Technologies
NASA Brings Home Asteroid Sample Swiped by Osiris-Rex Spacecraft
A tiny shipment grabbed from a space rock touched down in the Utah desert on Sunday.
For the first time, NASA has returned some dust and other bits of an asteroid collected in space to Earth for study.
Pieces of a large asteroid named Bennu were jarred loose and collected nearly three years ago by NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft, which launched over seven years ago from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
On Sunday morning, the spacecraft released a capsule that landed a little over four hours later, at 9:52 a.m. PT, in the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range. Within 20 minutes, scientists, engineers and military personnel arrived by helicopter to inspect and secure the capsule, which was transported to a nearby cleanroom. It will be moved to Johnson Space Center in Houston on Monday.
«While this may feel like the end of an incredible chapter, it’s truly just the beginning of another,» Dante Lauretta, principal investigator for Osiris-Rex based at the University of Arizona, said in a statement. «We now have the unprecedented opportunity to analyze these samples and delve deeper into the secrets of our solar system.»
In 2020, the van-size spacecraft performed a «touch and go» maneuver — sort of like a chest bump in space — and swiped a few ounces of material from the space rock, which is really a pile of rubble held together by its own gravity. Osiris-Rex lingered around Bennu until 2021, when it started its two-year journey back to Earth.


Since launching on Sept. 8, 2016, Osiris-Rex has traveled billions of miles to Bennu and back. It is the first such mission led by NASA. Japan’s space agency sent two spacecraft, named Hayabusa and Hayabusa 2, to collect and deliver samples from asteroids Itokawa and Ryugu, respectively.
In Houston, the sample will undergo preliminary analysis and be unveiled on Oct. 11 in a livestreamed news conference. It’s hoped the sample will provide scientists with a window into the birth of the solar system, including the sun and planets, some 4.5 billion years ago.
As for the main spacecraft, it isn’t done. After sending its treasure to the surface, Osiris-Rex fired its engines to avoid smashing into the atmosphere. It will now continue on to its next target, the asteroid Apophis, under the new moniker Osiris-Apex (Osiris-Apophis Explorer). The vehicle isn’t equipped to collect and deliver another sample, but it may try to blast the asteroid with its gas thrusters in an attempt to dislodge dust and other small bits for study.
Apophis is an important target because it’s considered a potentially hazardous asteroid. While any chance of it impacting Earth in the next century has been ruled out, it will be worth keeping a close eye on for centuries to come.
Technologies
Meta and AMD’s Multibillion-Dollar Deal Is All About the AI Chips
Meta will take a stake in the chipmaker in exchange for a commitment to buy billions of dollars’ worth of AI chips.
Meta is joining OpenAI as one of the major tech companies to take a stake in chipmaker AMD, as part of an AI hardware buying frenzy. Meta and AMD on Tuesday announced a partnership that will involve CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s tech giant buying billions of dollars’ worth of AMD Instinct GPUs in order to fuel its ambitions to build out AI offerings across Meta platforms, including Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp.
In a release, Meta described the deal as «multi-year,» and said the AI purchase will provide Meta with up to 6 gigawatts of AMD GPUs, «the silicon computing technology used to support modern AI models.»
According to the US Department of Energy, a single gigawatt (1 billion watts) is equivalent to nearly 2,000 large solar panels or 100 million LED bulbs.
In AMD’s version of the announcement, CEO Lisa Su said, «We are proud to expand our strategic partnership with Meta as they push the boundaries of AI at unprecedented scale.» As part of the deal, Meta will take a 10% stake in AMD.
AMD, based in Santa Clara, California, previously signed a deal with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI that it announced last October, which is similar to the Meta deal and also gives its AI rival 10% ownership of AMD.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)
What does this mean for the rest of us?
AMD’s two megadeals may not have an immediate impact on people who use Meta’s social networking and communications apps, or even on those who buy AMD’s products, including desktop processors and graphics cards.
But it signals that large companies making huge bets on the future of AI are doing what they can to secure the hardware they need as supplies tighten and prices rise for components such as RAM. Some of those constraints aren’t expected to end anytime soon, and shoppers could begin to see prices rise even more than they already have for computers, smartphones, vehicles and other products that heavily rely on computing components like these.
It is also a sign that Meta’s ambitions for AI are not slowing down as it continues to compete with companies including OpenAI, Microsoft and Google to develop AI products and tools.
Also a factor: Meta’s push into wearables
Another reason AMD may want access to AI chips goes beyond its own data centers and online platforms: Meta has increasingly been focused on wearables such as its Oakley Meta AI Glasses and other potential new portable products.
In addition to what AMD’s GPUs can offer Meta for AI infrastructure power, AMD may also be part of its wearable future.
«With AI models requiring unprecedented processing power to process real-time data and information, Meta is focused on securing the supply chain necessary for its wearable devices,» said Michael J. Wolf, founder and CEO of the consulting firm Activate.
Wolf believes that the deals Meta and OpenAI have signed won’t be the last time a major AI-focused company locks down a supply of semiconductors.
«As consumer hardware transitions from smartphones to smart glasses, we will absolutely see more of these mega-deals,» Wolf said.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Feb. 25, #520
Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 25, No. 520.
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 features a mix of difficulties. The green one is kind of fun today. 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: Whack it!
Green group hint: Halloween colors.
Blue group hint: The airport is YUL.
Purple group hint: It’s also a hat.
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: To hit a baseball hard.
Green group: Orange and black teams.
Blue group: Associated with Montreal.
Purple group: ____ derby.
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 to hit a baseball hard. The four answers are belt, blister, hammer and tattoo.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is orange and black teams. The four answers are Bengals, Flyers, Giants and Oklahoma State.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is associated with Montreal. The four answers are 1976 Olympics, Canadiens, Expos and Youppi!
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is ____ derby. The four answers are home run, Kentucky, Merseyside and roller.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, Feb. 25
Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 25.
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.
I thought today’s Mini Crossword was a tough one! 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: Computer function represented by a floppy disk icon
Answer: SAVE
5A clue: Want more than anything
Answer: CRAVE
7A clue: Enticed, with «in»
Answer: ROPED
8A clue: In the company of
Answer: AMONG
9A clue: Something to do «like it’s 1999»
Answer: PARTY
Mini down clues and answers
1D clue: Something to do «like it’s 1999»
Answer: SCRAP
2D clue: Fragrance
Answer: AROMA
3D clue: What a humidifier emits
Answer: VAPOR
4D clue: Curling or speed skating, for the Winter Olympics
Answer: EVENT
6D clue: Risqué
Answer: EDGY
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