Category Archives: Blog

TL;DR: As of August 13, get the Wemax Go projector and a 40-inch portable screen for just $229.99 — that’s a 66% discount.

This summer, we’ve seen some amazing shows and movies like The Summer I Turned Pretty and Barbie, but if you’re more of a horror fan, you’re probably looking forward to Saw X and Insidious: The Red Door. And what better way to watch those movies than with a home theater setup? It doesn’t have to be as expensive as you think.

When you grab this Watch From Anywhere Bundle, you get the Wemax Go projector and a 40-inch portable screen for only $229.99 (reg. $679.97). Then, you just need a cozy place to sit and friends or family to join you (if that’s your thing).

Create your own movie and game nights

Successfully funded on Indiegogo, the Wemax Go projector is small enough to fit in your pocket and only requires a cord for power. Once you have it set up and your movie ready to go, just connect your phone, computer, or console to the projector — pair wirelessly with the projector’s own WiFi or with HDMI, USB, or USB-C cords.

Wireless connection is handy when you want to bring the projector to a friend’s house or even outdoors to set up a drive-in style movie setup. You could also create game nights if you stream your computer’s screen to the projector — imagine playing Mario Kart outside and on a huge screen.

Seamless, simple setup

Worried about what surfaces you can cast your new projector onto? No problem — you get a 40-inch portable screen with this bundle. Its pull-up design and aluminum frame makes it ultralight, compact, and freestanding. 

Pull the screen up on any flat surface — a tabletop, floor, sidewalk, or even a flat patch of grass outside. Then, just set up your projector and roll the film.

Get the ultimate setup to watch movies or binge-watch your favorite show: the Wemax Go Projector and 40-Inch Portable Screen, now only $229.99 (reg. $679.97) for a limited time.

Prices subject to change.

The Hubble Space Telescope shocked astronomers when it discovered Earendel, a star so old, it existed perhaps just 1 billion years after the big bang.

Now the experts have used the James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble’s powerful infrared partner, to take a gander, and its first look has revealed even more details about the star. To scientists’ surprise, Earendel might actually have a cooler, redder space companion: another star. Because the expansion of the universe has stretched the other lightsource to wavelengths longer than Hubble can sense, only Webb could find those clues.

“Astronomers did not expect Webb to reveal any companions of Earendel since they would be so close together and indistinguishable in the sky,” according to the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore.

Tweet may have been deleted

Studying a star like Earendel is valuable because it holds secrets to how the universe, thought to be 13.8 billion years old, began and evolved. With Webb, the leading space observatory run by NASA and the European and Canadian space agencies, scientists have gained new insights into the star’s type and the galaxy around it known as the Sunrise Arc. Future research by the telescope could reveal even more information about the star’s brightness, temperature, and composition.

The new findings indicate Earendel, meaning “morning star” in Old English, is a massive B-type star, more than double the temperature of the sun and about 1 million times brighter.

Hubble was able to detect Earendel last year due to a quirk of nature known as gravitational lensing. This phenomenon happens when a celestial object has such a massive gravitational pull, it warps the time and space around it.

Tweet may have been deleted

Want more science and tech news delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for Mashable’s Light Speed newsletter today.

NASA often uses the analogy of a bowling ball placed on a foam mattress or trampoline to illustrate how the fabric of spacetime bends. Light that would otherwise travel straight curves and gets distorted as it passes through the warped spacetime.

Gravitational lensing even has the potential to replicate objects, the way a funhouse mirror can create multiple irregular copies of images.

Hubble and Webb were able to detect Earendel in Sunrise Arc last year due to a quirk of nature known as gravitational lensing.
Credit: NASA / ESA / CSA

In this case, Earendel only appears once, but the galaxy cluster WHL0137-08, about 28 billion light-years from Earth, is acting like a colossal magnifying glass. It warps spacetime, allowing scientists to see even more distant objects in the cosmos. The extra prescription strength of a gravitational lens can help extend the view of telescopes to see even earlier galaxies.

Astronomers are now adept at spotting the telltale tricks of gravitational lensing, but that wasn’t always true. In 1987, an enormous blue arc thought to be hundreds of trillions of miles long was first considered one of the largest objects ever detected in space. Later that year, scientists sorted out, with the help of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, that they were in fact looking at an optical illusion, distorted by a galaxy cluster. The New York Times’ published a story about the “bizarre” implication of their findings, titled “Vast Cosmic Object Downgraded to a Mirage.”

Since Hubble’s discovery of Earendel, Webb has detected other extremely distant (and, thus, old) stars using the gravitational lensing technique, though none quite so far away. Another group of scientists discovered one nicknamed Quyllur, a red giant star observed about 3 billion years after the big bang.

