A clinical trial in Australia is developing a treatment for sleep disturbances caused by wildfires. The study, which is supported by Natural Hazards Research Australia, a research organization, and Federation University Australia, is now seeking participants in Australia, the United States and Canada. The trial is aimed at people who have disturbed sleep, including nightmares, … continue reading -> “Australian Study Seeks to Resolve Traumatic Sleep Disorders in Wildfire Survivors “

New Zealand on Monday removed the last of its remaining COVID-19 restrictions, marking the end of a government response to the pandemic that was watched closely around the world.  Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the requirement to wear masks in hospitals and other health care facilities would end at midnight, as would a requirement for … continue reading -> “New Zealand Removes Last of COVID-19 Restrictions”

For the team aboard the Okeanos Explorer off the coast of Alaska, exploring the mounds and craters of the sea floor along the Aleutian Islands is a chance to surface new knowledge about life in some of the world’s deepest and most remote waters. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel is on a … continue reading -> “Off Alaska, Crew on High-Tech Ship Maps Deep, Remote Ocean”

A Montana judge on Monday sided with young environmental activists who said state agencies were violating their constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment by permitting fossil fuel development without considering its effect on the climate. The ruling in the first-of-its-kind trial in the U.S. adds to a small number of legal decisions around … continue reading -> “Judge Sides With Young Activists in First-of-Its-Kind Climate Change Trial in Montana”

Patients who take blockbuster drugs like Wegovy or Ozempic for weight loss may face life-threatening complications if they need surgery or other procedures that require empty stomachs for anesthesia. This summer’s guidance to halt the medication for up to a week may not go far enough, either.  Some anesthesiologists in the U.S. and Canada say … continue reading -> “Popular Weight-Loss Drugs May Raise Risk of Anesthesia Complications  “

For a vast number of book writers, artificial intelligence is a threat to their livelihood and the very idea of creativity. More than 10,000 of them endorsed an open letter from the Authors Guild this summer, urging AI companies not to use copyrighted work without permission or compensation. At the same time, AI is a … continue reading -> “Fiction Writers Fear Rise of AI, Yet See It as a Story”

Postal worker Eugene Gates Jr. was delivering mail in the suffocating Dallas heat this summer when he collapsed in a homeowner’s yard and was taken to a hospital, where he died. Carla Gates said she’s sure heat was a factor in her 66-year-old husband’s death, even though she’s still waiting for the autopsy report. When … continue reading -> “Imprecise US Heat Death Counting Methods Complicate Safety Efforts”

With field temperatures soaring above 150 degrees at times, 10-year-old baseball player Emmitt Anderson and his teammates from Alabama thought better of kneeling when they gathered near the mound for pregame prayers at a recent regional youth baseball tournament here. “It was too hot on our knees,” Anderson said of the artificial surface. “We just … continue reading -> “Heat Wave Tests Stamina, Resourcefulness at Southern Youth Baseball Event”

Scientists are wondering if global warming and El Nino have an accomplice in fueling this summer’s record-shattering heat. The European climate agency Copernicus reported that July was one-third of a degree Celsius (six-tenths of a degree Fahrenheit) hotter than the old record. That’s a bump in heat that is so recent and so big, especially … continue reading -> “Scientists Look Beyond Climate Change, El Nino for Other Factors that Heat Up Earth”

The U.S. government said Friday it will spend up to $1.2 billion for two pioneering facilities to vacuum carbon out of the air, a historic gamble on a still developing technology to combat global warming that is criticized by some experts. The two projects — in Texas and Louisiana — each aim to eliminate 1 … continue reading -> “US to Invest $1.2 Billion on Facilities to Pull Carbon From Air”

Monsoon season can exacerbate the outbreak as infected people overwhelm hospitals …

About 49,500 people took their own lives last year in the U.S., the highest number ever, according to new government data posted Thursday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which posted the numbers, has not yet calculated a suicide rate for the year, but available data suggests suicides are more common in the U.S. … continue reading -> “US Suicides Hit All-Time High Last Year”

Russia launched its first mission to the moon in nearly 50 years on Friday, racing to land on the lunar south pole before a spacecraft from India gets there. The launch of the Luna-25 craft to the moon was Russia’s first since 1976, when it was part of the Soviet Union, and is being conducted … continue reading -> “Russia Launches Its First Moon Mission Since ’76”

