The World Health Organization on Thursday warned Africa against easing coronavirus restrictions as the number of infections on the continent has doubled in the past month.WHO Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti said at a virtual news conference, “We are concerned that … we will see an increase in cases as we have seen in [other] countries” where restrictions have been eased too soon.”She said more than 20 African countries have recorded more new cases than in the previous weeks, with South Africa accounting for the most but increases also reported in Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe.Moeti said Uganda, Seychelles and Mauritius are doing well in controlling the virus.The WHO said there have been nearly 890,000 reported coronavirus cases in Africa and 18,000 deaths.World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a news conference organized by Geneva Association of United Nations Correspondents (ACANU) amid the COVID-19 outbreak, caused …

NASA aims its new rover to an ancient Martian river delta searching for evidence of past life.  A French astronaut is scheduled to become the first European astronaut aboard a SpaceX capsule destined for the International Space Station. And Virgin Galactic unveils a new spaceship. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us the Week in Space. …

The U.S. has launched its next-generation Mars rover in search of potential signs of life on the red planet.NASA’s latest rover, Perseverance, launched at 11:50 GMT Thursday from Cape Canaveral in the southeastern state of Florida.The robotic explorer was propelled into space by an Atlas 5 rocket operated by the United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between private aerospace companies Boeing and Lockheed.The rocket has separated from the first stage and is being boosted to orbit by the Centaur second stage. @NASAPersevere is now preparing for a second burn that will put it on a trajectory towards Mars. #CountdownToMarspic.twitter.com/MBRqcxMTdw — NASA (@NASA) July 30, 2020The rover is scheduled to land on Mars in February at the bottom of a 250-meter crater that was a lake some 3.5 billion years ago. Scientists believe the site could hold evidence of possible past microbial life.Scientists have debated for decades whether there was once …

NASA’s next-generation Mars rover Perseverance is set for liftoff from Florida’s Cape Canaveral on Thursday on a mission to search for traces of potential past life on Earth’s planetary neighbor.The U.S. space agency’s $2.4 billion mission is scheduled for launch at 7:50 a.m. ET and is expected to reach Mars in February.LIVE NOW: The #CountdownToMars begins. We are launching a historic mission to the Red Planet. Tune in to watch @NASAPersevere liftoff and begin her mission to search for signs of ancient life on another world: https://t.co/JxyRCol01i— NASA (@NASA) July 30, 2020The car-sized six-wheeled robotic rover, which will launch atop an Atlas 5 rocket from the Boeing-Lockheed joint venture United Launch Alliance, also is scheduled to deploy a mini helicopter on Mars and test out equipment for future human missions to the fourth planet from the sun.The weather forecast from the Air Force’s 45th Weather Squadron put chances of an …

NASA’s next-generation Mars rover Perseverance is set for liftoff from Florida’s Cape Canaveral on Thursday on a mission to search for traces of potential past life on Earth’s planetary neighbor.The U.S. space agency’s $2.4 billion mission is scheduled for launch at 7:50 a.m. ET and is expected to reach Mars in February.The car-sized six-wheeled robotic rover, which will launch atop an Atlas 5 rocket from the Boeing-Lockheed joint venture United Launch Alliance, also is scheduled to deploy a mini helicopter on Mars and test out equipment for future human missions to the fourth planet from the sun.The weather forecast from the Air Force’s 45th Weather Squadron put chances of an undisturbed liftoff at 80 percent, reporting a slim chance that thick clouds would form over the launchpad and delay the launch.”This is the ninth time we’ve landed on Mars, so we do have experience with it,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine …

Two coronavirus vaccines entered the final phase of testing this week. There are now five shots in the pipeline. Scientists expect to know by the end of the year if any of them are safe and effective. VOA’s Steve Baragona has this update. …

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus has the world in its grip. Not since the Spanish flue outbreak of 1918 has a disease spread across the world so far and so fast. But how did we get here, and what have we learned? This is the story behind the virus called SARS-CoV-2 that has left a trail of infection touching everyone, everywhere. …

Living microbes, possibly millions of years old, have been discovered more than five kilometers beneath the  Pacific Ocean’s surface, in an area believed to have been devoid of life.In a study published Tuesday, Japanese and American scientists described what they found in sediment samples taken from a flat, wide area 3.7 kilometers to 5.7 kilometers below the ocean’s surface, known as an abyssal plain.  Because of their depth and the limited organic material in the sediment found there, these areas were long believed unable to support life.Microbes revived from 101.5 million-year-old sediment cores gathered from beneath the Pacific Ocean floor are seen in an undated magnified image released by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology in Kochi, Japan July 28, 2020.But the researchers, whose work was published in the science journal Nature Communications, did find communities of microbes in ancient sediment, the oldest dating back more than 101 …