“The research team has cautious hope that this could be a step toward the eventual detection of one of the very first generation of stars,” the institute says, “composed only of the raw ingredients of the universe created in the big bang — hydrogen and helium.”

TL;DR: The aloSIM Mobile Data Traveller Lifetime eSim Plan is on sale for £20, saving you 50% on list price.

If your future plans include a trip to another country, being prepared is usually a great way to start out your journey. That includes understanding your data plans and how you will stay connected while abroad when you need to check your phone for a map, directions, restaurants in the area, and so forth.

To get ahead of the game and avoid roaming charges bringing down your trip, the aloSIM Mobile Data Traveler Lifetime eSIM could be of great service. An aloSIM plan allows you to load prepaid eSIM data packages onto your phone, tablet, or computer. Get access to the eSIM for life plus £40 worth of credits for just £20. 

Here’s how it works:

• Pay £20 for a lifetime eSIM with £40 in travel data credit.

• Use your eSIM to join data networks in 120+ countries.

• Install your lifetime eSIM on a compatible device to roam on local data networks.

• Your lifetime eSIM never expires and can be topped up with more data anytime.

• Many data packages cost as little as £4 and last seven days. Depending on the package you choose, the length of time varies.

It is important to note that while your eSIM never expires, the actual data package is only valid for the length of time stated at purchase (e.g., seven days after activation, 30 days after activation, etc.) So if you buy a seven-day package and only use a tiny bit, that package is still going to expire after seven days. 

It’s recommended that people purchase and install their eSIM ahead of their trip while on a good connection. (Trying to buy and install on airport WiFi can be frustrating.)

Don’t let hefty roaming charges ruin your holiday vibe. The aloSIM Mobile Data Traveler Lifetime eSIM Plan can provide peace of mind and £40 in data credits for just £20.

SAVE 49%: ExpressVPN is the best service for unblocking extra Netflix libraries. A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for £82.82 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off list price.

If you stream, you should use a VPN. It’s that simple.

VPNs can bypass geo-restrictions to unlock extra content from around the world. The process is really simple, and it can significantly increase the number of shows and movies at your disposal.

If you’re looking to unblock UK Netflix from anywhere in the world, we have the information you need.

How to unblock UK Netflix for free

VPNs can hide your real IP address and connect you to servers in other countries. This action make it look like you’re connecting from another country, meaning you get access to all the content that is normally locked to that location.

Secure access to UK Netflix in just a few simple steps:

1. Sign up for a streaming-friendly VPN

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in the UK

4. Sign in to Netflix

5. Watch UK Netflix from anywhere in the world

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free trials or money-back guarantees. You can unblock UK Netflix without committing with your cash by utilising these offers. No, this isn’t a long-term solution. But it does mean you can watch your favourite shows from anywhere in the world without actually spending anything.

What is the best VPN for Netflix?

There are plenty of VPNs that can reliably unblock UK Netflix, but ExpressVPN is tough to beat:

• Servers in 94 countries including the UK

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy

• Fast streaming speeds free from throttling

• Up to five simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for £82.82 with an extra three months of coverage for free, saving you 49% on list price. This discounted plan includes a year of free Backblaze cloud backup and a 30-day money-back guarantee. You can use the money-back guarantee to unlock UK Netflix and then recoup your investment at a later date.

Unblock UK Netflix for free with ExpressVPN.

Ah, Sunday at last. And what better way to ease into the day than with a nice bit of Wordle? We’re always here for you with some tips and tricks to help you figure out the solution.

If you just want to be told the answer, you can jump to the end of this article for August 13’s Wordle solution revealed. But if you want to solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

Not the day you’re after? Here’s the Wordle answer for Aug 12.

What’s the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you like being strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles used to be available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it. Unfortunately, it has since been taken down, with the website’s creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn’t any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle‘s Hard Mode if you’re after more of a challenge, though.

Why are there two different Wordle answers some days?

Though usually Wordle will only accept one correct solution per day, occasionally it has rebelled against the norm and deem two different answers acceptable. This is due to changes the New York Times made to Wordle after it acquired the puzzle game.

The Times has since added its own updated word list, so this should happen even less frequently than before. To avoid any confusion, it’s a good idea to refresh your browser before getting stuck into a new puzzle.

Here’s a subtle hint for today’s Wordle answer:

Don’t get angry.

Does today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?

Nope, not today!

Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…

Today’s Wordle starts with the letter W.

What’s the answer to Wordle today?

Get your last guesses in now, because it’s your final chance to solve today’s Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to Wordle #785 is…

WRATH.

