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If you want to get the most from your home theater system, you must sound treat your room. Without proper acoustic treatment, the booming bass will easily dominate the experience. This is where bass traps come in to save the day.

Like most other Google products, Sheets dominates the market—in this case, the spreadsheet space. However, Apple Numbers offers some compelling advantages that might actually make it the better choice for you and your work.

Apple's automation triggers for it's time-saving Shortcuts app are limited on iOS and entirely absent on the Mac. Fortunately, there's a free app called Shortery that fixes that.

Google Pixel 9 Pro XL cases range from the ultra-slim to the ultimate defender. Explore the options of eye-catching designs and practical features, but make sure your choice delivers the protection your Pixel phone deserves.

Android phones are packed with features, but not every one of them is worth keeping enabled. In fact, some can be downright annoying. Here’s a list of settings I always turn off to make my phone work better for me.

A common reason many people upgrade their iPhones is due to poor battery life. There are a few ways that you can help to extend the lifespan of your iPhone battery, without having a huge impact on your daily usage.

AI and supercomputers, step aside. I much prefer this approach to robotics which uses naught but a low-power gaming handheld and a 3D printer.

Teens' social media use — and its effect on their mental health — is often in the news, and new research from the Pew Research Center states that nearly half of American teens are "almost constantly" online.

SEE ALSO: World’s strictest social media law targets users under 16 in Australia

In its Teens, Social Media, and Technology 2024 study, released on Thursday, Pew stated that nearly half (46 percent) of today's teens aged 13 to 17 say they're online almost constantly. While this figure is consistent with 2022 and 2023 research, this is a 24 percent increase from a decade ago.

Nearly all (96 percent) of teens say they go online daily, which is around how many (95 percent) have access to a smartphone.

46 percent of teens say they're online almost constantly. Credit: Pew Research Center

This report is based on a self-administered web survey of 1,391 U.S. teens and a parent per teen, conducted between September and October this year.

Pew also broke down which platforms teens frequently visit, and how many said they're on them nearly constantly: 16 percent said they're "almost constantly" on TikTok, while 15 percent said the same about YouTube, 13 percent about Snapchat, 12 percent about Instagram, and three percent on Facebook.

More teens say they go on these platforms once or more daily. Overall, 73 percent say they're on YouTube, teens' most frequented social media platform, at least once a day. Fifty-seven percent say they go on TikTok at least once a day, and around half go on Instagram and/or Snapchat once a day. Facebook is the least-visited, but rounds out the top five, with 20 percent of teens saying they go on at least once a day.

How many teens frequently visit platforms like YouTube and TikTok. Credit: Pew Research Center

Pew found that more teen girls use Instagram and TikTok, while boys are more likely to say they use YouTube. Fewer teens use X (17 percent), Reddit (14 percent), and Threads (6 percent).

This research comes amid scrutiny of social media platforms and how they impact teens. In October, the CDC confirmed there is a link between social media use and mental health struggles for teens, and Australia recently banned social media for children under 16.

The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times' revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.

With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.

So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player's flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Friday, December 13, 2024:

Across"Live ___" (longtime Taco Bell slogan)

• The answer is Mas.

Jockey's garb

• The answer is Silks.

"Abso-freakin'-lutely!"

• The answer is Hell yes.

Antlered animal at Yellowstone National Park

• The answer is Elk.

Twenty-sided item for tabletop games

• The answer is Die.

Bordeaux or Burgundy

• The answer is Red wine.

Like a smooth operator

• The answer is Suave.

Green additive to the Chicago River on St. Patrick's Day

• The answer is Dye.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for December 12, 2024 DownChewy chocolate bite in a yellow box

• The answer is Milk Dud.

100%

• The answer is All.

Take a great leap of faith, say

• The answer is Skydive.

Tennis great Monica with a palindromic surname

• The answer is Seles.

River that meanders through Paris

• The answer is Seine.

"You understand?"

• The answer is See.

Path

• The answer is Way.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Featured Video For You The Wordle Strategy used by the New York Times' Head of Games

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Mini Crossword.

The holidays bring big expectations for parents.

Whether aiming to simply delight your child or really wow them, a flashy tech product can seem like the fastest way to make their holiday dreams come true.

But experts say it's worth reflecting on how that technology might upend your home life. A new gaming console can lead to arguments over time limits. Your preschooler may accidentally use their new tablet to play inappropriate games. That virtual reality headset your teenager begged for may trump in-person hangouts with friends.

SEE ALSO: One thing to know before you buy a gift card

Dr. Jenny Radesky, a developmental pediatrician who authored the American Academy of Pediatrics screen time guidelines for children ages zero to five, says there are thoughtful strategies for avoiding or managing these conflicts. (The AAP has its own set of related tips for parents.)

She recommends critically evaluating the tech you plan to gift, considering any alternatives as necessary, and then preparing to talk to your child about how they'll use it.

"It's good to have fun with your kids and enjoy their happiness," Radesky says. "But there's also really big differences in the design of different technologies that make them more of a headache for parents..."