One of the most frustrating symptoms of COVID-19 coronavirus is the loss of the sense of smell and scientists now say they think they understand why it happens. The experts writing in the journal Science Advances said the coronavirus infiltrates the cells that provide major structural support to sensory neurons — the neurons that detect odors and send those messages to the brain. Since the sense of smell is linked to the sense of taste, the coronavirus also affects the ability to taste food. Harvard Medical School researchers said 90% of recovering COVID-19 patients who lost their sense of smell and taste regained it.   “Once the infection clears, olfactory neurons don’t appear to need to be replaced or rebuilt from scratch,” neurobiology professor Dr. Sandeep Robert Datta writes in the Science Advances study. “But we need more data and a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms to confirm this conclusion.”  In separate studies, scientists are still trying to conclude whether it is possible to get COVID-19 twice. They say the particular coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is new and much is still unknown.Health-care workers prepare to test people with COVID-19 symptoms near the beach in Saint Jean de Luz, southwestern France, Monday, …

One of the most frustrating symptoms of COVID-19 coronavirus is the loss of the sense of smell and scientists now say they think they understand why it happens. The experts writing in the journal Science Advances said the coronavirus infiltrates the cells that provide major structural support to sensory neurons — the neurons that detect odors and send those messages to the brain. Since the sense of smell is linked to the sense of taste, the coronavirus also affects the ability to taste food. Harvard Medical School researchers said 90% of recovering COVID-19 patients who lost their sense of smell and taste regained it.   “Once the infection clears, olfactory neurons don’t appear to need to be replaced or rebuilt from scratch,” neurobiology professor Dr. Sandeep Robert Datta writes in the Science Advances study. “But we need more data and a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms to confirm this conclusion.”  In separate studies, scientists are still trying to conclude whether it is possible to get COVID-19 twice. They say the particular coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is new and much is still unknown.Health-care workers prepare to test people with COVID-19 symptoms near the beach in Saint Jean de Luz, southwestern France, Monday, …

Major League Baseball (MLB) has suspended all Miami Marlins games for the rest of the week after at least 15 players and coaches reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus.The team is in Philadelphia where the affected players are in quarantine. The Philadelphia Phillies, who hosted the Marlins earlier this week, will also be idle through Friday.New York Yankees’ Gleyber Torres (25) celebrates his solo home run with Luke Voit during the seventh inning of a game against Washington at Nationals Park, July 26, 2020.Some players with the New York Yankees, who were scheduled to play the Phillies this week, balked at using the same visitors’ clubhouse in Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park that the Marlins had used.MLB officials say they postponed the Yankees-Phillies games “out of an abundance of caution.”The source of the coronavirus outbreak among the Marlins is unclear. But reports say some players may have picked up the virus …

The U.S. government says it will use the Defense Production Act to help transform a legacy photographic film maker into a producer of pharmaceutical ingredients, including those for hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malarial President Donald Trump has touted as a treatment to ward off the coronavirus.President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at the White House, July 28, 2020, in Washington.“Today I’m proud to announce one of the most important deals in the history of U.S. pharmaceutical industries,” Trump told reporters in the White House briefing room Tuesday afternoon.Kodak will receive a $765 million loan under the Defense Production Act to launch a pharmaceuticals company, creating hundreds of jobs, Trump said.It is not a done deal, however, according to the White House.A letter of intent has been signed and final negotiations continue under which the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) will make the loan.The DFC is supposed to focus on …

New study results are boosting hopes that there soon may be a simple, reliable way to help family doctors diagnose the most common form of dementia. Researchers say an experimental blood test was able to distinguish people with Alzheimer’s disease from those without it in several studies. The accuracy ranged from 89% to 98%, though the test still needs more validation. Several companies are developing these tests, which measure a protein that damages the brains of people with the disease. The results were discussed at an Alzheimer’s conference Tuesday, and some were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Developing such a test has been a long-sought goal, and scientists warn that the new approach still needs more validation and is not yet ready for wide use. But Tuesday’s results suggest they’re on the right track. The testing identified people with Alzheimer’s vs. no dementia or other types …