Don’t feel disheartened if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

If Quordle is a little too challenging today, you’ve come to the right place for hints. There aren’t just hints here, but the whole Quordle solution. Scroll to the bottom of this page, and there it is. But are you sure you need all four answers? Maybe you just need a strategy guide. Either way, scroll down, and you’ll get what you need.

What is Quordle?

Quordle is a five-letter word guessing game similar to Wordle, except each guess applies letters to four words at the same time. You get nine guesses instead of six to correctly guess all four words. It looks like playing four Wordle games at the same time, and that is essentially what it is. But it’s not nearly as intimidating as it sounds.

Is Quordle harder than Wordle?

Yes, though not diabolically so.

Where did Quordle come from?

Amid the Wordle boom of late 2021 and early 2022, when everyone was learning to love free, in-browser, once-a-day word guessing games, creator Freddie Meyer says he took inspiration from one of the first big Wordle variations, Dordle — the one where you essentially play two Wordles at once. He took things up a notch, and released Quordle on January 30. Meyer’s creation was covered in The Guardian six days later, and now, according to Meyer, it attracts millions of daily users. Today, Meyer earns modest revenue from Patreon, where dedicated Quordle fans can donate to keep their favorite puzzle game running. 

How is Quordle pronounced?

“Kwordle.” It should rhyme with “Wordle,” and definitely should not be pronounced exactly like “curdle.”

Is Quordle strategy different from Wordle?

Yes and no.

Your starting strategy should be the same as with Wordle. In fact, if you have a favorite Wordle opening word, there’s no reason to change that here. We suggest something rich in vowels, featuring common letters like C, R, and N. But you do you.

After your first guess, however, you’ll notice things getting out of control if you play Quordle exactly like Wordle.

What should I do in Quordle that I don’t do in Wordle?

Solving a Wordle puzzle can famously come down to a series of single letter-change variations. If you’ve narrowed it down to “-IGHT,” you could guess “MIGHT” “NIGHT” “LIGHT” and “SIGHT” and one of those will probably be the solution — though this is also a famous way to end up losing in Wordle, particularly if you play on “hard mode.” In Quordle, however, this sort of single-letter winnowing is a deadly trap, and it hints at the important strategic difference between Wordle and Quordle: In Quordle, you can’t afford to waste guesses unless you’re eliminating as many letters as possible at all times. 

Guessing a completely random word that you already know isn’t the solution, just to eliminate three or four possible letters you haven’t tried yet, is thought of as a desperate, latch-ditch move in Wordle. In Quordle, however, it’s a normal part of the player’s strategic toolset.

Is there a way to get the answer faster?

In my experience Quordle can be a slow game, sometimes dragging out longer than it would take to play Wordle four times. But a sort of blunt-force guessing approach can speed things up. The following strategy also works with Wordle if you only want the solution, and don’t care about having the fewest possible guesses:

Try starting with a series of words that puts all the vowels (including Y) on the board, along with some other common letters. We’ve had good luck with the three words: “NOTES,” “ACRID,” and “LUMPY.” YouTuber DougMansLand suggests four words: “CANOE,” “SKIRT,” “PLUMB,” and “FUDGY.”

Most of the alphabet is now eliminated, and you’ll only have the ability to make one or two wrong guesses if you use this strategy. But in most cases you’ll have all the information you need to guess the remaining words without any wrong guesses.

If strategy isn’t helping, and you’re still stumped, here are some hints:

Are there any double or triple letters in today’s Quordle words?

No.

Are any rare letters being used in today’s Quordle like Q or Z?

No.

What do today’s Quordle words start with?

S, D, H, and F.

What are the answers for today’s Quordle?

Are you sure you want to know?

There’s still time to turn back.

OK, you asked for it. The answers are:

1. SAUCE

2. DEIGN

3. HARDY

4. FLUNG

Prepare for your Twitter — sorry, X — feed to clog up with engagement bait.

In July, owner Elon Musk fulfilled his months-old promise to pay users for their tweets — if they joined Twitter Blue (now called X Premium), that is. Only paying users who fulfilled certain eligibility requirements could sign up for the Creator Ads Revenue Sharing program: 15 million tweet impressions in the last three months, and a minimum payout of $50. It’s unclear how exactly the payment is measured; Musk said it’s not exactly per impression, but by how many ads are shown to other verified users.

As the Washington Post reported, it seemed like Musk first rewarded right-wing influencers with big-enough engagement to warrant five-figure payouts. Other X users appeared happy with their earnings, though, claiming the return on investment is worth it.

