Technologies

Ocean drone caught inside Hurricane Sam captures hair-raising video

A brave drone ship entered the belly of a Category 4 beast and witnessed some wild waves.

Hurricane Sam is the strongest storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season so far, though it’s fortunately not threatening to make landfall. While we’ve seen Sam churning from orbit, we now have some extraordinary new footage from inside the Category 4 storm.

Autonomous ocean vehicle company Saildrone is working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to monitor the storm from an unusual vantage point. On Thursday, Saildrone shared a video taken by its Saildrone Explorer SD 1045.

The video shows heaving waves at stomach-turning angles as witnessed by the drone ship. In a statement, Saildrone described it as «the first video footage gathered by an uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) from inside a major hurricane barreling across the Atlantic Ocean.»

A second video shows the drone’s location within the hurricane.

The ocean level view is very different from what we typically see from space or from Hurricane Hunter aircraft that fly into storms. The drone ship sports a special «hurricane wing» that allows it to deal with the whipping winds of the storm.

The drone isn’t just surfing for the fun of it. «New data from saildrones and other uncrewed systems that NOAA is using will help us better predict the forces that drive hurricanes and be able to warn communities earlier,» NOAA scientist Greg Foltz said.

Hurricane Sam could still have an impact on coast lines. It’s expected to remain a major hurricane for several more days and is likely to send significant ocean swells toward some islands, including the Bahamas and Bermuda. Those swells could reach portions of Canada and the East Coast of the US by this weekend. NOAA is warning of «life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.»

The Sam-exploring drone is one of five hurricane-monitoring Saildrone ships that are working the Atlantic this season. The brave vessel has gone where no human would want to go and lived to show its story to the world.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Friday, April 25

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for April 25.

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.

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword is a pretty easy one. 9-Across — the «dog-tor» clue — was a bit of a groaner, but I’ll take an easy answer over a witty, confusing clue any day. 4-Down was a little confusing, but once I filled in the other letters it made sense. (TEXAS and IOWA could’ve fit in 5-Across and 8-Across, with one T replaced in each answer.) 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.

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 at those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: «Beware the ___ of March»
Answer: IDES

5A clue: Sends a message
Answer: TEXTS

7A clue: Pond scum
Answer: ALGAE

8A clue: Teeny-tiny bit
Answer: IOTA

9A clue: Doctor who might more aptly be called a «dogtor»
Answer: VET

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: «Don’t call ___ comeback!»
Answer: ITA

2D clue: Supermarket section
Answer: DELI

3D clue: Arnold Schwarzenegger or Chris Christie, e.g., for short
Answer: EXGOV

4D clue: 5-Across or 8-Across, if you change the T’s in this answer
Answer: STATE

6D clue: Musical chairs need
Answer: SEAT

How to play more Mini Crosswords

The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day’s Mini Crossword for free, but you’ll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.

Technologies

Razer Releases a Vertical Edition Ergonomic Mouse

Two new mice for productivity still look like they were made for gamers, and that’s okay.

Razer has unveiled the Pro Click V2 and the Pro Click V2 Vertical Edition — two PC mice with ergonomics in mind, complete with expected Razer Chroma RGB LEDs in tow. The latter mouse, revealed Thursday, is Razer’s first vertical mouse and is priced to go head to head with the likes of Logitech’s vertical mouse offerings like the Lift and MX Vertical.

As with almost any new tech product in 2025, the new Pro Click V2 mice will also ship with artificial intelligence features in the form of Razer’s AI Prompt Master, a productivity feature that will give you easier access to services like Microsoft Copilot.

Both mice are available starting Thursday for $100 for the V2, and $120 for the V2 vertical mouse.

Razer is going for a «do it all» mouse with the Pro Click V2

The Pro Click V2 and Pro Click V2 Vertical editions are shaped to fit your hand’s natural resting positions, making it more comfortable and easier to use for long periods of time. The Pro Click V2 is designed at a 30-degree angle and the Pro Click V2 Vertical is tilted at 71.7 degrees, which Razer says is the natural angle of a handshake.

Of course, these are «productivity meets gaming» mice, so you can also expect a host of Razer features that you’d find on its gaming mice offerings. That said, the updated mice do feel more gaming forward than their predecessors. Both include the Razer Focus Pro 30K Optical Sensors for ultra precision and the mice should be able to track easily on glass. The mechanical buttons are said to be up to 6x more durable than the industry average and should be able to take 60 million clicks in their lifecycles.

Both mice received the RGB treatment, with multi-zone lighting that can be customized further with Razer’s Synapse software. There you can also adjust DPI setting defaults and more.

Lastly, both mice should last a long time on a single charge: the Pro Click V2 offers up 3.5 months of battery life while the Vertical Edition can reach up to six months before needing to be charged again. Both mice can be charged via USB-C, and a 5-minute charge can give you 2 to 3 days of battery power when you’re in a pinch.

For more, don’t miss how tariffs are boosting the secondhand tech product market.