A week after China dramatically eased its three-year-long zero-COVID policy of lockdowns and near-daily PCR testing, the country is experiencing its biggest wave of COVID-19 infections since the pandemic began in 2020. But Ray Yip, an American epidemiologist and a former director of the China branch of the U.S. Centers …
your ad hereChina Pushes Vaccines as Retreat from ‘Zero-COVID’ Turns Messy
China raced to vaccinate its most vulnerable people on Thursday in anticipation of waves of COVID-19 infections, with some analysts expecting the death toll to soar after it eased strict controls that had kept the pandemic at bay for three years. The push comes as the World Health Organization also …
your ad hereBritish Nurses Set to Begin First-Ever Strike as Pay Dispute Deepens
National Health Service nurses in Britain will strike on Thursday in their first-ever national walkout as a bitter dispute with the government over pay ramps up pressure on already-stretched hospitals at one of the busiest times of year. An estimated 100,000 nurses will strike at 76 hospitals and health centers …
your ad hereMars Rover Captures 1st Sound of Dust Devil on Red Planet
What’s a dust devil sound like on Mars? A NASA rover by chance had its microphone on when a whirling tower of red dust passed directly overhead, recording the racket. It’s about 10 seconds of not only rumbling gusts of up to 25 mph (40 kph), but the pinging of …
your ad hereSouth African Researchers Develop New Method to Clean Mining-Polluted Water
A South African researcher has developed a way to remove contaminants from water used in mining that could help clean up the dirty industry. The award-winning ion exchange method not only cleans the water but captures polluting metals that can then be re-purposed. At a Johannesburg laboratory, researchers from the …
your ad hereDRC’s Conflict Displaced Struggle for Health Care
Fighting between the Democratic Republic of Congo’s military and rebels has since March displaced nearly 400,000 people, with most IDP camps in Nyiragongo territory, where health centers are struggling to cope. Ruth Omar Esther visited a medical center in Nyiragongo and has this report. …
your ad hereNew Zealand Imposes Lifetime Ban on Youth Buying Cigarettes
New Zealand on Tuesday passed into law a unique plan to phase out tobacco smoking by imposing a lifetime ban on young people buying cigarettes. The law states that tobacco can’t ever be sold to anybody born on or after January 1, 2009. It means the minimum age for buying …
your ad hereExplainer: Why Fusion Could Be a Clean-Energy Breakthrough
The Department of Energy planned an announcement Tuesday on a “major scientific breakthrough” at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, one of several sites worldwide where researchers have been trying to develop the possibility of harnessing energy from nuclear fusion. It’s a technology that has the potential to one day accelerate …
your ad hereFranco-US Satellite Set for Unprecedented Survey of Earth’s Water
A Franco-U.S. satellite is due for launch this week on a mission to survey with unprecedented accuracy nearly all water on Earth’s surface for the first time and help scientists investigate its impact on Earth’s climate. For NASA and France’s space agency CNES, which have worked together in the field …
your ad hereNASA Hails Successful Conclusion of Artemis 1 Mission
On the 50th anniversary of NASA’s Apollo 17 mission – the last to land astronauts to the lunar surface – the agency’s Artemis 1 Orion capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, ending a 26-day test flight of NASA’s next generation system designed to take people back to the moon. …
your ad hereFrance to Offer Free Condoms for Those 25 and Younger
French President Emmanuel Macron says free condoms will be available in pharmacies for any adult up to the age of 25 starting next year. The new measure comes as the rate of sexually transmitted diseases and inflation are both on the rise in France. Originally, Macron announced that the condoms …
your ad hereUS Teases ‘Major’ Science News Amid Fusion Energy Reports
The U.S. Department of Energy said Sunday it would announce a “major scientific breakthrough” this week, after media reported a federal laboratory had recently achieved a major milestone in nuclear fusion research. The Financial Times reported Sunday that scientists in the California-based Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) had achieved a …
your ad hereEXPLAINER-UN Nature Summit Puts Industry on Alert to Disclose More
Industry executives have joined activists and negotiators from nearly 200 countries at this month’s U.N. nature summit in Montreal, where negotiations on a global pact to protect nature could lead to tougher disclosure requirements for businesses. Sectors such as mining, agriculture, oil and fashion are under scrutiny at the COP15 …
your ad hereIndonesia Balancing Climate, Energy Needs in Effort to Reduce Coal Use
One of the challenges of fighting climate change is balancing the need to shift to cleaner sources of energy in the future with the need to keep the lights on in the here and now. It’s no different for Indonesia, with its rapidly growing economy, as VOA’s Yuni Salim explains …
your ad hereTop China Expert Says COVID ‘Spreading Rapidly’ After Rules Easing
One of China’s top health experts has warned of a surge in COVID-19 cases, state media said Sunday, in the wake of the government’s decision to abandon its hardline coronavirus strategy. Shops and restaurants in Beijing are deserted as the country awaits a spike in infections following the decision to …
your ad hereNASA Moon Capsule Orion Due to Splash Down After Record-Setting Voyage
After making a close pass at the moon and venturing further into space than any previous habitable spacecraft, NASA’s Orion capsule is due to splash down Sunday in the final test of a high-stakes mission called Artemis. As it hurtles into Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of 40,000 kph, the …
your ad hereUS Keeps Eye on China’s Space Activities for Potential Risks
The U.S. is closely monitoring Chinese activities that potentially threaten American assets in space as debris rapidly accumulates in low Earth orbit, the head of United States military operations in space said Friday. Commander of U.S. Space Command Army Gen. James Dickinson also cheered the overwhelming passage in the United …
your ad hereFight to Curb Food Waste Increasingly Turns to Science
Hate mealy apples and soggy french fries? Science can help. Restaurants, grocers, farmers and food companies are increasingly turning to chemistry and physics to tackle the problem of food waste. Some are testing spray-on peels or chemically-enhanced sachets that can slow the ripening process in fruit. Others are developing digital …
your ad hereStorm Brings High Winds, Heavy Snow to Northern California
A winter storm packing high winds and potentially several feet of snow blew into the Sierra Nevada on Saturday, triggering thousands of power outages in California, closing a mountain highway at Lake Tahoe, and prompting an avalanche warning in the backcountry. The storm is expected to bring as much as …
your ad hereWHO: Trial Sudan Ebolavirus Vaccine Marks Historical Milestone
The World Health Organization says the arrival of one of three trial Ebola vaccines in Uganda Thursday “marks a historical milestone in the global capacity to respond to outbreaks.” The 1,200 doses of the Sudan ebolavirus vaccine arrived “just 79 days after the outbreak was declared on 20 September,” the …
your ad hereChina Braces for Another COVID Wave
While China is beginning to loosen its COVID-19 restrictions, medical practitioners there are preparing for a possible onslaught of COVID cases, which analysts predict could be just weeks away. China had one of the toughest anti-COVID policies in the world. Its zero-COVID campaign put anyone with COVID in a hospital …
your ad hereFossilized Teeth of Megalodon Ancestor Found in Indian Ocean
Australian scientists have discovered a deep-ocean sharks’ graveyard containing the fossilized teeth of the ancient ancestor of the megalodon shark. They have also found a new species of shark. The discoveries were made across two expeditions on the research vessel (RV) Investigator, which is operated by Australia’s national science agency, …
your ad herePrepare for Messy Transition on COVID Jabs as COVAX Ends
As the global program for distributing COVID-19 vaccinations to low and middle-income countries is set to be phased out after next year, experts are warning of a messy transition to ensure countries with the lowest inoculation rates are protected against the coronavirus and new variants are prevented. The sunsetting of …
your ad hereManatee Relative, 700 New Species Now Facing Extinction
Populations of a vulnerable species of marine mammal, numerous species of abalone and a type of Caribbean coral are now threatened with extinction, an international conservation organization said Friday. The International Union for Conservation of Nature announced the update during the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, or COP15, conference …
your ad hereGulf of Guinea Countries Agree to Stop Illegal Chinese Fishing
Chinese boats are decimating West Africa’s fish stocks and fishing communities in the Gulf of Guinea, say environmental groups. The Institute for Security Studies, a South African think tank, said the communities could be losing more than $2 billion each year to illegal fishing, mainly from Chinese-owned boats. Beninese fisherman …
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