Technologies

Moonquakes: Understanding the Moon’s Tectonic Forces Could Protect Future Astronauts

Space agencies and companies looking to set up lunar outposts should build far away from seismic activity.

As humanity looks to the moon for science and economic opportunity in the coming years, understanding potential dangers lurking on the lunar surface could become increasingly important.

Ridges on the moon that signify moonquakes are the subject of a recent research paper, which delves into tectonic activity across the lunar maria, a vast network of dark plains that arose from ancient volcanic activity.

A team of researchers analyzed lunar formations called small mare ridges to create a global moon map, which is the first of its kind. The paper was originally published Dec. 24 in the Planetary Science Journal.

Cole Nypaver, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Air and Space Museum’s Center for Earth and Planetary Studies and one of the paper’s authors, told CNET that the ridges that were identified were formed by faults in the lunar subsurface, which are associated with moonquakes.

«While those moonquakes are potentially hazardous for long-term lunar exploration missions or permanent outposts, they also present fantastic opportunities to learn more about the interior of the moon and how the moon formed,» Nypaver said.

The moon is shrinking

Another of the paper’s authors is a scientist named Tom Watters. Back in 2010, Watters discovered that the moon is slowly shrinking because its core is cooling.

The moon’s contraction causes disturbances on its surface. The crust gets compressed and forces material up along faults, which creates ridges, similar to how mountains form on Earth.

The most common of these ridges are called lobate scarps. They form on the lunar highlands, which are the bright spots we see when we look at the moon. But the small mare ridges only form in the lunar maria, which are the dark areas of the moon that contrast with the highlands.

This research is the first time scientists have documented the ridges throughout the lunar maria. In doing so, we now have a more complete understanding of the moon’s thermal and seismic history, which could give us a better idea of any potential moonquakes in the future.

«Our results represent the most globally complete understanding of recent lunar tectonism to date,» Nypaver said. «The presence of these additional tectonic features in the lunar maria suggests that the moon may have experienced more global contraction in the recent past than previously thought.»

Moon missions

Humans setting up permanent footholds on the lunar surface have moved from science fiction to real plans for the near future. NASA’s Artemis II mission is set to launch in March at the earliest. And while this mission will only send astronauts to orbit the moon, future Artemis missions plan to land people on the lunar surface and build permanent infrastructure there.

University of Maryland professor Nicholas Schmerr helped NASA develop the Lunar Environment Monitoring Station for Artemis 3, which the crew of the third Artemis mission, currently scheduled for 2028, will deliver to the moon’s surface.

Schmerr said to CNET that this instrument will detect seismic activity in the lunar south polar region.

«We’ll get a whole new picture of lunar seismic activity both on the South Pole and lunar farside,» Schmerr said.

LEMS-A3 is a station designed to be self-sustaining, and Schmerr will act as the instrument’s deputy principal investigator for the mission. The LEMS-A3 will assess «tectonics-related seismicity of the region and any hazard the moonquakes (or, for that matter, impacts) could pose to future longer-lived infrastructure,» Schmerr said.

Setting up shop

NASA isn’t the only one that’s looking to sustain long-term lunar operations. A company called Interlune also wants to set up mining operations on the moon to excavate helium-3, a valuable isotope that could be used for clean energy and quantum computers.

Elon Musk has been talking about building a moon base to launch AI satellites into orbit.

Getting up to speed on the areas of the moon that are more likely to experience moonquakes could influence where space agencies and private companies decide to build outposts in the future.

«There are several upcoming missions to the moon that will carry dedicated seismometers in hopes of detecting a moonquake from a small mare ridge or an asteroid impact on the moon,» Nypaver said. «By identifying a new population of tectonic features in the lunar maria, our work provides additional targets for those missions that seek to use moonquakes to better understand our closest celestial neighbor.»

Technologies

Google Rolls Out Latest AI Model, Gemini 3.1 Pro

Starting Thursday, Gemini 3.1 Pro can be accessed via the AI app, NotebookLM and more.

Google took the wraps off its latest AI model, Gemini 3.1 Pro, on Thursday, calling it a «step forward in core reasoning.» The software giant says its latest model is smarter and more capable for complex problem-solving.

Google shared a series of bookmarks and examples of the latest model’s capabilities, and is rolling out Gemini 3.1 to a series of products for consumers, enterprise and developers.

The overall AI model landscape seems to change weekly. Google’s release comes just a few days after Anthropic dropped the latest version of Claude, Sonnet 4.6, which can operate a computer at a human baseline level.

Benchmarks of Gemini 3.1

Google shared some details about AI model benchmarks for Gemini 3.1 Pro.

The announcement blog post highlights that the Gemini 3.1 Pro benchmark for the ARC-AGI-2 test for solving abstract reasoning puzzles sits at 77.1%. This is noticeably higher than Gemini 3 Pro’s 31.1% score for the same test.

The ARC-AGI-2 benchmark is one of multiple improvements coming from Gemini 3.1 Pro, Google says.

3.1 Pro enhancements

With better benchmarks nearly across the board, Google highlighted some of the ways that translate in general use:

Code-based animations: The latest Gemini model can easily create animated SVG images that are scalable without quality loss and ready to be added to websites with a text prompt.

Creative coding: Gemini 3.1 Pro generated an entire website based on a character from Emily Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights, if she were a landscape photographer showing off her portfolio.

Interactive design: 3.1 Pro was used to create a 3D interactive starling murmuration that allows the flock to be controlled in an assortment of ways, all while a soundscape is generated that changes with the movement of the birds.

Availability

As of Thursday, Gemini 3.1 Pro is rolling out in the Gemini app for those with the AI Pro or Ultra plans. NotebookLM users subscribed to one of those plans will also be able to take advantage of the new model.

Both developers and enterprises can also access the new model via the Gemini API through a range of products, including AI Studio, Gemini Enterprise, Antigravity and Android Studio.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Feb. 20 #719

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Feb. 20, No. 719.

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 bit tricky. Some of the answers are 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: True grit

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: You might find this in a wood shop.

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:

SAND, CART, SCAR, SCAT, PAPER, HAVE

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:

COARSE, HARSH, SCRATCHY, ROUGH, PRICKLY, ABRASIVE

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is SANDPAPER. To find it, start with the S that’s the farthest-left letter on the very top row, and wind down.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Feb. 20, #515

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 20, No. 515.

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 category all about my favorite football team. 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: We’ll be right back…

Green group hint: Run for the roses.

Blue group hint: Skol!

Purple group hint: