Scientists at the U.S. space agency NASA say a small asteroid – roughly the size of a bus – passed close to Earth on Thursday, flying just 22,000 kilometers above the surface, within the orbit of geostationary satellites that ring the planet. While the proximity to Earth might raise alarm, scientists …
your ad hereUS Drugmaker Begins Late-Stage Testing of Single-Dose COVID-19 Vaccine in US
U.S. pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has begun late-stage human trials of a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in the United States. Dr. Paul Stoffels, Johnson & Johnson’s chief scientific officer, told reporters Wednesday that 60,000 participants have begun receiving the vaccine across 215 locations in the United States, as well as internationally …
your ad hereUN, Britain to Co-host Climate Summit on December 12
The United Nations and Britain will co-host a global climate summit on December 12, the fifth anniversary of the landmark Paris Agreement, the world body said Wednesday.The announcement came days after Chinese President Xi Jinping told the U.N. that the world’s largest greenhouse gas polluter would peak emissions in 2030 …
your ad hereStorm Beta Continues Slow Trek, Bringing Rain to Parts of Southern US
A weakened Beta continued its slow trek across several Southern states on Wednesday, bringing rainfall to parts of Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi after having flooded homes and roadways in Texas. Houston began drying out on Wednesday after some parts of the metro area got nearly 14 inches (35.6 centimeters) of rain …
your ad hereHydroponic Farm Ventures Take Root in Indian Cities
The rows of lettuce, microgreens and herbs that Himanshu Aggarwal and his mother grow in an enclosed room in a busy New Delhi market began flourishing six months ago, just when the COVID-19 pandemic was taking hold in India.Himanshu Aggarwal grows lettuce, microgreens and herbs in an 800-square-foot enclosed room …
your ad herePope Calls on World Leaders to Remember All Segments of Society Fighting COVID-19
Pope Francis once again used his weekly general audience Wednesday at the Vatican to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic and urged the world’s leaders to remember all segments of society as they fight the coronavirus and work to rebuild world economies. Speaking before a limited group of masked faithful in a Vatican …
your ad hereAustralia Races To Rescue Beached Whales
Rescuers are trying to save scores of whales beached in the Australian state of Tasmania. Earlier this week, a pod of 270 pilot whales were found washed ashore. Two hundred more were discovered a short distance away Wednesday. The stranding of about 470 pilot whales on the west coast of Tasmania is the largest ever recorded …
your ad hereUS Government Drug Agency Considering Stricter New Guidelines on Approval for COVID-19 Vaccine
Volunteers planted 20,000 miniature U.S. flags on the grounds of the Washington Monument in the nation’s capital Tuesday, the day the nation reached 200,000 COVID-19 deaths. Each flag represented 10 victims who have perished since the virus first arrived in the U.S. earlier this year. During an interfaith religious service held at …
your ad hereArctic Sea Ice Second Lowest on Record
Scientists with the U.S. space agency NASA say satellite data show Arctic sea ice cover this year shrank to the second-lowest level since modern record keeping began in the late 1970s. NASA scientists and researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder’s National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) reported Monday …
your ad hereBeta Weakens to Tropical Depression, Moves Inland
The U.S. National Hurricane Center says the storm system known as Beta has been downgraded to a tropical depression but still threatens to dump heavy rain as it moves inland over Texas. In its latest report Tuesday, the hurricane center says Beta was centered about 177 kilometers south, southwest of the …
your ad hereFlu Season Mixes with Pandemic in the Northern Hemisphere
Doctors and public health experts are telling people in the Northern Hemisphere to prepare for the worst in the coming months, when both the coronavirus and the flu virus will be circulating at the same time. It’s a one-two punch that could cause even more deaths and has the potential …
your ad hereCalifornia Firefighters Race to Subdue Flames Before Heat, Winds Return
Five weeks after California erupted in deadly wildfires supercharged by record heat and howling winds, crews battling flames pushed Monday to consolidate their gains before the return of the blistering, gusty weather. California has lost far more landscape to wildfires this summer than during any previous entire year, with scores of …
your ad hereWHO: Since WWII, No Crisis Demonstrates Need for UN More Than COVID-19
The World Health Organization’s director-general said Monday no crisis since World War II demonstrates more clearly the need for the United Nations than the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 is the illness caused by the coronavirus.Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus acknowledged the 75th anniversary of the United Nations as well as the start of …
