Russia continues to pose “serious” and “growing” threats to U.S. interests in space, according to the top military officer for space defense. “They’re real, they’re serious and they’re concerning,” Gen. John Raymond, chief of the newly established U.S. Space Force and head of U.S. Space Command, told reporters Wednesday. “Our advantage has been diminished, and that’s why the establishment of the Space Force in the Aerospace Command is so important — to allow us to move fast with agility of effort, reducing costs to stay ahead of that growing threat,” he added. The realm of space is essential to everyday activities from navigation to banking. Space assets are also critical to military missions from launching missiles to collecting intelligence. Raymond did not elaborate when pressed for specific areas where the U.S. advantage is eroding but touted “significant strides” over recent months to remain the world leader in space.  Raymond credited having the “best partnerships” as a major reason the United States leads in space, confirming that Peru this month became the latest nation to …

Evidence of the formation of a new planet has been collected by scientists working at the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile.     The discovery is the first of its kind, says lead scientist Anthony Boccaletti, from Observatoire de Paris.     “Thousands of exoplanets have been identified so far, but little is known about how they form,” he said.     An exoplanet is a planet that orbits a star, rather than a moon or the sun.     Scientists say they believe the formation occurred 520 light-years away in the Auriga constellation, also known as the charioteer. Its main star, Capella, is the sixth brightest in the night sky.     The planet itself was formed about 2.7817 billion miles away, however, from the star AB Aurigae, according to Science Daily.   Planets typically are formed near young stars such as the AB Aurigae …

NASA announced Wednesday it will name its next-generation space telescope in honor of Nancy Grace Roman, the space agency’s first chief astronomer. In a release posted on its website, the space agency calls Roman the “mother” of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, which was launched 30 years ago, this year. NASA says Roman tirelessly advocated for new tools that would allow scientists to study the broader universe from space.  Roman, who held a doctorate in astronomy from the University of Chicago, came to the space agency in 1959, six months after it was formed. She served as the chief of astronomy and relativity in the Office of Space Science. According to NASA, Roman spent much of her career working to establish new ways to probe the universe. President John F. Kennedy poses with government career women given the Federal Woman’s Award, Feb. 27, 1962. From left: Dr. Allene Jeanes, Dr. Nancy Grace Roman, Evelyn Harrison, Kennedy, Margaret Brass, Katherine Bracken and Dr. Thelma Dunn.In the mid-1960s, she set up a committee of astronomers and engineers …

 Thousands of Nigerians are receiving free mental health care through a program to help people cope with stress and isolation from COVID-19.  The program, Mentally Aware Nigeria, or MANI, was formed by psychologists and medical experts to create an environment where people can seek mental health care without fear of stigma or discrimination.  Timothy Obiezu reports from Abuja. Videographer: Simpa Samson  Producer: JG  …

In early May, U.S. President Donald Trump was asked during a Fox News virtual town hall when the country would no longer be dependent on foreign pharmaceutical manufacturers for 94% of antibiotics used in this country.   “I think we will have it done within two years,” Trump answered. “Everybody makes our drugs, except us.” U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs for the Camp David, Maryland presidential retreat from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, May 15, 2020.Trump may have been overly optimistic, but he was reflecting a mounting concern among Americans that they are overly dependent on overseas or offshore companies for most of their pharmaceutical drug needs.   The spread of COVID-19 and the unprecedented pressure it has placed on the U.S. health care system highlights America’s strategic dependence on foreign-based pharmaceutical supply manufacturers, particularly in China.  China holds a key position in the global active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) industry, which produces ingredients used in the manufacturing of …

Johnson & Johnson announced Tuesday it will stop selling one of its flagship products — talc-based baby powder — in the United States and Canada.The pharmaceutical company said its decision is part of a “portfolio reassessment related to COVID-19.”But J&J is facing more than 16,000 lawsuits from consumers who claim the powder is contaminated with asbestos and caused their cancer.”Demand for talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder in North America has been declining due in large part to changes in consumer habits and fueled by misinformation around the safety of the product and a constant barrage of litigation advertising,” J&J said in a statement.A New Jersey judge ruled last month that the claims against J&J can proceed, but the judge put limits on how far expert testimony can go.J&J insists its baby power is safe and says it has “decades of scientific studies” to back it up.But tests last year by the …

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence held a meeting of the National Space Council on Tuesday, just over a week before the program is set to launch astronauts into space from American soil. The meeting was held virtually, with Pence in Washington, and NASA administrators and astronauts checking in remotely. The vice president noted that the project stayed on schedule, even amid the coronavirus pandemic. He said the May 27 launch will be an inspiration to the country. NASA astronauts are set to blast into orbit on a private company’s rocket, a first since the end of the space shuttle era in 2011. It will also be the first time anywhere a private company, SpaceX, will have built and funded the rocket. NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission will launch from the Kennedy Space Center in the southeastern U.S. state of Florida. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will launch NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley into space …

