Technologies

April Ignites the Night: Two Meteor Showers Are On the Way, and Here’s How to See Them

Get ready for the Lyrids and the Eta Aquariids, coming soon to a sky near you.

Get ready, skygazers. You can start marking your calendar for upcoming meteor showers, with April kicking off a much more active stretch for skywatchers in the Northern Hemisphere.

After a long lull at the start of the year — when the Quadrantids meteor shower peaked just after New Year’s, and little else followed — meteor activity is finally picking up again, bringing two showers into view as the month begins.

The first meteor shower is the Lyrids, which begins on April 14 and continues until the end of the month. This is a relatively minor meteor shower fed by the C/1861 G1 comet, also known as Thatcher after its discoverer, A.E. Thatcher, in 1861. It’s a long-period comet that takes 415.5 years to orbit the sun.

The Lyrids meteor shower peaks on April 21-22 and will produce somewhere between 15 and 20 meteors per hour under optimal conditions. Per the American Meteor Society, the peak should occur on the evening of April 22, so if you can only make it out for one of the two nights, the second night is expected to be the better viewing experience.

The second meteor shower starting in April is the Eta Aquariids. This meteor shower begins on April 19 and spans for over a month, wrapping up on May 28. This is the stronger of the two meteor showers with an expected peak of roughly 50 meteors per hour, depending on where you view them from. The Eta Aquariids shower is known for its fast meteors and persistent tails that stick around for a little longer after the meteor has disappeared.

The 1P/Halley comet feeds it, the same one that feeds the Orionids meteor shower every October. Its peak should be May 5-6. The further south you are, the more meteors you can expect to see, and the opposite is true the further north you go. The best place to view this meteor shower is in the tropics.

How to see Lyrids and Eta Aquariids

Meteor showers come with a built-in trick for finding them. They are named for the constellations where the meteors appear to originate. This origin point, known as the radiant, is where you want to be looking.

The Lyrids meteor shower originates from the Lyra constellation, which is close to the larger Hercules constellation. Both of them rise from the eastern sky shortly around 11 p.m. local time. It will then follow a similar trajectory to the sun, streaking overhead before setting in the west. Sunrise happens long before the constellations actually set, so if you’re waking up early to view these, you’ll want to look high in the western sky.

The Eta Aquariids shower is more difficult to view. It originates from the Aquarius constellation, which spends most of the night of May 5-6 below the eastern horizon. The constellation rises around 3 a.m. local time and will only barely breach the horizon before sunrise a few hours later. If you go out to view the eta Aquariids, get up high and point yourself east.

If you’re having trouble finding the constellations, your best bet is using a sky map app like StarWalk (Android and iOS) or using web tools like Stellarium’s Sky Map. Such tools can help you identify where the constellations will be. For meteor shower viewing, all you really need is the general direction, but there’s no harm in knowing how to find the constellation.

Tips for viewing meteor showers

The advice for viewing meteor showers is the same, no matter how big or small the shower is. The single biggest advantage you can give yourself is getting as far away from light pollution as you can. This means leaving the city and the suburbs behind in favor of greener, dimmer pastures.

The moon can significantly impact viewing. This won’t be a problem for Lyrids since the moon is expected to be about a quarter full during Lyrids’ peak. Eta Aquariids viewers aren’t so lucky since the moon will be about 80% full that night, which will cause significant light pollution. The American Meteor Society says that the shower’s peak may be up to 50 meteors per hour, but with the moon that close to full, people can expect closer to 10.

Other than light pollution, the advice is pretty simple. Make sure to get out there early so your eyes can adjust, and avoid using any bright lights that could affect your night vision. Since meteor shower watching can be a multihour activity, make sure to dress appropriately for the weather and abstain from alcohol, since it acts as a vasodilator and can cause you to lose body heat more quickly on cold evenings.

You won’t need any equipment since meteors are visible to the naked eye. Telescopes and binoculars will reduce your field of view, which may cause you to miss meteors.

Technologies

Apple Expands Its US Manufacturing Program With Bosch, Cirrus Logic and Others

The company previously announced a $600 billion commitment to build in the US through 2030.

Apple is bringing additional firepower to its US manufacturing effort, partnering with four companies that will help make components, including sensors and integrated circuits, for products it sells worldwide.

