During the early months of the pandemic, the Chinese government developed a color-coded smartphone app to track the movement of people in its effort to control the spread of COVID-19 and implement its zero-COVID policy. This week, however, media reports surfaced that authorities in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province, …

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday released new warnings about synthetic pollutants in drinking water known as “forever chemicals,” saying the toxins can still be harmful even at levels so low they are not detectable.  The family of toxic chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, have …

COVID-19 shots for U.S. infants, toddlers and preschoolers moved a step closer Wednesday.  The Food and Drug Administration’s outside vaccine advisers gave a thumbs-up to Moderna’s two shots for the littlest kids. The panel is set to vote later Wednesday on whether to also recommend Pfizer’s three-shot series for those …

South Africans are well known for their love of barbecuing meat, called “braaing” in Afrikaans. But in a bid to cut down on the harm livestock farming does to the environment, one South African company has become the first on the continent to produce lab-grown meat.  The Mzansi Meat Company …

Phil and Kristie Graves are a U.S.couple from Maryland and parents of three biological children and an adopted girl with special needs from Armenia. Recently, they decided to adopt a six-year-old girl with special needs from Ukraine. But that was before the Russian invasion. Anush Avetisyan has the story. Videographer: …

A massive, fast-growing black hole, more luminous than previously discovered phenomena, has been discovered by an international team led by astronomers in Australia. Scientists say the black hole consumes the equivalent of one Earth every second and shines 7,000 times brighter than all the light from our own galaxy. Researchers …

A dangerous heat wave hit much of the Midwest and South on Tuesday, with temperatures hitting triple digits in Chicago and combining with the humidity to make it feel even hotter there and in other sweltering cities.  More than 100 million people were expected to be affected by midweek, and …

A government advisory panel Tuesday endorsed a second brand of COVID-19 vaccine for school-age children and teens. The Food and Drug Administration’s outside experts voted unanimously that Moderna’s vaccine is safe and effective enough to give to kids ages 6 to 17. If the FDA agrees, it would become the …

Microscopic air pollution caused mostly by burning fossil fuels shortens lives worldwide by more than two years, researchers reported Tuesday. Across South Asia, the average person would live five years longer if levels of fine particulate matter met World Health Organization standards, according to a report from the University of …

After cooking for decades on earthen stoves lit with firewood, women in Sarmathla village in India’s northern Haryana state were excited when they received cooking gas stoves and connections about five years ago. The gas cylinders which use liquified petroleum gas (LPG) meant that they would not have to collect …

British health officials have detected another 104 cases of monkeypox in England in what has become the biggest outbreak beyond Africa of the normally rare disease. The U.K.’s Health Security Agency said Monday there were now 470 cases of monkeypox across the country, with the vast majority in gay or …

U.S. health officials are working to expand capabilities to test for monkeypox beyond a narrow group of public health labs, heeding calls from infectious-disease experts who say testing for the virus needs to become part of routine care.  Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and …

On Thursday, the first shipments of Australian baby formula landed in the U.S. Yet the shortage continues, with women going to extreme measures to feed their babies, including buying breast milk from strangers on social media. Senior Washington Correspondent Carolyn Presutti reports. …

NASA is officially joining the hunt for UFOs.  The space agency on Thursday announced a new study that will recruit leading scientists to examine unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) — a subject that has long fascinated the public and recently gained high-level attention from Congress.  The project will begin early this …

For the first time, NASA is looking to launch a research rocket from a commercial port not in the United States. Plus, we remember a legendary cosmonaut who died this week, and Blue Origin returns to the skies. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space. …

The risk of monkeypox becoming established in nonendemic nations is real, the WHO warned Wednesday, with more than 1,000 cases confirmed in such countries.  World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the U.N. health agency was not recommending mass vaccination against the virus and added that no deaths had …

The Biden administration announced Monday that it would waive tariffs on solar panels imported to the United States from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam for 24 months, reducing uncertainty for the U.S. solar energy companies that had been spooked by a Commerce Department investigation launched in March.  The announcement came …

The government of Poland, where a near-total abortion ban is in place, faced accusations Monday of creating a “pregnancy register” as the country expands the amount of medical data being digitally saved on patients.  Women’s rights advocates and opposition politicians fear women face unprecedented surveillance given the conservative views of …

Three Chinese astronauts arrived at the country’s space station on Sunday, the Chinese space agency for human flights said, the latest stride in Beijing’s aim to become a major space power. The trio blasted off in a Long March-2F rocket at 0244 GMT from the Jiuquan launch center in northwestern …

Beijing will further relax COVID-19 curbs by allowing indoor dining, as China’s capital steadily returns to normal with inflections falling, state media said on Sunday. Beijing and the commercial hub Shanghai have been returning to normal in recent days after two months of painful lockdowns to crush outbreaks of the …

China on Sunday launched a rocket carrying three astronauts on a mission to complete construction on its new space station, the latest milestone in Beijing’s drive to become a major space power. The trio blasted off in a Long March-2F rocket at (0244 GMT) from the Jiuquan launch center in …

Global reported cases of COVID-19 cases and deaths “are near their lowest levels since the beginning of the pandemic,” the World Health Organization director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said Friday. Speaking at the GLOBSEC Bratislava Forum, Tedros warned, however, that “It is still far too early to say the pandemic …

The amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has shot past a key milestone — more than 50% higher than pre-industrial times — and is at levels not seen since millions of years ago when Earth was a hothouse ocean-inundated planet, federal scientists announced Friday.  The National Oceanic and …

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Friday it was aware of more than 700 cases of monkeypox globally, including 21 in the United States, with investigations now suggesting it is spreading inside the country.  Sixteen of the first 17 cases were among people who identify as …

American children under age 5 could receive their first COVID-19 vaccines as early as June 21, the White House’s top COVID official said Thursday — if the two vaccines under review are approved by both U.S. government bodies responsible for such authorizations. “We know that many, many parents are eager …