues and provides the corals’ primary food source. The corals gradually lose their color, known as …

The charity Doctors Without Borders has suspended its Ebola virus-fighting operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo after attacks on two of its treatment centers this week, raising the risk that Ebola infections in the area will increase. The World Health Organization has called the Feb. 24 attack in Katwa …

NASA’s newest Mars lander has started digging into the red planet, but hit a few snags, scientists said Friday. The German drilling instrument on the InSight lander hit what appeared to be a couple of stones. It only managed to burrow between half a foot (18 centimeters) and about 1-and-a-half …

Africa-born particle physicist Ketevi Assamagan is a man on a science mission. His goal is to bring science education to a new generation of African youth through a traveling program known as the African School of Fundamental Physics and Applications, or ASP. “Sometimes, people just need some help to be …

Scientists say images of craters taken by European and American space probes show there likely once was a planet-wide system of underground lakes on Mars. Data collected by NASA and ESA probes orbiting the red planet provide the first geological evidence for an ancient Martian groundwater system, according to a …

A new study suggests you can learn language while you sleep. Researchers from Switzerland’s University of Bern say they discovered people were able to learn new language words during deep levels of sleep. Results of the study that recently appeared in the publication Current Biology and other studies suggest the …

The U.S. has counted more measles cases in the first two months of this year than in all of 2017, and part of the rising threat is misinformation that makes some parents balk at a crucial vaccine, federal health officials told Congress Wednesday. Yet the vaccine is hugely effective and …

Armed assailants attacked an Ebola treatment center in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday, setting off a fire and becoming embroiled in an extended gun battle with security forces, health officials said. The identity and motive of the assailants were unclear. Aid workers have faced mistrust in some areas …

Wednesday marked World Polar Bear Day – an annual opportunity for conservationists to shed light on the status of the largest and most carnivorous member of the bear family. As VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports, climate change is threatening polar bear habitat and the very future of the species in the …

Malawi officials say the country has the world’s highest rate of cervical cancer, but only two oncologists serving the nation of 17 million people. In an effort to reduce cervical cancer deaths, the government has rolled out a massive vaccine campaign against the human papilloma virus (HPV), which can cause cervical …

An experimental drug could offer hope for restoring damaged brain cells in Parkinson’s patients, scientists said on Wednesday, although they cautioned that a clinical trial was not able to prove the treatment slowed or halted the neurodegenerative disease. The trial involved delivery of a protein therapy directly into the brains …

It’s not just human workers who commute each day. Millions of tiny creatures that form the base of the ocean food chain migrate in giant swarms each night. They go up and down – from deep waters to the surface to feed, then back to the depths as dawn breaks. …

If two New York City lawmakers get their way, the long, droning siren from police cars, fire trucks and ambulances that has been part of the city’s soundtrack for generations — WAAAAAhhhhhhh — would be replaced by a high-low wail similar to what’s heard on the streets of London and …

Bacteria lodged deep in Ella Balasa’s lungs were impervious to most antibiotics. At 26, gasping for breath, she sought out a dramatic experiment — deliberately inhaling a virus culled from sewage to attack her superbug. “I’m really running out of options,” said Balasa, who traveled from her Richmond, Virginia, home …

In its efforts to slash its climate-changing emissions nearly to zero by 2050, Rio de Janeiro has chosen a perhaps unlikely place to start: its trash bins. At a huge waste treatment plant outside of the famed beach city, methane gas released by buried municipal garbage is captured and turned …

Evidence for man-made global warming has reached a “gold standard” level of certainty, adding pressure for cuts in greenhouse gases to limit rising temperatures, scientists said Monday. “Humanity cannot afford to ignore such clear signals,” the U.S.-led team wrote in the journal Nature Climate Change of satellite measurements of rising …

The $8 billion Green Climate Fund, set up to help developing nations tackle global warming, named Yannick Glemarec of France as its new executive director Monday after his predecessor quit. Former leader Howard Bamsey of Australia stepped down in July after what the fund described as a “difficult” board meeting …

The first astronaut from the United Arab Emirates will blast off into space on Sept. 25 on a trip to the International Space Station, authorities announced Monday. Either military pilot Hazza al-Mansoori or engineer Sultan al-Neyadi will be the first Emirati in space, part of an ambitious space program for …

One of the unintended consequences of the space race is the amount of junk that’s now floating around our planet. Most of it is little stuff, but even something as small as a screw can do a lot of damage when it’s moving at 17,000 kilometers per hour. That’s why …

An independent advisory body convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends pregnant women and breastfeeding women in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo be vaccinated against the deadly Ebola virus.  Latest WHO figures put the number of Ebola cases in the DRC at 853, including 521 deaths since the beginning …

Virgin Galactic’s spacecraft reached an altitude of more than 55 miles (88.5 kilometers) on Friday, carrying for the first time a passenger in addition to its two pilots. SpaceShipTwo, built by British billionaire Richard Branson to carry tourists into space, launched from California’s Mojave desert and flew to an altitude …

Two U.S. senators launched an investigation into rising insulin prices on Friday, sending letters to the three leading manufacturers seeking answers as to why the nearly 100-year-old drug’s cost has rapidly risen, causing patients and taxpayers to spend millions of dollars a year. Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and …