Technologies

Set Your Alarm Now to Watch This Weekend’s Dazzling Meteor Shower

If you’re willing to get up early on Sunday, you can enjoy a fascinating view of the night sky.

If you’re looking for something breathtaking to do this weekend, set an alarm clock for early Sunday and look to the sky. The Eta Aquarid meteor shower is set to peak this weekend, with the potential for dozens of meteors each hour to shoot across the sky in the predawn hours of Sunday morning. While the number of meteors visible per hour will depend on where you’re located, even those in less-than-ideal conditions should see up to 10 meteors per hour.

The Eta Aquarid meteor shower occurs annually between April 15 and May 27, peaking in early May. Meteors are leftover comet particles that come from broken asteroids. The Eta Aquarid meteor shower is created from dust grains shed by Halley’s Comet when it enters the inner solar system.

According to NASA, the Eta Aquarid meteors are notable for their speed, with the possibility of meteors in the stream hitting a maximum rate of 148,000 miles per minute as they reach the Earth’s atmosphere. Their speed allows them to shed debris as they burn up in the atmosphere leaving what NASA calls «trains» in their wake. Those trains are streaks of light that can last in the sky for minutes after the meteors have passed by.

How to watch the Eta Aquarid meteor shower

As with any other meteor shower, getting the most out of the Eta Aquarid viewing experience has everything to do with location. Those in the southern hemisphere will be able to see more meteors, but those north of the equator will still get a decent amount.

When to get up?

Timing matters in viewing the Eta Aquarids. While they’ll technically be visible all night, viewers will have the best chance of seeing them in the predawn hours on Sunday morning when the sky is darkest. And since the moon will be 14% full that night, light from the moon shouldn’t disrupt viewing.

The nice thing about the Eta Aquarid meteor shower is that it will be visible throughout the night. However, several factors can affect when is the best time to view the shower, including time and cloud cover. Keep an eye on your local weather forecast to determine how cloudy it’s expected to be in your area, and consider that the darkest periods of night usually occur after midnight, leading up to dawn.

What to look for?

You’re looking for fiery streaks shooting across the sky. Think of meteors as dusty, leftover particles from broken asteroids. As asteroids travel around the sun, dust breaks away and take their own path through space. As Earth passes through those dusty areas, comprised of meteors, the meteors collide with the Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrate. From our vantage point on Earth, we see the meteors blow up in a fiery event that creates streaks across the sky.

Leave the city behind

Speaking of light pollution, the chances of seeing the Eta Aquarids when looking to the sky over a big city is nearly zero. Instead, it’s best to get as far away from city lights that pollute the night sky. NASA also recommends lying on your back and facing east for the best chance of seeing as many meteors as possible.

Technologies

Formula 1 Fans Can Now Explore Race Circuits With Apple’s New Maps Guide

F1 fans can get revved up for the approaching season with a tech boost from Apple Maps.

If you’re a Formula 1 fan and have your iPhone handy, you might want to check out Apple Maps. Apple on Wednesday added a new guide for its Maps app showcasing the race tracks for next month’s Australian Grand Prix.

Users can explore a detailed, 3D version of Melbourne’s Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit directly in Apple Maps and find details for all 24 tracks of the season with the Formula 1 Tracks From Around The World guide. It can also be found on the Apple TV Formula 1 Channel.

Currently, the only location done up in 3D is the Albert Park map, where you can explore the F1 Pit Garage, stadiums and more. Apple will continue to add more 3D tracks throughout the year.

The updated maps include:

Grand Prix Elements: Kerbs are shown on the maps to match the real-life experience, along with grandstands and pedestrian footbridges, all in 3D and labeled. All 14 of the circuit’s turns are also labeled.
Pop-Up Locations: Attendees will easily find entrance gates, restrooms, water stations, first aid and merchandise stands. Walking paths are shown directly on the maps, with walking directions available for grandstands.
3D Grand Prix Circuit Landmarks: The Pit Building, Lakeside Stadium (Bob Jane Stadium), Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Center, and the Finish Line are all prominently highlighted and showcased.
3D Melbourne Landmarks: Attendees looking to explore further can find several of Melbourne’s landmarks detailed in 3D in Maps.

Last year, Apple paid $140 million for exclusive F1 streaming rights in the US.

Technologies

Instagram Will Alert Parents if Teens Repeatedly Search for Self-Harm and Suicide Terms

The change applies to accounts using parental supervision tools.

Instagram will soon alert some parents if their teen repeatedly tries to search for terms related to suicide or self-harm within a short period. Instagram owner Meta said on Thursday that it’s rolling out the new notifications to parents in the US, UK, Australia and Canada, with other regions to follow later this year.

Thursday’s update follows the 2024 introduction of teen accounts. It applies to parents using the platform’s optional parental supervision setting, which requires consent from both teens and their parents to participate. Parental supervision allows parents to see the accounts their teen follows, set a time limit for how long their teen can use the app and more.

If teens repeatedly make suicide-related searches, parents will receive alerts via in-app notifications and email, text or WhatsApp, depending on available contact information. In addition to informing parents of their teen’s searches, notifications will allow them to «view expert resources designed to help them approach potentially sensitive conversations with their teen,» according to Meta.

Meta said it would prompt an alert if a teen attempted to search for phrases promoting suicide or self-harm and phrases that suggest a teen wants to harm themselves. The company said its policy is to block searches for self-harm and suicide content and direct people to resources and helplines.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Feb. 27 #726

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Feb. 27, No. 726.

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 was tough for me. Some of the answers are long and 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: It’s a little much

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Whoa, that’s plenty!

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:

LURE, HARK, HARKEN, LATE, SORE, ROSE, TEAL, LATER, GLUE, GLUED, PLUS, LESS, GLARE

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:

GLUT, EXCESS, SURPLUS, OVERKILL, REDUNDANCY

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is ENOUGHALREADY. To find it, start with the E that’s four letters to the right on the top row, and wind down and around.

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