The company said Thursday that it’s inked agreements with Bosch, Cirrus Logic, TDK and Qnity Electronics to make materials and components in the US as part of a $600 billion commitment announced last year. As part of that effort, Apple plans to add jobs and new factory production across 10 states over the next four years.

This part of its American Manufacturing Program would represent about $400 million in spending through 2030, Apple said.

The program is part of the tech giant’s bending to widespread government efforts to favor domestic companies. The Trump administration has levied heavy tariffs and banned some products from other countries, such as routers and drones, which it labeled security risks.

In response to the added costs of tariffs and some of that political pressure, Apple has shifted some of its manufacturing away from China and has agreed to make more — but certainly not all — of its products in the US.

Some products, like the company’s Mac Mini, are slated to be assembled in Houston, Texas, later this year. Still, it’s nearly impossible to manufacture a product like an iPhone completely in the US due to high labor and production costs, as well as a lack of an integrated supply chain. Consider the case of the not-yet-launched Trump-branded phone, which dropped the «made in the US» claim on Trump Mobile shortly after it was announced.

In its announcement, Apple said TDK will make sensors for Apple’s products while Bosch will work with Apple and TSMC on integrated circuits in the state of Washington. Cirrus Logic will partner with Apple and GlobalFoundries to develop semiconductor technologies in New York. Qnity will work with HD MicroSystems on materials for semiconductors and other electronics.

The company said it’s hosting a spring forum for its Apple Manufacturing Academy in Detroit from April 30 to May 1 to provide training for small- and medium-size manufacturers.

Technologies

A Humanoid Robot Visits the White House to Push AI for Teaching Kids

First lady Melania Trump shares the spotlight with a Figure 03 robot to promote the use of artificial intelligence in education.

An unexpected guest escorted Melania Trump at the Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit on Wednesday: a walking, talking Figure 03 humanoid robot.

During the event, the first lady pitched a future where AI-powered humanoid robots — presented as an idealized educator named «Plato» — provide students with personalized and instant access to human knowledge, including philosophy and art.

The Figure 03 robot is made by Silicon Valley-based robotics company Figure AI, which introduced its third-generation humanoid robot in October last year. The Figure 03 robot costs around $25,000, according to Forbes.

Figure 03 was designed for people to use in their homes, with demo videos showing it folding laundry, lifting eggs from a carton, using a washing machine and delivering drinks to its owners lounging by the pool. It was also shown in corporate use cases as a receptionist and a package deliverer. Using a proprietary AI engine called Helix, it can autonomously perform these tasks and respond to your voice commands.

At the White House, the humanoid robot walked slowly down the red carpet to deliver opening remarks for the tech summit.

«I’m grateful to be part of this historic movement to empower children with technology and education,» the Figure 03 robot said. It then said «welcome» in various languages.

The first lady later said that AI-powered humanoid robots could be placed in children’s homes as an aid to their education to «boost analytic skills and problem solving and adapt in real time to a student’s pace, prior knowledge and even emotional state.»

Promoting AI in education

The two-day summit is hosting leaders from 45 nations and 28 technology organizations, and is intended to «empower children through education and technology,» according to a White House statement. Guests included representatives from tech giants such as Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft and the AI data analytics company Palantir.

The summit is part of the first lady’s Be Best: Fostering the Future initiative, which aims to help children learn using advanced technology. It was introduced in 2018 as an awareness campaign aimed at combating cyberbullying and helping children affected by the opioid crisis.

US Education Secretary Linda McMahon spoke about AI being one of the Department of Education’s main priorities on the first day of the summit.

«If we’re able to scale these resources effectively by investing in AI infrastructure and training, we can offer expert instructions across countless fields, to hire volumes of people at a fraction of the cost,» McMahon said Tuesday at a roundtable meeting.

According to McMahon, the Department of Education has already dedicated millions of dollars in grants to support the use of AI in schools.

The event follows criticism of the Trump administration’s 2025 executive order to dismantle the Department of Education. While the Department of Education hasn’t been officially abolished, it has undergone significant policy changes, funding cuts and workforce reductions.

