Technologies

First moon samples in over 40 years may alter lunar history

«Our current views need readjustment» about how long our beloved white globe remained warm and volcanically active, says a researcher.

In late 2020, a Chinese space capsule delivered fresh moon samples to Earth for the first time in about four decades, and these precious lunar rocks just revealed a new detail about our planet’s glowing companion: Its volcanoes were alive and active considerably longer than scientists thought.

«All our experience tells us that the moon should be cold and dead 2 billion years ago. But it is not, and the question is, ‘Why?'» said Alexander Nemchin, a professor of Geology at Australia’s Curtin University and author of the analysis published Thursday in the journal Science.

Alongside an expansive and international team of researchers, Nemchin discovered that some of the newly transported moon rocks contain lunar fragments from later days of the white orb’s timeline. Dated about two eons ago, these fragments are relatively young. But here’s the kicker: Those same pieces are also remnants of a volcanic eruption.

Connecting the dots, the team members realized they were looking at solid confirmation that the lunar surface was alive pretty late in the game.

«We need to dig deeper with this,» Nemchin remarked. «We are highlighting that our current views need readjustment — further research will tell how dramatic this readjustment should be.»

Welcome back, lunar research

The saga began last year in December, when China’s Chang’e 5 mission sent a spacecraft to scrape the surface of the moon and collect a variety of rock and dust samples for Earth-based analysis. It returned with about 4 pounds (2 kilograms) of extraterrestrial material.

The year 1976 marks the last time lunar samples were brought down to our home planet, an achievement of the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 mission. But before that, NASA’s Apollo missions were running the course from Earth to the moon several times — the crusades returned photographs, moon rocks and personal anecdotes of astronauts.

«There was some need and drive to do this 50 years back,» Nemchin explained. «Then, priorities changed and everybody moved to something else.» But now, he says, «we have the moon back in the focus.»

He notes lunar research is important not only from an astronomy perspective, but also because any effort to travel to the moon — or really, any space exploration — tends to expedite technologies that ultimately benefit us on Earth.

One example of such serendipitous tech comes from Australian physicists’ research in the ’90s. They developed a highly complex mathematical tool hoping to detect smeared signals of black holes that vanished in the cosmos. Unfortunately, they never found any — but their invention paved the way for modern-day Wi-Fi.

Moon rock science

«Every new sample gives us a big boost in understanding what is happening, simply because we still have so few of them,» Nemchin remarked. «Apollo samples have been worked on for the last 50 years and are still actively investigated.»

While analyzing the rocks brought back by Chang’e 5, Nemchin and fellow researchers first checked out what types were present. In particular, they were after basalt fragments, which are correlated with volcanic activity.

«We needed to get an idea about chemical composition of the fragments to be able to compare [them] to the large basaltic field visible from the orbit,» he said. «And, make sure [those] fragments represent this field of basalts and do not come from somewhere else.»

Then, the scientists confirmed specific ages of the pieces of interest. Validating that these fragments are young was one of the main goals of the mission. That’s how the team members expected to prove their hypothesis of the moon having active volcanoes more recently than textbooks suggest.

«All basalts we had before are older than 3 billion years,» Nemchin said. «We also had a few very young points determined from material ejected by very young impacts — impact melts — but nothing in between. Now we have a point right in the middle of the gap.»

Such age determinations are called crater counting, something the team hopes to continue doing in the future in order to attain the full array of rocks to map out each generation of the moon. Nemchin also notes that a few interesting chemical features were found in the basalt samples, including high iron content, which isn’t present in any other retrieved pieces of the lunar surface.

Further chemical research on the rocks, he says, will help answer new questions introduced by the team’s novel findings, such as searching for the source of heat that led to lunar volcanic activity a couple of billion years ago.

And at the end of the day, the Australian geologist emphasizes that «what is important for me in all this is that we managed to bring a large international group of people to work on the sample.»

