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  Several advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit against a recent executive order by the governor of West Virginia that allows religious exemptions for school-required vaccinations. The plaintiffs argue that the order undermines public health protections and violates established state laws mandating immunizations for schoolchildren. The lawsuit contends that the executive order could lead to decreased vaccination rates, increasing the risk of outbreaks of preventable diseases. The groups also claim that the order conflicts with long-standing state policies designed to protect students and communities by ensuring high levels of immunization. The case highlights ongoing tensions between public health mandates and individual religious freedoms, with legal experts anticipating a potentially significant ruling on how states balance those competing interests.

Excess body weight can raise the risk of certain cancers, leading researchers to wonder whether blockbuster drugs like Wegovy, Ozempic and Zepbound could play a role in cancer prevention. Now, a study of 170,000 patient records suggests there's a slightly lower risk of obesity-related cancers in U.S. adults with diabetes who took these popular medications compared to those who took another class of diabetes drug not associated with weight loss. This type of study can't prove cause and effect, but the findings hint at a connection worth exploring. More than a dozen cancers are associated with obesity. “This is a call to scientists and clinical investigators to do more work in this area to really prove or disprove this,” said Dr. Ernest Hawk of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, who was not involved in the study. The findings were released Thursday by the American Society of Clinical Oncology and will be discussed at its annual meeting in Chicago. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, was led by Lucas Mavromatis, a medical student at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine. Scientists propose drug-treated bed nets to combat malaria “Chronic disease and chronic disease prevention are some of my passions,” said Mavromatis, a former research fellow with an NIH training program. GLP-1 receptor agonists are injections used to treat diabetes, and some are also approved to treat obesity. They work by mimicking hormones in the gut and the brain to regulate appetite and feelings of fullness. They don't work for everyone and can produce side effects that include nausea and stomach pain. In the study, researchers analyzed data from 43 U.S. health systems to compare two groups: people with obesity and diabetes who took GLP-1 drugs and other people with the same conditions who took diabetes drugs like sitagliptin. The two groups were equal in size and matched for other characteristics. After four years, those who took GLP-1 drugs had a 7% lower risk of developing an obesity-related cancer and an 8% lower risk of death from any cause compared to those who took the other type of diabetes drug. There were 2,501 new cases of obesity-related cancer in the GLP-1 group compared to 2,671 cases in the other group. NASA’s Perseverance Rover snaps selfie with surprise appearance by Martian dust devil The effect was evident in women, but not statistically significant in men. The study couldn't explain that difference, but Mavromatis noted that differences in blood drug concentration, weight loss, metabolism or hormones could be at play.

US researchers have proposed a new strategy to combat malaria by treating mosquitoes with anti-malarial drugs instead of solely relying on killing them with insecticides. Traditionally, efforts to curb malaria—responsible for nearly 600,000 deaths annually, mostly among children—have focused on eradicating mosquitoes, the disease's primary carriers. But a team from Harvard University has identified two drugs capable of eliminating malaria parasites inside mosquitoes.  NASA’s Perseverance Rover snaps selfie with surprise appearance by Martian dust devil When the insects absorb the drugs through their legs, the parasites are killed, rendering the mosquitoes unable to transmit the disease. The long-term plan is to apply this drug combination to bed nets. These nets, a key defense against malaria, serve as both a physical barrier and a delivery system for insecticides. However, the effectiveness of insecticides has declined due to growing resistance among mosquito populations. Dr. Alexandra Probst of Harvard noted that this new strategy directly targets the malaria parasites within mosquitoes—a shift from the traditional focus on killing the insects themselves. She explained that because each mosquito carries only a few parasites (compared to billions in an infected human), there's a lower risk of the parasites developing drug resistance. Researchers screened thousands of compounds and identified 22 promising candidates, eventually finding two that completely eradicated the parasites in tests. The drugs, when applied to materials like those used in bed nets, maintained their effectiveness for up to a year, offering a potentially cost-effective and durable solution. Four-legged investigators sniff out spotted lanternfly eggs to slow the spread of invasive pest The approach has so far only been tested in the lab. A real-world trial is set to begin in Ethiopia, but it may take around six years to determine the strategy’s overall effectiveness. The ultimate goal is to create bed nets treated with both insecticides and anti-malarial drugs to maximize protection.