The introduction of a humanoid robot at the summit sparked significant backlash among many who are wary of the technology’s role in the classroom. Critics took to social media to voice concerns that these machines could eventually replace teachers, stripping the education system of essential human connection, and leading to increased layoffs and cost-cutting.

On one Huffington Post Instagram post featuring the robot, commenters expressed deep skepticism, with one user sarcastically noting, «Nice, getting rid of educators in favor of a robot,» while another flatly rejected the concept, stating, «No, I don’t want to imagine a world with emotionless robots educating our children.»

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Technologies

Nintendo’s $20 Switch 2 Upgrade for Super Mario Wonder Is Worth It for the Extras

Commentary: Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s Bellabel Park DLC is here this week, but it’s more about lots of chaotic multiplayer minigames than new courses.

I want a new Super Mario Bros. Switch 2 game as much as anyone, but almost a year into the console’s first year, it hasn’t happened yet. Mario Kart? Mario Tennis? Mario Party? Yes. New Yoshi game? That’s happening soon, too. And now, we have the next closest thing: The wonderful 2023 Super Mario Bros. Wonder has a Switch 2 downloadable-content pack for $20 that’s, well, sort of a new Mario game, just a week before the Super Mario Galaxy movie arrives in theaters.

I’ve been playing it for the past week, and it’s worth the upgrade if you like multiplayer Mario. If not, well, you might consider it anyway.

The awkwardly named «Super Mario Bros. Wonder — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park» is an add-on to Wonder, but it’s really just focused on building out a whole bunch of multiplayer party modes. The new course variants and minigame challenges, while welcome, require online multiplayer or local multiplayer play to work. For most of this new Switch 2 update, you can’t play offline on your own.

The multiplayer games cover dozens of challenges and themes — some turning everyone into bouncy balls, others making everyone rush to collect the most coins. You can throw up to four players locally on the Switch 2 at home or up to 12 players online at once, and it gets busy fast. I can see screaming breaking out with kids.

I played an hour or so of multiplayer sessions, and it was fun. But I haven’t gotten to play with lots of others online yet other than that. Still, it does feel sort of like Mario Party Super Mario Style, as opposed to Super Mario Bros. game extensions.

The DLC does have some extras you can still enjoy on your own. Seven new miniboss stages have been added into the game, featuring all of the Koopalings to take on. They’re the extended universe of Mario enemies, and each of the levels has the miniboss use a strange new power to melt the world in clever ways.

A new Toad Brigade Training Camp mode also offers up dozens of little challenge stages to beat, all remixes of existing Wonder levels. Some involve surviving without touching enemies or coins; some you have to defeat all enemies or collect all coins before time runs out. They’re addictive and hard, and I’m glad for them existing.

Nintendo also tried to add some fun extras: Bellabel park has lots of flowers you can collect by watering plants with «Bellabel water» you collect by completing tasks. And you can decorate parts of the park. It’s sort of neither here nor there for me, though, because I come to Mario platformer games to play fun levels, not decorate gardens. Pokemon Pokopia is the place for that.

Rosalina and a Luma Star are extra characters you can play with, but Rosalina doesn’t do anything truly new and the Luma Star is a co-op option. There’s also a weird Flower power-up now that turns you into a walking flowerpot, throwing flowers upward to attack enemies or hit blocks. It was OK. It’s not my favorite new extra.

Maybe that’s what feels missing here: Wonder threw all sorts of wildcards out into the game, from new enemies to strange Wonder Seeds that transformed levels. Bellabel Park feels more like a multiplayer-focused remix than a bunch of new single-player whimsy.

I like the multiplayer games on tap more than I liked the Switch 2 add-on for Mario Party Jamboree. They’re probably worth it if you’re a Switch 2 owner with a big family or lots of friends who want to play.

And even though I appreciate the resolution boost to the graphics, the Switch 2 graphics upgrade is hard to spot since the game’s «older» graphics have a retro look that still looked great before the upgrade (to me, at least).

What I really want, of course, is a truly new Mario game. Who doesn’t? That’s not on the table yet. But maybe, just maybe, Wonder’s Switch 2 pack is a little appetizer before that news eventually comes. But as revamped Switch 2 game editions go, Wonder’s extras are the best yet and turn this game into a truly multiplayer-rich bunch of fun.