Technologies

Geminid 2021 meteor shower peaks tonight: How to see the shooting stars

Winter sky watchers will want to bundle up for a show that tends to deliver year after year.

This year’s Geminids, the annual meteor shower the American Meteor Society calls «the most dependable» on its calendar, reaches peak activity on Monday night and Tuesday morning.

The Geminids become active each December when Earth drifts through a cloud of debris ejected from the large asteroid 3200 Phaethon. It’s unusual for a meteor shower to trace back to an asteroid rather than a comet, but this asteroid acts a little bit like a comet in the way it shoots dust everywhere.

While the Geminids can be relied upon to produce meteors, unfortunately this year they’ll be competing with a bright moon much of the night. In most locations, the best viewing opportunities may come in the chilly early morning hours after the moon sets but before the sun rises, roughly between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. local time.

The Geminids are also among the brighter and more colorful meteor showers out there, making it worth bundling up to confront the cold temperatures that many skywatchers in the Northern Hemisphere will have to contend with. Unfortunately, while meteors are visible south of the equator, the Geminids are significantly less impressive.

If you just can’t make it outside in those off hours, it may still be worth venturing out in the evening hours in the hopes you may catch a bright fireball known as an Earth grazer. Look toward the northeastern horizon before 11 p.m. local time and you just might get lucky.

If your only window for observation comes when the moon is still up, you can try to put something like a building or a tree in between the moon and your viewing site. This obviously restricts your overall view of the sky, but might prevent so many shooting stars from getting washed out by moonlight.

Whatever your viewing plan, be sure to get as broad a view of a clear sky as possible, with minimal light pollution. Lie on your back, give your eyes time to adjust and just relax and watch. Try to allow at least an hour for the entire experience, which means you’ll want to dress appropriately and bring some snacks.

Finally, if Monday night and Tuesday morning just don’t work out, the following night should also provide an impressive display, but keep in mind that the moon will set about an hour later.

Best of luck, and stay warm out there.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Monday, July 14

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for July 14.

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.

Oh, come on, New York Times — that 8-Across answer in the Mini Crossword today is just a bunch of letters! It could almost be any letters that seem to make a sound! Stumped by this or any other answer today? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. 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: Account used to log into Threads, familiarly
Answer: INSTA

6A clue: Upscale gym freebie
Answer: TOWEL

7A clue: Bad thing to feel toward the end of a marathon
Answer: CRAMP

8A clue: Vowelless grunt
Answer: HMMPH

9A clue: Vegetable in fried rice
Answer: PEA

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Reason to scratch one’s head, perhaps
Answer: ITCH

2D clue: Standard
Answer: NORM

3D clue: Shrek’s home
Answer: SWAMP

4D clue: Arizona city between Phoenix and Mesa
Answer: TEMPE

5D clue: Gen ___ (kids born in the 2010s)
Answer: ALPHA

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for July 14, #294

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for July 14, No. 294.

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 might be tough, if timely. I guess I’m not up on the 2025 HR Derby, but maybe you are. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it 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: Gotta get through it.

Green group hint: Big piece of furniture.

Blue group hint: Homes for hoops.

Purple group hint: They hit with power.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Rough patch.

Green group: Played on a table.

Blue group: NBA arenas.

Purple group: 2025 MLB HR Derby participants, informally.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is rough patch. The four answers are drought, funk rut and slump.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is played on a table. The four answers are air hockey, ping pong, pool and snooker.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is NBA arenas. The four answers are Ball, Rocket, Scotiabank and State Farm.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is 2025 MLB HR Derby participants, informally. The four answers are Cal, Jazz, Junior and O’Neil.

Technologies

Dyson Reveals Futuristic Farming Vision

Dyson, a company best known for its vacuums and hair dryers, has unveiled a new rotating farm design that aims to make food production more local, sustainable and dependable.

Dyson, a company best known for its vacuums and hair dryers, unveiled a new circular farm design featuring rows of strawberry plants that rotate to share sunlight, robots that do everything from harvesting to releasing helpful insects, and sensors to help farmers keep an eye on things.

The company is also getting into the renewable energy game. Check out the video in this article to find out how it all connects and what it could mean for the future of food.