NASA’s Perseverance rover recently captured a striking selfie on Mars — and unintentionally photographed a passing dust devil in the process. The swirling dust column appeared as a faint puff about 3 miles (5 kilometers) behind the rover during its photo session earlier this month. The image, released Wednesday, is a composite made from 59 individual shots taken by the camera mounted on Perseverance’s robotic arm, according to NASA. Capturing the full set of images took about an hour, but the effort paid off, said Megan Wu, an imaging scientist with Malin Space Science Systems, the company behind the rover’s camera. “The dust devil in the background makes this a standout image,” Wu said. The photo also showcases a new borehole drilled by the rover — part of its mission to collect Martian rock samples. This milestone image comes as Perseverance completes 1,500 sols (Martian days), which equals 1,541 Earth days. Now coated in reddish Martian dust after drilling into numerous rocks, the rover has been exploring Jezero Crater since its 2020 launch. The crater, once home to a lake and river delta, is believed to be a prime location to search for signs of ancient microbial life. The samples it’s collecting are intended for future return missions to Earth.

World Health Organization member countries on Tuesday approved an agreement to better prevent, prepare for and respond to future pandemics in the wake of the devastation wrought by the coronavirus. Sustained applause echoed in a Geneva hall hosting the WHO’s annual assembly as the measure — debated and devised over three years — passed without opposition. The U.S., traditionally the top donor to the U.N. health agency, was not part of the final stages of pandemic agreement process after the Trump administration announced a U.S. pullout from the WHO. Many world leaders offered words of support for the U.N. health agency, and praised the show of multilateralism. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking by video, congratulated WHO and the other member states, calling the accord "a shared commitment to fight future pandemics with greater cooperation while building a healthy planet.” While many supporters praised the “historic” deal, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivered a scathing critique of the U.N. health agency, saying the United States was working with unspecified “like-minded” countries to improve the global health system and called on health ministers in others to join. New pandemic inevitable, says WHO chief “Like many legacy institutions, the WHO has become mired in bureaucratic bloat, entrenched paradigms, conflicts of interest and international power politics,” Kennedy said in a video statement. “We don’t have to suffer the limits of a moribund WHO. Let’s create new institutions or revisit existing institutions that are clean, efficient, transparent and accountable.” The U.S. administration cited the WHO's “mishandling of COVID-19” and failure to enact needed reforms, and “China's demonstrated political influence” over science and policy at the agency, the State Department said in an email. The U.S. was not sending a delegation for the assembly, which runs through May 27. “I urge the world’s health ministers and the WHO to take our withdrawal from the organization as a wake-up call,” Kennedy said. “It isn’t that President (Donald) Trump and I have lost interest in international cooperation. Not at all. We just want it to happen in a way that’s fair and efficient and transparent for all the member states.” China, meanwhile, was doubling down its support for WHO — both politically and financially. Vice Premier Liu Guozhong said "all sides need to firmly support the WHO to play a central coordinating in global health governance, (and) support WHO to perform its duty in an independent, professional and science-based manner.” China, he said through a translator, "will provide an additional quota of financial support to the WHO that can add up to $500 million in the coming five years,” without specifying. It was not immediately clear whether that amounted to a new financial commitment from Beijing. The Chinese diplomatic mission in Geneva said the $500 million would include higher dues that Beijing pays for WHO membership, as well as some voluntary contributions and projects supported through Chinese development and cooperation programs. WHO, Japan sign $3.2 million project to help Rohingyas, host community The United States — whose contributions to WHO have been halted — had been set to contribute more than $700 million to the current 2024-2025 budget, while China was poised to chip in more than $200 million, according to the U.N. health agency's website. French President Emmanuel Macron said “some believe they can do without science,” an apparent allusion to U.S. funding cuts for research. “Not only will that harm the health of us all, but it’s first of all the population of those who are taking a step back, in a way, who will be in real danger in the face of emerging pathogens that they wouldn’t see coming,” Macron told the assembly by video. The treaty’s effectiveness will also face doubts because the United States — which poured billions into speedy work by pharmaceutical companies to develop COVID-19 vaccines — is not taking part, and because countries face no penalties if they ignore it. Even though it has been adopted, some hard work remains. Countries hope to adopt by next year's assembly an annex to the treaty that would guarantee that countries that share virus samples will receive tests, medicines and vaccines used to fight pandemics, under what's called the Pathogen Access and Benefits Sharing system. Under it, up to 20% of such products would be given to WHO to make sure that developing countries have some access to them. Also Tuesday, member states agreed to a 20% increase in the dues that countries pay to WHO, in an effort to provide more regular funding compared to the voluntary — often program-specific and less consistent — support that has traditionally made up most of its budget.

