As the sun continues the tumultuous peak of its 11-year cycle, more instances of aurora borealis have been expected. The most recent instance was earlier in August when auroras lit up the skies in 18 states. It seems the Earth is in for another battering of solar material as another aurora has been forecast for Monday night, and it should be a pretty decent one for states in the northern US. 

According to NOAA, the Earth will experience a geomagnetic storm with a Kp 5 rating. For the uninitiated, the K-index is a measure of how strong geomagnetic storms are and a Kp 5 rating is designated as a «moderate» storm by NOAA. In general, the stronger the geomagnetic storm, the further south an aurora appears, and a Kp 5 will almost assuredly drag the northern lights into the US. 

This week’s geomagnetic storm comes to us courtesy of the sun. Per SpaceWeatherLive, there were a number of solar flares ejected from the sun over the last several days, a pattern of increased solar activity that also caused the aurora on Aug. 8. 

Where will the aurora be visible?

The states that can be expected to see it include Washington, the northern tip of Idaho, Montana, North and South Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota and the northern horn of Michigan. If it’s dark enough and people face north, it may also be visible in Wyoming, Iowa, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Of course, the best view will be in Alaska, where the whole state should be able to see the most intense part of the aurora. 

NOAA says the storm will peak at around 0300 to 0900 UTC, which translates to 11 p.m. through 5 a.m. ET (8 p.m. to 2 a.m. PT). 

Tips to see the aurora

If you live in one of the aforementioned states, your best bet is to get somewhere elevated and away from city or suburban light pollution, and then simply point yourself north. Photographers looking to catch a glimpse will want to use long exposure times to give the camera ample time to take in as much aurora light as possible. 

If you plan on taking a trip out to the sticks to see it, keep an eye out for shooting stars at the tail end of Perseids meteor shower and you may be able to spot some plants in the last planet parade of 2025.

Anthropic has announced a new experimental safety feature that allows its Claude Opus 4 and 4.1 artificial intelligence models to terminate conversations in rare, persistently harmful or abusive scenarios. The move reflects the company’s growing focus on what it calls «model welfare,» the notion that safeguarding AI systems, even if they’re not sentient, is a prudent step in alignment and ethical design.

According to Anthropic’s own research, the models were programmed to cut off dialogues after repeated harmful requests, such as for sexual content involving minors or instructions facilitating terrorism, especially when the AI had already refused and attempted to steer the conversation constructively. The AI may exhibit what Anthropic describes as «apparent distress,» which guided the decision to give Claude the ability to end these interactions in simulated and real-user testing.

Read also: Meta Is Under Fire for AI Guidelines on ‘Sensual’ Chats With Minors

When this feature is triggered, users can’t send additional messages in that particular chat, but they’re free to start a new conversation or edit and retry previous messages to branch off. Crucially, other active conversations remain unaffected.

Anthropic emphasizes that this is a last-resort measure, intended only after multiple refusals and redirects have failed. The company explicitly instructs Claude not to end chats when a user may be at imminent risk of self-harm or harm to others, particularly when dealing with sensitive topics like mental health.

Anthropic frames this new capability as part of an exploratory project in model welfare, a broader initiative that explores low-cost, preemptive safety interventions in case AI models were to develop any form of preferences or vulnerabilities. The statement says the company remains «highly uncertain about the potential moral status of Claude and other LLMs (large language models).»

Read also: Why Professionals Say You Should Think Twice Before Using AI as a Therapist

A new look into AI safety

Although rare and primarily affecting extreme cases, this feature marks a milestone in how Anthropic approaches AI safety. The new conversation-ending tool contrasts with earlier systems that focused solely on safeguarding users or avoiding misuse. Here, the AI is treated as a stakeholder in its own right, as Claude has the power to say, «this conversation isn’t healthy» and end it to safeguard the integrity of the model itself.

Anthropic’s approach has sparked broader discussion about whether AI systems should be granted protections to reduce potential «distress» or unpredictable behavior. While some critics argue that models are merely synthetic machines, others welcome this move as an opportunity to spark more serious discourse on AI alignment ethics.

«We’re treating this feature as an ongoing experiment and will continue refining our approach,» the company said in a post.

September is gearing up to be one of the most exciting months of the year for new technology launches, with Meta reportedly set to unveil its next-generation smart glasses. Codenamed Hypernova, according to Bloomberg, the glasses are set to start around $800 for the basic model — that’s at least $200 less than previously thought.

This pair of glasses will reportedly differ from the current Meta Ray-Bans due to the addition of a small augmented-reality display in the right lens of the glasses, which will only be visible to the wearer. On this display you’ll be able to see mini apps and alerts, and you’ll have control over the content with assistance from the same neural input wristband used to operate Meta’s Orion AR glasses.

When CNET Editor-at-Large Scott Stein tried out the concept wristband with Orion earlier this year, he noted that the gestures «weren’t perfect yet,» but that he could see their potential.

The Hypernova glasses will cost around $500 more than the Meta Ray-Bans, but Meta has apparently managed to slash that price from $1,000 by accepting lower margins. It hopes that this will help boost demand for the glasses, but you’ll likely pay more for prescription lenses or style variations.