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Space Cities Inside Asteroids Could Actually Work, Scientists Say

The plan «on the edge of science and science fiction» involves an asteroid, an expandable mesh bag and a whole lot of audacity.

Good news, Earthlings. We have more to look forward to than just the drab landscape of the moon or the inhospitable surface of Mars when it comes to far-flung future human civilizations off this rock. We might one day be living la vida asteroid.

Yes, space-faring piles of rocky rubble (like famous asteroid Bennu) could be home sweet home. A group of scientists at the University of Rochester in New York worked out a plan for turning asteroids into spinning space cities with artificial gravity. The researchers published a «wildly theoretical» study in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences earlier this year.

«Our paper lives on the edge of science and science fiction,» said co-author Adam Frank in a University of Rochester statement last week. Frank is a professor of physics and astronomy at the school.

The basic concept behind the asteroid city builds on an idea called the O’Neill cylinder, a rotating space colony design proposed by physicist Gerard O’Neill in the 1970s. The rotation creates artificial gravity. Think of something along the lines of the cylindrical Cooper Station in the movie Interstellar. It’s a fascinating idea, but it would be difficult and expensive to transport enough material into space to make a large-scale O’Neill cylinder.

This is where things get wilder. The Rochester research team proposes a way to turn a rock pile of an asteroid into a cylinder by surrounding it with a thin, high-strength mesh bag made from carbon nanofibers. It would have an accordion-like design.

«A cylindrical containment bag constructed from carbon nanotubes would be extremely light relative to the mass of the asteroid rubble and the habitat, yet strong enough to hold everything together,» said study co-author Peter Miklavcic, a doctoral candidate in mechanical engineering.

Spinning an asteroid would cause its rubble to break apart, expanding the bag and creating a layer of rock against it. That layer would provide radiation shielding for a colony inside the cylinder while the continued spin would create artificial gravity.

It sounds far-fetched, but Frank said the technologies and engineering behind the asteroid city technically obey the laws of physics. «Based on our calculations, a 300-meter-diameter asteroid just a few football fields across could be expanded into a cylindrical space habitat with about 22 square miles of living area,» Frank said. «That’s roughly the size of Manhattan.»

Of course, bagging and spinning an asteroid wouldn’t be simple. The researchers suggest using solar-powered rubble cannons to get the spin going. There’s also the matter of constructing a human-safe colony on the interior, but we can leave those challenges for the future.

Sci-fi writers have long envisioned life on asteroids. The paper provides a new way of thinking through that possibility in a way that could protect human occupants and make them feel more at home. It’s a good companion piece to another recent space thought experiment that offered up a plan for building a «forest bubble» on Mars.

My imagination is now taking me from my cozy quarters inside an asteroid to a vacation destination in a Martian nature reserve. This may not be relegated to the realm of sci-fi forever. «Space cities might seem like a fantasy now,» Frank said, «but history shows that a century or so of technological progress can make impossible things possible.»

Technologies

The Hidden iOS Trackpad Makes It Easier to Type Accurately

Do you keep tapping the wrong location on your screen? This trick will help you type what you want and where you want.

One of the most frustrating parts of typing on the iPhone is dealing with the stock keyboard and trying to get your cursor where you want it. The conventional method requires tapping and holding your finger down to bring up a magnifying bubble, but even then, it can be difficult to get the cursor where you need it.

Thankfully, there is another option for moving the cursor when typing in iOS, and it works even if you’re running an older software version, such as iOS 16. Read on to learn how to unlock and use your iPhone’s hidden trackpad.

For more, check out how to fix the most annoying features and settings on your iPhone.

How to bring up the secret trackpad on an iPhone or iPad

Here’s how to discover the hidden trackpad on an iOS device.

1. Anywhere you’ve written a block of text, bring up your keyboard and press and hold your finger down on the space key until the keyboard goes blank. You should feel a bit of haptic feedback and see the cursor enlarge for a second, which means you can now use the keyboard as a trackpad.

2. With your finger still pressed down, move it around the entire keyboard to move your cursor, just like you would on your Mac’s trackpad.

3. To place the cursor, simply lift your finger off the screen. You can then use any of the other keys, like Delete, to make any edits in the text. If you want to move the cursor once again, press your finger down on the space key to bring up the hidden trackpad.

If you’re interested in more tips and tricks for the iPhone, check out how to have a secret conversation in the Notes app. And if you’ve got an Apple computer, here are 10 Mac hacks you should know about.

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2025 Is a Year Full of Meteor Showers: A Big One Arrives Next Week

You don’t need to pay for a streaming service to watch a sky full of shooting stars.