The spotted lanternfly, a leaf-hopping invasive pest first detected in the U.S. a decade ago, has steadily spread across the East Coast and into the Midwest with little getting in its way. But now researchers are deploying a new weapon to slow it's advance — specially trained dogs with the ability to sniff out the winged insect's eggs before they hatch. Since late last year, four of the dogs have been scouring parks in the Cleveland area in search of egg masses hidden around trees, shrubs, park benches, landscape rocks and bridge pillars. Each egg mass can produce 30 to 50 spotted lanternflies. So far, the dogs have uncovered more than 4,000 of the masses, meaning they've helped eradicate as many as 200,000 of the sap-sucking bugs that damage grapes, fruit trees, hops and hardwoods, said Connie Hausman, senior conservation science manager at Cleveland Metroparks. In just a few hours in April, the dogs found about 1,100 egg masses at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Hausman said. NASA rover spies the first aurora at Mars that’s visible to the human eye Not just any dog can go out searching, she said. “They all have wonderful noses, but they're not all eligible,” she said. “They had to pass tests to prove their service.” The dogs were trained through a research project led by a group at Virginia Tech University, which is setting out to slow the spread of the insects that are native to eastern Asia and recognizable for their distinctive black spots and bright red wing markings. The four working in Cleveland owned by local residents already had scent training before they worked with Virginia Tech to hone their noses to detect the spotted lanternflies. US measles case stands at 1,001 with active outbreaks in 11 states Once they spot a new mass of eggs, the dogs get a treat from their handlers who scrape away the mud-like masses.

NASA’s Perseverance rover has detected the first aurora at Mars that’s visible to the human eye, good news for future astronauts who can savor the view on the red planet. European and U.S. scientists reported that the green aurora in the dusty Martian sky was generated by a solar storm last year and had three days’ advance notice to set aside viewing time with the rover’s cameras. Previous auroras observed at Mars appeared only in the ultraviolet, but this one was in the visible wavelength. It resulted from a solar flare in March 2024 that was followed by a coronal mass ejection of plasma from the sun that was directed toward Mars. These latest observations show that forecasting of northern and southern lights is now possible at Mars, allowing scientists to study space weather, said University of Oslo’s Elise Wright Knutsen , whose research appeared Wednesday in the journal Science Advances. “While the brightness of this event was dimmed by dust, events under better viewing conditions or more intense particle precipitation might be above the threshold for human vision and visible to future astronauts,” the researchers wrote. This was the first time an aurora had been reported from the surface of a planet other than Earth, the researchers noted. Earlier observations were made from orbit. Food grown with fewer chemicals? A Brazilian scientist wins $500,000 for showing the way Launched in 2020, Perseverance has been exploring Mars’ Jezero Crater since 2021, collecting dust and rock samples for eventual return to Earth. The region, now dry but once believed to be a flowing lake and river delta, could hold evidence of ancient microbial life.      

A technical malfunction in the launch vehicle’s third stage caused the Indian space agency’s latest Earth observation satellite mission to fail, officials confirmed on Sunday. The EOS-09 satellite was launched aboard the PSLV-C61 rocket from the Sriharikota space center in southern India on Sunday morning. “During the third stage of the flight, there was a drop in chamber pressure in the motor case, which led to the failure of the mission,” said V. Narayanan, head of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). India has been involved in space exploration since the 1960s, successfully launching satellites for both domestic use and international clients. Notably, it placed a spacecraft in orbit around Mars in 2014. Although a lunar landing attempt failed in 2019, India achieved a major milestone in 2023 by becoming the first nation to land a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole—a region believed to contain frozen water. That mission was hailed as a technological breakthrough for the country.

