The World Health Organization classifies alcohol as a “group 1 carcinogen.” That means there is convincing evidence it can cause cancer in humans. But new research shows how alcohol can damage the body on a genetic level. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …

Health experts say the influenza season in the United States is proving to be more severe than usual, with about twice the number of people reporting flu-like illness to their doctors compared with the same time last year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that in the week …

Veteran U.S. astronaut John Young, who walked on the moon and even smuggled a corned beef sandwich into orbit during one of his six missions in space, has died at age 87, NASA said Saturday. Young, a former Navy test pilot, in 1972 became the ninth of 12 people ever to …

Emergency authorities in Australia have released a virtual reality program recreating potentially catastrophic bushfire scenarios.  The project aims to encourage residents in the state of Victoria to prepare for extreme danger.   “This emergency warning is being issued for Hare Creek.  There is a bushfire at Hare Creek that is …

Frigid temperatures, some that felt as cold as minus 30 degrees (-34 Celsius), moved across the East Coast on Friday as the region dug out from a massive winter storm that brought more than a foot of snow, hurricane-force winds and coastal flooding a day earlier. Forecasters predicted strong winds …

The World Health Organization warns that children in Yemen are dying as diphtheria, a preventable disease, spreads rapidly throughout the country. Forty-six of the more than 470 people with clinically diagnosed diphtheria in Yemen — or nearly 10 percent — have died in less than four months, according to WHO. …

People walking outdoors with masks are an increasingly common sight in the capital of India, where the toxic air, which ranks among the world’s dirtiest, has rung alarm bells. Now a team of innovators from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, is offering another solution: a tiny respiratory …

America’s space agency wants you to head for the mountains with a smartphone and a measuring stick.   NASA’s earth science arm is funding research that recruits citizen scientists on skis, snowshoes and snowmobiles to measure the depth of snow in backcountry locations in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.   …

A life threatening cold front swept across North America, bringing piles of snow and icy conditions. The National Weather Service issued wind chill advisories and freeze warnings covering a vast area from South Texas to Canada and from Montana through New England. VOA’s Carol Pearson reports doctors are issuing warnings …

A major outbreak of coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish has been found munching Australia’s world heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef, scientists said Friday, prompting the government to begin culling the spiky marine animals. The predator starfish feeds on corals by spreading its stomach over them and using digestive enzymes to liquefy tissue, and …

A new study has found that anti-tuberculosis drugs killed more bacteria in laboratory mice given a vitamin C supplement than those given drugs alone. If the findings hold up in human studies, the authors say, the result could be that there’s a cheap, safe way to reduce the months-long treatment …

Patients in African hospitals are twice as likely to die after surgery than the global average, according to a new study. Although African patients were younger and at lower risk than average, 1 percent died of complications after elective surgery, compared to a 0.5 percent death rate worldwide. “It’s really …

The recreational use of marijuana is now legal in California. But only a few cities in the U.S. state are ready to start selling pot, which was officially legalized on Jan. 1. The logistics of creating new business models is complicated, but it’s clear the demand is high. VOA’s Kevin …

American astronauts aboard the International Space Station told VOA on Wednesday that their excitement about recently announced plans to restore U.S. manned space missions to lunar orbit was eclipsed only by their skepticism about the logistical feasibility of completing the mission within six years. “Going back to the moon is …

Health workers are concerned with outbreaks of diseases in the massive Rohingya camps housing more than 650,000 people. Cramped quarters, malnourishment and pre-existing health conditions add up to real concerns as new cases of diphtheria worry aid workers. Steve Sandford reports from Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. …

Mormon church leader Thomas Monson has died, the church announced Wednesday from its Salt Lake City headquarters.  He was 90 years old and led the church for 10 years. Monson became a church bishop when he was just 22, and at age 36 became the youngest apostle in Mormon church …

At Balukhali refugee camp in Bangladesh, unclean water, cramped living quarters and squalid conditions create a prime environment for outbreaks of preventable diseases among the estimated 650,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled strife in neighboring Myanmar. While 900,000 doses of oral cholera vaccine already have been delivered by more than …

Eleven years since the end of the civil war in Uganda, which pitted Lord’s Resistance Army rebels against the government, tens of thousands of people still struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder. Mental health practitioners estimate that seven in 10 people in Northern Uganda were traumatically affected by the war. At …

A first-of-its kind genetic treatment for blindness will cost $850,000, less than the $1 million price tag that had been expected, but it’s still among the most expensive genetic therapies in the world. Spark Therapeutics says it decided on the lower price tag for Luxturna (Lux-turn-a) after hearing from health …

Malawi is battling a cholera outbreak that began at the start of the rainy season in November. The disease has killed four people, and more than 150 others are hospitalized. The disease — an acute diarrheal infection caused by consuming contaminated food or water — affects children and adults, and …

Gun violence is a reality of American life and across the country, more than a dozen people were shot to death on the first day of 2018. The shootings happen everywhere – in homes, shopping centers, on the street, and in schools. There were nine school shootings in the United …

Anchorage, Alaska, was warmer Tuesday than Jacksonville, Florida. The weather in the U.S. is that upside down. That’s because the Arctic’s deeply frigid weather escaped its regular atmospheric jail that traps the worst cold. It then meandered south to the central and eastern United States.  And this has been happening …

After more than a decade of steady increases in the rate of children diagnosed with autism in the United States, the rate has plateaued in the past three years, researchers said Tuesday. The findings were based on a nationwide study in which more than 30,000 parents reported whether their children …

The record-shattering cold gripping most of the United States has been blamed for at least nine deaths in recent weeks and forecasters say the worst is yet to come.  The National Weather Service issued wind chill advisories and freeze warnings Tuesday for 40 U.S. states. “Arctic air mass will bring …

Every day after work, Ariana Hawk drives to a water distribution center in Flint, Michigan, where the city provides free bottled water to its residents. Hawk’s 4-year-old son, Sincere Smith, became the poster child for Flint’s water crisis when his face, pocked by lead-poisoning scars, appeared on the cover of …