2025 includes a full schedule of meteor showers. They come around every year like clockwork and that means planning shooting star trips can be done months in advance. Here’s a look at what’s happening when, and how you can watch.

Tips for watching

To have the best odds of seeing the most meteors during any given shower, the first advice is to get as far away from the big city as logistically possible — and that also applies to suburbanites. Light pollution is the enemy of space viewing and most meteor showers are barely visible in the suburbs, let alone a big city. From there, you’ll want to find the radiant — also known as the point from which the meteor shower appears to originate — and then keep your eyes pointed in that direction. The moon’s light can also be a negative factor, but since meteor showers occur on specific days, it’s up to nature as to whether or not moonlight will affect viewing. 

Lyrids

When: Apr. 15 to Apr. 30
Peak date: Apr. 21 to 22
Maximum meteor rate: 18 meteors per hour
Radiant: Lyra

Things pick up again in April with the Lyrids meteor shower. Its radiant is Lyra, which will rise out of the eastern sky every night during its run. This one is a little bigger than most, having up to 18 meteors per hour. Earth runs through the C/1861 G1 Thatcher comet every April to bring this shower to its citizens. Interestingly, meteors from Lyrids tend to not have trails but can produce some pretty bright fireballs. 

Eta Aquariids

When: Apr. 20 to May 21
Peak date: May 3 to 4
Maximum meteor rate: 50 meteors per hour
Radiant: Aquarius

The 1P/Halley, famously known as Halley’s Comet, is responsible for the Eta Aquariids, and it’s the biggest meteor shower to occur during spring with up to 50 meteors per hour. The only downside is that its radiant, Aquarius, doesn’t rise out of the southeastern sky until around 4 a.m. local time, meaning you’ll have to wake up very early or stay up super late to catch it. On the plus side, the moon will have set by then, meaning the moon won’t obstruct the view for this meteor shower. 

Alpha Capricornids

When: July 12 to Aug. 12
Peak date: July 29 to 30
Maximum meteor rate: 5 meteors per hour
Radiant: Capricornus

Alpha Capricornids is a minor meteor shower that comes from the 169P/NEAT comet. It’s not a strong shower, but it is notable for producing some rather large fireballs. It’s also equally visible in the Southern and Northern Hemispheres. The radiant for this one is Capricornus, which streaks through the south sky and will be visible all night during its peak. Fortunately, the moon won’t be too full, so it won’t obstruct the view too much.

Southern delta Aquariids

When: July 28 to Aug. 12
Peak date: July 29 to 30
Maximum meteor rate: 25 meteors per hour
Radiant: Aquarius

Southern delta Aquariids often overshadows the Alpha Capricornids. This meteor shower peaks early, just a day or two after it officially starts, and then tails off through mid-August. Its early peak puts it on the same day as Alpha Capricornids, so if you see a shooting star on July 29 or 30, it might have come from either one. The radiant for this one is Aquarius, which is right next to Capricornus, making the two showers a fine pairing. Researchers aren’t 100% certain which comet gives us the Southern delta Aquariids, although the best guess right now is 96P/Machholz.

Perseids

When: July 17 to Aug. 23
Peak date: Aug. 12 to 13
Maximum meteor rate: 100 meteors per hour
Radiant: Perseus

Perseids is one of the premier space events that takes place during the summer. It comes from the 109P/Swift-Tuttle comet and is one of the most consistently busy meteor showers of the year. Plus, it takes place over the summer, which is perfect meteor shower weather. The radiant is Perseus, which rises out of the northeastern sky relatively early in the evening and stays up all night. The only downside is that the moon will be almost full during Perseids’ peak in 2025, making it more difficult to see the smaller meteors. 

Southern Taurids

When: Sept. 23 to Nov. 4
Peak date: Oct. 10 to 11
Maximum meteor rate: 5 meteors per hour
Radiant: Taurus

Southern Taurids is one of the longest-lasting meteor showers of the year lasting well over a month. It’s not a particularly active meteor shower, but since it takes place during several other meteor showers, you may spot one of these while looking for another one. The 2P/Encke comet fuels this one and it peaks a couple of weeks away from Halloween. This one is paired with the Northern Taurids to make the Taurids meteor shower. However, they peak on different days so they’re often listed as separate meteor showers. 

Orionids

When: Oct. 2 to Nov. 12
Peak date: Oct. 22 to 23
Maximum meteor rate: 20 meteors per hour
Radiant: Orion

Orionids is a reasonably active meteor shower that happens mostly during October. It also has the distinction of coming from the famous Halley’s Comet just like the Eta Aquariids shower. Unlike Eta Aquariids, the Orionids come out of the Orion constellation, which rises out of the eastern sky in October. Also, the moon will be virtually new, so it’ll have one of the darkest skies of any meteor shower this year. 

