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Haunting new image of Venus snapped during spacecraft flyby

BepiColombo, which was enlisted to help search for life in Venus’s clouds last year, grabs a startling new photo of the hellish planet.

The spacecraft BepiColombo is going to Mercury, but it’s taking a roundabout way of getting there. It skimmed by Venus this week for what’s called a «gravity assist maneuver» that helps it aim for the innermost planet in our solar system. During the flyby, it snapped a new image of the planet in haunting black and white.

BepiColombo is a joint mission from the European Space Agency and Japan’s space agency JAXA. It previously zipped by Venus in 2020. The new image comes to us courtesy of a black and white camera. It makes Venus look like a glowing disk against the darkness of space.

The spacecraft photobombed Venus. You can spot an antenna and part of BepiColombo’s body in the image.

BepiColombo launched in 2018. «During its seven-year cruise to the smallest and innermost planet of the Solar System, BepiColombo makes one flyby at Earth, two at Venus and six at Mercury to brake against the gravitational pull of the sun in order to enter orbit around Mercury,» ESA said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Mercury-bound spacecraft isn’t the only visitor to Venus this week. It’s half of a rare double flyby. The NASA and ESA Solar Orbiter zoomed by on Aug. 9 on its way to check out the sun’s poles. Solar Orbiter wasn’t able to snap the planet, so BepiColombo is our best source for Venus views from the flyby events.

The flybys are giving scientists a chance to investigate Venus’ environment. The planet has had a high profile lately due to intriguing gas measurements, though a study from earlier this year suggests Venus can’t sustain life in its clouds.

JAXA currently has its Akatsuki orbiter in residence. Venus will soon be under more intense study as NASA and ESA are developing a trio of missions to send to the unfriendly inferno planet that’s known for its sulfuric acid clouds. In the meantime, we can enjoy the view from BepiColombo.

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, Nov. 29

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Nov. 29.

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? It’s Saturday, so it’s a long 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: Hockey disks
Answer: PUCKS

6A clue: Signature headwear for Mr. Monopoly
Answer: TOPHAT

7A clue: Seedy establishment?
Answer: NURSERY

8A clue: Bioweapon at the center of a 2001 envelope scare
Answer: ANTHRAX

9A clue: Cleverly skillful
Answer: ADROIT

10A clue: Sleeping enclosure for a pet dog
Answer: CRATE

11A clue: Picks up the tab
Answer: PAYS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Play, as a film character
Answer: PORTRAY

2D clue: Ultimate consequences
Answer: UPSHOTS

3D clue: Sweetheart, in French
Answer: CHERIE

4D clue: 24-___ gold
Answer: KARAT

5D clue: River in which Achilles was dipped (except for his heel!)
Answer: STYX

6D clue: Frozen landscape
Answer: TUNDRA

7D clue: Civil rights org. co-founded by W.E.B. Du Bois
Answer: NAACP


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Technologies

Repair Your Electronics at Home With This Rare Black Friday Discount on the iFixit Pro Tech Go Toolkit

This toolkit rarely goes on sale, so take advantage of this opportunity to snag it for only $40.

While Black Friday is an excellent time to replace old smartphones or broken laptops at a discount, not everyone is looking to splurge on new tech right now. If you’re shopping on a budget, or simply like the devices that you have and aren’t ready for an upgrade, investing in an electronics repair kit may be a wise option. We’ve spotted a discount on the iFixit Pro Tech Go tech toolkit, bringing its price down to just $40. But don’t delay, Black Friday is in its final hours and this kit rarely goes on sale.

The iFixit Pro Tech Go kit can be used to open up and repair a wide range of electronics, including smartphones, laptops, gaming consoles, and smart home devices for DIY repairs like battery or screen replacements. The kit has a 32-bit Moray driver kit, an opening tool, a suction handle, a jimmy, a spudger and angled tweezer to carefully open your devices.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.


Repairing your own tech can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars. It also reduces e-waste by helping your devices last longer rather than throwing them away over minor issue. As of this year, all 50 states have introduced right-to-repair legislation designed to give people a legal right to fix their own tech, and several states have already signed it into law.

You can check out more deals from iFixIt now on Amazon. Plus, for other budget buys, check out our roundup of the best Black Friday deals under $100.

Why this deal matters

This is a record low price on a repair kit that rarely goes on sale. While we did see a modest discount on the iFixit Pro Tech Go toolkit during Amazon Prime Day in July, it was not marked down for October Prime Day or other sales such as Memorial Day or Labor Day. As such, it’s fairly unlikely that we’ll see it go on sale again this season, so this might be your last chance to get the toolkit for only $40.

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Technologies

Don’t Say Goodbye to Black Friday Yet. These Rare Apple Discounts Are Still Going Strong

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