Technologies

Survivor planet around dead star gives us a peek at our solar system’s future

Maybe we should move to a moon of Jupiter before our sun dies.

Our sun has a time limit. It’ll reach the end of its life around 5 billion years from now. What will our solar system look like after the sun’s death throes? Astronomers found a distant solar system that hints at the fate of the planets in ours. Earth will probably get whacked, but Jupiter might survive.

A study published Wednesday in the journal Nature details a Jupiter-like planet in a Jupiter-like orbit around a dead, white dwarf star. The system is located near the center of the Milky Way and its discovery via the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii shows that some of the planets in our own system could continue to exist even after our star goes through its inevitable end-of-life tantrum in the far distant future.

«This evidence confirms that planets orbiting at a large enough distance can continue to exist after their star’s death,» said lead author Joshua Blackman, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Tasmania in Australia. «Given that this system is an analog to our own solar system, it suggests that Jupiter and Saturn might survive the sun’s red giant phase, when it runs out of nuclear fuel and self-destructs.»

Our sun is expected to move through a few phases when it dies. It will expand into a red giant, a phase NASA describes as «typically the most violent time in a star’s life.» This is when Earth will take a beating and become uninhabitable and likely destroyed.

Next up, the sun will settle into its white dwarf form as a dead star that is cooling and fading. That’s the kind of star the astronomers spotted the Jupiter-like planet orbiting. Keck Observatory shared a video animation of what that distant solar system and its survivor planet may have experienced.

Co-author David Bennett of the University of Maryland and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center suggested a move to a moon of Jupiter and Saturn might be worth considering. That assumes humanity is still around. It means our long-term ambitions for interplanetary life should include a look at some of Jupiter’s tempting moons, like Europa, the target of an upcoming NASA mission.

Moving to Jupiter’s neighborhood wouldn’t solve all our problems. As Bennett pointed out, «…we would not be able to rely on heat from the sun as a white dwarf for very long.»

Some previous research, including a 2020 paper describing a giant planet that dodged destruction by its own star, show that survival is a possibility despite these star’s tendencies to go out in a blaze of glory. Scientists are still working out just how common or rare this might be.

Our sun’s demise is not a pressing problem for humanity, but it’s not a bad idea to think ahead. An extremely optimistic, sci-fi-inspired vision might see a far-future human civilization reaching out to live not just beyond Earth and Mars and even Jupiter, but all the way into other solar systems long before our planet becomes toast.

Technologies

Rumors of a Final Fantasy 9 Remake Heat Up After Social Media Tease

Fans think a social media post from Square Enix might signal a remake announcement of one of the franchise’s beloved games.

A remake of the game Final Fantasy 9 might be on deck as the 25th anniversary of the beloved RPG approaches. At least that’s what some fans believe after the game’s publisher Square Enix posted on X a screenshot with a line from the original 2000 game, «My memories will be part of the sky…» with the caption, «If you know, you know 😭.»

If you know, you know 😭 pic.twitter.com/PZsUfJA1o5

— Square Enix (@SquareEnix) April 7, 2025

The line, from the ending of the original game, has some speculating that Square Enix will soon announce a remake, as it has for Final Fantasy 7. The company set up a new website for the game as the anniversary date approaches. There’s been reports of a possible remake since as far back as 2021 when a purported list of games in the pipeline was leaked.

Not everyone, however, is happy with at least one player suggesting that the original game is so good, it doesn’t need a remake.

Square Enix didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Technologies

Apple Shoppers Are Reportedly Panic Buying iPhones Amid Looming Tariffs

Apple Stores saw a surge in foot traffic over the weekend amid concerns over upcoming tariffs.

The fear of soaring iPhone prices amid incoming tariffs is driving some customers to make purchases.

Bloomberg reports that Apple Store employees saw an uptick in foot traffic over the weekend amid growing concerns that iPhone prices could rise after new tariffs are imposed. iPhones, which account for the majority of Apple’s revenue, are manufactured in China, a country now facing tariffs of up to 54%.

