What’s the largest organ in the human body? It’s skin, of course. Ask any doctor about its role in protecting what’s inside us from all kinds of trouble. That’s why it’s such a big deal that university scientists in Spain have learned how to manufacture what they say is fully …
Carmakers and suppliers gave widely differing timelines Thursday for the introduction of self-driving vehicles, showing the uncertainties surrounding the technology as well as a split between cautious established players and bullish new entrants. Chipmaker Nvidia, facing direct competition with the world’s top chipmaker after Intel’s $15 billion deal to buy …
Latin American countries are becoming more reliant on costly fuel imports amid floundering efforts to bolster domestic oil output and expand refinery capacity. Incomplete reform projects and budget cuts that have stalled investments are aggravating the situation for many Latin American countries. For refiners in the United States, it is …
Foreign tourism to the United States, which supports millions of American jobs, is slowing, possibly because President Donald Trump sought controversial travel restrictions on visitors from some Muslim majority nations. Online searches for flights to the United States are down in most major nations, but not just those hit by …
President Donald Trump’s blueprint budget calls for a dramatic increase in defense and homeland security spending, offset by deep cuts to foreign aid and federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency. But could there be another way to build up the military without taking money away from other valuable programs? …
Each year, aspiring tech entrepreneurs from all over the world head to the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas, to prove their worth. VOA reporter Tina Trinh met with the latest wave of tech disrupters to learn what it takes to stand apart from the competition. …
Under the Trump administration, there will likely be challenges for the U.S. tech industry when it comes to attracting foreign talent. But it’s never been a better time to start a company, said Dave McClure, a prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist. “The general trend for start-ups under Trump or anyone else is …
U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to get tough on trade partners like China, Mexico and Germany. Now his Treasury chief, Steven Mnuchin, will get his first opportunity to confront them all in one room. The meeting of the 20 most powerful economies’ finance ministers in Germany this week is …
China and Saudi Arabia Thursday signed memorandums of understanding and letters of intent potentially worth about $65 billion during Saudi King Salman’s visit to Beijing, a senior Chinese diplomat said. Deputy Chinese Foreign Minister Zhang Ming said the agreements involved investment, energy, space and other areas, but did not give …
China’s central bank raised short-term interest rates for the third time in as many months Thursday, a day after the end of the annual session of parliament where leaders warned that tackling debt risks would be a top policy priority this year. The move came hours after the U.S. Federal …
McDonald’s has started testing mobile order-and-pay after acknowledging the ordering process in its restaurants can be “stressful.” The company says it will gather feedback from the test before launching the option nationally toward the end of the year. It says mobile order-and-pay is now available at 29 stores in Monterey …
Those encrypted messaging apps you may have been using to avoid prying eyes had a major flaw that could have allowed access to hackers, according to a cybersecurity firm. According to Check Point Software Technologies, both Telegram and WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, were vulnerable. The company said it …
President Donald Trump is to tell American autoworkers Wednesday in the state of Michigan that he is setting aside strict fuel-economy requirements imposed by the previous administration in its waning days. The Trump White House contends that action broke an earlier agreement with the auto industry to wait until 2018 …
China is warning about the possible impact of a trade war with the United States, even as the world’s two biggest economies take steps to map out relations under the administration of President Donald Trump. Speaking at an annual news conference Wednesday, at the end of high-level political meetings in …
Hacking means tinkering, whether with computers, woodworking or really anything. Tinkerers around the world come together at hacker-spaces, to share tools, camaraderie and expertise. Shelley Schlender takes us to a hacker space in Oakland, California, called Ace Monster Toys, where members lend each other a “hacking” hand. …
Asia needs to make extra efforts to defeat hunger after progress has slowed in the last five years, including promoting so-called “smart crops” as an alternative to rice, the head of the U.N. food agency in the region said. Kundhavi Kadiresan, representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in …
Visitors to Bangalore, India, these days can see street art, have beer at local microbreweries or take an Uber ride to a distant neighborhood to meet with venture capitalists about a recent startup that grabbed their attention. Gone are the days of a city dominated by call centers and American …
Mariana Costa Checa, a Peruvian entrepreneur, runs a coding boot camp for women in Peru, many of whom have no formal education. She attended the South by Southwest conference and festivals in Austin, Texas, as part of a Peruvian contingent showing its work and sharing the challenges of starting an …
Airline industry group IATA said it remains concerned about protectionist rhetoric from the United States and other governments, but also sees the new U.S. administration’s plans to invest in infrastructure as positive for the industry. IATA’s Director General Alexandre de Juniac told reporters in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday that the …
Most analysts predict the U.S. central bank will boost interest rates slightly on Wednesday as the economy nears full employment and inflation rises modestly. Leaders of the U.S. Federal Reserve are gathered in Washington through Wednesday to debate interest rate policy. Experts at Moody’s Investor Service say the Fed …
Aspiring property moguls take note – the town of Tiller, Oregon, is for sale, asking price just $3.5 million. For an extra $350,000, you can have the old school too. The mostly uninhabited, unincorporated town about 225 miles (362 km) south of Portland originally went up for sale in 2015, …
The mysterious Facebook blogger kept dishing up alleged government secrets. One day it was a shadowy faction looting cash from Uganda’s presidential palace with impunity. The next was a claim that the president was suffering from a debilitating illness. For authorities in a country that has seen just one president …
Facebook barred software developers on Monday from using the massive social network’s data to create surveillance tools, closing off a process that had been exploited by U.S. police departments to track protesters. Facebook, its Instagram unit and rival Twitter came under fire last year from privacy advocates after the American …
So what was the FBI doing at the South by Southwest Conference and Festivals in Austin, Texas, primarily known for music, movies and interactive media? James Baker, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s general counsel, took the stage at a hotel in Austin, Texas, on Monday to present a human face …
U.S. President Donald Trump this week will unveil a budget expected to massively increase military spending while slashing other federal programs. The proposal, set to be released Thursday, will offer the most detailed look yet at how Trump intends to move ahead with his so-called “America First” policy. The budget …
Humankind wastes a lot of energy, but thanks to new technologies, it is increasingly affordable to harvest and use it. At a recent energy summit in Washington, one of the participating commercial firms exhibited photovoltaic cells that turn waste heat into electricity. VOA’s George Putic reports. …