New Mexico announced two new measles cases Thursday and North Dakota added one. The U.S. surpassed 1,000 measles cases Friday. Texas still accounts for the vast majority of cases in an outbreak that also spread measles to New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas. Two unvaccinated elementary school-aged children died from measles-related illnesses in the epicenter in West Texas, and an adult in New Mexico who was not vaccinated died of a measles-related illness. Other states with active outbreaks — which the CDC defines as three or more related cases — include Indiana, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. North America has three other ongoing outbreaks. One outbreak in Ontario, Canada, has resulted in 1,440 cases from mid-October through May 6 — up 197 cases in the last reported week. Alberta, Canada, also has a growing outbreak that has sickened almost 400 as of May 14. And the Mexican state of Chihuahua had 1,194 measles cases and one death as of Wednesday, according to data from the state health ministry. Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that’s airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines, and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000. As the virus takes hold in U.S. communities with low vaccination rates, health experts fear that spread could stretch on for a year. Here’s what else you need to know about measles in the U.S. How many measles cases are there in Texas? There are a total of 717 cases across 32 counties, most of them in West Texas, state health officials said Tuesday. The state confirmed only eight more cases since its update Friday. The state also added one hospitalization to its count, for a total of 93 throughout the outbreak. State health officials estimated about 1% of cases — fewer than 10 — are actively infectious. Fifty-seven percent of Texas’ cases are in Gaines County, population 22,892, where the virus started spreading in a close-knit, undervaccinated Mennonite community. The county has had 405 cases since late January — just over 1.7% of the county’s residents. The April 3 death in Texas was an 8-year-old child, according to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Local health officials said the child did not have underlying health conditions and died of “what the child’s doctor described as measles pulmonary failure.” A unvaccinated child with no underlying conditions died of measles in Texas in late February; Kennedy said the child was 6. How many measles cases are there in New Mexico? Over 900 Measles cases reported in the US with outbreaks in 10 States New Mexico added two new measles cases Thursday for a total of 73. They are the first cases in Sandoval County, north of Albuquerque. Seven people have been hospitalized since the outbreak started. Most of the state’s cases are in Lea County. Three are in Eddy County, two in Doña Ana County and Chaves and Curry counties have one each. An unvaccinated adult died of measles-related illness March 6. The person did not seek medical care. How many cases are there in Oklahoma? Oklahoma held steady with a total of 14 confirmed and three probable cases as of Tuesday. The state health department is not releasing which counties have cases, but Cleveland, Oklahoma and Sequoyah counties have had public exposures in the past couple of months. How many cases are there in Kansas? Kansas has a total of 56 cases across 10 counties in the southwestern part of the state, with two hospitalizations. All but two of the cases are connected, and most of the cases are in Gray County. How many cases are there in Indiana? Indiana has eight cases, all of them in Allen County in the northeast part of the state. The cases have no known link to other outbreaks, the Allen County Department of Health has said. How many cases are there in Michigan? Michigan has eight confirmed cases of measles, with an outbreak of four connected cases in Montcalm County in the western part of the state that health officials say is tied to the Ontario outbreak. State health officials said Wednesday that what they thought was a ninth case wasn't after further testing; a child had an unrelated illness but initially tested positive for measles because they recently got the vaccine. Vaccination does not cause measles and people who are recently vaccinated are not contagious. The measles vaccine contains a weakened form of the live virus that can trigger an immune system response that shows up on early tests. How many cases are there in Montana? Montana added three new measles cases in the last two weeks, bringing the total to eight. The state's outbreak started in mid-April in southwestern Gallatin County — Montana’s first measles cases in 35 years. Health officials didn’t say whether the cases are linked to other outbreaks in North America. How many cases are there in North Dakota? North Dakota, which hadn't seen measles since 2011, is up to 12 cases as of Thursday. There are two cases in Cass County on the eastern side of the state. The rest are in Williams County in western North Dakota on the Montana border and are not linked to Cass County. The state health department says three of the confirmed cases in Williams County are linked to the first case — an unvaccinated child who health officials believe got it from an out-of-state visitor. Measles is one of the world's most contagious viruses. Here's what to know and how to avoid it The other five cases were people who were not vaccinated and did not have contact with the other cases, causing concern about community transmission. The state health department said four people diagnosed with measles attended classes while infectious at a Williston elementary school, middle school and high school. How many cases are there in Ohio? Ohio remained steady Thursday at 34 measles cases and one hospitalization, according to the Ohio Department of Health. That count includes only Ohio residents. The state has two outbreaks: Ashtabula County near Cleveland has 16 cases, and Knox County in east-central Ohio has 20 — 14 among Ohio residents and the rest among visitors. Allen, Cuyahoga, Holmes and Defiance counties have one case each. How many cases are there in Pennsylvania? Pennsylvania has 15 cases overall in 2025 as of Friday, including international travel-related cases in Montgomery County and one in Philadelphia. There were eight measles cases in Erie County in far northwest Pennsylvania in late April; the county declared an outbreak in mid-April. How many cases are there in Tennessee? Tennessee had six measles cases as of early May. Health department spokesman Bill Christian said all cases are the middle part of the state, and that “at least three of these cases are linked to each other” but declined to specify further. The state also did not say whether the cases were linked to other outbreaks or when Tennessee’s outbreak started. Where else is measles showing up in the U.S.? Measles cases also have been reported in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. Cases and outbreaks in the U.S. are frequently traced to someone who caught the disease abroad. In 2019, the U.S. saw 1,274 cases and almost lost its status of having eliminated measles. What do you need to know about the MMR vaccine? The best way to avoid measles is to get the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. The first shot is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old and the second between 4 and 6 years old. COVID-19 disrupted progress on Measles, Rubella elimination: WHO Getting another MMR shot as an adult is harmless if there are concerns about waning immunity, the CDC says. People who have documentation of receiving a live measles vaccine in the 1960s don’t need to be revaccinated, but people who were immunized before 1968 with an ineffective vaccine made from “killed” virus should be revaccinated with at least one dose, the agency said. People who have documentation that they had measles are immune, and those born before 1957 generally don’t need the shots because so many children got measles back then that they have “presumptive immunity." Measles has a harder time spreading through communities with high vaccination rates — above 95% — due to “herd immunity.” But childhood vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the pandemic and more parents are claiming religious or personal conscience waivers to exempt their kids from required shots. What are the symptoms of measles? Measles first infects the respiratory tract, then spreads throughout the body, causing a high fever, runny nose, cough, red, watery eyes and a rash. The rash generally appears three to five days after the first symptoms, beginning as flat red spots on the face and then spreading downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs and feet. When the rash appears, the fever may spike over 104 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the CDC. Most kids will recover from measles, but infection can lead to dangerous complications such as pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and death. How can you treat measles? There’s no specific treatment for measles, so doctors generally try to alleviate symptoms, prevent complications and keep patients comfortable.

