Technologies

This Lunar Resource Is So Valuable It Could Spark a New Gold Rush

Interlune has a plan to extract Helium-3, a substance worth a reported $20,000,000 per kilogram, from the moon. Here’s how.

There’s a resource in lunar soil so valuable it could ignite a 21st-century gold rush. At a reported value of $20 million per kilogram, this material is roughly 150 times more valuable than gold due to its potential use in fusion power plants, cooling for quantum computers, and its current use in detecting attempted smuggling of nuclear materials for national security purposes.

Seattle-based startup Interlune is one of a handful of space resource extraction companies aiming to harness this material to establish a lunar economy. It has designed a prototype to extract it from the moon’s surface and a plan to bring it home.

NASA’s Artemis Program is developing key infrastructure to return to the moon and stay, creating an opportunity for companies like Interlune to bring their own technologies and business plans to the lunar surface.

The company has built a full-scale prototype excavator with the help of Vermeer, makers of industrial and agricultural machinery, that it’s currently testing on Earth. But with the moon’s lower gravity, lack of atmosphere, and unique soil composition, there are several different factors at play that Interlune needs to optimize for.

Interlune says it is also going to be using its Helium-3 extraction process to harvest Helium-3 from Earth, but Earth’s supply of Helium-3 is extremely limited. The primary way Earth’s supply of Helium-3 increases is through the decay of tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen used in applications such as nuclear reactors, fusion reactors, and weapons. Tritium itself is also very scarce and expensive, costing tens of thousands of dollars per gram.

On the other hand, the Helium-3 on the moon was made by the sun and deposited on the lunar surface via the solar wind over billions of years. Solar wind is a stream of charged particles emitted by the sun that can cause damage to Earthly technologies like power grids, satellites and communication networks. Earth’s magnetic field acts like a powerful shield against the solar wind which benefits us in many ways, but it is also part of what makes Helium-3 so scarce and valuable here on Earth.

Deliveries of Helium-3 are planned to start in 2029, and Interlune already has purchase agreements with companies like Maybell and Bluefors, which need Helium-3 for building the chandelier-like dilution refrigerators that cool quantum computers to near absolute zero so they can function.

To see Interlune’s prototype lunar excavator in action, check out the video in this article.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for April 20, #574

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for April 20 No. 574.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition included A’s, B’s and C’s as clues, which made the grid look kind of funny. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Golden State sports.

Green group hint: Beantown teams.

Blue group hint: Do you believe in miracles?

Purple group hint: Keep running.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: California baseball teams.

Green group: Shortened nicknames for Boston teams.

Blue group: Associated with the Miracle on Ice.

Purple group: World marathon majors.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is California baseball teams. The four answers are A’s, Angels, Giants and Padres.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is shortened nicknames for Boston teams. The four answers are B’s, C’s, Pats and Sox.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is associated with the Miracle on Ice. The four answers are 1980, Brooks, hockey and Lake Placid.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is world marathon majors. The four answers are Berlin, Boston, Chicago and Tokyo.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Monday, April 20

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for April 20

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? I found this puzzle a nice, easy one, Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: All-caps reply to a spammy political text
Answer: STOP

5A clue: Number of seasons that «Seinfeld» and «The Office» each ran
Answer: NINE

6A clue: Wild party, informally
Answer: RAGER

7A clue: Swedish furniture giant
Answer: IKEA

8A clue: Long-lasting salon treatment
Answer: PERM

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Chinese zodiac animal
Answer: SNAKE

2D clue: Chinese zodiac animal
Answer: TIGER

3D clue: Hour following midnight
Answer: ONEAM

4D clue: The «p» of m.p.h.
Answer: PER

6D clue: Tombstone letters
Answer: RIP

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for April 20, #1766

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for April 20, No. 1,766.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle has a couple of rare letters in it. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.