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Blindness

Man wearing a blue coat and sunglasses holds his head up to the sun with a snowy mountain in the background

Zhang Hong becomes the first blind person from Asia to climb Mount Everest

Lifestyle

There aren’t many opportunities for the millions of blind people in China, but Zhang Hong has defied the odds to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Ahmet Ustunel paddles his kayak solo

New technology to help ‘The Blind Captain’ kayak across the Bosphorus in a solo journey

Leaders
A girl named Kajal walks during mobility training at the Bihar Natraheen Parishad, or Bihar School for Blind Girls, in Patna, India, in 2009.

How do you make walking easier for people who are blind? Put submarine tech in a cane

Technology
Parán resident Lorenzo Torres walks to the town center to buy food; Torres is blind, and the walk usually takes him about two hours.

Everyone in this small Peruvian town knew about the men who go blind by age 50. Then they found out why

Health & Medicine

Mainstream tech opens doors for blind people

Environment

Teaching Blind Children to ‘See’ With Their Ears

Echolocation is a skill used by several animals for hunting and navigating. Bats, whales, dolphins and some birds send out sounds and listen back to the echoes these noises make as they strike nearby objects. Daniel Kish is an expert in the use of human echolocation. Kish has been blind since he was 13 months […]

The World

Downgrading Wolf Protections

Commentator Robert Braille considers the recent controversies over downgrading protections for wolves.

The World

Health Note/Blind and Fat

Living on Earth’s Diane Toomey reports on a new study that indicates a way to slow the progression of the leading cause of blindness in elderly Americans.

The World

Health Note/Averting River Blindness

This month, the World Health Organization marks the 30th anniversary of its campaign against river blindness, once the scourge of West Africa. Living on Earth’s Diane Toomey reports.

The World

Treating blindness in Africa

Lifestyle & Belief

Health problems the afflict the world’s poor have received unprecedented attention in recent years. But medical workers who focus on lesser known diseases say their efforts remain as difficult as ever. On PRI’s The World.