Technologies
NASA captures violent flash from sun’s mini eruption
Check out this beautiful image of our very own star’s minor tantrum.
On Thursday, our sun released its pent-up energy in the form of a little magnetic bomb. It’s called a solar flare, and NASA caught the whole thing on camera.
Solar flares, which are sudden explosions on the sun’s surface caused by strong magnetic forces, are of concern to astronomers because these events can impact electrical power grids on Earth, causing regional blackouts. They also risk interference with radio communications.
«This event, in particular, disrupted radio communications over the Indian and Pacific oceans — so its likely biggest impact was a disruption of maritime communications,» said Jesse Woodroffe, a program scientist and expert in space weather at NASA.
Even more jarring is if astronauts are in the flares’ line of fire, such detonations may greatly threaten space traveler and spacecraft safety. The good news, though, is NASA categorized the recent flare as a category M5.5 midlevel eruption, which corresponds to both a moderate severity and radio blackout threat for the side of the planet facing the burst.
«It’s not exceptionally strong in the grand scheme of things,» Woodroffe said, «but it nevertheless can have significant effects depending on what portion of the Earth is sunlit at the time of the flare.»
For now we can just sit back and admire the spectacular image captured by the agency in «extreme ultraviolet light,» colorized in an absolutely mesmerizing teal blue.
Around 300 M-class flares occur during each solar cycle, and they’re most likely to occur near solar maximum, a point we’re steadily approaching, according to Woodroffe. «Right now this is shaping up to be a much more active and interesting solar cycle than the last one. That means that we could be in store for solar activity the likes of which we haven’t seen in nearly 20 years.»
What causes a solar flare?
Instead of a glowing orb, think of the sun as a giant, flaming, spherical ocean. This ocean is so ridiculously hot, at 5,778 Kelvin (9940.73 Fahrenheit), that would-be atoms on the star are completely blasted apart into a gaseous mixture of ions and electrons called a plasma.
These particles, with varying positive and negative charges, work together to form the sun’s magnetic field lines, thereby deciding how the boiling ocean moves around. Think of it as a sort of immensely strong, magnetic soup — more precisely, picture a chicken noodle soup. The noodles are the sun’s magnetic fields.
However, just as stirring your soup in search of a baby carrot can tangle your noodles, these charged-up, magnetic lines can grow tangled, most often near sunspots. Eventually, as regions of the spaghetti-like magnetic fields form complex knots and push and pull on each other, they experience an energy overload.
That forces them to explode into space, revealing a fiery loop on the side of our enormous star, called a solar flare.
«There is also a potential for solar flares to cluster, meaning the occurrence of one could presage the appearance of more, potentially stronger flares,» Woodroffe said. «Thus, monitoring for events such as this is important because it could be the precursor of something more serious.»
And sometimes, the fiery loop stretches out until it becomes taut enough to sort of snap off, resulting in a coronal mass ejection. «A coronal mass ejection is, in essence, a little bit of the sun that gets blown off and sent flying into space towards Earth,» Woodroffe said.
Once it snaps off, the ejected portion heads directly toward our planet, picking up space-borne particles along the way and causing what’s called a solar storm. Thankfully, Earth’s atmosphere protects us from the brunt of the charged particles, with only relatively few getting caught in our planet’s shield. When that happens, though, we look up at these trapped, zippy particles in awe.
They appear to us as the Northern Lights.
«I don’t know if there was a coronal mass ejection associated with this flare, but we are expecting the possible arrival of a coronal mass ejection associated with a flare that occurred on Jan. 18,» Woodroffe said. «So, even if it’s not because of this flare, we could very well see some nice auroras this weekend.»
Technologies
Switch 2, PlayStation 5 Pro: The Best Gaming Hardware Available
Technologies
Nintendo Switch 2 Holiday Gift Guide for Parents
If a Switch 2 is on your child’s wishlist this year, this guide will answer all your questions.
The Nintendo Switch 2 is going to be the hot gift this holiday season. As it’s a new console, parents may not know the ins and outs of what they should buy.
You don’t need to rely on a letter to Santa to know which games to give with the Switch 2. I created this guide to answer your most pressing Switch 2 questions and help make holiday shopping a breeze. Keep in mind, many of these items will likely be on sale throughout the holiday season, so get ready to score a deal, too.
