Pressure is mounting on the U.S. administration to remain committed to the Paris agreement on climate change. European Union leaders, a former United Nations chief and former U.S. President Barack Obama have joined the chorus of voices emphasizing the need for action to reduce greenhouse emissions worldwide. On Tuesday, the …

Screening for thyroid cancer is no longer recommended for adults with no symptoms, a U.S. health task force says. In a news release, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force said physicians should not screen for the disease in adults who have “no signs or symptoms.” Thyroid cancer, which grows on …

Chinese President Xi Jinping told French President-elect Emmanuel Macron in a phone call on Tuesday that he would uphold the Paris Agreement on curbing climate change. China, the world’s top emitter of greenhouse gases, and France should “protect the global governance achievements contained within the Paris Agreement on climate change”, …

Nations around the world have adopted more than 1,200 laws to curb climate change, up from about 60 two decades ago, which is a sign of widening efforts to limit rising temperatures, a study showed on Tuesday. “Most countries have a legal basis on which future action can be built,” …

Scientists at the world’s biggest atom smasher have inaugurated their newest particle accelerator, a key step toward churning out greater amounts of data that could help explain many lingering mysteries of the universe. The European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, announced Tuesday the completion of Linac 4, a 90-meter-long …

The scientific team that made headlines in 2015 by unearthing a previously unknown ancient human relative says its latest discoveries could change the way we look at human evolution. The findings, which are being published this week in the scientific journal ELife, include the discovery of a second chamber of …

An alert has been issued in Mombasa County, Kenya, in response to an outbreak of dengue fever, a potentially fatal mosquito-borne disease. More than 100 people have been infected in Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa, according to government health officials in the county by the same name. In recent statements, …

The Trump administration will not reappoint half the expert members of a board that advises the Environmental Protection Agency on the integrity of its science, the latest in a series of moves that could benefit industries whose pollution the government regulates. Deborah L. Swackhamer, chairwoman of the Board of Scientific …

The psychoactive ingredient in marijuana that produces the “high” sought by users has been shown to reverse memory problems in aging mice. Researchers, who’ve been looking for ways to slow the effects of brain aging, hope it could have the same effect in older humans.  German and Israeli researchers showed …

Life expectancy in the United States depends on what county one lives in, a new study suggests. According to the study from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington in Seattle, “The gap between counties with the highest and lowest life expectancies is larger …

The Vatican is celebrating the big-bang theory. That’s not as out of this world as it sounds.   The Vatican Observatory has invited leading scientists and cosmologists to talk black holes, gravitational waves and space-time singularities as it honors the late Jesuit cosmologist considered one of the fathers of the …

The use of medical marijuana is legal in the U.S. state of Georgia. But like many other states, it is illegal to grow, import or sell it. So how are patients who qualify to use it supposed to get it? Well, a coalition of families and one lawmaker is working …

In Rome, residents concerned about air quality may soon be able to use a smog tracker to monitor pollution levels as they travel around the city. A device is being tested that indicates which parts of the city have good or bad air quality. VOA’s Deborah Block has more. …

Rampant poaching across Africa has pushed species of elephants, rhinos and other treasured wildlife to the edge of extinction. However, there is a mostly untapped resource that can help crack down on these crimes: the Wildlife Whistleblower Program. The program, an initiative of the National Whistleblower Center in Washington, allows …

India launched a “South Asia” satellite on Friday to provide communication services to neighboring countries in a new initiative hailed by leaders of seven South Asian countries as a boost to regional cooperation. The “space diplomacy” by India, which has an advanced space program, aims at building stronger ties in …

Rob Dunn is trying to prevent squash heart attacks. Carried by the spotted cucumber beetle, a bacterial disease is giving squash, pumpkins, cucumbers and melons the botanical equivalent of clogged arteries. Wilting leaves are the first sign as the bacteria multiply in the plant’s circulatory system. The disease can nearly …

Cities are places where action on climate change can have most impact because they are engines for innovation and also highly vulnerable to a warming planet, the head of the U.N. climate program said on Thursday. More than 140 countries have ratified the Paris agreement on climate change and they …

The call of the wild is getting harder to hear. Peaceful, natural sounds — bird songs, rushing rivers and rustling grass — are sometimes being drowned out by noise from people in many of America’s protected parks and wilderness areas, a new study finds. Scientists measured sound levels at 492 …

Researchers from Harvard University, Princeton University and the Environmental Defense Fund proposed a new, more precise way to measure the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on Earth’s climate in an article published on Thursday in the academic journal Science. The proposal would create a two-digit measurement system the scientists likened …

Many people who are disabled or have a condition that limits their ability to exercise might someday benefit from an exercise pill.  A compound is being studied that gives people the benefits of exercise without having to work out.   The compound called GW1516, or simply GW, has been around …

NASA has released stunning video taken by the Cassini space probe as it took the first of its “grand finale” dives between Saturn and its rings. The images were taken April 26 as Cassini made a southerly pass over Saturn. It captures the vortex on the planet’s north pole and …

President Donald Trump’s pick to marshal the government’s response to the opioid epidemic and assist people with mental illness doesn’t quite fit the mold of some of his other nominees.   Psychiatrist Elinore McCance-Katz isn’t an outsider bent on disrupting the system.    Instead, she’s an academic expert on addiction …

Modern agriculture is feeding more people more cheaply than ever, with large-scale farms that grow just one or a few crops. But there are risks in this way of feeding the world. A new book explores how large-scale agriculture invites large-scale attacks of pests and diseases. VOA’s Steve Baragona met …

An unusual machine working in Baltimore, with more than 20,000 followers on Facebook and Twitter, has just celebrated its third birthday. Imaginatively named “Mr. Trash Wheel,” this hybrid-powered contraption is responsible for preventing the city’s trash from reaching its inner harbor. VOA’s George Putic reports. …

As they get older, most people tend to gain weight.  But it’s not their fault, according to scientists who have discovered a biological mechanism that causes peoples’ waistlines to expand in middle-age.   Endocrinologist Jay Chung says the average weight gain is 13 kilos or more between the ages of …