Researchers in South Africa say they have rediscovered a species of mole with an iridescent golden coat and the ability to almost “swim” through sand dunes after it hadn’t been seen for more than 80 years and was thought to be extinct. The De Winton’s golden mole — a small, …

The U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center has issued a warning for a strong geomagnetic storm Saturday, saying power and communications systems could be affected in the Northern Hemisphere after a significant solar flare was observed on the sun.  In a statement on its website, the agency said G3, or strong …

Friday is the 35th annual World AIDS Day, a time to remember the estimated 40.4 million lives lost to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, since the epidemic began in 1981. Worldwide, more than 39 million people live with HIV, upwards of 1 million Americans among them. In a statement …

In Mozambique, one in four women between the ages of 35 and 39 live with the HIV virus, according to a 2021 national HIV assessment report. To combat the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS, a group called the Kindlimuka Association is working to help those living with the virus. …

Scientists say that in 2023, the Amazon region experienced the most severe drought in its recorded history. Rivers and lakes reached record low levels before rising in recent weeks. Thousands of people were isolated because of the lack of water in tributaries. Scientists say this should be considered a warning …

NASA collected samples of an ancient asteroid in space that took years to reach us back on Earth. Scientists expect this to be a long research process, but some theories so far suggest asteroids like this one brought water to our home planet. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week …

Nearly all the countries attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP28, agreed Thursday to create a fund that would help poor nations deal with the effects of climate change. The floor was opened for pledges to be made to the new “loss and damage” fund, in which Germany …

The U.N. weather agency said Thursday that 2023 is all but certain to be the hottest year on record, and warning of worrying trends that suggest increasing floods, wildfires, glacier melt, and heat waves in the future. The World Meteorological Organization also warned that the average temperature for the year …

A South African company will make vaginal rings that protect against HIV, which AIDS experts say should eventually make them cheaper and more readily available. The Population Council announced Thursday that Kiara Health of Johannesburg will start making the silicone rings in the next few years, estimating that 1 million …

Life expectancy in the United States is on the rise but remains lower than it was in the years before the COVID-19 pandemic, as a host of other factors contributing to mortality, including chronic disease, gun violence and a persistent epidemic of overdose deaths, continue to plague the country. According …

Vice President Kamala Harris will lead the U.S. delegation to the world’s premier climate summit, the White House said Wednesday. The White House stressed that President Joe Biden considers the climate crisis among his top four priorities, but the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas has consumed much of his …

The COP28 climate summit gets underway Thursday in Dubai, as scientists warn the world is heading for irreversible and potentially catastrophic climate change. 2023 is on course to be the hottest year on record, according to data from the European Union, which says that climate change combined with this year’s …

The COP28 climate summit gets under way in Dubai Thursday. As Henry Ridgwell reports, the meeting comes at what scientists say is a crucial moment in the fight against global warming, with warnings the world is on the brink of irreversible and catastrophic climate change …

The North American wolverine will receive long-delayed federal protections under a Biden administration proposal released Wednesday in response to scientists warning that climate change will likely melt away the rare species’ snowy mountain refuges. Across most of the United States, wolverines were wiped out by the early 1900s from unregulated …

U.S. life expectancy rose last year — by more than a year — but still isn’t close to what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 rise was mainly due to the waning pandemic, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers said Wednesday. But even with the large increase, …

Children made up nearly half of the people driven into hunger and malnutrition by extreme weather events in countries heavily impacted by the climate crisis in 2022, according to a UK-based charity. Citing data by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC hunger monitoring system, Britain’s Save the Children …

Disease could pose a bigger threat to human life than bombings in Gaza, the World Health Organization said.  Overcrowding and a lack of access to clean drinking water or sanitation systems has led to a breeding ground for infectious disease, particularly diarrhea in children, which has reached nearly 100 times …

When world leaders gather in Dubai beginning Thursday for COP28, this year’s U.N. climate summit, the heads of the world’s two largest economies will be notably absent. U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping have no plans to attend the two-week event, which is aimed at marshaling governments …

National and regional authorities in Spain signed an agreement Monday to invest 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in areas around the treasured national park of Donana in a bid to stop the park from drying up. Ecological Transition Minister Teresa Ribera said the plan was aimed at encouraging farmers to …

Pakistan launched a week-long nationwide polio vaccination campaign Monday, as the country remains one of only two around the world where the paralyzing virus still exists. This year, so far, Pakistan has reported five cases of the highly infectious disease. The latest polio eradication campaign will target more than 4.4 …

A surge in respiratory illnesses across China that has drawn the attention of the World Health Organization is caused by the flu and other known pathogens and not by a novel virus, the country’s health ministry said Sunday. Recent clusters of respiratory infections are caused by an overlap of common …

Growing calls for the world to come to grips with the many ways that global warming affects human health have prompted the first day dedicated to the issue at crunch UN climate talks starting next week. Extreme heat, air pollution and the increasing spread of deadly infectious diseases are just …

In the Pacific Northwest, one U.S. state is trying a novel approach to combatting opioid abuse — decriminalizing small amounts of hard drugs. From Oregon, Deborah Bloom has our story. …

On the cusp of the COP28 climate talks, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited frozen but rapidly melting Antarctica and said that intense action must be taken at the conference where countries will address their commitments to lowering emissions of planet-warming gases. “We are witnessing an acceleration that is absolutely devastating,” …

Japan detected the first case of highly pathogenic H5-type bird flu this season at a poultry farm in the south of the country, public broadcaster NHK reported Saturday. The local government in Saga prefecture will cull about 40,000 birds on the farm, NHK said, citing agriculture ministry officials it did …