This week, Elon Musk lowered the eligibility requirements for creator monetization, making it easier for X Premium users to cash out on their tweets. Now, X Premium users only need 5 million impressions in the last three months, 500 followers, and a minimum payout of $10.

Tweet may have been deleted

While the payment measure is murky, the prospect of high-dollar payouts just for tweeting is tempting. You may have already seen a spike in prompt tweets or other content that makes for easy replying and quote tweeting (a.k.a. “engagement bait” or “rage bait”); it may be because of the incentive to get paid for your eyeballs. Some X users have certainly noticed:

Tweet may have been deleted

Tweet may have been deleted

Tweet may have been deleted

Tweet may have been deleted

X already rewards those who post rage bait — as does social media in general — and for the platforms, this turns anger into dollars as users can’t stop themselves from watching or commenting. This creator monetization change will likely bring more of the same, making X even more of a cesspool than it already is. If you see a blue check account ask an asinine question: bait. If you see a blue check account posting obvious misinformation: bait. If you see a non-blue check account posting these things, it may be an X Premium user who hid their blue check.

How exactly this plays out remains to be seen, but if the first few days are any indication, non-paying (and non-paid) X users will continue to be frustrated by the platform.

Having sex in a moving car raises questions about legality and safety, but the only thing stopping some people from doing it, apparently, was the presence of a driver.

As of this week, robotaxis can operate in San Francisco 24/7. Previously, these autonomous vehicles (AV) could only operate in the city during nighttime hours — 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. — without a safety permit. Now the self-driving car companies Waymo and Cruise can shuttle busy passengers at all hours of the day.

According to an article in The San Francisco Standard, some customers aren’t just literally busy; they’re also, uh, getting busy. The Standard spoke to numerous people who have claimed to have sex in robotaxis, specifically Cruise, not Waymo. While these people’s names were changed, the Standard confirmed these rides happened through receipts.

Alex and Megan, a couple who spoke to the Standard, said that the ride wasn’t exactly comfortable, but it was thrilling. “The fact that we were out and about in public, the whole taboo of it being kind of wrong made it more fun and exciting,” Megan told the Standard.

Is sex allowed in robotaxis? Waymo and Cruise didn’t comment on that explicitly to the Standard, and their respective rules don’t mention it specifically. In Cruise’s Community Rules, there are bullet points about respectful behavior in the AV, including not engaging activities that are “disrespectful, offensive, or inappropriate toward others” in and outside the vehicle. There are also rules about cleanliness and noise control — but nothing overtly about sex.

Waymo’s Rules also call for passengers to be respectful of the car and to keep it clean as well, but there’s no mention of sex either. Smoking and vaping aren’t allowed in either Waymo or Cruise cars, and Waymo specifically forbids alcohol alcohol. As AVs are so new, regulations are still ambiguous and subject to change.

While sex isn’t against the rules, per se, passenger activity is surveilled inside the car. There are cameras inside (and outside) Waymo and Cruise vehicles. Both companies say they’re for safety and maintenance purposes, but the chances of your sexscapade getting recorded are high. Also, the windows aren’t tinted, so those outside the car are likely to catch a glimpse, too.

The Standard cited a 2019 article about autonomous vehicles and the future of urban tourism, saying that sex and sex work inside these cars will be a growing phenomenon. The article even predicts that AVs will replace “hotels by the hour,” and they’ll be monitored to prevent sex and drug use inside of them.

This hasn’t come to pass, but if Alex and Megan are any indication, having sex in a driverless car may become the new…having sex in a regular car.

Some space events happen too slowly to see, but a new time-lapse video provides a rare glimpse of an exoplanet plodding through its vast, decades-long journey around a star.

Northwestern University astrophysicist Jason Wang has done just that, squishing 17 years of real telescope images of a gas giant planet not too distant from Earth into a 10-second video. As its name suggests, Beta Pictoris b, a planet 12 times Jupiter’s mass, is in the Pictor constellation at just over 63 light-years away.

The video only captures 75 percent of the planet’s entire orbit, but it is believed to be the longest time-lapse of an exoplanet ever made.

“We need another six years of data before we can see one whole orbit,” Wang said in a statement. “We’re almost there. Patience is key.”

Many exoplanets — as in planets that orbit stars other than the sun — are often discovered by watching them cross in front of their distant stars to prove they exist. NASA has so far identified about 5,500 exoplanets, though experts estimate there could be over a trillion lurking in the Milky Way alone.

This distant world is special because its size and brightness have made it easier to spot than other exoplanets over the years. Gemini Observatory and two at the European Southern Observatory have snapped pictures of it since 2003, according to Northwestern.