«Somehow,» he added, «In the current situation when international travel is still rather restricted, I had more interaction with different people than in the previous years when we could move around any way we liked.»

Technologies

Get This Next-Level Alienware Gaming Desktop for a Door-Busting $400 Off

This powerful Dell desktop will totally overhaul your PC gaming, and it’s now available for just $1,750.

Right now, Dell is offering the Alienware Aurora gaming desktop for just $1,750. It usually costs $2,150, so this deal saves you $400. That’s more than the $1,250 low we saw briefly, but it’s still a solid price. Dell’s Alienware line is one of our favorites. Though there are multiple models to choose from, the Aurora is full of features gamers are sure to appreciate.

Dell doesn’t have a strict deadline for this discount, but we suggest acting fast.

This Alienware Aurora desktop is black, has a transparent cover and has chic lights. It also has air cooling, a mouse and a matching keyboard.

Dell offers the option to add a few extras to your purchase, but its base configuration includes 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD and Windows 11 Home. The desktop is equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 7 card for speedy performance and multitasking. An Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti graphics card powers all your visuals for a clear view of the action.

The Aurora features AI-boosted gameplay for smooth frame rates and lessened lag. This desktop also supports Wi-Fi 7 and 2.5Gbps Ethernet for fewer signal interruptions.

Why this deal matters

Gaming can quickly get expensive. However, this $400 discount on the Alienware Aurora desktop offers the chance to upgrade for just $1,750. Dell doesn’t exactly mention a deadline for this deal, so we suggest acting fast.

Technologies

These Bass-Boosting Skullcandy Headphones Are Over $100 Off Today at Best Buy

That drops the price down to just $130, making this a one-day deal you won’t want to miss.

Right now, you can pick up these Skullcandy Crusher ANC headphones for just $130 at Best Buy. That saves you $110 compared to the usual price, and is just $15 more than the all-time lowest price we’ve seen for this over-ear pair. However, this one-day deal expires at 9:59 p.m. PT (12:49 a.m. ET) tonight, so be sure to get your order in soon.

If you’re someone who cranks the volume up during workouts, movie marathons or late-night gaming sessions, these headphones lean right into that energy. The Crusher ANC 2 is built for bass lovers who want their playlists and action scenes to hit hard without maxing out the volume.

The standout feature is Skullcandy’s patented Crusher Bass technology which combines dual bass drivers with 40mm audio drivers. You also get adjustable four-mic active noise canceling, letting you adjust how much of the outside world you want blocked out.

Battery life is another win here, with up to 60 hours of listening with ANC off, plus Rapid Charge that gives you up to four hours from a 10-minute charge. Multi-point pairing makes switching devices easy, and the Skull-IQ app lets you fine-tune EQ and sound profiles.

If this isn’t the right fit, take a look at our full roundup on the best headphones we’ve tested in 2026.

HEADPHONE DEALS OF THE WEEK

Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless Noise Canceling Headphones (Black):

$248 (save $152)
Beats Studio Pro Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones (Black):

$170 (save $181)
Sony WH-1000XM6 Wireless Noise Cancelling Over-Ear Headphones:

$398 (save $62)
Bose QuietComfort Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones (Twilight Blue):

$179 (save $170)
Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless ANC Over-Ear Headphones (Black):

$200 (save $250)

Deals are selected by the CNET Group commerce team, and may be unrelated to this article.

Why this deal matters

Between the physical bass sliders, long battery life, smart noise canceling and multipoint support, you’re getting a feature-packed pair of headphones for well under their usual price. Add clear AI-powered mic quality and this limited-time deal offers a lot of tech for the money.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for March 11 #738

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for March 11, No. 738.

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 could be tough. If you watch a lot of Game of Thrones-type shows, or play D&D, the answers might come easily for you. 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: Survival mode

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Needed skills.

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:

GIFT, LIFT, LITE, LITER, LIFTER, MITE, MITER, RIDE, RIDES, SIDE, SIDES

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: