Congo has begun the first-ever trial to test the effectiveness and safety of four experimental Ebola drugs, the first time scientists have directly compared such treatments, the World Health Organization said Monday. The U.N. health agency described the multi-drug trial as “a giant step” that would “bring clarity about what …

Many athletes have been doing it for a long time without even knowing it is now a fitness trend.  It’s called plogging, a combination of jogging and picking up.  And what is being picked up is trash. The Swedes are credited with starting the trend and now it’s spreading in …

Many athletes have been doing it for a long time without even knowing it is now a fitness trend. It’s called plogging, a combination of jogging and picking up. And what is being picked up is trash. The Swedes are credited with starting the trend and now it’s spreading in …

For decades, Americans have migrated toward urban areas seeking opportunities, emptying out large swaths of countryside. In their wake, they have left shrinking communities that struggle to support multiple businesses, schools and hospitals. This is a common theme in the Midwestern state of Iowa, whose population has grown by less …

After traveling hundreds of millions of miles through space, NASA’s latest Mars probe will arrive Monday at the Red Planet.  Scientists have carefully chosen where they want the probe, called InSight, to land, selecting a large volcanic plain named Elysium Planitia. They say the site has few rocks and less chance of …

Meredith Ellis gets a bit rapturous about the little patch of earth under her feet. When she bought this northern Texas land several years ago, it was overgrazed and overrun with weeds. Now, she’s thrilled to find a dark green blob of fungus she rolls under her sparkly-nail-polished thumb. She …

Australian researchers have made a breakthrough in the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis using immunotherapy. Their world-first trial has produced promising results for the majority of patients enrolled, they said, including a reduction in fatigue and improvements in mobility and vision. The treatment targets the Epstein-Barr virus in the brain that …

A new report on diabetes is warning of a future worldwide shortage of insulin because of the increasing number of people who are developing the disease’s type 2 and require the hormone to stay healthy and alive. Faith Lapidus reports. …

Women’s rights advocates said they were shocked when a federal judge in Michigan ruled this week that a law protecting girls from genital mutilation was unconstitutional. They called his decision a serious blow to girls’ rights. Legal experts said the judge made clear that U.S. states have authority to ban …

The federal government released on Friday a report that stated the impacts of climate change — from wildfires to increasingly destructive weather events, such as hurricanes, heat waves and droughts — are already affecting the United States, and the danger of more of these natural catastrophes is worsening. The report …

On Friday, the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) released the National Climate Assessment, a report that says the impacts of climate change, including powerful storms, droughts and wildfires, are worsening in the United States.  The report also said these more powerful, longer-lasting weather disasters are triggered, at least in part, …

A U.S. government report says the impacts of climate change, including powerful storms, droughts and wildfires, are worsening in the United States. The report, written with the help of more than a dozen U.S. government agencies and departments, frequently contradicts the statements and policies of U.S. President Donald Trump. The …

The World Health Organization says a worrying number of the newest Ebola cases amid Congo’s ongoing outbreak are in patients not usually known to catch the disease: babies. In an update published this week, the U.N. health agency reported 36 new confirmed cases of Ebola, including seven in newborn babies …

As the impact of climate change becomes clearer, experts say the world needs to do more than just stop producing greenhouse gases. Aggressive steps also must be taken to pull them out of the atmosphere. While engineers puzzle over high-tech solutions, scientists say nature offers tools today. The world’s grasslands …

The World Health Organization (WHO) says a campaign to distribute anti-malaria drugs to children in Nigeria’s Borno state seems to be making an impact, with fewer cases reported. Nigeria is still the world’s highest malaria-burdened country with 25 percent of all cases worldwide. As Timothy Obiezu reports from Maiduguri, there’s …

A giant, plant-eating creature with a beaklike mouth and reptilian features may have roamed the Earth during the late Triassic period more than 200 million years ago, scientists said Thursday. In a paper published Thursday by the journal Science, Polish researchers claim their find overturns the notion that the only …

The Leaning Tower of Pisa isn’t leaning so much anymore.  After more than two decades of efforts to straighten it, engineers say the famed Tuscan bell tower has recovered four centimeters (1.57 inches) more and is in better structural health than predicted.   ANSA news agency quotes a consultant to …

After a diagnosis of breast cancer, many women have surgery followed by chemotherapy and radiation. But a new study shows that if it’s caught early enough, women might be able to avoid the chemotherapy. VOA’s Carol Pearson has more. …

Suicide rates are rising among U.S. workers, and the risk may depend partly on the types of jobs people do, government researchers suggest.  From 2000 to 2016, the U.S. suicide rate among those aged 16 to 64 rose 34 percent, from 12.9 deaths for every 100,000 people in the population to 17.3 per …

A U.S. government agency said Wednesday that abortion rates among American women of all ages fell to a decade low in 2015, which both opponents and supporters of abortion rights attributed in part to individual states’ efforts to restrict women’s access to the procedure.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that statistics …

Some 115 years after the first powered flight, scientists have developed a radical new approach toward flying in the form of a small, lightweight and virtually noiseless airplane that gets airborne with no moving parts like propellers or turbine blades. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineers on Wednesday described successful …

The first flight of a SpaceX rocket tailored to fly astronauts to the International Space Station is set for liftoff from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 7, NASA said on Wednesday. The launch test is a crucial milestone in the space agency’s Commercial Crew Program, which aims to …

The most important issue for many U.S. voters in this month’s midterm elections wasn’t the economy. It wasn’t immigration. And it wasn’t even Donald Trump. According to exit polls, the number one concern for voters was health care. That’s in large part because even with government subsidized programs, millions of …

A global diabetes epidemic is fueling record demand for insulin but tens of millions will not get the injections they need unless there is a dramatic improvement in access and affordability, a new study concluded on Wednesday. Diabetes — which can lead to blindness, kidney failure, heart problems, neuropathic pain …

Public health officials in the United States and Canada on Tuesday warned against eating romaine lettuce while they investigate an outbreak of E. coli that has sickened 50 people in the two countries, including 13 who were hospitalized.  The alerts, issued as millions of Americans plan their Thanksgiving Day menus, covered all forms of romaine, including whole …