Technologies

Total Lunar Eclipse on Nov. 8 Is the Last You’ll See for Three Years

A «blood moon» will usher in Election Day Tuesday in the US.

A «blood moon» total lunar eclipse will be visible early Tuesday morning in the United States, but it’s hard to tell at this point if that’s a foreboding omen or a sign of providence for Election Day. Either way, it’s the last chance to see this celestial spectacle until 2025.

Skywatchers in parts of Europe and Asia got to see a partial solar eclipse last month, but that was just the first half of «eclipse season,» which concludes with the Nov. 8 eclipse that will be visible from North America.

The four seasons, as you likely know, have to do with the tilt of the Earth on its axis and the Northern and Southern Hemispheres’ orientation toward the sun. But eclipse seasons have to do with where the moon lines up between Earth and the sun.

Every 173 days, for a little over a month, our big natural satellite passes through the ecliptic, or the path the sun takes through our daytime sky.

«The moon doesn’t orbit in the exact same plane as the sun and Earth do,» NASA explains on its solar system blog. «The time when they are aligned is known as eclipse season, which happens twice a year.»

During an eclipse season, the moon is basically buzzing around between us and the sun, upping the chances it will pass between our planet and the neighborhood star for a solar eclipse or that the Earth will block out the moon for a lunar eclipse. Eclipse seasons typically generate two or three eclipses in less than a 37-day span.

Earlier this year, an eclipse season produced a partial solar eclipse in the Southern Hemisphere on April 30, followed by a total lunar eclipse visible in parts of the Americas on May 16. This time around we get Tuesday’s partial solar eclipse proceeded by a blood moon full lunar coverup in the early hours of Nov. 8 that can be seen from eastern Asia and all of North America, at least to some degree.

And this year for Americans, the end of eclipse season also coincides with the end of a campaign season, which certainly has to spell relief for many of us.

The total lunar eclipse will begin at 2:16 a.m. PT Tuesday and will last for 85 minutes.

Since this sort of eclipse doesn’t involve looking directly at the sun, it’s safe to observe with the naked eye, although binoculars or a telescope can enhance the experience. The main things you’ll need are clear skies and warm clothes to brave the late night/early morning chill.

Because an eclipse is caused by the sun, Earth and moon all being in a line, much of the light making its way around our planet to illuminate the moon will necessarily be passing through our atmosphere, causing the scattering that gives it a reddish hue. Hence, blood moon.

If you catch any great photos of this celestial event, be sure to share them with me on Twitter @EricCMack.

And if you don’t get outside to see this one yourself, the next eclipse season is in April 2023, but we won’t have a season with a total lunar eclipse again until March 2025.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, Jan. 28

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Jan. 28.

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.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

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: Remove from a position of power
Answer: OUST

5A clue: Not cool
Answer: UNHIP

7A clue: «Fine, see if ___!»
Answer: ICARE

8A clue: Kind of bored
Answer: JADED

9A clue: Primatologist’s subjects
Answer: APES

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Kind of board
Answer: OUIJA

2D clue: Prepare to use, as a pen
Answer: UNCAP

3D clue: Desirable place to sit on a hot day
Answer: SHADE

4D clue: Pair on a bicycle
Answer: TIRES

6D clue: ___ Xing (street sign)
Answer: PED

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Jan. 28, #492

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Jan. 28, No. 492.

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 is a tough one. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for 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: Stats about an athlete.

Green group hint: Where to watch games.

Blue group hint: There used to be a ballpark.

Purple group hint: Names are hidden in these words.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Player bio information.

Green group: Sports streamers.

Blue group: Former MLB ballparks.

Purple group: Ends in a Hall of Fame QB.

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 player bio information. The four answers are alma mater, height, number and position.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is sports streamers. The four answers are Netflix, Paramount, Peacock and Prime.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is former MLB ballparks. The four answers are Ebbets, Kingdome, Three Rivers and Tiger.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ends in a Hall of Fame QB. The four answers are forewarner, Harbaugh, honeymoon and outmanning.

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Technologies

Google Rolls Out Expanded Theft Protection Features for Android Devices

The latest Android security update makes it harder for thieves to break into stolen phones, with stronger biometric requirements and smarter lockouts.

Google on Tuesday announced a significant update to its Android theft-protection arsenal, introducing new tools and settings aimed at making stolen smartphones harder for criminals to access and exploit. The updates, detailed on Google’s official security blog, build on Android’s existing protections and add both stronger defenses and more flexible user controls.

Smartphones carry your most sensitive data, from banking apps to personal photos, and losing your device to theft can quickly escalate into identity and financial fraud. To counter that threat, Google is layering multiple protective features that work before, during and after a theft.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

At the center of the update is a revamped Failed Authentication Lock. Previously introduced in Android 15, this feature now gets its own toggle in Android 16 settings, letting you decide whether your phone should automatically lock itself after repeated incorrect PIN or biometric attempts. This gives you more control over how aggressively your phone defends against brute-force guessing without weakening security.

Google is also beefing up biometric security across the platform. A feature called Identity Check, originally rolled out in earlier Android versions, has been broadened to apply to all apps and services that use Android’s Biometric Prompt — the pop-up that asks for your fingerprint or face to confirm it’s really you — including third-party banking apps and password managers. This means that even if a thief somehow bypasses your lock screen, they’ll face an additional biometric barrier before accessing sensitive apps.

On the recovery side, Google improved Remote Lock, a tool that allows you to lock a lost or stolen device from a web browser by entering a verified phone number. The company added an optional security challenge to ensure only the legitimate owner can initiate a remote lock, an important safeguard against misuse.

And finally, in a notable regional rollout, Google said it is now enabling both Theft Detection Lock and Remote Lock by default on new Android device activations in Brazil, a market where phone theft rates are comparatively high. Theft Detection Lock uses on-device AI to detect sudden movements consistent with a snatch-and-run theft, automatically locking the screen to block immediate access to data.

With stolen phones often used to access bank accounts and personal data, Google says these updates are meant to keep a single theft from turning into a much bigger problem.