Technologies

The Boeing Starliner Launch Is Delayed: Here’s What to Know

The Starliner’s first crewed launch has been more than a decade in the making.

Not so fast, Boeing Starliner. Boeing’s first crewed spaceflight was scheduled to launch Monday night from Space Launch Complex 41 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, but it was postponed just two hours before liftoff. Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were on board and ready to fly when the launch was called off. On Tuesday, NASA said that the earliest the launch would happen would be Friday, May 10.

The mission was scrubbed because of a faulty oxygen relief valve on the Atlas V rocket that was set to send the Starliner capsule into space. The valve was «buzzing,» or opening and closing rapidly, during the launch countdown, Space.com reported.

The Atlas V rocket was created by the United Launch Alliance, which is a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

NASA says the mission will take the astronauts to the International Space Station for a little over a week, to test the Starliner spacecraft and its subsystems. The testing is the final step in certifying the Starliner for repeat use in transport missions to and from the ISS. Once it finally launches, the Starliner should reach the ISS approximately 26 hours after launch.

This is the first new spacecraft to head to the ISS since the SpaceX Demo-2 made the same voyage back in 2020. The Boeing Starliner started life in 2010, when it was selected by NASA to be the next reusable transport to the ISS.

«The arrival of a brand-new vehicle, the first crewed flight of a new-generation spacecraft, is a really big deal,» said Michael Barratt, one of seven residents of the ISS. «You leave nothing to chance.»

A mission 14 years in the making

The Starliner was initially conceived as a commercial effort to take more people into space. In 2014, NASA tapped Boeing and SpaceX, and chose Starliner to be one of the first privately constructed spacecraft to shuttle astronauts to the ISS. NASA wanted to lean more on private business to build and maintain such spacecraft, instead of performing all the work itself.

Test flights were delayed for several reasons, ranging from unfavorable weather conditions to problems with software. Tests were pushed back in 2019 and again in 2021, and eventually were delayed till 2022.

The unmanned test flight finally launched on May 19 of that year, with the mission wrapping up a week later. It was a huge win for the Boeing crew, since it opened the doors for a crewed mission to the space station. NASA was pretty pumped about it as well. But the crewed launch was pushed back because of various problems, including some with the Atlas V rocket that’s presenting the problem with the 2024 launch.

The spacecraft is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which is connected to its Artemis and moon to Mars plans.

How to watch the Boeing Starliner launch — eventually

NASA had planned to livestream Monday’s event on its YouTube channel, with commentary by Spaceflight Now’s Will Robinson-Smit. The direct video link is here, but of course the livestream is on hold until it happens.

Other YouTube channels had also planned to livestream the event, including SpaceX, Space.com’s VideoFromSpace channel and the Associated Press YouTube channel. We’ll update this story, and the video links, when a new launch date and time are announced.

CNET’s Gael Cooper contributed to this article.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, March 11

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for March 11.

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? I thought it was a bit tricky. 1-Down is one of those old-fashioned comic-book sounds that I had to remember how to spell correctly. 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: Study of the human mind, informally
Answer: PSYCH

6A clue: Common fixture in a gym bathroom
Answer: SCALE

7A clue: Kinda boring
Answer: HOHUM

8A clue: Like a commenter without a username, for short
Answer: ANON

9A clue: «All good between us?»
Answer: WEOK

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Old-fashioned «Yeah, right!»
Answer: PSHAW

2D clue: Coffeehouse pastry
Answer: SCONE

3D clue: Google alternative
Answer: YAHOO

4D clue: Sound of a dull thump
Answer: CLUNK

5D clue: Line on the bottom of a pant leg
Answer: HEM

Technologies

OnePlus and Oppo to Raise Smartphone Prices as Memory Costs Climb

Oppo says rising costs for key phone components will trigger price adjustments on some devices starting March 16.

Chinese smartphone-makers OnePlus and Oppo plan to raise prices on some existing models starting next week, according to a 9to5Google report citing GizmoChina and a notice posted on Oppo’s China online store.

In its notice, Oppo said it would adjust pricing after evaluating rising costs for several key components used in its mobile phones. The changes are expected to take effect around March 16 and will affect some of the company’s more affordable smartphones, as well as some OnePlus models.

Flagship devices — like those in the Find and Reno series — are not expected to be affected for now. The reported adjustments currently appear to be limited to China.

The move highlights growing pressure across the smartphone supply chain as component costs climb. Analysts say prices for memory and storage chips used in phones have been rising in recent months as demand surges across the tech industry.

Much of the chip demand is coming from the rapid buildout of AI data centers, which rely on large amounts of high-performance memory.

That pressure isn’t limited to Oppo and OnePlus. Analysts say smartphone brands across the industry are facing rising component costs amid increased demand for memory chips.

As manufacturers shift production toward higher-margin memory used in AI servers, supply for consumer electronics such as smartphones and laptops can tighten.

If component costs continue to rise, manufacturers may face difficult choices later this year, including raising retail prices or adjusting device specifications to offset higher manufacturing costs.

OnePlus and Oppo didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Technologies

Harvard Business Review Study Finds ‘AI Brain Fry’ Is Leaving Workers Mentally Fatigued

Study participants reported increased mental fatigue while using AI tools, but less burnout overall.

Workers who excessively use AI agents and tools at work are at increased risk of mental fatigue, according to a recent Harvard Business Review study. In certain industries, more than 25% of hired professionals report increased mental strain due to their role in AI oversight — though these professionals also generally experienced less burnout than peers who aren’t using AI.

This phenomenon — which the researchers refer to as «AI brain fry» — is described as a «‘buzzing’ feeling or a mental fog» that caused study participants to develop headaches and difficulty focusing and making decisions. Individuals pointed to being overwhelmed by large amounts of information and to frequent task switching as the reasons for these feelings.

Studied individuals experienced more brain fry when they utilized AI agents to manage a workload beyond their own cognitive capacity. When participants used AI to replace mundane, repetitive tasks, managing the growing number of tools led to increased mental fatigue.

Crucially, the study found that fewer individuals who used these AI agents reported workplace burnout.

The researchers predict that this is because burnout testing assesses emotional and physical distress. In contrast, they report, acute mental fatigue «is caused by marshalling attention, working memory and executive control beyond the limited capacity of these systems.»

These are the processes that are taxed when study participants use multiple AI tools in their workflow, according to the researchers.

The Harvard study identifies several business costs incurred by workers suffering from AI brain fry. The foremost consequence is that these individuals may end up making lower-quality decisions. «Workers in [the] study who endorsed AI brain fry experience 33% more decision fatigue than those who did not,» the study reports. Workers who report AI brain fry were also more likely to self-report making both minor and major errors at their jobs.

Another recent Harvard Business Review study similarly found that employees who use AI tools «worked at a faster pace, took on a broader scope of tasks and extended work into more hours of the day,» but warned that «workload creep can in turn lead to cognitive fatigue, burnout and weakened decision-making.»