Cannabis is a medicinal plant, an herbal remedy to relieve symptoms or treat various diseases. In some U.S. states, marijuana is legal for treating specific health problems, but not at the federal level. Arizona is one state where marijuana is legal …
Expanding the planet’s protected natural areas to safeguard vanishing forests and other ecosystems, and the species they protect, is unlikely to be effective on its own as human encroachment into reserves grows, scientists warned Tuesday.A study by Cambridge University researchers, …
The number of people threatened by climate change-triggered flooding is about three times higher than previously thought, a new study says. But it’s not because of more water.It’s because the land, especially in Asia and the developing world, is several …
An experimental vaccine proved 50% effective at preventing latent tuberculosis infection from turning into active disease in a three-year study of adults in Africa.Doctors were encouraged because protection declined only a little after two years, and even a partially effective …
Rafael Mariano Grossi of Argentina has been chosen as the new head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, succeeding the late Yukiya Amano.Russia’s ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, tweeted Tuesday that the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board …
A large ancient wetlands region spanning northern Botswana – once teeming with life but now dominated by desert and salt flats – may represent the ancestral homeland of all of the 7.7 billion people on Earth today, researchers said on …
The Air Force’s mystery space plane is back on Earth, following a record-breaking two-year mission. The X-37B landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Sunday. The Air Force is mum about what the plane did in orbit …
A newly approved three-drug treatment for tuberculosis will be available in 150 countries including India and South Africa, priced at $1,040 for a complete regimen, more than twice the cost proposed in the past by advocacy groups for other treatments.The …
NASA will send a golf-cart-sized robot to the moon in 2022 to search for deposits of water below the surface, an effort to evaluate the vital resource ahead of a planned human return to the moon in 2024 to possibly …
Governments have pledged nearly $10 billion toward an international fund meant to help poor nations tackle climate change, France’s finance minister said Friday.Bruno Le Maire, speaking at a conference in Paris set to replenish the Green Climate Fund, said “it’s …
Climate change continues leaving its mark on the world’s oceans. Water levels are rising along with temperatures. Warmer waters supercharge some marine life’s reproduction rates, putting other species’ very survival at risk. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi takes us under the sea. …
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday proposed a $454 billion plan over 10 years to help shift the United States away from gasoline-powered cars and trucks by offering cash vouchers to help Americans buy cleaner vehicles. The New York Democrat said in a statement …
When Nanticha “Lynn” Ocharoenchai organized Thailand’s first climate strike in March, more than half of the 50 people who showed up at the rally in Bangkok were students at international schools and expatriates. The same day, Ralyn “Lilly” Satidtanasarn, then age 11, and a group of …
For a strange little lemur native to Madagascar that boasts one of the most unusual hands in the animal kingdom, a “high five” is more like a “trick six.”Scientists have discovered that this nocturnal tree dweller, called an aye-aye, possesses …
The World Health Organization welcomed an “historic step” towards a polio-free world on Thursday as an expert panel certified that the second of three types of the crippling virus has been eradicated globally.The announcement by the Global Commission for the …
Ending polio has been a long haul. The global campaign to eradicate the virus has been going on since 1988, and while it’s close, it’s not over. Sometime in 2020, Africa may be declared polio-free. But the disease is hanging …
The U.S. government and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pledged Wednesday to jointly invest $200 million over the next four years to achieve affordable gene therapy-based cures for sickle cell disease (SCD) and HIV.The administration of President Donald Trump …
Melania Trump is marking the one-year anniversary of a federal law that that increases access to treatment for people addicted to opioids.The first lady made her only solo trip to Capitol Hill so far to thank Congress for passing the …
The World Health Organization says Zambia has reported its first local case of polio since 1995, in a 2-year-old boy paralyzed by a virus derived from the vaccine.In a report this week, WHO said the case was detected on the …
Ten years ago, Nigeria accounted for half of the world’s polio cases, but following an aggressive vaccination program, the African nation is on the verge of being declared polio-free. Despite the milestone, Nigeria’s many polio survivors are left to struggle …