Genetically modified "gene drive" mosquitoes feed on warm cow's blood. Scientists hope these mosquitoes could help eradicate malaria. Pierre Kattar for NPR hide caption
Health : Goats and Soda Health
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STORIES OF LIFE IN A CHANGING WORLDHealth
A female Anopheles gambiae mosquito feeds on human blood through a mosquito net. Emily Lund hide caption
HIV-positive patients and their families protest hospitals' lack of medicines and supplies in Caracas, Venezuela, in April 2018. Some patients are fleeing to neighboring countries like Peru in search of lifesaving anti-retroviral drugs. Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Health staff prepare a cholera treatment tent in September 2018. The country's health system lacks the capacity to contain diseases like cholera. Jekesai Njikizana/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
The red drop of blood (left) was designated as an official emoji to symbolize menstruation, among other things, this year. The design at right, submitted in 2017, was not accepted. Unicode; Plan International UK hide caption
This homemade tool was used for female circumcision in northeast Uganda. Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
A new study points to the connections between climate change, lack of proper nutrition and obesity. Rick Elkins, Josh Sommers, Chris Minihane/Getty Images hide caption
A girl is treated for suspected cholera infection at a hospital in Sanaa, Yemen. There were more than 1 million cases of cholera in the country between April 2017 and April 2018. Hani Mohammed/AP hide caption
Some images from Goats and Soda's top stories of 2018. From left: changing the way we sit to fix back pain; is sleeping with your baby dangerous?; men walk near the site where the body of an 8-year-old girl, who was raped and murdered, was found. From left: Lily Padula for NPR; Fabio Consoli for NPR; Channi Anand/AP hide caption
A woman walks down the main road in the village of Luvungi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2010, Hutu rebels and local militias raped more than 280 women and children as punishment for the villagers' alleged support of the Congolese Defense Forces. Marc Hoffer/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Smog hits Beijing on December 1. A new report presents evidence of cleaner air, but environmental observers are worried about levels of pollution this winter. VCG via Getty Images hide caption
A woman in Johannesburg, South Africa, uses an HIV kit that tests for antibodies in oral fluids. Mujahid Safodien/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
A migrant receives medical attention at a former paper factory in Greece that has been turned into a makeshift camp. Menelaos Michalatos/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images hide caption
Schoolchildren in Namibia, which scored high marks for "child-friendliness" in a new ranking of African countries. Eric Lafforgue/Getty Images hide caption
Mehnaz sits inside her home in Abbottabad, northern Pakistan. She has one son and six daughters. She has also had three abortions, fearing she would have more girls. Diaa Hadid/NPR hide caption
Life Expectancy Alice Goldfarb/NPR hide caption
Experts agree that the image on the left urges toilet users to flush toilet paper in the bowl rather than toss it in a trash can. As for the image on the right, it appears to offer a double warning: Don't stand on the seat, don't relieve yourself in the upper tank. Jennifer Wood/Courtesy of Doug Lansky hide caption
Francescangeli says boys sometimes work long hours and are often tasked with pushing carts to move rocks out of the mines. "Being a child in these places is really hard," he says. "If they have some time to spend in a free way, they like to be children. But their life doesn't permit them to be children so often." Simone Francescangeli hide caption
Hanna Barczyk for NPR Hanna Barczyk for NPR hide caption
How the U.S. Compares with the Lowest Rates of Violent Gun Deaths Worldwide NPR hide caption
Sister Bertha Lopez Chaves applies anti-inflammatory eyedrops to a migrant at a stadium in Mexico City where the caravan is resting. Her order is one of roughly 50 groups giving aid to the migrants in the Mexican capital. "We're just trying to deal with their basic needs so they can continue on," she says. James Fredrick for NPR hide caption
A nurse vaccinates a baby against rotavirus, a deadly form of diarrhea. Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Merck Pulls Out Of Agreement To Supply Life-Saving Vaccine To Millions Of Kids
Mogadishu's free ambulance service was founded in 2006 by Dr. Abdulkadir Abdirahman Adan after he saw people bringing relatives to the hospital by wheelbarrow. Abdulkadir Abdirahman Adan hide caption
Hauwa Mohammed Liman and Saifura Hussaini Ahmed Khorsa, two midwives who were captured by a terrorist group in March and subsequently killed. Courtesy of the Family hide caption
Activists in India protest against virginity tests in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Kerala in 2009. Raveendran/AFP/Getty Images hide caption