Technologies

NASA Astronaut Snaps Knockout Views of Flower Moon in Full Bloom

The full moon is an ethereal lantern dancing with Earth in NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers’ snapshots from the International Space Station.

Spring is popping in the northern hemisphere and the full flower moon joined in on the seasonal celebrations on May 12. Skywatchers on the ground were treated to a glowing disk of light. NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers enjoyed the view from a different vantage point — way up on the International Space Station.

Ayers shared three images of the moon at full strength.

«I’m still in awe of our view of the world and beyond,» she said on X. «Today was the flower moon and it did not disappoint!»

The first image features our blue planet dappled with clouds. The moon hovers in the corner with the dark maria (Latin for «seas») impact basins stretching like shadows across its surface. It’s a poetic image highlighting the close relationship between Earth and its only natural satellite.

Ayers’ next image tells a different story. The moon is a tiny dot below an upside-down Earth riddled with clouds. Parts of the space station poke out from the bottom of the view.

It goes to show how direction doesn’t matter much on the ISS. Earth can be either above or below you depending on your chosen perspective in orbit.

The final shot is an ode to distance. The moon orbits at an average of about 239,000 miles from Earth. It looks every bit that far away in the photo. Our planet is a watery, cloudy hulk with the dainty full moon shining like a remote beacon.

Ayers is part of the SpaceX Crew-10 mission that arrived at the ISS in March to relieve the so-called «stranded astronauts» Sunita «Suni» Williams and Barry «Butch» Wilmore. This is Ayers’ first visit to the ISS.

Ayers has been dedicating some of her public outreach efforts to astrophotography. The moon photos show off her artistic eye.

«These were shot from a few different lenses for perspective,» she said. «I love how you can see the texture in the clouds and on the moon itself.»

The May full moon is known by the «flower moon» nickname.

«Many cultures refer to May’s full moon as the flower moon thanks to the abundant blooming that occurs as spring gets going properly,» the Royal Museums Greenwich said in an explainer. «Other names include the hare moon, the corn planting moon and the milk moon.»

We can’t all be Katy Perry and catch a ride to space, but at least we have Ayers’ views of the full moon to bring the astronaut’s perspective on the celestial show to us on Earth. It’s a beauty whether you’re down on the ground or up in orbit.

Technologies

VPNSecure Customers Discover Their Lifetime Subscriptions Were Canceled

The new owner of VPNSecure said it didn’t know about the lifetime deals when it bought the VPN provider two years ago.

Lifetime means lifetime. Except when it doesn’t. That has been the dilemma of some VPNSecure customers, whose lifetime subscriptions were canceled by the new owners of the VPN provider — without the customers being told in advance that the subscriptions would end.

A Reddit user posted a copy of a message they said they received from VPNSecure’s new owner. In that message, the company tells customers that it did not know about the lifetime deals when it purchased the company in May 2023.

A VPN, or virtual private network, encrypts your internet traffic and masks your IP address, which can make your physical location detectable. A VPN enables you to keep your online activity private and trick apps and websites into thinking you’re in a different state or even country. For an in-depth look at VPNs, check out CNET’s guide to everything you need to know about VPNs and how they work.

In its email to customers, VPNSecure outlined the situation regarding the lifetime deals. The email said that the owner bought «the technology, domain, and customer database-but not the liabilities. Unfortunately, the previous owner did not disclose that thousands of Lifetime Deals (LTDs) had been sold through platforms like StackSocial.»

According to the email, the company deactivated accounts that had been dormant for six months or more, then later canceled all the lifetime deals as of April 28.

In the email, VPNSecure said that its «resources were strained by these LTD accounts» that «provide no sustaining income to help us improve and maintain the service.»

A representative for VPNSecure did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Customers are not happy

Several miffed customers weighed in with angry comments on Trustpilot.

«I had bought a ‘lifetime’ subscription a few years ago,» one person wrote. «Horrible new owners come in and cancel everything claiming ignorance. Either they’re idiots or they’re scammers — not sure which is worse.»

In response to customer reactions, VPNSecure is offering discounted new subscriptions to users whose lifetime deals were canceled. They can pay $1.87 for a month (instead of $9.95), $19 for one year (instead of $79.92), or $55 for three years (instead of $107.64). The deals are available until May 31, according to the email that was posted on Reddit.

Technologies

Coming Soon to Apple Devices: Brain Control Accessibility Features

A standard for brain implants that would allow disabled people to control devices such as iPhones and the Apple Vision Pro could be available for developers this year.

Apple is making progress on a standard for brain implant devices that can help people with disabilities control devices such as iPhones with their thoughts. As reported in The Wall Street Journal, Apple has plans to release that standard to other developers later this year.

The company has partnered with Synchron, which has been working with other companies, including Amazon, on ways to make devices more accessible. Synchron makes an implant called a Stentrode that is implanted in a vein on the brain’s motor cortex. Once implanted, the Stentrode can read brain signals and translate that to movement on devices including iPhones, iPads and Apple’s Vision Pro VR headset.

As we saw last year, a patient with ALS testing the Synchron technology was able to navigate menus in the Vision Pro device and use it to experience the Swiss Alps in VR. The technology could become more widely available to people with paralysis. The company has a community portal for those interested in learning about future tests.

Synchron has also been working on ways to use the interface with ChatGPT.

Effects on accessibility

Although Apple is planning to release its standards, it may be a while before the kinds of technology made by Synchron and Elon Musk’s brain-interface company Neuralink reach a mass audience of those who need it.

«It’s important to keep in mind that while amazing medical interventions are becoming possible, the timeline for full mainstream adoption of people with severe mobility disabilities is still long, and we should maintain a focus on ensuring that we are making products accessible now,» said Bob Farrell, vice president for solution delivery and accessibility at Applause, a technology testing company that recently released an accessibility report.

Farrell said that Apple has helped lead a shift in the tech industry to make products available to a wider audience of those with disabilities.

«Apple recognized the social and business benefit to building inclusive products, and we’re seeing an uptick in other industries focusing on inclusivity, like gaming,» he said. «Game companies are now competing for accessibility awards and driving innovation forward in an industry that has traditionally argued it’s exempt from legal requirements around accessibility — yet demand for inclusion remains, and companies are innovating in this area.»

Making products truly inclusive, Farrell said, takes a lot of work and commitment and, Apple aside, not all of them invest and prioritize or seek out input from people with disabilities.

«We encourage more organizations to involve people with disabilities at every stage of the product-development lifecycle, from early conceptual research to both formal and informal usability testing with assistive technologies,» Farrell said.

«We’d also encourage more companies, especially those leading in consumer tech, to collaborate with accessibility experts and the disability community from the outset. Real-world feedback and testing can uncover critical usability issues that internal teams and automated tools will miss,» he said.

Other Apple announcements

Separately, Apple announced a set of new accessibility features it plans to roll out later this year. They include:

Accessibility Nutrition Labels in the App Store will show accessibility features in games and other apps.
A Magnifier tool for Mac, similar to the one available in iOS.
Braille Access through compatible braille devices allowing for note taking, access to more books and live captions for braille displays.
An Accessibility Reader mode across iOS, Mac and Vision Pro.
Live Captions for Apple Watch.
Enhanced View on Vision Pro.
Other features and updates are listed on its blog.

Global Accessibility Awareness Day is on May 15.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for May 14, #1425

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle No. 1,425 for May 14.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle is a fairly goofy word. It’s a musical instrument that might not come to your ming right away, and it could be tough to guess. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.