Biologists are trying to save the last of the endangered Puerto Rican parrots after more than half the population of the bright green birds with turquoise-tipped wings disappeared when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico and destroyed their habitat and food sources. In the tropical forest of El Yunque, only two …

Mars is about to get its first U.S. visitor in years: a three-legged, one-armed geologist to dig deep and listen for quakes. NASA’s InSight makes its grand entrance through the rose-tinted Martian skies on Monday, after a six-month, 300 million-mile (480 million-kilometer) journey. It will be the first American spacecraft …

Most healthy children between the ages of four and 10 grow about five centimeters (two inches) a year. So, one family knew something was wrong when their son fit into the same clothes, season after season. VOA’s Carol Pearson reports doctors were able to get him growing once again after …

A new report has taken the results of thousands of papers on the impacts of climate change and put them together into a giant assessment detailing the multiple ways that climate change will impact humanity in the coming century. Lead researcher Camilo Mora says the report shows what he calls …

People in Finland are using social media to mock U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion that they “spend a lot of time raking” in forests in order to prevent wildfires. Trump said Saturday while visiting the area of the deadliest wildfire in California history that Finnish President Sauli Niinisto told him …

Humans have been genetically modifying foods for centuries. Wild tomatoes or carrots for instance don’t look much like the mass produced foods we eat today. But in these days of genetic modification, consumers have tended to keep so called “Frankenfoods” at arms length. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports a new generation …

Hundreds of protesters have turned out in central London and blocked off the capital’s main bridges to demand the government take climate change seriously. A group called “Extinction Rebellion” encouraged sit-ins on the bridges Saturday as part of a coordinated week of action across the country.   Metropolitan Police said …

A load of space station supplies rocketed into orbit from Virginia on Saturday, the second shipment in two days. And another commercial delivery should be on its way in a couple weeks. “What an outstanding launch,” said NASA’s deputy space station program manager, Joel Montalbano. Northrop Grumman launched its Antares …

In a historic vote, nations on Friday unanimously approved a groundbreaking overhaul to the international system of measurements that underpins global trade and other vital human endeavors, uniting behind new scientific definitions for the kilogram and other units in a way that they have failed to do on so many …

Somalia’s 30 years of chronic conflict have left an estimated 1 in 3 people affected by mental health issues, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there are only three licensed psychiatrists in the entire country. Mohamed Sheikh Nor reports from Mogadishu on Somalia’s huge mental health challenges. …

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has already killed hundreds of people, could continue for several months. That’s the latest warning from a senior World Health Organization official. VOA Correspondent Mariama Diallo reports. …

This is part of “Ocean Shock,” a Reuters series exploring climate change’s impact on sea creatures and the people who depend on them.    PURU NI TIMBUL, MALAYSIA — Swinging his machete with an economy of movement that only the jungle can teach, Matakin Bondien lopped a stray branch from the path of …

Meditation worked as well as traditional therapy for military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder in a small experiment sponsored by the Department of Defense. One method preferred by the Department of Veterans Affairs is exposure therapy, but it doesn’t work for everyone and many can’t handle what it requires: purposely …

A lack of proper school toilets threatens the health, education and safety of at least 620 million children around the world, the charity WaterAid said in a new study published Friday. Children at 1 in 3 schools lack access to proper toilets, putting them at risk of diarrhea and other …

Millions of Brazilians may be left without access to doctors due to the end of a program that brought Cuban physicians to rural and dangerous areas in Brazil, the former health minister who helped create the initiative said Thursday.  The Cuban government on Wednesday said it would end the program …

Smoke masks. Eye drops. No outdoor exercise. This is how Californians are trying to cope with wildfires choking the state, but experts say an increase in serious health problems may be almost inevitable for vulnerable residents as the disasters become more commonplace. Research suggests children, the elderly and those with …

A U.S. astronaut said on Thursday she had full confidence in the safety of the Russian-made Soyuz rocket that will blast a three-person crew into space next month in the first such launch since a rocket failure. Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and U.S. and Canadian astronauts Anne McClain and David …

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday announced sweeping new restrictions on flavored tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes popular among teenagers in an effort to prevent a new generation of nicotine addicts. The much-anticipated announcement will mean that only tobacco, mint and menthol e-cigarette flavors can be sold at …

When Moustapha Dieng came down with stomach pains one day last month he did the sensible thing and went to a doctor in his hometown of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital. The doctor prescribed a malaria treatment but the medicine cost too much for Dieng, a 30-year-old tailor, so he went …

What is a kilogram? And who decides its standard weight? These questions are at the center of a big debate right now. And the answer to those questions are currently stored in an obscure place in France. VOA’s Kevin Enoch takes a look at what the fuss is all about. …

There are more gorillas in the mist — a rare conservation success story, scientists say.   After facing near-extinction, mountain gorillas are slowly rebounding. On Wednesday, the Switzerland-based International Union for Conservation of Nature updated mountain gorillas’ status from “critically endangered” to “endangered,” a more promising, if still precarious, designation. …

A frozen and dimly lit planet, dubbed a “Super-Earth,” may be orbiting the closest single star to our solar system, astronomers said Wednesday, based on two decades of scientific observations.  The planet, estimated to be at least 3.2 times more massive than Earth, was spotted circling Barnard’s Star, a type …

Cuba said on Wednesday it would pull thousands of its doctors from Brazil after the South American nation’s President-elect Jair Bolsonaro questioned their training and demanded changes to their contracts. The far-right Bolsonaro, who takes office on Jan. 1, said in an interview this month that the 11,420 Cuban doctors …

Mist rises from the ripped-up and muddy earth as moist soil meets chilly morning air. This field deep within in West Virginia’s Monongahela National Forest looks more like a Game of Thrones battleground than a woodlands restoration project. This is how Chris Barton is bringing forests back to Appalachia’s old …

Juul Labs, the U.S. market leader for electronic cigarettes, said on Tuesday it will pull popular flavors such as mango, cucumber and fruit from retail store shelves in an effort to reduce surging teenage use of its products. The move comes as Juul and other e-cigarette makers have faced heightened …