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From today's featured article

Diagram of a prostate tumor pressing on the urethra

Prostate cancer is the uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate. It is often detected through blood tests for prostate-specific antigen, followed by a biopsy. Most prostate tumors (diagram pictured) cause no health problems, and are managed with surveillance. Dangerous tumors can be surgically removed or destroyed with radiation therapy. Those whose cancer spreads receive hormone therapy, targeted therapy, and eventually chemotherapy. Most tumors are confined to the prostate, and 99% of men survive ten years post-diagnosis. Those whose tumors have metastasized to distant body sites have a poorer prognosis; 30% to 40% are still alive five years after diagnosis. Each year 1.2 million men are diagnosed with prostate cancer and 350,000 die of the disease, making it the second-leading cause of cancer in men. Prostate tumors were first described in the mid-19th century. Hormone therapies were developed in the mid–20th century, resulting in Nobel Prizes for their developers Charles Huggins and Andrzej Schally. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Engraving of the columns, c. 1716

... that the top of the Julier Pass, 2,284 metres (7,493 ft) above sea level, is flanked by two ancient Roman columns (pictured)?
... that executive John Spytek helped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sign Tom Brady, more than 20 years after Spytek played with him?
... that a Florida TV station's decision to fire one of its main newscasters led to picketing?
... that the wuxia star Wu Suxin passed as a man in several of her films?
... that the pilot episode for a BBC series on a suicide prevention charity made some critics laugh?
... that Syrian vlogger Hayla Ghazal used online humour to explore the limitations placed on women in the Arab world?
... that the Polish subgenre of speculative fiction known as klerykal fiction emerged in the 1990s as a response to societal fears of church influence in politics?
... that the bugia, a ceremonial candlestick used by Latin Catholic bishops, is named after the Algerian city of Béjaïa, which was a source of candle wax?
... that Brooklyn's Roll-A-Palace has been called "the front-runner of the roller-disco craze"?

In the news

Fireball from the Learjet crash

A Learjet 55 crashes (explosion pictured) into multiple buildings and houses in Philadelphia, United States, killing at least 7 people and injuring 22 others.
A Beechcraft 1900 crashes in Unity State, South Sudan, killing 20 of the 21 people onboard.
Ahmed al-Sharaa is appointed president of the Syrian transitional government.
American Eagle Flight 5342 collides with an army helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., United States, killing all 67 people on board both aircraft.
Miloš Vučević announces his resignation as prime minister of Serbia following anti-corruption protests over the Novi Sad railway station canopy collapse.

On this day...

February 4: World Cancer Day (2000)

Execution of John Rogers

1488 – Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias landed in Mossel Bay, becoming the first known European to have sailed around the Cape of Good Hope and the southern tip of Africa.
1555 – Marian Restoration: Because he opposed Catholicism, John Rogers was burned at the stake (pictured) as the first English Protestant executed for heresy under the reign of Mary I.
1945 – World War II: American forces liberated the Santo Tomas Internment Camp in Manila, the largest enemy-civilian internment camp run by the Empire of Japan in the Philippines.
1999 – The Panamanian-flagged freighter New Carissa ran aground near Coos Bay, Oregon, causing one of the worst oil spills in the state's history.

Joan of France (d. 1505)
Constance Markievicz (b. 1868)
Betty Friedan (b. 1921)
Louis Jordan (d. 1975)

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Today's featured picture

The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is an astronomical facility operated by the European Southern Observatory, located on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It consists of four individual optical telescopes, each equipped with a primary mirror measuring 8.2 metres (27 feet) in diameter, which are generally used separately but can be combined to achieve a very high angular resolution. The VLT array is complemented by four movable auxiliary telescopes with 1.8-metre (5.9-feet) apertures, and the VLT Survey Telescope (at right in the photograph). This photograph, taken at sunset in 2015, shows the VLT and its associated telescopes and supporting buildings.

Photograph credit: ESO / Gerhard Hüdepohl; retouched by Huntster

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