Our hands can tell a great deal about a person’s lifestyle—and the same holds true for our early human ancestors. Activities like climbing, gripping, or pounding apply pressure to different parts of the fingers, and over time, bones respond to these stresses by thickening in the areas under the most strain. To understand how ancient humans used their hands, researchers used 3D scanning technology to measure and assess the thickness of finger bones. Their study focused on fossilized hand remains from two early human ancestor species discovered in southern Africa: Australopithecus sediba, who lived roughly 2 million years ago, and Homo naledi, who lived about 300,000 years ago. Ancient footprints rewrite timeline of land-dwelling animals Both ancient human species showed signs of simultaneously using their hands to move around – such as by climbing trees – as well as to grasp and manipulate objects, a requirement to being able to make tools. “They were likely walking on two feet and using their hands to manipulate objects or tools, but also spent time climbing and hanging,” perhaps on trees or cliffs, said study co-author and paleoanthropologist Samar Syeda of the American Museum of Natural History. The findings show there wasn’t a simple “evolution in hand function where you start off with more ‘ape-like’ and end up more ‘human-like,’” said Smithsonian paleoanthropologist Rick Potts, who was not involved in the study. Complete fossil hands are relatively rare, but the specimens used in the study gave an opportunity to understand the relative forces on each finger, said Chatham University paleontologist Erin Marie Williams-Hatala, who was not involved in the study. “Hands are one of the primary ways we engage with world around us,” she said.