Technologies

Aurora Borealis Might Be Visible in the Far North Skies Tonight

There’s a chance for G4 (severe) geomagnetic storm tonight, NOAA space weather forecaster Shawn Dahl tells CNET.

Skygazers in the northern region of the US and Canada might catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights Wednesday night and into Thursday. The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center issued a G3 (strong) geomagnetic storm watch for April 16, when plasma ejected from the sun is expected to reach Earth’s magnetic field. Minor geomagnetic storm conditions are likely to carry on until April 17, the agency reported.

The colorful lights splashed across the night sky are caused by geomagnetic storms in our atmosphere, and the SWPC pays attention to when these might occur. Geomagnetic storms in the atmosphere can arise from a cosmic phenomenon called coronal mass ejections. These surging ejections of solar wind come from the corona, the sun’s outermost layer. CMEs consist of plasma and magnetic fields and can take hours or days to reach Earth.

When CMEs arrive, they cause disturbances in our atmosphere by disrupting our planet’s magnetic field. This creates geomagnetic storms. Coming sooner than expected, the first CME arrived earlier on Tuesday, spaceweather.com reported.

NOAA space weather forecaster Shawn Dahl told CNET there’s a chance for G4 (severe) levels, should the magnetic field of the CME become favorable.

«By this, I mean the magnetic field of the CME needs to be opposite that of Earth’s to get a good geomagnetic reaction,» Dahl said. «Think of it like opposite polarity magnets that attract.»

Where can you see the aurora?

Most places in the US won’t have an opportunity to see the aurora borealis, but people in the most northern regions (especially Alaska) and Canada might get a chance to see the lights. However, clouds, rain and snow might make it hard to see.

For the best chance of seeing it, according to Accuweather, you’ll need to have an unobstructed view of the northern horizon and be using long-exposure photography to capture images of the phenomenon.

The Northern Lights have certain times of year when they’re more likely to be observed. You have the best chance of catching aurora borealis in March, April, September and October, as these are the months near the spring and autumn equinoxes, when the Earth’s position to the sun is ideal for geomagnetic storms.

«The equinoxes are the transition points between which hemisphere is tilted toward the sun,» Shannon Schmoll, director of the Abrams Planetarium, told CNET last month. «At this point, the Earth’s magnetic field is at a more favorable angle, closer to perpendicular, that allows easier interaction of the charged solar particles with the Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere.»

April is a good month for watching the Northern Lights because we’re at Solar Maximum — the period of the highest solar activity in the 11-year solar cycle.

«During this time, we expect to see more sunspots, and therefore, there’s a higher chance of high-impact space weather occurring on any given day,» Elsayed Talaat, director of the Office of Space Weather Observations at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said last October.

So, if you live where the aurora borealis might be visible tonight, make sure to head away from city lights and check out the night sky to the north.

Technologies

Google’s Pixel 10A Is Coming to Japan With an Exclusive Blue Edition and Special Wallpaper

This model comes with creatively designed stickers and a special look for Pixel’s 10th anniversary.

Don’t be blue: Google is releasing an Isai blue edition of the Pixel 10A to celebrate the Android phone line’s 10th anniversary, setting it apart with its own sticker set, specialized wallpaper and custom icons. But it’ll only be available in Japan.

Announced Tuesday on the Google Japan blog, the Isai blue Pixel 10A has a dark blue look and includes bonus decorations designed in collaboration with Japan’s Heralbony art company. These include an exclusive bumper case and stickers for customization.

This edition of the Pixel 10A will arrive in Japan on May 20, following the April 14 release of the Pixel 10A in its original colors of lavender, berry, fog and obsidian. The Isai blue model costs 94,900 yen, which roughly translates to $595, and includes 256GB of storage.

This makes it slightly less expensive than the US model’s 256GB edition, but it comes with a number of fun extras at no additional cost.

Google’s creation of a country-specific model for Japan may also reflect strong sales in that market. In 2023, the IDC analytics firm (via 9to5Google) reported that the Pixel 7 series accounted for 10.7% of the country’s market share, a 527% increase from 2022.

Technologies

Can’t Wait for New Emoji? Here’s How to Create Your Own on iPhone

Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhones can create custom emoji in a few easy steps.

Apple brought new emoji to all iPhones when the company released iOS 26.4 on March 24. The new emoji include «🫍» orca, «🫪» distorted face and «🫈» hairy creature — or as we might normally call it, Sasquatch. According to Emojipedia, there are 3,953 emoji with more on the way, including a pickle. But there’s no emoji for a dog wearing pajamas, a plate with burgers and fries and many other things. But if you have Genmoji on your iPhone you can create these emoji and many more.

Apple released iOS 18.2 in 2024 and the company introduced its own emoji generator, called Genmoji, to Apple Intelligence-capable iPhones at that time. The Unicode Standard, a universal character encoding standard, is responsible for creating new emoji, and approved emoji are added to all devices once a year. With Genmoji, you don’t have to wait for new emoji to appear on your iPhone each year. You can just create them as you need them.

Read on to learn how to use Genmoji on iPhone to create your own custom emoji. Just note that only iPhones with Apple Intelligence, like the iPhone 17 lineup, can use Genmoji at this time.

Note: The new emoji may not display correctly for Apple users whose devices aren’t on a 26.4 software version.

How to make custom emoji

1. Open Messages and go into a chat.
2. Tap the plus (+) button next to your text box.
3. Tap Genmoji.

You can then type a description of an emoji into the text box near the bottom of your screen and tap the check mark on your keyboard to enter that description into Genmoji. You can also tap different suggestions and themes that are right above the text box. And with iOS 26 or later, you can also combine and use emoji to create others rather than describing a new emoji or using suggestions.

Your iPhone will generate a series of new emoji for you to pick from according to your description, and you can swipe through these new emoji. When you find the one you want, tap Add in the top right corner of your screen and the new emoji will be available to use as an emoji, tapback or a sticker. Now you don’t have to wait for the Unicode Standard to propose, create and bring new emoji to devices.

For more iOS news, here’s what to know about iOS 26.4 and iOS 26.3. You can also check out our iOS 26 cheat sheet for other tips and tricks.

Technologies

Save Over 20% on This Handy 10,000-mAh Anker Nano Power Bank

Keep your devices charged on the go with this Anker Nano power bank, now down to just $46.

We’ve just spotted the Anker Nano 45-watt portable power bank for just $46 at Amazon right now. This saves you $14 — a 23% discount on its list price. Though it’s $6 more than the lowest-ever price we saw during Black Friday, it’s still a solid discount when you take the rising cost of tech accessories into account. It also matches the lowest price we’ve seen in 2026. It comes in four colors: black, green, pink and white. They’re all on sale for the same price.

This Anker Nano portable charger weighs approximately 8.2 ounces and measures a compact 3.21×1.99×1.42 inches. Despite its small size, it has a retractable cable and supports fast charging in compatible Apple, Samsung, Google Pixel and other smartphones. It also has a large 10,000-mAh capacity and a smart display so you always know how much juice is left in your power bank.

The Nano can charge an iPhone 17 to up to 50% battery in an estimated 20 minutes, and is powerful enough to charge tablets and laptops. Need to charge your devices while charging your power bank? You can do so safely thanks to pass-through charging so you’ll never have to go without battery life.

We’ve also compiled a list of the best power banks for iPhones and for Android, in case this deal isn’t quite a fit for you.

Why this deal matters

If you travel, have a long commute time or are otherwise always on the go, a portable charger can help you keep your devices fully powered. This 45-watt Anker Nano power bank is compact, includes a loop that lets you keep track of it easily and has a built-in cable so you don’t have to keep up with extra cords. Amazon’s $14 discount makes this a solid deal for anyone looking for a compact power bank.