Three university engineering graduates in Uganda are taking on one of the leading killers of young children in Africa – pneumonia. They say the prototype of their invention, a “smart jacket”  they have named Mama’s Hope, can diagnose the illness faster and more accurately than the current medical protocol. Four-month-old …

Shaking, slowness of movement and difficulty talking, those are the most obvious symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. The progressive neurological disorder affects the way the brain connects with muscles. It has no cure, and the treatments address only the symptoms. April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month. Faiza Elmasry has more. VOA’s Faith …

As humans struggle to control the greenhouse gases that are warming the planet, scientists are searching for natural ways to remove them from the atmosphere. One group of researchers is drilling deep into a mountain range in Oman, looking for answers to how nature turns carbon dioxide gas into rock. …

An emergency-room doctor in the U.S. Midwest has been arrested and charged with performing female genital mutilation on girls between the ages of 6 and 8, in the first criminal case brought under a 1996 law that outlawed the practice. Jumana Nagarwala, a 44-year-old doctor at a hospital in Detroit, …

People living in arid, drought-ridden areas may soon be able to get water straight from a source that’s all around them — the air, American researchers said Thursday. Scientists have developed a box that can convert low-humidity air into water, producing several liters every 12 hours, they wrote in the …

A fossil found by an elk hunter in Montana nearly seven years ago has led to the discovery of a new species of prehistoric sea creature that lived about 70 million years ago in the inland sea that flowed east of the Rocky Mountains.   The new species of elasmosaur …

Deep in the jagged red mountains of Oman, geologists are searching for an efficient and cheap way to remove carbon dioxide from the air and oceans — and perhaps begin to reverse climate change. They are coring samples from one of the world’s only exposed sections of the Earth’s mantle …

The U.S. space agency NASA has identified a moon orbiting Saturn as a new candidate for potential life. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft said the icy, ocean-covered body possesses ample amounts of hydrogen gas. The gas could be a chemical energy source of life, scientists involved with the mission said. Thomas Zurbuchen, …

The world’s most experienced spacewoman says she’s thrilled to get an extra three months off the planet. The commander of the International Space Station, Peggy Whitson, told the Associated Press on Thursday that five months into her mission, she’s still not bored. She misses cooking, though, and a diverse menu. …

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government introduced legislation Thursday to let adults possess 30 grams of marijuana in public – a measure that would make Canada the largest developed country to end a nationwide prohibition on recreational marijuana. Trudeau has long promised to legalize recreational pot use and sales. U.S …

The number of newly diagnosed childhood cancer cases worldwide rose by 13 percent during the past two decades, according to an agency of the World Health Organization. In a study published in the journal The Lancet Oncology, researchers with the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, reported …

After years of experimenting and refining, robotic devices that could help disabled people walk may soon be available to rehabilitation centers. The Japanese auto company Toyota says that before the end of this year, elderly and infirm people in Japan will be able to have therapy sessions with a walk-assist …

Science and science fiction intersected recently when 1,000 people took part in a brain experiment while watching a movie about what happens when the human brain is connected to a computer. The results of the experiment will help scientists better understand how the human mind works, what makes us similar, …

A shrimp that uses a very loud sound to stun its prey has been named after legendary rock band Pink Floyd. The Synalpheus pinkfloydi, a kind of pistol shrimp, has an oversized pink claw, which, when snapped, creates a blast that’s louder than a gunshot. Sammy de Grave of Oxford …

KFC says it plans to stop serving chicken given antibiotics important to human health. The fried chicken chain says the change will be completed by the end of next year at all its U.S. restaurants. Other fast-food companies have made similar pledges, including McDonald’s Corp.  Meat producers give animals antibiotics …

At least 489 people have died from a meningitis outbreak in Nigeria, according to Nigeria’s Minister of Health Isaac Adewole. During an emergency health meeting in the Nigerian state of Kaduna, Adewole said most of the victims are children aged 5 to 14.   Local and international health workers met …

Guinea worm is on course to become the second human disease to be eradicated, after smallpox, thanks largely to intervention overseen by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Little was known about the infection for decades, as diseases like malaria took priority. However, previously unpublished research from the 1970s, released this …

Another “Great Spot” has been found at Jupiter, this one cold and high up. Scientists reported Tuesday that the dark expanse is 15,000 miles (24,000 kilometers) across and 7,500 miles (12,000 kilometers) wide. It’s in the upper atmosphere and much cooler than the hot surroundings, thus the name Great Cold …

Climate change could cause stronger turbulence for airline passengers, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Reading in England say “turbulence strong enough to catapult unbuckled passengers and crew around the aircraft cabin” could become two or three times more common. “For most passengers, light turbulence is …

An independent U.S. panel of experts has changed course on its recommendation against routine PSA screening of men for prostate cancer. In a draft recommendation, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said men between the ages of 55 and 69 should be screened using the prostate-specific antigen test on an …

Industrial air pollution causes nearly 3.5 million deaths a year, and international trade is shifting some of the harmful effects from consuming nations to producing nations, according to a study in the journal Nature.   The authors say high consumption in the United States and Western Europe harms health in …

Industrial air pollution causes nearly three-and-a-half million deaths a year, and international trade is shifting some of the harmful effects from consuming nations to producing nations, according to a study in the journal Nature. Mike O’Sullivan spoke with one of the authors of the report, who says that high consumption …

A U.S. astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts made a parachute landing in Kazakhstan on Monday, wrapping up a nearly six-month mission aboard the International Space Station, a NASA TV broadcast showed. The Russian Soyuz capsule, which left the station shortly before 4 a.m. EDT (0800 GMT), touched down southeast of …

Researchers are reporting a link between a climate phenomenon know as El Nino and the number of cholera cases in eastern Africa. Predicting when there’s going to be an El Nino event could improve public health preparedness. El Ninos are a global climate phenomenon that occurs at irregular times, approximately …

Nearly five million children under age five have been successfully vaccinated against polio in war-torn Yemen almost two-months after a nationwide immunization campaign was launched by the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank. The campaign, which began on February 20, has taken much …