Draconids

When: Oct. 6 to Oct. 10
Peak date: Oct. 8
Maximum meteor rate: 10 meteors per hour
Radiant: Draco

Draconids is a minor meteor shower and the shortest one on the list, lasting for all of four days. It hails from the 21/P Giacobini-Zimmer comet and has a fairly decent peak at around 10 meteors per hour. The peak occurs just two days after it starts and then the meteor shower ends two days later. The radiant for Draconids is Draco, which is between the Big Dipper and Little Dipper, making it relatively easy to find in the night sky. 

Northern Taurids

When: Oct. 13 to Dec. 1
Peak date: Nov. 8 to 9
Maximum meteor rate: 5 meteors per hour
Radiant: Taurus

Northern Taurids is the other half of the Taurids meteor shower and this one lasts even longer, going from the middle of October all the way until December. It peaks about halfway through its run on Nov. 8, which is a few weeks later than its southern counterpart. Otherwise, the two are virtually identical. They are both fueled by the 2P/Encke comet and at their best produce around five meteors per hour. For now, researchers believe that this shower comes from a different segment of the Encke comet trail, which is why it’s often listed separately from its southern cousin. 

Leonids

When: Nov. 3 to Dec. 2
Peak date: Nov. 16 to 17
Maximum meteor rate: 15 meteors per hour
Radiant: Leo

Just a few days after the Northern Taurids peaks, the Leonids shower will also peak. Created by the 55P/Tempel-Tuttle comet, Leonids will come from the Leo constellation, which rises in the eastern sky right around 2 a.m. local time for most of its run. This is a bigger meteor shower than the Taurids but a smaller shower than the Orionids. Since all four of them intersect during the first week of November, it may be tough to tell which meteor shower a shooting star comes from. This is especially true since Taurus, Leo, and Orion are all in the eastern sky at this time of year. Leonids often has fast, bright meteors that leave a trail, which may be the only way to differentiate a Leonids meteor from the other three showers. 

Geminids

When: Dec. 4 to Dec. 20
Peak date: Dec. 14 to 15
Maximum meteor rate: 120 meteors per hour
Radiant: Gemini

Geminids is one of the biggest meteor showers of the year, and it peaks less than two weeks away from Christmas. It’s generated by the 3200 Phaethon comet and can show as many as 120 meteors per hour in the right conditions. Geminids is best known for its brighter, slower-moving meteors, making them easier to see in brighter areas like cities or suburbs. It takes place during the cold season, but it can put on quite a show if viewed from outside the big city. 

Ursids

When: Dec. 17 to Dec. 26
Peak date: Dec. 22 to 23
Maximum meteor rate: 10 meteors per hour
Radiant: The Little Dipper

Ursids begins right after the peak of Geminids and continues until the day after Christmas. Since Geminids ends before Christmas, it is statistically likely that if you’ve ever watched a Christmas movie that has a shooting star, it likely came from Ursids. The shower peaks on the evening of Dec. 22 from the Little Dipper, which is readily visible in the night sky for most of the evening. Much like Draconids, it disappears almost as fast as it shows up, lasting only nine days in total. 

Quadrantids

When:: Dec. 12, 2025 to Jan. 12, 2026
Peak date: Jan. 3 to 4, 2026
Maximum meteor rate: 120 meteors per hour
Radiant: The Big Dipper

The year ends the same way it begins with the Quandrantids meteor shower. It starts in early December and wraps around to the New Year. Thus, while it does have the distinction of being the only meteor shower that occurs twice a year, the peak is always in the first few days of January. Otherwise, it’s the same meteor shower as the Quadrantids listed above. So, we’ll use this space to deliver a fun fact. Most meteor showers are fueled by comets, chunks of ice floating through the universe that leave long trails that, as Earth moves through them, create meteors. However, Quadrantids is fueled by 2003 EH, which is an asteroid and not a comet. Researchers believe that 2003 EH is potentially a comet that died out and became an asteroid. 

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Technologies

FAA Tries to Stop You Tracking Celebrity Private Jets. Here’s How

According to reports, the FAA’s move to hide ownership details might not stop those who post private jet details on social media.

The Federal Aviation Administration has enacted a new rule signed into law last year that allows owners of private jets to request their names and addresses be kept private. That means, according to the FAA, that the ownership information would not be made available on its websites for public consumption.  

An electronic request form has been made available for owners to do so. The new rule appears to be at least in part a response to social media accounts that post air travel information about celebrities including Elon Musk and Taylor Swift. 

As reported by The Verge, however, that may not thwart those who run tracking sites, who say they rely on other sources of information for their reports, not just FAA records

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