A scientific study published Tuesday shows COVID-19-related restrictions imposed by governments around the world since March drove a decline of daily global greenhouse emissions by as much as 17% by early April. But the authors of the study, published Tuesday in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change, say the drastic improvement is likely to be temporary as economies resume. The study says that in the years leading up to the coronavirus pandemic, emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) were rising by about 1% per year over the previous decade. But population confinement has led to drastic changes in energy use, and, therefore, CO2 emissions. The researchers say restrictive measures drove drops in demand for electrical generation and industrial and transportation activity – the sectors responsible for 86% of CO2 emissions. Even if the world’s economies return to normal, the study projects that total emissions for 2020 will likely fall between 4% and 7% compared with the prior year, though the …

President Donald Trump’s declaration that he was taking a malaria drug of dubious effectiveness to help fend off the coronavirus will likely be welcomed in India. Trump’s previous endorsement of hydroxychloroquine catalyzed a tremendous shift in the South Asian country, spurring the world’s largest producer of the drug to make much more of it, prescribe it for front-line health workers treating the virus and deploy it as a diplomatic tool, despite mounting evidence against using the drug for COVID-19. Trump said Monday that he was taking hydroxychloroquine as a measure of protection against the virus. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, however, has cautioned against using it outside of hospitals because of the risk of serious heart problems. Suhhil Gupta, a pharmacist in New Delhi, said Tuesday that Trump’s announcement shouldn’t carry any weight in India. “He’s not a pharmacist. His statements are not relevant to the field,” Gupta said. …

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) special envoy on COVID-19 said Tuesday that the coronavirus will ”be a constant threat” until a vaccine or reliable treatment is found. In an interview with British broadcaster Sky News, Dr. David Nabarro said this means the world will need to learn how to live with it. The coronavirus causes the COVID-19 disease. Nabarro said that while the world is focused on a vaccine, and there are promising signs, the WHO does believe one will be readily available “between one-and-a half and two-and-a-half years at the minimum.” He said social distancing regulations and protective measures will have to be followed for a very long time. Nabarro said this does not mean life has to stop. He noted countries that are maintaining protective measures while people go about their business include Singapore, Germany, South Korea and some developing nations. He said other viruses are constant threats, adding that HIV, the …

The genetic mutation that causes Down syndrome increases the risk of intellectual disabilities, and an early death from autoimmune diseases and pneumonia. But it also protects from some cancers, and it often leads to people valued for their kindness and joy. Recently, researchers discovered a major clue as to why the genetic disorder does these things: The mutation increases inflammation. Shelley Schlender explains how this knowledge may lead to healthier lives for those with Down syndrome.Camera: Shelley Schlender  …

The U.S. military’s mystery space plane rocketed into orbit again Sunday, this time with an extra load of science experiments.It’s the sixth flight of an X-37B, a solar-powered plane that’s flown by remote control without a crew.Officials aren’t saying how long the spacecraft will remain in orbit this time or the purpose of the mission. But a senior vice president for X-37B developer Boeing, Jim Chilton, noted each mission has been progressively longer.The previous mission lasted a record two years, with a touchdown shrouded in darkness at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center last year.The winged spacecraft resembles NASA’s old shuttles, but is just one-quarter the size at 29 feet (9 meters) long. The one just launched features an extra compartment for experiments, including several for NASA and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, making it the biggest science load yet for an X-37B.The Air Force has two of these reusable space planes. …

Thais streamed into shopping malls on Sunday, once again enjoying their air-conditioned oases as the country eased one of the restrictions imposed to fight the coronavirus.The government allowed malls to reopen after the number of new virus cases in Thailand dwindled to single digits for all but one day over more than two weeks. Malls had been closed since March.Student Baiplu Chaonuam expressed her relief at returning to a Bangkok mall. “I started to get used to staying home, but to be able to come back out and look around at things is an improvement from staying in,” she said.The mall experience, however, may not be as carefree as it was before the virus, with measures instituted to reduce the danger that the malls will become new infection hotspots.Thermal scanners check temperatures for signs of fever and each shopper must pass through a disinfectant mist at every entrance. Everyone must …

Scientists around the world are working to battle the coronavirus – an effort that extends to a space-travel lab that worked overtime to help sick earthlings. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has This Week in Space. …

One August day in 2017, a 31-year-old man with a cough boarded a crowded minibus in Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo.The man was dead before he could reach his destination.That touched off the most lethal outbreak of pneumonic plague in decades. By the end of November, more than 2,400 people had been infected and 209 had died.Basketball teams from around the Indian Ocean region were in Madagascar at the time for a championship tournament. A coach from the Seychelles died and a South African player fell ill. The risk of an international outbreak loomed.To stamp it out, health officials needed to break the chains of transmission: find the people who had come into contact with each infected individual and prevent them from spreading the disease to anyone else.It’s known as contact tracing. It’s the same task that experts now say the United States must dramatically increase as COVID-19 lockdowns loosen. COVID-19 is …

Scientists around the world are working to battle the coronavirus – an effort that extends to a space-travel lab that worked overtime to help sick earthlings. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has This Week in Space. …