Nearly a third of U.S. hospital pharmacists say they were forced to ration, delay or cancel treatments as drug shortages in the United States approach an all-time high, according to a survey released Thursday.   The shortages are especially critical for chemotherapy drugs used in cancer treatment regimens, with more than half of the 1,123 … continue reading -> “US Hospital Pharmacists Ration Drugs as Shortages Persist, Survey Shows”

The World Health Organization says traditional medicine plays a pivotal role in the health and well-being of people and the planet and should be seen as complementary to modern medicine and be integrated into national health systems. Traditional healers have used their knowledge of plants and potions for centuries to treat people with multiple ailments. … continue reading -> “Traditional Medicine Takes Center Stage at WHO Meeting in India”

Paris’ escape from record temperatures gripping parts of Europe this summer could be a short-term reprieve. A study finds the city could have the most heatwave-related deaths of any European capital by 2050 — when temperatures may soar to 50 C (122 F). For VOA, Lisa Bryant has more from Paris. …

Currently spreading COVID-19 variants such as EG.5, or Eris, do not represent a major shift in COVID variants, and updated vaccines in September will offer protection, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.  “Right now, what we’re seeing with the changes in the viruses, they’re still susceptible to our … continue reading -> “US CDC Sees No Major Shift in COVID Variants “

Indonesia’s capital Jakarta topped the list as the world’s most polluted city on Wednesday, having consistently ranked among the 10 most polluted cities globally since May, according to data by Swiss air quality technology company IQAir.   Jakarta, which has a population of over 10 million, registers unhealthy air pollution levels nearly every day, according … continue reading -> “Indonesia’s Capital Named World’s Most Polluted City”

U.N. agencies warn health conditions are deteriorating in Sudan and neighboring countries as growing numbers of people flee escalating fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Before the conflict erupted on April 15, 4.5 million Sudanese already were displaced — more than 3.7 million inside Sudan and another 800,000 as refugees … continue reading -> “Health Conditions Deteriorate as More People Flee Sudan  “

Darwin, the capital city of Australia’s Northern Territory, can be brutally hot and humid.   Many of its 150,000 residents seek refuge from the tropical elements in air-conditioned homes, offices and cars. But research from the Australian National University, the ANU, suggests that air-conditioning, which is often set at 21 degrees Celsius, is making people more … continue reading -> “Australian Study Warns of Air Conditioning Health Fears “

The World Meteorological Organization says the global average temperature for July 2023 is confirmed to be the highest on record for any month. “The month is estimated to have been around 1.5 degrees warmer than the average for 1850 to 1900s. So, the average of pre-industrial times,” said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus … continue reading -> “Global Average Temperature Hits Record High in July”

Here we go again: COVID-19 hospital admissions have inched upward in the United States since early July in a small-scale echo of the three previous summers. With an updated vaccine still months away, this summer bump in new hospitalizations might be concerning, but the number of patients is far lower than before. A look at … continue reading -> “US COVID-19 Hospitalizations Rising, but Not Like Before”

Botswana is aiming to recruit at least 1,000 pharmacists, some from abroad, after nurses said they would no longer dispense medications. Nurses stopped filling prescriptions to patients last month, with the Botswana Nurse Union saying that doing so was outside their scope of work. The situation has led to congestion at the country’s pharmacies and … continue reading -> “Botswana Seeks Pharmacists From Abroad After Nurses Halt Dispensing Medications”

Leaders of eight South American nations that share the Amazon rainforest convene a two-day summit in Brazil Tuesday to reach a broad agreement on preserving the critical region. The meeting of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization in Belem, capital of the Amazon state of Para, takes place as more than ten percent of the rainforest … continue reading -> “Amazon Nations Gather in Brazil to Save Rainforest”

Now that July’s sizzling numbers are all in, the European climate monitoring organization made it official: July 2023 was Earth’s hottest month on record by a wide margin.   July’s global average temperature of 16.95 degrees Celsius (62.51 degrees Fahrenheit) was a third of a degree Celsius (six tenths of a degree Fahrenheit) higher than … continue reading -> “European Scientists Make it Official: July Was Hottest Month on Record by Far”