One employee told Bloomberg the surge felt a bit like the holiday shopping season. Although many customers reportedly asked about potential price hikes, the company has not provided store employees with guidance on how to respond to those inquiries.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The company’s valuation fell by more than half a trillion dollars late last week, marking its worst performance over that time span in more than two decades.

The concept of iPhone panic-buying comes as Apple’s share price continues to decline. Although it could boost short-term sales for the iPhone maker, the greater impact of tariffs won’t be felt until the following quarter.

According to Bloomberg, Apple has been stockpiling inventory to brace for the tariffs and is accelerating production shifts to India, where tax rates are lower. The Times of India reports that Apple transported five plane loads of iPhones from India and China to the US in the last week of March as part of this effort to maintain stable pricing.

Apple also manufactures some of its products in other countries, including Vietnam, Malaysia and Ireland.

Technologies

We Now Know the Price for Nintendo’s Controversial Switch 2 Welcome Tour

Fans aren’t thrilled that the $450 console doesn’t simply include a free copy of the tutorial game.

We now know a price for the Switch 2 Welcome Tour, which acts as a user tutorial for the various new features of the Nintendo Switch 2. According to IGN, the game will cost $10. A representative for Nintendo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The console’s specs were mostly unveiled during a Nintendo Treehouse event on April 3. That event also featured the announcement of a new game called Switch 2 Welcome Tour, which acts as a user tutorial for the various new features of the Switch 2. It quickly became controversial, with fans posting online that they thought the game should be free and included with the new console.

Per Nintendo, the game will feature «tech demos, minigames, and quizzes» for players to complete. The primary subject matter is the various new features on the Switch 2, like using the controller as a mouse and the upgraded HD Rumble feature. The game shows off some of the design elements of the Joy-Con controllers. For example, the upgraded HD Rumble feature puts the vibration motors «close to where your hands are holding the controllers» to intensify the vibrations. The minigames award medals, which are then used to access new parts of the game until the player has completed everything.

Read more: The 17 Best Nintendo Switch Games Right Now

Nintendo of America’s Vice President of Product and Player Experience, Bill Trinen, told IGN that there’s enough content in the Welcome Tour to justify the $10 price.

«I think it’s going to be a great product,» he said. It’s really for people that want more information about the system rather than necessarily a quick intro to everything it does. And for that reason and just the amount of care and work that the team put into it, I think it was decided that, ‘Yeah, this feels like $9.99 is not an exorbitant price. It feels like a good value for what you’re getting out of the product.’ «

Should a tutorial game cost money?

Fans have already been criticizing the gaming giant for the prices of its release titles. Mario Kart World is set to go on sale for $80 around the same time the Switch 2 is launched, making it one of the most expensive games Nintendo has ever released.

The fact that the tutorial game doesn’t come included with the console — as was the case with Astro’s Playroom on the PlayStation 5 — displeased many Nintendo fans, who had something to say about it.

«That’s definitely a…choice? Not sure I understand the idea of making it paid when it should be a built-in app in every system,» Reddit user Rudy69 said.

«The audacity to make a game that helps you learn about the Nintendo Switch 2 and make it PAID,» argued X user CanadianZar. «No one is buying this game. Hell… Astro’s Playroom walks all over this and IT WAS FREE.»

Other people expressed interest in learning about the new controls but don’t want to shell out for the tutorial. Instead, their plan is to wait for gaming YouTubers to post Let’s Play videos about the game and watch it from there.

Read more: I Played the Nintendo Switch 2: Is It Worth It?

Just because people complain doesn’t mean that the game won’t sell well. Per Guide Strats, Breath of the Wild had a huge number of complaints on social media. The game would go on to outsell its own console when it and the original Nintendo Switch launched together in March 2017.

The game is set to launch on June 5, the same day as the Nintendo Switch 2 console. Preorders for the console have been delayed due to the new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, but the launch date is unchanged.