Technologies

Pink Clouds and Hot Blue Stars: Here Are the Coolest Space Photos of 2025, So Far

From the huge smoke plume seen from the LA wildfires to a new sweeping view of Earth, these space images will give you a new perspective on our planet and our universe.

Need a break just to marvel at our small, delicate world? There’s always something happening in space, and humanity is documenting it more quickly and clearly than ever before. Orbiting telescopes, astronauts and spacecraft are sending back a stream of photos that show off the diversity and wonder of the universe. Here are some of the best space photos of the year, so far.

Los Angeles wildfires

It wasn’t just imagery of objects beyond Earth that caught our eye over the first half of the year. The European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 Earth-observing satellite documented the devastating Palisades Fire in California in January.

The Jan. 7 view showed a large smoke plume stretching out over the Pacific Ocean. That was just the beginning of a series of wildfires that destroyed residences and buildings in Los Angeles County.

Earth from space

NASA astronaut and astrophotographer extraordinaire Don Pettit shared a knockout view of Earth from the International Space Station in late February. «Cosmic colors at sunrise; never get tired of seeing what the new day brings,» he said.

This photo has it all: our planet, swirling aurora lights and a sweeping vista of stars.

Sunrise from the moon

It’s tough to land successfully on the moon. Firefly Aerospace pulled off the feat in March with its Blue Ghost Mission 1. The Blue Ghost lander captured a historic view of a sunrise from the surface of the moon. The image shows the pockmarked lunar surface with the bright flash of the sun topping the horizon.

Many moon missions, including Intuitive Machine’s 2025 attempt, go wrong. That makes Blue Ghost’s sunrise image all the more poignant. It marks a hard-earned lunar success story.

Webb spots a ‘cosmic tornado’

The James Webb Space Telescope delivered a wild view of Herbig-Haro 49/50 in March. NASA described the space object as «a frothy-looking outflow from a nearby protostar» and a «cosmic tornado.» Look for the distant spiral galaxy in the upper left.

Hubble turns 35

The venerable Hubble Space Telescope celebrated 35 years in orbit in April. NASA and ESA partied down by releasing a series of Hubble anniversary images, including views of Mars and a barred spiral galaxy.

It’s hard to pick just one anniversary image to highlight, but the telescope’s ethereal view of the Rosette Nebula and its smoky clouds of gas and dust stands out. The nebula is a place of active star formation. Hubble’s image focuses on one small, scenic part of the Rosette.

Flower moon from orbit

NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers got some full-moon photography in during May’s «flower moon.» Ayers had a front-row seat to the glowing lunar action from her perch on the International Space Station.

Ayers shared a series of photos with Earth in the frame, emphasizing the relationship between our blue planet and our lunar neighbor.

Mars rover selfie

NASA’s Perseverance rover has been trucking around Mars since early 2021. The wheeled explorer marked its 1,500th Martian day on May 10 by taking a fresh selfie. Percy took dozens of images of itself using a camera mounted on the end of its robotic arm. NASA stitched the shots together to create the selfie.

Look deeper into the image to spot a swirling dust devil dancing in the background. «Having the dust devil in the background makes it a classic,» said Perseverance imaging scientist Megan Wu. «This is a great shot.»

Pink clouds and hot blue stars

The new Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile is sure to be contribute amazing additions to space photography. And the people behind it are thinking big: «(The Rubin Observatory is) going to build the greatest time-lapse movie of the cosmos ever made,» the observatory said in a recent post.

The observatory is named for the American scientist widely credited for finding some of the first evidence of dark matter.

Its first released image, shown above, shows the Trifid and Lagoon nebulas as colorful pink clouds of hydrogen alongside hot blue stars.

The year is not even half over. There are full moons, auroras, space launches and meteor showers coming down the line. Satellites are watching over Earth. Space telescopes are staring out into the cosmos and sending back postcards from our universe.

Stay tuned for more stunning images.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, Oct. 14

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 14.

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.

Today’s Mini Crossword has an odd vertical shape, with an extra Across clue, and only four Down clues. The clues are not terribly difficult, but one or two could be tricky. Read on if you need 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: Smokes, informally
Answer: CIGS

5A clue: «Don’t have ___, man!» (Bart Simpson catchphrase)
Answer: ACOW

6A clue: What the vehicle in «lane one» of this crossword is winning?
Answer: RACE

7A clue: Pitt of Hollywood
Answer: BRAD

8A clue: «Yeah, whatever»
Answer: SURE

9A clue: Rd. crossers
Answer: STS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Things to «load» before a marathon
Answer: CARBS

2D clue: Mythical figure who inspired the idiom «fly too close to the sun»
Answer: ICARUS

3D clue: Zoomer around a small track
Answer: GOCART

4D clue: Neighbors of Norwegians
Answer: SWEDES

Technologies

Watch SpaceX’s Starship Flight Test 11

Technologies

New California Law Wants Companion Chatbots to Tell Kids to Take Breaks

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the new requirements on AI companions into law on Monday.

AI companion chatbots will have to remind users in California that they’re not human under a new law signed Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The law, SB 243, also requires companion chatbot companies to maintain protocols for identifying and addressing cases in which users express suicidal ideation or self-harm. For users under 18, chatbots will have to provide a notification at least every three hours that reminds users to take a break and that the bot is not human.

It’s one of several bills Newsom has signed in recent weeks dealing with social media, artificial intelligence and other consumer technology issues. Another bill signed Monday, AB 56, requires warning labels on social media platforms, similar to those required for tobacco products. Last week, Newsom signed measures requiring internet browsers to make it easy for people to tell websites they don’t want them to sell their data and banning loud advertisements on streaming platforms.

AI companion chatbots have drawn particular scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators in recent months. The Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into several companies in response to complaints by consumer groups and parents that the bots were harming children’s mental health. OpenAI introduced new parental controls and other guardrails in its popular ChatGPT platform after the company was sued by parents who allege ChatGPT contributed to their teen son’s suicide.

«We’ve seen some truly horrific and tragic examples of young people harmed by unregulated tech, and we won’t stand by while companies continue without necessary limits and accountability,» Newsom said in a statement.

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One AI companion developer, Replika, told CNET that it already has protocols to detect self-harm as required by the new law, and that it is working with regulators and others to comply with requirements and protect consumers.

«As one of the pioneers in AI companionship, we recognize our profound responsibility to lead on safety,» Replika’s Minju Song said in an emailed statement. Song said Replika uses content-filtering systems, community guidelines and safety systems that refer users to crisis resources when needed.

A Character.ai spokesperson said the company «welcomes working with regulators and lawmakers as they develop regulations and legislation for this emerging space, and will comply with laws, including SB 243.» OpenAI spokesperson Jamie Radice called the bill a «meaningful move forward» for AI safety. «By setting clear guardrails, California is helping shape a more responsible approach to AI development and deployment across the country,» Radice said in an email.

One bill Newsom has yet to sign, AB 1064, would go further by prohibiting developers from making companion chatbots available to children unless the AI companion is «not foreseeably capable of» encouraging harmful activities or engaging in sexually explicit interactions, among other things.