NASA gave its final go-ahead Friday to billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX company to conduct its first unmanned test flight of a newly designed crew capsule to the International Space Station on March 2. NASA has awarded SpaceX $2.6 billion and Boeing Co $4.2 billion to build rocket and capsule …

California is earthquake country, and residents of Los Angeles can now receive some warning, when conditions are right, after a quake has started and the seismic waves are heading their way. Mike O’Sullivan reports, the long-delayed system called ShakeAlertLA is the first of its kind in the United States. …

Infectious diseases like measles were once considered under control in wealthy countries, but now the World Health Organization warns that we could be facing a global measles outbreak.  Measles cases have risen sharply worldwide, particularly in developed countries.  Many people don’t think of measles as a big deal. But measles …

Infectious diseases like measles were once considered under control in developed countries, but now the World Health Organization warns that we could be facing a global measles outbreak. Cases have seen a sharp rise worldwide, particularly in wealthy countries. VOA’s Carol Pearson has more about this terrible disease. …

The World Health Organization says that an epidemic of measles in Madagascar has caused more than 900 deaths. According to WHO figures, there have been more than 68,000 cases of the disease in which 553 deaths were confirmed and another 373 suspected from measles since the outbreak began in September. …

U.N. and international health agencies say Venezuela’s health care crisis is causing a rise in infectious diseases and the re-emergence of illnesses such as malaria and tuberculosis, once considered vanquished. The World Health Organization (WHO) blames Venezuela’s complex political and socio-economic situation for the virtual collapse of the country’s health …

The Year of the Pig is getting off to a rough start in China as the world’s largest consumer of pork and home to half the world’s pigs struggles to contain the spread of the African swine fever (ASF) virus. Recent incidents, where traces of the virus were found in …

At home in the United States, Kerrie Springer takes pride in being environmentally conscious. So when she booked a week’s getaway at the Bucuti and Tara Beach Resort in Aruba, she choose the “green stay” option, agreeing to reuse her sheets and towels rather than have them changed each day. …

And now for the weather on Mars: NASA’s newest lander is offering daily reports on the red planet’s frigid winter. Starting Tuesday, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is posting the highs and lows online, along with wind speed and atmospheric pressure from the InSight lander. On Sunday, InSight recorded a high …

A rubbery sea creature with an irritating habit of clinging to ships and invading beaches could help measure plastic pollution as it can filter tiny particles from the ocean and store them in its soft tissue. Israeli researchers have found that ascidians – round, palm-sized animals also known as sea …

Depression is more than just feeling sad. It’s a serious disease that interferes with normal life, a sense of self-worth, and it can end in suicide. Some people do well with standard treatments like talk therapy or medication, but these treatments don’t always work. Fortunately, there are other treatments people …

Tiny horned frogs, thought to be extinct, have been rediscovered in a remote rainforest in Ecuador. Conservationists are hoping to save the strange-looking frogs by bringing some of them to a breeding and conservation center in Ecuador. As we hear from VOAs Deborah Block, the plan is to reintroduce the …

Depression is more than just being sad. It’s a serious disease that interferes with normal life, a sense of self-worth, and, in serious cases, it can end in suicide. But, depression is treatable with talk therapy, medication, or a combination of the two. There is also a treatment that delivers …

For nearly two decades, Vancouver, the epicenter of Canada’s increasingly deadly drug epidemic, has embraced an initiative that was once dismissed as a reckless experiment but has since won over some of its fiercest critics: a walk-in facility where addicts can inject heroin under the watch of medical professionals. Allowed …

A team of Australian paleontologists and volunteers has saved a once-in a lifetime fossil discovery from devastating floods in Queensland state. The dinosaur tracks give a rare insight into an ancient world.  Found on an outback farm near the Queensland town of Winton, 1,100 kms from Brisbane, they are estimated …

Being surrounded by wild animals, feeding them and taking care of their little ones this is exactly what Tiffany Soechting wanted to do all her life. Anush Avetisyan met with the woman who is the human “mom” to the 500 animals that live on her family’s wildlife preserve in Texas. …

A method millions of women have used to get pregnant could be what saves northern white rhino from extinction. Scientists are extracting eggs from southern white rhinos in European zoos as they fine-tune the IVF – in vitro fertilization – procedure. One day they plan to harvest eggs from northern …

The ancient world of dinosaurs was a strange and dangerous place. Many of the animals that roamed the earth during the Cretaceous period 140 million years ago were all teeth and claws and spines. But even among all this natural weaponry, the Bajadasaurus stood out. VOA’s Kevin Enochs gives us …

Nearly a year in space put astronaut Scott Kelly’s immune system on high alert and changed the activity of some of his genes compared with those of his Earth-bound identical twin, researchers said Friday.    Scientists don’t know if the changes were good or bad, but results from a unique …

It may sound gross to some, but edible insects are a great source of high quality protein and essential minerals such as calcium and iron. Edible grubs offer all that, plus high quality fat, which is good for brain development. Insects are part of the diet in many parts of …

U.N. agencies warn that more than 1 billion people ages 12 to 35 risk losing their hearing from listening to loud music on their audio devices.  The World Health Organization, and the International Telecommunication Union, are launching new international standards to make smartphones and other devices safer for listening. Listening …

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that measles outbreaks and deaths are surging globally, putting years of progress made in reducing the killer disease at risk. The WHO is calling for urgent action to stop the spread of the highly contagious but fully preventable disease.  The WHO says a safe, …

Edible insects are a great source of high quality protein and essential minerals such as calcium and iron. Edible grubs, insect larvae, offer all that, plus high quality fat, which is good for brain development. Insects are part of the diet in many parts of the world. But not in …

“I declare the Opportunity mission is complete,” NASA official Thomas Zurbuchen said Wednesday of the U.S. Mars rover mission that outlasted its projected life span by more than 14 years.     The Opportunity rover succumbed to a Martian dust storm and lost contact with Earth nearly eight months ago. NASA finally gave …

It’s a stretch but with Valentine’s Day just around the corner, we thought we’d talk about the heart, but with a tech twist. Each heart is different, and that can make surgery challenging. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports on new technology that creates a 3D model of a specific patient’s heart …