Virtual reality, or VR, is finding more applications as the technology matures. It is no longer only used for gaming or entertainment. One Austin-based company is using VR to improve health by making cardiovascular workouts more fun. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has the details. …

The nation’s chief doctor wants more Americans to start carrying the overdose antidote naloxone to help combat the nation’s opioid crisis and save lives. U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams is expected to speak about the new public health advisory Thursday morning at the National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin …

Attorneys in Baltimore are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that struck down as unconstitutional an ordinance requiring pregnancy centers notify patients if they don’t offer abortion or birth control services. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in January that the ordinance unconstitutionally compelled speech …

“Nightmare bacteria” with unusual resistance to antibiotics of last resort were found more than 200 times in the United States last year in a first-of-a-kind hunt to see how much of a threat these rare cases are becoming, health officials said Tuesday. That’s more than they had expected to find, …

Health care in the United States doesn’t have to take place in a doctor’s office or clinic building. There are some 2000 mobile health clinics around the country, delivering medical, dental, pre-natal and pediatric care, preventive screenings and more. These vans go where the patients are – libraries, schools, grocery …

Scientists in developing nations plan to step up research into dimming sunshine to curb climate change, hoping to judge whether a man-made chemical sunshade would be less risky than a harmful rise in global temperatures. Research into “solar geo-engineering,” which would mimic big volcanic eruptions that can cool the Earth …

Some whales are taking jazz riffs to new depths. For the first time, scientists have eavesdropped year-round on the songs of bowhead whales, the little-heard whales that r oam the Arctic under the ice. They found that bowheads — the bigger, more blubbery cousins of the better known humpbacks — …

Scientists have detected the most distant star ever viewed, a blue behemoth located more than halfway across the universe and named after the ancient Greek mythological figure Icarus. Researchers said on Monday they used NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to spot the star, which is up to a million times more …

SpaceX has launched a used supply ship on a used rocket to the International Space Station.   The Falcon rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Monday, hoisting a Dragon capsule full of food, experiments and other station goods for NASA.   The Dragon and its 6,000-pound shipment should …

When Cameroonian medical doctor Conrad Tankou won the top health award at an international innovation competition, he breathed a sigh of relief.  Winning the $25,000 prize at the Next Einstein Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, last week was the culmination of years of struggle. “Sometimes, I doubted I would get this …

When Cameroonian medical doctor Conrad Tankou won the top health award at an international innovation competition, he breathed a sigh of relief.  Winning the $25,000 prize at the Next Einstein Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, last week was the culmination of years of struggle. “Sometimes, I doubted I would get this …

Sydney’s Taronga Zoo has released a specially-bred group of critically endangered yellow-spotted bell frogs into the wild. Yellow-spotted bell frogs were thought to have become extinct until a chance discovery a decade ago. It allowed scientists to breed a so-called insurance population’ in captivity to help the species recover. Historically, …

Sixteen African scientists competed in Rwanda last week for a chance to solve some of the most pressing problems in their communities. Chika Oduah reports for VOA from Kigali, which hosted the 4th annual Next Einstein Forum March 26-28. …

A defunct Chinese space lab met its expected end early Monday morning as its remaining fragments plunged into the South Pacific. China’s Manned Space Engineering Office said the Tiangong-1 spacecraft “mostly” burned up in the atmosphere. Any pieces that failed to disintegrate during the fiery trip back to Earth fell …

Scientists are monitoring a defunct Chinese space station that is expected to fall to Earth sometime this weekend — the largest man-made object to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere in a decade. The head of the European Space Agency’s debris office, Holger Krag, says China’s Tiangong-1 space station likely will fall to …

Researchers in Australia have begun an ambitious task to learn more about the long-term impacts of head injuries suffered by athletes. This week, the Australian Sports Brain Bank was launched in Sydney, and experts are encouraging players who have participated in all levels of sport – whether or not they’ve …

Chef Rob Morasco didn’t set out to make a planet-friendly burger. But the 25 percent mushroom burger he created at food service company Sodexo not only has a lower carbon footprint, it’s also lower in calories, fat and salt. It’s juicier, too. “When you bite into it, it’s kind of …

Space scientists keeping track of dysfunctional space equipment are closely monitoring the expected re-entry of the largest piece of space junk so far. The Chinese space station Tiangong 1 will re-enter the atmosphere Sunday, but experts say it will be traveling so fast that the resulting friction will cause it …

Most people prescribed antibiotics for sinus infections are on treatment courses of 10 days or longer even though infectious-disease doctors recommend five to seven days for uncomplicated cases, a U.S. study suggests. Researchers examined data from a sample representing an estimated 3.7 million adults treated for sinusitis and prescribed antibiotics in 2016. Overall, 70 percent …

Trouble is brewing for coffee lovers in California, where a judge ruled that sellers must post scary warnings about cancer risks. But how frightened should we be of a daily cup of joe? Not very, some scientists and available evidence seem to suggest. Scientific concerns about coffee have eased in …

China’s defunct and reportedly out-of-control Tiangong 1 space station is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere sometime this weekend. It poses only a slight risk to people and property on the ground, since most of the bus-size, 8.5-ton vehicle is expected to burn up on re-entry, although space agencies don’t know …

Girls who spend the most time on social media at age 10 may be unhappier in their early teens than peers who use social media less during the tween years, a U.K. study suggests. Researchers looked at social media use and scores on tests of happiness and other aspects of …

The United States is on track to meet the targets of the Paris climate agreement despite President Donald Trump’s plan to withdraw from the accord, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday. Guterres said emissions-cutting plans put in motion by American businesses, regional governments and cities meant that the goals set …

A Los Angeles judge Thursday ordered coffee companies to abide by California state law and put cancer warning labels on their products. A nonprofit group called the Council for Education and Research on Toxics is suing such popular coffee roasters and retailers as Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts and McDonald’s. They say …

The search for worlds circling star  far beyond our solar system will intensify in the coming weeks with NASA’s launch of a spacecraft scientists hope will enlarge the known catalog of so-called exoplanets believed capable of supporting life. NASA plans to send the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, into …