Technologies

Space Cities Inside Asteroids Could Actually Work, Scientists Say

The plan «on the edge of science and science fiction» involves an asteroid, an expandable mesh bag and a whole lot of audacity.

Good news, Earthlings. We have more to look forward to than just the drab landscape of the moon or the inhospitable surface of Mars when it comes to far-flung future human civilizations off this rock. We might one day be living la vida asteroid.

Yes, space-faring piles of rocky rubble (like famous asteroid Bennu) could be home sweet home. A group of scientists at the University of Rochester in New York worked out a plan for turning asteroids into spinning space cities with artificial gravity. The researchers published a «wildly theoretical» study in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences earlier this year.

«Our paper lives on the edge of science and science fiction,» said co-author Adam Frank in a University of Rochester statement last week. Frank is a professor of physics and astronomy at the school.

The basic concept behind the asteroid city builds on an idea called the O’Neill cylinder, a rotating space colony design proposed by physicist Gerard O’Neill in the 1970s. The rotation creates artificial gravity. Think of something along the lines of the cylindrical Cooper Station in the movie Interstellar. It’s a fascinating idea, but it would be difficult and expensive to transport enough material into space to make a large-scale O’Neill cylinder.

This is where things get wilder. The Rochester research team proposes a way to turn a rock pile of an asteroid into a cylinder by surrounding it with a thin, high-strength mesh bag made from carbon nanofibers. It would have an accordion-like design.

«A cylindrical containment bag constructed from carbon nanotubes would be extremely light relative to the mass of the asteroid rubble and the habitat, yet strong enough to hold everything together,» said study co-author Peter Miklavcic, a doctoral candidate in mechanical engineering.

Spinning an asteroid would cause its rubble to break apart, expanding the bag and creating a layer of rock against it. That layer would provide radiation shielding for a colony inside the cylinder while the continued spin would create artificial gravity.

It sounds far-fetched, but Frank said the technologies and engineering behind the asteroid city technically obey the laws of physics. «Based on our calculations, a 300-meter-diameter asteroid just a few football fields across could be expanded into a cylindrical space habitat with about 22 square miles of living area,» Frank said. «That’s roughly the size of Manhattan.»

Of course, bagging and spinning an asteroid wouldn’t be simple. The researchers suggest using solar-powered rubble cannons to get the spin going. There’s also the matter of constructing a human-safe colony on the interior, but we can leave those challenges for the future.

Sci-fi writers have long envisioned life on asteroids. The paper provides a new way of thinking through that possibility in a way that could protect human occupants and make them feel more at home. It’s a good companion piece to another recent space thought experiment that offered up a plan for building a «forest bubble» on Mars.

My imagination is now taking me from my cozy quarters inside an asteroid to a vacation destination in a Martian nature reserve. This may not be relegated to the realm of sci-fi forever. «Space cities might seem like a fantasy now,» Frank said, «but history shows that a century or so of technological progress can make impossible things possible.»

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Aug. 20, #1523

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle No. 1,523 for Wednesday, Aug. 20.

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 is a fun word. Two letters repeat, so don’t forget once you find a correct letter, you can reuse it in another spot. 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.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has two separate repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has one vowel, and it’s one of the repeated letters, so you’ll see it twice.

Wordle hint No. 3: Start letter.

Today’s Wordle answer begins with L.

Wordle hint No. 4: Animal kingdom

Today’s Wordle answer is an animal.

Wordle hint No. 5: Second meaning

Today’s Wordle answer is a domesticated pack animal of the camel family.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is LLAMA.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, No. 1,522 for Aug. 19, was ROWDY.

Recent Wordle answers

Aug. 15, No. 1,518: LEVEL

Aug. 16 No. 1,519: MATTE

Aug. 17, No. 1,520: LOUSY

Aug. 18, No. 1,521: ISSUE

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Aug. 20, #801

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle No. 801 for Wednesday, Aug. 20.

Looking for the most recent 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, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is a real headache. The NYT puzzle writers are really pulling some obscure connections out of the air, and I did not do well today at all. Need some help? Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

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

Yellow group hint: Ebony and ivory.

Green group hint: They go together.

Blue group hint: Spinning.

Purple group hint: There’s a bend in these.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Black-and-white things.

Green group: Pairs of rods.

Blue group: Things that rotate about a vertical axis.

Purple group: Rods that curve at one end.

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

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is black-and-white things. The four answers are domino, piano keys, yin-yang symbol and zebra.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is pairs of rods. The four answers are chopsticks, claves, knitting needles and ski poles.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is things that rotate about a vertical axis. The four answers are barber pole, carousel, ceiling fan and lazy Susan.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is rods that curve at one end. The four answers are candy cane, crochet hook, crook and crowbar.

Technologies

Made by Google Pixel 10 Event Watch Party: Watch the New Phone Reveals With Us Tomorrow

Our live show begins Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. ET (9:30 a.m. PT) and will lead right into the Made by Google event.

The Pixel 10 series will get its big reveal on Wednesday, and you can watch the Made by Google event right alongside CNET’s editors.

Starting at 12:30 p.m. ET (9:30 a.m. PT), the Pixel 10 watch party will kick off on CNET’s YouTube channel. Hosts Bridget Carey and Iyaz Akhtar will review and analyze details and rumors about the Pixel 10.

Preshow guests include CNET Managing Editor Patrick Holland, who will share what we already know about the Pixel 10 (Google’s been openly teasing the phone line for weeks). Minutes before the event begins, Senior Editor Mike Sorrentino will call in from the show floor.

Next comes the Made by Google event, which starts at 10 a.m. PT and will be broadcast on our livestream.

When the Made by Google event wraps, our post-show begins with CNET Senior Editor Abrar Al-Heeti and Mashable’s Timothy Beck Werth calling in to discuss all the reveals.

Want to join our show? You can leave questions or comments using the live chat on CNET’s YouTube page.

CNET is also running a Pixel 10 live blog throughout the event, and you can check out every Pixel 10 rumor we’ve heard so far.