Technologies

Google Doodle celebrates ‘father of fiber optics’ Charles K. Kao

His landmark research laid the groundwork for the internet.

In 1966, a Chinese-born electrical engineer and physicist named Charles K. Kao co-authored a proposal that would revolutionize global communications and lay the groundwork for the internet we know today.

Along with collaborator George Hockham, Kao proposed using thin glass fibers to transmit data across long distances, replacing the bulky copper wires then in use in telecommunications. Though initially rejected, his proposal would transform communications technology and the industry as a whole.

To highlight Kao’s contribution to technology, Google will honor the engineer on Thursday with a Doodle celebrating his 88th birthday. The animated Doodle depicts Kao, widely known as «the father of fiber optics,» using a green fiber laser to transmit data from one end of the Doodle to the other.

Born in Shanghai on Nov. 4, 1933, Kao studied English, French and the Chinese classics before moving to England to study electrical engineering. After earning a bachelor’s degree, Kao went to work at Standard Telecommunication Laboratories in Harlow, England, while he was working toward a doctorate in electrical engineering.

At the time, glass fibers could carry light pulses for telephone signals only 20 meters (65 feet) before nearly all the light dissipated. But Kao’s 1966 landmark paper Dielectric-Fiber Surface Waveguides for Optical Frequenciessuggested it would be possible to transmit light signals more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) across a fiber of ultrapure glass.

Kao and Hockhamnoted in their conclusion that «a fiber of glassy material» of a specific construction «represents a possible practical optical waveguide withimportant potential as a new form of communication medium.»

Four years later, inspired by Kao’s vision, a group of researchers produced the first ultrapure fiber.

Kao’s landmark research allowed the rapid expansion of broadband communications through the hundreds of millions of miles of fiber optic cable that deliver massive amounts of data around the globe in a split second. For his work, Kao would share the joint Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009.

Kao would go on to oversee implementation of fiber optic networks worldwide and focus on education in the 1980s, serving as vice chancellor of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and founding Hong Kong’s Independent Schools Foundation.

Kao died in 2018 at the age of 84.

Technologies

Verum Messenger Turns Five and Launches Offline Messaging on iPhone

Verum Messenger has marked its fifth anniversary with the release of a new feature that enables users to exchange messages without an internet connection.

The update, now available on iPhone, allows devices to communicate directly through a decentralized peer-to-peer architecture, bypassing servers, mobile networks and Wi-Fi. According to the company, messages are transmitted securely without relying on traditional internet infrastructure.

Unlike most offline communication tools that depend on Bluetooth, Verum’s approach uses encrypted device-to-device technology designed to operate independently of centralized systems.

Founded five years ago, Verum Messenger is positioned as a privacy-first platform. The app does not require a phone number or email address for registration and generates encryption keys locally on the user’s device. The company states that user data and message content are not stored on centralized servers.

Over time, Verum has expanded beyond messaging to include features such as encrypted calls, screenshot and screen-recording protection, self-destructing messages, anonymous email, a built-in VPN, eSIM connectivity and on-device AI tools.

The offline messaging update reflects a broader push toward more resilient communication tools, particularly as concerns over network reliability, censorship and digital surveillance continue to grow.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Monday, Feb. 2

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 2

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? There are some tough clues today. 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? Read on. 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: Rock band with albums like «High Voltage» and «Flick of the Switch»
Answer: ACDC

5A clue: Stuck doing the same old, same old
Answer: INARUT

7A clue: Burning up
Answer: ONFIRE

8A clue: -tion, for one
Answer: SUFFIX

9A clue: Jared of 2025’s «Tron: Ares»
Answer: LETO

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Declare void, as a marriage
Answer: ANNUL

2D clue: ___ macchiato (espresso drink)
Answer: CAFFE

3D clue: Begin to veer off the road, say
Answer: DRIFT

4D clue: Odd little trinket
Answer: CURIO

5D clue: What Apple smartphones run on
Answer: IOS

6D clue: ___-Mex cuisine
Answer: TEX

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

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Feb. 2, #497

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 2, No. 497.

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 is a tough one. It helps to know a lot about two distinct locations and their sports teams. 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: Lone Star State.

Green group hint: Think of the Arch.

Blue group hint: You put cereal in this.

Purple group hint: Not four or six.