To make the video, Wang used “adaptive optics” to fix blurring caused by Earth’s atmosphere and other technology to hide the glare of the host star. This is why the video blacks out the actual star and places a star symbol on top of where it should be. The star still manages to outshine the world when the planet gets too close. For those phases, Wang marked Beta Pictoris b with an X to make it easier for viewers to follow its path when it seems to vanish.

Tweet may have been deleted

Want more science and tech news delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for Mashable’s Light Speed newsletter today.

Wang, an expert in exoplanet imaging, says the video doesn’t reveal any new scientific findings. But it does bring the subject of planetary orbits to life for the public. Several months ago, Mashable covered Wang’s time-lapse video of four exoplanets dancing around their host star over a 12-year period.

“A lot of times, in science, we use abstract ideas or mathematical equations,” he said. “But something like a movie — that you can see with your own eyes — gives a visceral kind of appreciation for physics that you wouldn’t gain from just looking at plots on a graph.”

A direct infrared image of the environment around Beta Pictoris.
Credit: ESO / A.-M. Lagrange et al.

In the video above, the exoplanet appears to pierce through its star, Beta Pictoris, though it’s actually traveling around it on a tilted orbit. The star is nearly nine times brighter than the sun, even though it’s less than double its mass. It’s also young by star standards at 20 to 26 million years old. The sun by comparison is about 4.6 billion years old.

For an idea of why the planet’s orbit takes so long, it is about 10 times farther from Beta Pictoris than Earth is from the sun. But it’s an exceptional target to observe, Wang said. It’s almost the size of a brown dwarf, which astronomers consider a failed star not massive enough to generate its own nuclear power.

“It’s extremely bright,” he said. That’s why it’s one of the first exoplanets to ever be discovered and directly imaged. It’s so big that it’s at the boundary of a planet and a brown dwarf, which are more massive than planets.”

While rumbling over Mount Sharp on Mars, NASA’s Curiosity rover found a strange crackled terrain.

These distinct patterns in dry mud, found over 100 million miles away in space, are a thrilling discovery for geologists. The cracks form a lattice of hexagons, signaling that the land has gone through intermittent spells of wetness and dryness. Many scientists credit these environmental shifts with prompting the chemical reactions needed to create microorganisms on Earth.

Of course, scientists have already found ample evidence that Mars could have supported life long ago. But these new geological findings are something quite different, experts say. They reveal the environmental conditions that could have allowed life to emerge on the Red Planet in the first place.

And to think this major breakthrough was all made possible by looking between the cracks — literally.

“This is the first tangible evidence we’ve seen that the ancient climate of Mars had such regular, Earth-like wet-dry cycles,” said William Rapin of France’s Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie in a statement. “But even more important is that wet-dry cycles are helpful — maybe even required — for the molecular evolution that could lead to life.”

Tweet may have been deleted

A team of researchers including lead author Rapin has published a paper in Nature describing how this peculiar mesh of cracks offers the first evidence of wet-dry cycles occurring on ancient Mars.

“Wet-dry cycles are helpful — maybe even required — for the molecular evolution that could lead to life.”

Curiosity found the mud cracks while exploring a transitional zone of rock between a layer that was rich in clay and another chock full of salty substances called sulfates. Clay minerals tend to form in water, and sulfates form as it evaporates. This intermediate zone preserves a moment in time when lakes and rivers in the Gale Crater, where Mount Sharp stands, began to recede, according to the research.

Scientists say the cracks form a lattice of hexagons, showing that the land has gone through intermittent spells of wetness and dryness.
Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS /IRAP

As the mud dries, it shrinks and breaks apart into T shapes. When moisture returns, those patterns soften again, deforming the Ts into Ys that connect to create hexagons. New sediment deposited into the area kept forming new hexagons, geologists say. Curiosity found a salty crust along the edges of the cracks that prevented them from eroding, which explains how these patterns could survive for billions of years.

Want more science and tech news delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for Mashable’s Light Speed newsletter today.

As mud dries, it shrinks and breaks apart into T shapes. When moisture returns, those patterns soften again, deforming the Ts into Ys that connect to create hexagons.
Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS

Scientists don’t know for sure how life started on Earth, but one strong theory suggests the shifting back and forth between wet and dry conditions helped bring together the ingredients for microbes: simple, primitive living things. Among those first molecules of biology are carbon-based polymers, including nucleic acids.

Earth’s tectonic plates, which Mars lacks, churn the surface of the planet, so examples of its early history are erased. Scientists are eager to study the Martian mud cracks to get better insight not just into the Red Planet but perhaps even the recipe for life on Earth, too.

“It’s pretty lucky of us to have a planet like Mars nearby that still holds a memory of the natural processes which may have led to life,” Rapin said.