The USGS reports Episode 42 of the Halemaʻumaʻu eruption ended at 11:38 p.m. HST on February 15, 2026, and the eruption is currently paused; light tephra fall of fine ash and Pele's hair was reported to the southwest.
Officials ordered evacuations near Howardwick as the 8 Ball fire burned roughly 9,000 acres with about 25% containment; authorities said an evening update on closures and conditions was expected.
A coalition of health and environmental groups sued the EPA after it rescinded the 2009 endangerment finding; the suit was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Christy Carlson Romano said a recent cancer screening returned concerning results and she is scheduled for a PET scan later this week.
NASA's Mars Global Localization allowed Perseverance to determine its position to within about 25 centimeters on Feb. 2, 2026, by matching a 360-degree navcam orthomosaic to Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter imagery.
NASA's Perseverance rover uses a new Mars Global Localization algorithm to locate itself on Mars autonomously to about 10 inches (25 cm); the capability was first used in routine operations on Feb. 2 and again on Feb. 16.
Sysco is launching a Home Grown by Sysco pilot on Feb. 24 that will identify about 10,000 locally sourced products in three U.S. regions and two Canadian sites, and the company plans to expand the program across the United States within 12 months.
NASA reports that six planets — Mercury, Venus, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Jupiter — form a visible alignment most clearly shortly after sunset on Feb. 28, though Uranus and Neptune generally require optical aids and some planets will sit low near the horizon.
Strong winds drove the Ranger Road wildfire across the Oklahoma Panhandle into southwest Kansas, burning about 145,000 acres and injuring multiple firefighters; evacuations were ordered in several communities.
Researchers reported hundreds of new Asgard microbes and filmed live Asgard cells crawling, offering genetic and behavioral clues to how complex eukaryotic cells evolved.
