Technologies

See Mercury up close as BepiColombo space mission beams back sweet image

The shot was taken Friday about 1,500 miles from Mercury, during the first of six scheduled flybys of the planet.

If Mars has gotten too crowded for you, what with all the rovers (and helicopters) buzzing about, why not take your vacation on Mercury? Or at least dream about it.

A new image of the planet, beamed back by the joint European-Japanese BepiColombo mission, lets you fantasize about listening to some sweet tunes while strolling across Mercury’s Rudaki Plains or kicking back with a good book while chilling on the rim of the Lermontov crater.

«The region shown is part of Mercury’s northern hemisphere including Sihtu Planitia that has been flooded by lavas,» the European Space Agency said Saturday on its site. «A round area smoother and brighter than its surroundings characterizes the plains around the Calvino crater, which are called the Rudaki Plains. The 166 km-wide Lermontov crater is also seen, which looks bright because it contains features unique to Mercury called ‘hollows’ where volatile elements are escaping to space. It also contains a vent where volcanic explosions have occurred.»

A joint project of the ESA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, the BepiColombo mission is looking to learn more about how the closest planet to the sun formed, what it’s made of and what it tells us about the birth of our solar system.

It’s only the third mission to set its sights on Mercury. NASA’s Mariner 10 mission launched in 1973, and its Messenger mission took off in 2004.

The new shot of Mercury was taken by the ESA’s Mercury Transfer Module on Friday about 1,500 miles from the planet, during the first of six scheduled flybys of Mercury. Earlier, the spacecraft had gotten within about 125 miles of the planet, according to the ESA.

The mission consists of two orbiters, the ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter and JAXA’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, which are traveling together via the Mercury Transfer Module. The pair of orbiters are scheduled to enter orbit around Mercury in December of 2025, when they’ll separate to study and map the planet in greater detail than ever before.

Previously on its long journey, the mission has sent back shots of Venus and the Earth. Oh, and of course some selfies.

You can learn more about the BepiColombo mission in this rundown by CNET’s Claire Reilly.

Technologies

This Transformable Electric Truck Could Become the Cheapest EV in the US

Merging retro touches with a high-tech electric platform, the Slate Truck offers a customizable, budget-friendly alternative to traditional EVs.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 27, #686

Hints and answers for Connections for April 27, #686.

Looking for the most recent 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, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections puzzle might make you hungry — especially if you spot the four words in the blue category. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Do the math.

Green group hint: Tresses.

Blue group hint: Munchies.

Purple group hint: Think Stockholm.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Calculator buttons.

Green group: Amounts of hair.

Blue group: Salty snack unit.

Purple group: Swedish ____.

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

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is calculator buttons. The four answers are equals, minus, percent and times.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is amounts of hair. The four answers are lock, shock, thatch and tuft.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is salty snack unit. The four answers are Combo, Goldfish, Ruffle and Taki.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is Swedish ____. The four answers are Chef, Fish, massage and meatball.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for April 27, #420

Here are hints — and answers — for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 420 for April 27.

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.

Sleep used to be so simple, but now it can be complex, as we try to add in extra things to help us get that good night’s rest. Today’s NYT Strands puzzle highlights sleep assistance, and a few of the words are tricky. 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: Sleep tight

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Zzzzz…

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:

BEDS, MINE, TAKE, TAKES, TAKER, STAKE, LATS, EARL, PLUG, PLUGS, ROUT, MIKE, DATE

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’ve got 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: