Scientists said on Monday they had pinpointed a particular type of immune system cell that could predict more precisely if cancer patients are likely to respond to modern immunotherapy medicines. The discovery, reported in the journal Nature Immunology, suggests doctors and drug developers will need to get smarter in zeroing …

Artificial intelligence is turning out to be a useful tool for doctors who are increasingly using complex algorithms to help them diagnose disease, and even create new drugs. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …

A mass bleaching of coral reefs worldwide is finally easing after three years, U.S. scientists announced Monday. About three-quarters of the world’s delicate coral reefs were damaged or killed by hot water in what scientists say was the largest coral catastrophe. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced a global …

Long before cats became the darlings of Facebook and YouTube, they spread through the ancient human world. A DNA study reached back thousands of years to track that conquest and found evidence of two major dispersals from the Middle East, in which people evidently took cats with them. Genetic signatures …

Killer heat is getting worse, a new study shows. Deadly heat waves like the one now broiling the American West are bigger killers than previously thought and they are going to grow more frequent, according to a new comprehensive study of fatal heat conditions. Still, those stretches may be less …

A drug that acts like a vaccine has been shown to lower “bad” cholesterol or LDL and reduce the amount of fatty plaque that can lead to heart attacks. The drug rallies the immune system against a molecule that contributes to atherosclerosis.  The drug, called AT04A, is a form of …

With droughts set to become more frequent due to global warming, delivering timely, long-term weather forecasts to farmers in the developing world will be key to limiting damage and saving lives, the head of the U.N. food agency said on Monday. Droughts have killed more than 11 million people worldwide …

Only 1 in 4 teens and young adults with opioid addiction receive recommended treatment medication despite having good health insurance, according to a study that suggests doctors are not keeping up with the needs of youth caught up in the worst addiction crisis in U.S. history.   “Young people may …

NASA’s planet-hunting telescope has found 10 new planets outside our solar system that are likely the right size and temperature to potentially have life on them, broadly hinting that we are probably not alone.   After four years of searching, the Kepler telescope has detected a total of 49 planets …

Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Monday he does not believe carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global warming, a statement at odds with mainstream scientific consensus but in line with the head of the Environmental Protection Agency.   Asked on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” whether carbon emissions are primarily responsible …

The UN Children’s Fund warns three-quarters of a million children in Eastern Ukraine are at risk of water-borne diseases as fighting threatens to cut off their safe water supply. The United Nations estimates around 10,000 people have been killed and more than 23,500 injured since fighting in Eastern Ukraine erupted …

It’s a challenge many Muslims in America are facing this year. Ramadan falls in the summer, and the fast can last between 16 and 20 hours day. Those long hours drove Dr. Imran Posner, a psychiatrist in Philadelphia, to create a food supplement that helps curb hunger during Ramadan. Anne …

Algae blooms are a part of California summers, but something in the water is different this year, and it’s making the local wildlife sick. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …

The University of Manitoba has terminated its project to study climate change in the Hudson Bay area because of hazardous ice conditions caused by a change in the climate. The canceled part of the $17 million, four-year study involved the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Amundsen, which was scheduled to sail …

Scientists from several U.S. and Chinese universities say new findings about microbes and their interaction with other species show that Darwin’s theory of evolution needs an update. Their contention is based on discoveries that all plants and animals, including humans, evolved in interaction with a huge number of microscopic species …

In the never-ending battle against cancer, scientists are incessantly refining their tools and developing new methods. Some of the most important advances have been made in treating breast cancer, with the five-year survivability rate now at 90 percent VOA’s George Putic reports. …

Scientists have identified three mutations that, if they occurred at the same time in nature, could turn a strain of bird flu now circulating in China into a potential pandemic virus that could spread among people. The flu strain, known as H7N9, now mostly infects birds but it has infected …

Like many online video games, the one developed by scientists at the University of Exeter challenges players to quickly find hidden objects, but with a twist. They’re not looking for gold or swords or magical mirrors in an imaginary universe, but for birds in real photos. And everyone who plays …

Teen vaping, which has been skyrocketing, fell dramatically last year in the United States.   A government survey released Thursday suggests the number of high school and middle school students using electronic cigarettes fell to 2.2 million last year, from 3 million the year before.   Health officials have worried …

Among the people socializing in a tavern in Alexandra township in Johannesburg is Karabo Sathekge, who asked that VOA not give her real name. She is a slight, attractive 19-year-old in a veil of an orange dress, defying the winter chill. Sathekge often meets one of her partners here. He …

Family members who live with someone with tuberculosis may be shielded against the highly infectious disease by taking vitamin A.  A new study finds that many of those who develop TB are deficient in the nutrient.   In a study of 6,000 people in Lima, Peru, researchers found that those …

Lawmakers concerned about curbing pollution and a warming planet gave a cool reception to President Donald Trump’s environmental chief on Thursday as he defended the administration’s proposal to sharply reduce the budget of his own agency. Scott Pruitt, the administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, appeared before a House Appropriations …

A phone app is helping doctors have difficult conversations with patients about lowering doses of opioids. Primary care doctors prescribe nearly half the opioids dispensed in the U.S. They’re increasingly being called upon to stem the flow of the highly addictive pills into medicine cabinets. That means writing lower-dose or …

Photosynthetic bacteria and light may offer hope to heart disease patients, a new study suggests. Researchers at Stanford University say that after injecting the bacteria into the hearts of rats with cardiac disease and using light to start photosynthesis, they were able to increase the flow of oxygen, improving heart …

Animal researchers have used a video game to better understand the differences between animals that could see a wide range of colors and those that are color blind. After 30,000 volunteers played the game, the researchers got some surprising results. Faith Lapidus reports. …