Feb 2nd, 2026 - When the eradication program began in 1986, there were a 3.5 million cases. A debilitating infection from the parasitic Guinea worm is inching closer to global eradication, with an all-time low of only 10 human cases reported worldwide in 2025, the Carter Center announced . If health workers can fully wipe out the worms, it will be only the second human disease to be eradicated, after smallpox. Guinea worm ( Dracunculus medinensis ) is a parasitic nematode transmitted in water. More specifically, it's found in waters that contain small crustacean copepods, which harbor the worm's larvae. If ... [Read More]

Feb 2nd, 2026 - Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... By MARK SCOLFORO, Associated Press The spotlight is on Gobbler's Knob in western Pennsylvania on Monday morning, when handlers of a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil announce whether he saw his own shadow , thereby predicting six more weeks of winter or an early spring. Thousands attend the annual event that exploded in popularity after the 1993 Bill Murray movie, "Groundhog Day." It's part of a tradition rooted in European agricultural life, marking the midpoint between the shortest day of the year on the winter solstice and the spring equinox . ... [Read More]

Feb 1st, 2026 - More than half a century after astronauts last left the lunar surface, NASA is preparing to send a crew of four back to the moon on a fly-by mission that will sling them around the far side. The mission is called Artemis II, and if all goes according to plan, it could launch as early as next week. When it does, the astronauts will climb aboard NASA's most powerful rocket and begin a journey that could take them farther into space than humans have ever been before. Like the missions that preceded Apollo 11, the first moon landing, Artemis II is a test flight, designed to test whether the ... [Read More]

Feb 1st, 2026 - ( The Conversation ) – According to legend, if the groundhog sees his shadow on February 2nd, there will be six more weeks of winter; if not, an early spring is predicted. Of course groundhogs – also known as woodchucks – don't emerge at this time just to be furry weather predictors. So what's the real reason? Research into groundhog biology shows they have other priorities in early February than mingling with the people of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. It's Groundhog Day! Groundhog Day appears to have  European roots . Early February is midway between the winter ... [Read More]

Feb 1st, 2026 - Follow Earth on Google Deep layers of molten rock inside large rocky planets have been shown to generate magnetic fields strong enough to persist for billions of years. Such long-lived shields can decide whether a planet holds onto its atmosphere or is slowly stripped bare by radiation. Magnetism from molten depths Under the extreme pressures found deep inside super-Earths, molten mantle material has been observed to become electrically conductive in ways that can power planetary magnetism. Miki Nakajima and colleagues at the University of Rochester document this behavior by showing that ... [Read More]

Feb 1st, 2026 - You are not logged into your account. You have a registered email address and password on pressherald.com, but we are unable to locate a paid subscription attached to these credentials. Please Thank you for your support of local journalism! An underpass installed beneath a busy stretch of road in Eliot a few years ago has led to "a substantial reduction in turtle mortalities," according to a state biologist. In 2021, the Maine Department of Transportation partnered with federal and state wildlife agencies to install a wide culvert designed to help turtles, including the endangered Blanding's ... [Read More]

Feb 1st, 2026 - Follow Earth on Google Right after the universe began, nothing looked familiar. Space was packed with heat and motion. Matter had not yet settled into atoms or even protons. Instead, everything existed in a frantic state made of the smallest building blocks , racing around at nearly the speed of light. This phase did not last long. It flickered by in the first microseconds, then cooled just enough for the matter we know today to take shape. That brief moment still matters. It set the rules for how particles behave, how forces work, and why the universe looks the way it does now. Physicists ... [Read More]

Feb 1st, 2026 - Here are three smart tricks, based on an understanding of frictional forces, to beat a slippery slope. I don't know who invented this crazy challenge, but the idea is to put someone in a carved-out ice bowl and see if they can get out. Check it out ! The bowl is shaped like the inside of a sphere, so the higher up the sides you go, the steeper it gets. If you think an icy sidewalk is slippery, try going uphill on an icy sidewalk. What do you do when faced with a problem like this? You build a physics model, of course. We'll start with modeling how people walk on flat ground, and then we'll ... [Read More]