From deadly droughts and destroyed crops to shrinking water sources, communities across sub-Saharan Africa are struggling to withstand the onslaught of global record-breaking temperatures. But the dangers do not end there. Rising heat poses another threat, one that is far less known and studied but could spark disease epidemics across …

Even a jellyfish — one of Earth’s first and most ancient animals — needs its sleep. Scientists said on Thursday they have demonstrated that a primitive type of jellyfish called Cassiopea goes to sleep nightly. While sleep has been confirmed in other invertebrates such as worms and fruit flies, the …

What Christian Clot remembers most vividly from his days in Iran’s boiling Dasht-e Lut desert was having to stay completely still for 12 hours a day — or die. “It was so hot I had to lie down behind some rocks between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Staying in a …

U.S. deaths from drug overdoses set a record of more than 64,000 in 2016, driven by an intractable opioid crisis, U.S. Attorney General said Thursday, citing preliminary government data. Provisional data released last month by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) showed that there were 64,070 drug overdose deaths …

People who exercise five days a week for 30 minutes significantly reduce their risk of dying early and of developing heart disease, even if a sports club or gym is not an option, according to a new international study. Tracking 130,000 people in 17 countries, both rich and poor, the …

Shinobu Sakamoto was just 15 when she left her home in the southern Japanese fishing village of Minamata to go to Stockholm and tell the world of the horrors of mercury poisoning. Forty-five years on, she is traveling again, this time to Geneva, to attend a gathering of signatories to …

Some plant-eating dinosaurs apparently liked a side order of crabs to go with their usual salad. Scientists said Thursday that fossilized dung thought to have come from herbivorous duck-billed dinosaurs that inhabited southern Utah 75 million years ago contained pieces of crustacean shells along with vestiges of vegetation. The discovery …

For the first time in more than 60 years, the Mormon church-owned Brigham Young University will sell caffeinated soft drinks on campus. BYU, the largest private religious university in the U.S., announced the decision Thursday by posting a picture of a can of Coca-Cola on Twitter and just two words: …

Immunotherapy is one of the newer ways the medical community is trying to fight cancer. Immunotherapy is a way to get the body’s natural defenses to fight cancer. It has great promise, and has documented results, but it is not for everyone. VOA’s Kevin Enochs explains. …

Sea turtles are lumbering back from the brink of extinction, a new study says. Scientists found more populations of the large turtles improving than declining when they looked at nearly 60 regions across the globe. That’s a big change from a decade or two ago, experts said. Long-living sea turtles …

British scientists have used a genome editing tool known as CRISPR/Cas9 to knock out a gene in embryos just a few days old, testing the technique’s ability to decipher key gene functions in early human development. The researchers said their experiments, using a technology that is the subject of fierce …

In a remote, rugged valley overlooking the Pacific Ocean, researchers closely monitor an endangered icon: the California condor.   The giant vultures flap their wings and circle the sky before perching on branches and observing their observers. Wildlife biologist Amy List uses a handheld antenna to track the birds, which …

Latin American cloud forests, energy-saving street lights in Rio de Janeiro and sustainable cattle ranching in the Amazon will get a boost from new financial instruments to channel capital for tackling climate change, their backers said. The Lab, a network of programs that incubates sustainable finance mechanisms, expects to attract …

Space station astronaut Joe Acaba is getting a double dose of hurricanes — even in orbit.  Harvey flooded his home in Houston last month. Now Maria has slammed into Puerto Rico, his family’s homeland. In an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, the first astronaut of Puerto Rican heritage …

Employing an array of giant telescopes positioned in the New Mexico desert, astronomers have started a massive surveying project aimed at producing the most detailed view ever made of such a large portion of space using radio waves emitted from throughout the Milky Way and beyond. The National Radio Astronomy …

The World Health Organization reports some progress is being made in reducing premature deaths from non-communicable diseases.  But it says much more needs to be done to save the lives of nearly 40 million people who die every year from preventable causes. In this latest global assessment, the World Health …

An emergency vaccination campaign is getting under way in northeastern Nigeria to prevent a deadly cholera outbreak from spreading to other countries. The World Health Organization reports the potentially devastating cholera situation is emerging in Borno State in northeastern Nigeria. During the past few months, it says 2,600 suspected cases …

U.S. researchers have identified a genetic difference between dogs and their wild cousins, wolves, that could explain why dogs are so friendly. Faith Lapidus reports. …

Six NASA-backed research subjects who have been cooped up in a Mars-like habitat on a remote Hawaii volcano since January emerged from isolation Sunday. They devoured fresh-picked tropical fruits, vegetables and a fluffy egg strata after eating mostly freeze-dried food during their isolation.   The crew of four men and …

The mass of warm water known as “the blob” that heated up the North Pacific Ocean has dissipated, but scientists are still seeing the lingering effects of those unusually warm sea surface temperatures on Pacific Northwest salmon and steelhead.   Federal research surveys this summer caught among the lowest numbers …

In Greek, “Pneuma” means breath and spirit. That’s the core philosophy of a program in Baltimore, Maryland, with the same name. Pneuma combines exercise, yoga and leadership training. Behind this program is a near-death experience that made a young man bitter and angry, then led him to become forgiving and …

Scientists say bionic eyes are not too far away, but, until they become widely available, many people around the world will have to continue living with prosthetic eyes. Still, highly trained technicians called ocularists can manufacture prosthetic eyes hardly distinguishable from normal ones, making the lives of their patients much …

Hurricane season roared on Saturday as Jose threatened heavy surf along the U.S. East Coast, Tropical Storm Norma edged toward Mexico’s resort-studded Baja California Peninsula, and Tropical Storm Maria formed in the Atlantic and was expected to strengthen into a hurricane, taking aim at some already battered Caribbean islands. Meanwhile, …

Suicide among military veterans is especially high in the western U.S. and rural areas, according to new government data that show wide state-by-state disparities and suggest social isolation, gun ownership and access to health care may be factors. The figures released Friday are the first-ever Department of Veterans Affairs data …

The European Union’s top energy official says the United States has signaled that it may be willing to re-engage in the Paris climate pact, despite President Donald Trump’s announcement in June that the U.S. would withdraw in order to renegotiate the deal. Miguel Arias Canete, European commissioner for climate action …