Which Switch 2 bundle to buy
Which Switch 2 game to buy for the holidays
Even though the Switch 2 is less than six months old, there’s still a wealth of games available for it, thanks to the console being backward compatible with the original Switch. Figuring out which game to buy with the Switch 2, beyond Mario Kart World, comes down to what kind of gamer the console is for. Here are some of my favorite picks.
The Switch 2 also has a wealth of games from well-known franchises, including:
Sonic X Shadow Generations ($50)
Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 ($70)
Gift ideas for family and friends
For the grandparents or other family members or friends who want to join in on the Switch 2 gift giving, there are plenty of options. One easy choice is more games, either for the Switch 2 games or the original Switch. Here’s CNET’s list of the Best Switch Games.
If the parents have the console and games covered, there are still some gifts that anyone with a Switch 2 will want.
FAQ
Do I need to buy any other cables for the Switch 2?
No. Inside the Switch 2 box is the power adapter for the console, as well as an HDMI cable and a dock to connect it to the TV. The HDMI cable is just shy of 5 feet long, so if you know the Switch 2 will be connected to a TV that’s farther away than that, you’ll need to get a longer cable.
Do I need to buy extra storage for the Switch 2?
The Switch 2 comes with 256GB of built-in storage, and that can fill up quickly if you buy a lot of games. To upgrade the storage, you’ll need to buy microSD Express cards, which are newer and still a little pricey. They do frequently get discounted, though, so just keep an eye on the prices.
Do I need to buy any subscriptions?
If you know the person you’re buying the Switch 2 for wants to play games online with their friends, such as Mario Kart World or Fortnite, then you should also consider a Switch Online subscription. There are two subscription tiers, with the $20 tier providing online access and access to retro NES, SNES and Game Boy titles, while the $50 Switch Online plus Expansion Pack tier adds N64 and Gamecube games, along with upgrade packs to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.
What are Switch 2 upgrade packs?
Original Switch games do work on the Switch 2, but they don’t make use of the additional graphical power offered in the newer console. For $10 to $20, a game for the original Switch can be upgraded to a Switch 2 game. Upgrading a game will increase its resolution, smooth out its frame rates, speed up loading times and add other features found only on the Switch 2. Not every game for the original Switch has an upgrade option, and it’s debatable whether some are worth the additional cost. This upgrade is available on the Nintendo eShop on the Switch 2 or Nintendo’s website, and games with the upgrade pack include Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Super Mario Party Jamboree and the upcoming Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.
Technologies
I’m Shocked That You Can Still Find the AirPods 4 on Sale for a Record-Low $99 After Cyber Monday
You can save $80 on some of Apple’s latest noise-canceling earbuds with this post-Cyber Monday deal if you act fast.
It’s been two days since Cyber Monday, which means that most of the very best bargains are starting to expire. So this could be your last chance to grab Apple’s latest AirPods 4 at a record-low price for quite some time.
Both Amazon and Walmart still have these flagship earbuds with noise-canceling capabilities on sale for just $99. That’s an $80 discount and the all-time lowest price we’ve seen since they hit shelves last year. It’s a pretty shocking that these deals haven’t vanished already, so we’d definitely recommend taking advantage of these savings sooner rather than later.
The AirPods 4 are Apple’s latest generation of non‑Pro earbuds, debuting in 2024. They’re made with the same H2 chip found in the AirPods Pro 2, delivering impressive sound quality — though not quite at the level of the newest AirPods Pro 3. The AirPods 4 have a more compact design, excellent voice‑calling performance, and Spatial Audio support for personalized listening.
The best part? This deal is for the ANC model, which CNET named an Editors’ Choice. These earbuds also come with a wireless charging case and a built‑in speaker that works with Apple’s Find My tracking service.
«With a slightly smaller design, improved sound and Apple’s powerful H2 chip features, the Apple AirPods 4 are a worthy upgrade,» said CNET audio expert David Carnoy in his AirPods 4 review. «But what really makes them special is the noise canceling in the step-up ANC model.»
Not sure if these Apple earbuds are right for you? You can find tons of other excellent pairs on sale in our roundup of all the best post-Cyber Monday headphone deals that are still live. Just note that deal are expiring by the minute, so be sure to get your order in soon.
HEADPHONE DEALS OF THE WEEK
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$248 (save $152)
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$170 (save $181)
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$398 (save $62)
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$200 (save $250)
Why this deal matters
Apple products rarely go on sale and when they do, stock tends to run out quickly. Combine that with the AirPods 4 being Apple’s latest non‑Pro AirPods and this discount being the year’s all‑time low price, and you’ve got a superb offer in your hands.
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