Technologies

New 3D Map of Mars’ North Pole Reveals Buried Canyon

A radar-generated view teases out geologic secrets from below the surface of Mars.

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

Mars’ south pole has attracted a lot of attention lately thanks to the unsolved mystery of hidden lakes, but let’s not forget the planet’s scenic north pole, an icy wonderland that has some secrets of its own. A new 3D radar image of the pole shows what’s lurking beneath the surface.

A team of researchers led by Nathaniel Putzig of the Planetary Science Institute used radar data collected by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to create a new polar map. The image is called a radargram. It highlights previously obscured features like an impact crater and a buried canyon.

MRO is equipped with a Shallow Radar (Sharad) instrument that bounces radar waves off Mars, letting scientists «see» below the surface. The PSI team processed that data into a 3D view of the subsurface. The black oval labeled as a «no-data zone» is an area not imaged by Sharad. The researchers published their work in The Planetary Science Journal on Monday.

Sharad was designed to look for liquid or frozen water, but the reflected radar waves also show what’s happening with rocks and sand. It’s helping scientists form a picture of how geologic layers have been deposited and eroded at the pole.

A canyon hidden in an icy zone might conjure up Lovecraftian visions, but the radargram isn’t about sci-fi horror stories. This is about understanding polar geology and how it connects to the red planet’s climate history. Like Earth, Mars is a rocky planet, but it took a very different path to become the inhospitable place it is today.

The 3D map is just the beginning of the tale. Said Putzig, «So far, we have only scratched the surface of understanding what the new data volume is telling us about the history of Martian polar processes and climate, and there is a lot more detailed mapping work to be done.»

Next up, researchers intend to identify more buried impact craters and assess subsurface structures that appear in the image. The same process used to create the polar radargram may also be effective in showing what’s happening in other regions of the planet. Mars’ beauty and intrigue aren’t just surface-deep. Clues to its history are hidden below.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, April 7

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for April 7.

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: Informative commercial, for short
Answer: PSA

4A clue: Something you trace to draw a Thanksgiving turkey
Answer: HAND

5A clue: ___ Johnson, former Prime Minister of the U.K.
Answer: BORIS

6A clue: Opposite of include
Answer: OMIT

7A clue: Crosses (out)
Answer: XES

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: City with the Notre-Dame Cathedral
Answer: PARIS

2D clue: Bad mood
Answer: SNIT

3D clue: About eight minutes of the average half-hour sitcom
Answer: ADS

4D clue: Remote worker’s office, perhaps
Answer: HOME

5D clue: Word that can follow each group of circled letters (and hints at its shape)
Answer: BOX

Technologies

NASA’s Artemis II Breaks Record With Trip Around The Moon

Technologies

In Honor of the Artemis II Mission, Explore the Moon in Fortnite Now

You might not be able to see the moon the way the Artemis II team is, but there’s an educational Fortnite simulation that will get you onto the celestial body’s surface.

You may not be able to explore the vast majesty of space in the same way that the four-person crew of the Artemis II is, but you can still get an up-close-and-personal view of the moon… in Fortnite, at least.

While you may not be able to slingshot around Earth’s own lunar body, space enthusiasts can see a little bit of what the Artemis II crew is seeing by spending time on the Lunar Horizons Fortnite map right now. The map is a creative collaboration between Fortnite’s creator, Epic Games, and the European Space Agency. Lunar Horizons was released in 2024 after extensive testing and play from ESA trainee astronauts.

If you’re looking to learn more about our own orbiting body, the Lunar Horizons map is an educational simulation of the surface of the moon’s South Pole.

It blends game mechanics with learning, as players get to build up their own sterile lunar habitat bases, interact with ESA astronauts and roll around with robotic rovers as they discover informative plaques that contain information about the moon and international space agencies. There are still dangers to navigate, too — a solar storm may strike when you least expect it.

If you’re interested in exploring the moon, we’ve got all the information you need to join in on the Fortnite fun below. And if you’re looking for a more serious livestream during this momentous human achievement, tune into NASA’s feed here.

How to join the Moon Fortnite island while you follow the Artemis II mission

The Lunar Horizons Fortnite map is a great educational simulation that shares details about ESA’s work and catalogs information about humanity’s lunar research.

These three simple steps will get you up and running (or more accurately, taking slow leaps and bounds) on the surface of the Lunar Horizons Fortnite map:

Download Fortnite

If you haven’t played Fortnite before, but you want to check out this limited-time event, you’ll have to download the game. If you’re on PC, you can download Fortnite for free from the Epic Games Store. Console players can navigate the PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store or Nintendo eShop in order to download Fortnite on their devices.

Navigate the in-game menus until you reach the Search button

Once you’re in the game, scroll down past the different official Fortnite game modes and the Discover tab until you find the Search button.

Input the Lunar Horizons island code

In the search bar, you can input a map’s name or its distinct search code in order to find it in the map directory. You can search for the Lunar Horizons map or input the code 3207-0960-6428 to explore this map in time.

Correction, 3:35 p.m. PT: This story initially was in error about the features available in the Lunar Horizons map. There is no Artemis II-specific mission in Fortnite. Rather, the Lunar Horizons map is an educational simulation of part of the moon’s surface.