Technologies

Mars snow is dusty, and might even melt into liquid water

Dusty, dark Mars ice could suck up solar energy and maybe even get a little melty.

This story is part of Welcome to Mars, our series exploring the red planet.

Back in 2008, NASA made a big announcement that its Phoenix lander had confirmed water ice near the surface of Mars. A team of researchers has taken a new look at what Phoenix found, combined it with data from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and used computer simulations to better understand the dustiness of the ice and what that can tell us about Mars’ climate history.

Not surprisingly, Mars snow has dust mixed into it. «The dustier the ice is, the darker and thus warmer the ice gets, which can affect both its stability and evolution through time,» Arizona State University said in a statement last week. «Under certain conditions, this might also mean that the ice could melt on Mars.»

The team’s paper on the Martian ice has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.

«There is a chance that this dusty and dark ice might melt a few centimeters down,» said planetary scientist Aditya Khuller, lead author of the paper. «And any subsurface liquid water produced from melting will be protected from evaporating in Mars’ wispy atmosphere by the overlying blanket of ice.»

The research points to the ice investigated by Phoenix coming from dusty snowfall sometime over the last million years. It will require further work to determine if the ice might actually melt into liquid water, but it’s an intriguing idea.

Understanding water on Mars is key to understanding the chances the red planet might have once hosted microbial life. Current-day Mars is dry, dusty and very cold, which makes it pretty inhospitable, though a study earlier this year suggested Earth microbes might be able to survive on Mars temporarily.

Ice on Mars could also be important for future human visitors who will need water resources. In 2019, NASA released a «treasure map» of water ice that could potentially be reached by astronauts.

The history of water on Mars is complex and often mysterious. Some recent studies had suggested there might be hidden briny lakes at the planet’s south pole, but newer evidence argues they might actually be frozen clays. NASA’s Perseverance rover is currently checking out a former lakebed in the Jezero Crater in a search for signs of ancient microbial life.

The new study on Martian snow and its dustiness gives scientists one more piece to place into the larger puzzle of Mars water. Could there be pockets of puddles on Mars? Perhaps. You might want to pack a straw just in case.

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Technologies

Don’t Say Goodbye to Black Friday Yet. These Rare Apple Discounts Are Still Going Strong

Technologies

What a Ban Would Actually Mean for DJI Drone Owners and Holiday Shoppers

What’s the secret to a very un-merry shopping season? A brand new, unusable drone.

With Thanksgiving wrapped up and the Black Friday shopping sales here, if a DJI drone is on your holiday wish list, you might want to hit «buy» immediately. The company has issued a stark warning: Its drones could be banned from sale in the US, and the deadline is looming.

The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-0 at the end of October to «close loopholes» that allow tech deemed a «national security risk» to be sold in the US. In plain English, the US government is clearing the path to give DJI the same treatment it gave Chinese phone-maker Huawei, effectively banning its products from the American market.

The US government has deemed DJI, which is based in China, a security risk. It’s also considering a separate ban on TP-Link routers.

DJI is already sounding the alarm, posting on Instagram that a «deadline that could decide DJI’s fate in the US is just 43 days away» (now 19 days away). The company is warning that without an audit, its products could face an «automatic ban.» The US government has long labeled the Chinese drone maker a security risk, and it looks like the hammer might finally be coming down right before the holidays.

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The vote isn’t the end of the road, however. Future bans would need to target specific products and would require a period of public consultation. But it appears the groundwork is being set for the FCC to block sales of future and some existing DJI drones from US shores, as well as products that use DJI technology.

The government has called for a DJI audit by the end of the year, but if that doesn’t happen, DJI drone products could be banned for sale by default under a national security law.

DJI asks for a security audit before any ban

A representative for DJI told CNET that while the FCC vote references a rule change that doesn’t currently apply to DJI specifically, the National Defense Authorization Act deadline in December would put Chinese companies like it on the FCC’s ban list, «without any evidence of wrongdoing or the right to appeal.»

Adam Welsh, head of global policy at DJI, said the company has repeatedly said it would be open to audit, but that «more than 10 months have now passed with no sign that the process has begun.»

«The US government has every right to strengthen national security measures, but this must go hand in hand with due process, fairness, and transparency,» Welsh said.

Welsh said DJI is urging the government to start the audit process or grant an extension.

Will DJI drone owners need to give them up?

Because the ban would apply to new sales, not drones that have already been sold, a DJI drone you already own would still be legal to use — at least under current rules.

Government agencies, however, are prohibited from purchasing or using drones from Chinese companies, including DJI.

DJI’s drones consistently rank high in their product category. In January, they dominated CNET’s list of best drones for 2025. But some of the company’s newest products, such as the DJI Mavic 4 Pro, haven’t been available for sale in the United States.

Even DJI products that are not yet banned may be hard to find. The website UAV Coach has posted a guide to the bans and reports that, due to inventory issues, most DJI drone models are sold out at retailers regardless of future FCC action.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Nov. 29 #636

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Nov. 29, No. 636.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a real puzzler. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: What a piece of work!

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: You can build it in a shop.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

CREW, REAM, LANE, WHEE, DELL, CANE, PULL, REVEL

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers: