Portland is well-known as a tree-hugging, outdoorsy city, but the river that powers through its downtown has never been part of that green reputation.     For decades, residents have been repulsed by the idea of swimming in the Willamette River because of weekly sewage overflows that created a bacterial …

A cholera epidemic in Yemen, which has infected more than 332,000 people, could spread during the annual haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia in September, although Saudi authorities are well prepared, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. The pilgrimage draws 2-4 million Muslims every year, including 1.5-2 million foreigners, …

 A NASA spacecraft circling Jupiter is revealing the up-close beauty of our solar system’s biggest planetary storm. Juno flew directly over Jupiter’s Great Red Spot on Monday, passing an amazingly close 5,600 miles (9,000 kilometers) above the monster storm. The images snapped by JunoCam were beamed back Tuesday and posted …

A new mosquito net made by German chemicals company BASF has been given an interim recommendation by the World Health Organization (WHO), containing a new class of insecticide that the company hopes will aid the fight against malaria. Death rates from malaria have dropped by 60 percent since 2000, according …

The malaria parasite owes its devastating success to a finely tuned genome that can survive attacks and evade human immune defenses because it retains only the bare essential genes it needs to thrive, scientists have found. In a detailed study analyzing more than half the genes in the genome of …

An expert panel of scientists says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration should review the safety and effectiveness of all opioids and consider the real-world impacts the powerful painkillers have, not only on patients but also on families, crime and the demand for heroin. In a sweeping report Thursday, the …

Moon dust that Neil Armstrong collected during the first lunar landing was displayed Thursday at a New York auction house — a symbol of America’s glory days in space now valued at $2 million to $4 million. The late astronaut brought the dust and some tiny rocks back to Earth …

For about a decade, scientists have been investigating a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids as one of the culprits behind the worldwide loss of domesticated honeybees. Now, a pair of new studies has people on both sides claiming victory. Neonicotinoids, or neonics, were developed in the 1980s and ’90s and …

More than 170 years after Edgar Allan Poe’s fictional raven croaked, “Nevermore,” scientists are reporting that real-life ravens think about the future. In a series of tests, ravens showed signs of a general planning ability that previously had been documented only in people and great apes. Even monkeys have failed …

A dry spell across the interior of the Middle East is unlikely to abate within the next 10,000 years, according to scientists who have been analyzing the chemical composition of two stalagmites collected from Qal’e Kord, a cave in north-central Iran. Researchers at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of …

Two stalagmites collected from a cave in Iran recorded the changing climate over 128,000 years. Analyzing their chemical composition led researchers to conclude that relief from the region’s current dry spell is unlikely within the next 10,000 years. Faith Lapidus reports. …

U.S. prosecutors say they have arrested 412 medical providers for alleged participation in health care fraud totaling $1.3 billion in false billings. Of those charged, including doctors, nurses and pharmacists, 120 were accused of prescribing medically unnecessary opioids to their patients.  Providers were also accused of submitting claims to Medicare, …

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell plans to unveil a revised health care bill to Republican colleagues Thursday, as he makes a push to achieve one of the top legislative goals for the party and President Donald Trump. McConnell last month withdrew an earlier plan after it became clear there …

New research published this week in the journal Brain suggests that the lack of quality sleep could raise your chances of contracting Alzheimer’s disease. And the Centers for Disease Control reports that more than 30 percent of Americans do not get enough sleep. That problem is creating a whole new …

The World Health Organization says that there are over 350 million people worldwide who suffer or have suffered from depression. They classify it as the leading cause of disability around the globe. There are all kinds of therapies, and a lot of drugs, designed to provide relief to people who …

Researchers have developed a blood test that could help with the early detection of pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest forms of the disease. Doctors usually are unable to diagnose cancer of the pancreas until it is too late. Most patients die within a year. The new test uses stem …

Novartis AG’s pioneering cancer drug won the backing of a federal advisory panel Wednesday, paving the way for the first gene therapy to be approved in the United States. An advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration voted 10-0 that the drug, tisagenlecleucel, should be approved to treat patients …

U.S. cities and states will work with experts to measure their progress toward meeting Paris climate agreement goals, representatives said Wednesday, sidestepping President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the country out of the global pact. The initiative by 227 cities and counties, nine states and more than 1,500 businesses, including …

Gambia could become the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to eliminate malaria on its track record of combating the mosquito-borne disease but more donor funds are needed for the “last mile” of the drive, health experts said Wednesday. The prevalence of the malaria parasite in children younger than five has …

A new report finds more than two billion people lack access to safe drinking water and more than twice that number or 4.5 billion people lack safe sanitation. The report by the World Health Organization and U.N. Children’s Fund is the first global assessment of water, sanitation and hygiene for …

Scientists say a vast iceberg has broken off from a key floating ice shelf in Antarctica. Scientists at the University of Swansea in Britain said Wednesday the iceberg broke off from the Larsen C ice shelf. The iceberg, which is likely to be named A68, is described weighing 1 trillion …

Scientists say an iceberg the size of Bali has broken away from the continent of Antarctica. The iceberg, which is likely to be named A68, measures 5,800 square kilometers and weighs over one trillion tons, making it one of the biggest on record. It is slightly larger than the Indonesian …

Donor countries at a London summit pledged Tuesday to increase funding for family planning, but proposed cuts to family planning programs by the U.S. government overshadowed the conference. The largest boost in donations announced at the Family Planning Summit came from the U.S.-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which sought …

Doctors and parents involved in female genital mutilation will face up to 15 years in prison under new Michigan laws. Female circumcision or cutting is already a federal crime punishable by five years in prison. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation on Tuesday that creates a state crime with harsher …

Reports over the past decade have drawn global attention to shocking abuses some women have been subjected to during childbirth in developed and developing countries. The maltreatment has ranged from lack of privacy and neglect to forced sterilization, sexual and physical assault, and refusal to release a mother or child …