your ad hereUS Withdraws Advice on Airborne Coronavirus Transmission
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday withdrew its statement from three days ago on how COVID-19 can spread through aerosolized droplets, saying it was posted “in error.” On Friday, the CDC posted an update to its website saying the virus can be transmitted through tiny, aerosolized droplets …
your ad hereUS Retail Giant Walmart Aims for Zero Global Emissions by 2040
U.S.-based retail giant Walmart has unveiled new initiatives to reduce its global carbon footprint while preserving the world’s natural land and sea habitats. The company announced Monday that it is aiming for zero carbon emissions by 2040 in all of its global operations by utilizing 100% renewable energy in all of …
your ad hereCDC Adds Breathing to Ways Coronavirus Spreads
As the United States nears 200,000 deaths from COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidelines to add breathing to the most common ways the coronavirus is spread by an infected person.The U.S. has nearly 6.8 million cases of COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University data late …
your ad hereHealth Officials Advise Flu Shot to Avoid Dealing With Flu, COVID at the Same Time
Health officials are warning the public to get a flu shot this year to avoid having to deal with COVID-19 and the flu simultaneously.Both are highly contagious and share similar symptoms. The flu, however, is seasonal, while COVID-19 does not appear to have a timeline as it snakes around the …
your ad hereHealth Officials Advise Flu Shot to Avoid Dealing with Flu, COVID-19 at the Same Time
Health officials are warning the public to get a flu shot this year to avoid having to deal with COVID-19 and the flu simultaneously.Both are highly contagious and share similar symptoms. The flu, however, is seasonal, while COVID-19 does not appear to have a timeline as it snakes around the …
your ad hereForecasters Turn to Greek Alphabet After Storm Names Run Out
Weather forecasters have started using the Greek alphabet to designate new storms after running out of conventional names.The U.S. National Weather Service says Tropical Storm Wilfred formed Friday in the eastern Atlantic, followed by Subtropical Storm Alpha off the coast of Portugal a short time later.Meanwhile, forecasters say tropical depression …
your ad hereDrug Shows Promise in 1st Largely Minority COVID-19 Study
A drug company said Friday that a medicine it sells to tamp down inflammation has helped prevent the need for breathing machines in hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the first large study that primarily enrolled Hispanics and Blacks.Switzerland-based Roche reported the results for tocilizumab, sold now as Actemra and RoActemra for …
your ad hereProgress Made Toward Phasing Out Planet-Warming ‘Super’ Greenhouse Gases
Rare bipartisan support for new climate legislation brings the U.S. one step closer to ditching a group of potent planet-warming chemicals.Democratic and Republican senators recently introduced an FILE – A coal-fired power plant is silhouetted against the morning sun in Glenrock, Wyoming, July 27, 2018. Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) have been found …
your ad hereAustralia Warns Pregnant Women of Bushfire Smoke
Pregnant women living in bushfire-prone areas in Australia are being urged to protect themselves and their unborn babies from smoke as the fire season returns. Doctors in the worst-affected regions say they are horrified by the effects of the smoke from last summer’s catastrophic conditions.Doctors have said particles from bushfire …
your ad hereSurvey: Almost Half of Americans Say ‘No’ To COVID Vaccine If Available Today
Nearly half of Americans, or 49%, said they definitely or probably would not get an inoculation if a coronavirus were available today, while 51% said they would, according to a Pew Research Center poll conducted earlier this month.The 49% who lean toward rejecting the inoculation cited concerns about side effects …
your ad hereLife on Venus, Counterpunching an Asteroid, and a Stargazers’ Perch
Researchers on a quest to find life in the universe got promising news this week. Space agencies are joining forces to defend the planet from an aggressive asteroid, and a look at one of the best places on Earth to view the stars. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us “The Week …
your ad hereChristie’s to Put Tyrannosaurus Rex Skeleton Up for Auction
The British auction house Christie’s announced this week that it would sell the largest and most complete known skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex in early October.The auction house said the dinosaur skeleton is nearly 12 meters long and just under 5 meters tall. It has been known as Stan, named …
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