Technologies

Amazon Prime Video Has a New NASA Live Channel for Streaming Rocket Launches

NASA Plus is now on Prime Video and will include, among other cosmic content, livestreams of major space launches.

Can’t get enough of those rocket launches and glimpses of the cosmos? Well, if you have Amazon Prime Video loaded up on any of your devices, you can now get a whole lot more of that goodness on the new NASA Plus channel.

NASA announced Tuesday that it has launched a streaming channel featuring content from its NASA Plus service on Prime Video’s FAST section, featuring a variety of original educational and documentary content, as well as the occasional rocket launch livestream. «FAST» stands for free ad-supported television, and if you’ve ever dabbled with Pluto TV, Tubi or Amazon’s own defunct Freevee brand, then you’re already familiar with the concept.

While «ad-supported» may be in the name of the format, the content from NASA Plus, on Prime Video and it’s other apps, is free of charge and free of ads, since NASA is a US government agency funded by tax dollars. Checking out the new Prime Video channel myself on Wednesday, I was able to access it without an Amazon Prime account and without seeing a single ad the entire time. If you’re interested in trying it out, you can find it by going to the Live TV section on Prime Video and scrolling down until you find it.

«Streaming NASA Plus on multiple platforms allows the agency to more efficiently share its missions, from launching astronauts to the International Space Station, to going behind the scenes with the team that defends Earth against asteroids, to showcasing new, high-definition images of the cosmos,» Wes Brown, acting associate administrator for the Office of Communications at NASA, said about the new channel in a statement Tuesday.

For the time being, there are no live-streaming events scheduled to air on NASA Plus, but you can check for any other updates to the schedule on the service’s official webpage. You can see our list of the planned major US space launches for 2025, which you should be able to watch live on the channel. NASA did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for May 8, #697

Here are the hints and answers for Connections for May 8, No. 697. Think movies with non-stop action.

Looking for the most recent 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, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections puzzle is fun, especially if you like action movies and a certain dice game. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Jot it down.

Green group hint: Dice game.

Blue group hint: Bourne is another one.

Purple group hint: You use two on the drums.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Commit to paper.

Green group: Needs for playing Yahtzee.

Blue group: Heroes of action movie franchises.

Purple group: ____ stick.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is commit to paper. The four answers are author, compose, pen and write.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is needs for playing Yahtzee. The four answers are cup, dice, pencil and scorecard.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is heroes of action movie franchises. The four answers are Bond, Jones, Ocean and Wick. (For James Bond, Indiana Jones, Danny Ocean and John Wick.)

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ____ stick. The four answers are candle, chop, joy and yard.

Toughest Connections puzzles

We’ve made a note of some of the toughest Connections puzzles so far. Maybe they’ll help you see patterns in future puzzles.

#5: Included «things you can set,» such as mood, record, table and volleyball.

#4: Included «one in a dozen,» such as egg, juror, month and rose.

#3: Included «streets on screen,» such as Elm, Fear, Jump and Sesame.

#2: Included «power ___» such as nap, plant, Ranger and trip.

#1: Included «things that can run,» such as candidate, faucet, mascara and nose.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for May 8, #431

Think glamour and glitz. Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 431 for May 8.

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 is a very decorative, elegant, sumptuous and special puzzle. Does that hint push you in the right direction? If you need more hints and the 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: Well, fancy that!

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Think about the crown jewels.

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:

RULE, SLUR, SHOO, SHAVE, STERLING, SANG, SLOG, LOON, LONG, TANG, HEART, ZANY, NANNY, HAVE, SEAR, GAVE, VASE.

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 runs from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you’ve got 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:

GAUDY, DELUXE, LAVISH, ORNATE, SNAZZY, EXTRAVAGANT

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is OOHSHINY. To find it, start with the O that’s four letters to the right on the top row and go straight down! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a spangram that followed a completely straight line before!

Toughest Strands puzzles

Here are some of the Strands topics I’ve found to be the toughest in recent weeks.

#1: Dated slang, Jan. 21. Maybe you didn’t even use this lingo when it was cool. Toughest word: PHAT.

#2: Thar she blows! Jan.15. I guess marine biologists might ace this one. Toughest word: BALEEN or RIGHT.

#3: Off the hook, Jan. 9. Similar to the Jan. 15 puzzle in that it helps to know a lot about sea creatures. Sorry, Charlie. Toughest word: BIGEYE or SKIPJACK