And no one wants a headache after weeks of planning and prepping for holiday gift-giving.

Whether you've already purchased a tech device for your child, or plan to do so, here are five questions to ask yourself before you gift it:

Is the technology well-known?

Radesky says that buying your child a gaming console with years of user experience behind it is a different situation than purchasing a new AI-robot companion for your child (yes, such a thing exists).

With a Nintendo Switch or Sony PlayStation, you can scour expert reviews for pros and cons, talk to parents who own the console, and read related media coverage about their safety practices and parental controls. The same won't be true of new and emerging products; you'll have less information to make an informed decision, compared to other established tech products.

That said, trust your gut if you research a product that's been on the market for years and develop concerns that it's not right for you or your family.

Is it really educational?

Radesky says that children's tech toys and devices often claim, without evidence, that they're educational. The appealing marketing strategy can deceive parents into purchasing disappointing products.

There are devices and apps with simplistic designs and distracting ads, for example. And some products say they'll help your child with a fundamental skill, like reading, but actually have a narrow scope, such as practicing the alphabet.

Radesky recommends that parents think about whether a so-called educational product is indeed better than a child's own imaginative play, which can help them develop critical skills.

"Open-ended and pretend play is a really important process for kids to develop mental flexibility, their attention span, and their ability to do storytelling in their heads," Radesky says.

She also notes that educational claims aren't vetted by a regulatory body in the U.S., nor are the companies that make them required to provide proof substantiating those claims.

Are there any safety or privacy concerns?

Each tech device has its own safety and privacy considerations, which creates a lot of work for parents. A smartphone, for example, can give marketers, predators, and bullies a direct line to your child. A new video game, popular amongst your child's friends, might feature unexpectedly mature violent or sexual content.

To get a better handle on these issues, Radesky suggests that parents research what parental controls are available for devices and subscriptions.

Parents can also consult Common Sense Media's wide-ranging reviews of games and apps. (Radesky has received research funding from Common Sense Media in the past.) Mozilla's *Privacy Not Included guide offers reviews based on whether a product meets the company's minimum security standards. The guide includes a number of children's toys and games, as well as wearables and entertainment products, like Amazon and Apple tablets.

Once you better understand the potential safety and privacy tradeoffs, you can either decide against buying the product or choose to address them through parental controls or other protective settings.

Can you swap the tech out for something else?

Sometimes parents buy a tech device in an effort to solve one problem, like offering entertainment on long car rides, but the purchase inadvertently creates more conflict.

Radesky says parents should first consider how the tech will be used, and whether there's a more effective alternative. A parent interested in gifting a tablet or phone so their child can listen to music might instead look into smart or screen-free speakers, for example.

While less well-known than an Amazon Echo, the Yoto, Toniebox, and Mighty offer different types of screen-free access to music, podcasts, and audiobooks.

SEE ALSO: Yoto Player review: This screen-free speaker keeps kids entertained and engaged

Privacy issues with these alternatives may still be a deal-breaker for some parents, but Radesky says they can also facilitate skill-building and social interactions in ways that a tablet can't.

Without a screen to focus on, children have to train their attention on whatever is playing on the device. Additionally, smart or screen-free speakers mean family dance parties or conversations about a podcast are much more likely to happen than if a child is staring at a phone or tablet.

What conversation do you need to have with your child?

Radesky advises against letting your child use their gift without first talking to them about boundaries. You needn't have that conversation as they tear off the wrapping paper, but it's wise to chat with them before they start playing with the gift.

With their input, the discussion should focus on guardrails, such as parental controls and screen time limits. If there's an onboarding or setup process, Radesky recommends that parents do it alongside their child. That gives parents an opportunity to talk about any safety concerns while normalizing communication about technology and devices.

Depending on the product, you may also need to download a companion app or create your own account in order to connect to and monitor your child's account.

Importantly, parents should ensure that their child's age is accurately entered during setup, as it can affect default safety settings, such as the ability to message with other users or what kind of personal data is collected.

If you don't want to be a buzzkill, Radesky says you can let your child explore and play with their gift over the holidays with few or no time limits, then rein that use in before school starts.

Either way, parents should have low expectations of their child's ability to stop playing over the holiday break, and Radesky recommends not becoming anxious about that reality. Approach it with curiosity when your child spends several hours playing a new video game by simply asking, "How did that feel?"

And if reflecting on your plans to gift tech these holidays now has you doubting the impulse purchase of a deeply discounted product, that's OK. Radesky says you don't have to commit to the gift.

"You really want to go in with a sense of, 'I want to use this intentionally so that it doesn't feel like we're battling all the time," she says.

NASA's Juno spacecraft has made several close swoops by Jupiter's volcanic moon Io, and it's beamed back stunning views of this distant volcanic land.

The recent flybys in late 2023 and early 2024 have provided planetary scientists deeper insight into this tortured moon's volcanic workings. NASA has now released new images from this volcano world, captured by Juno's highly sensitive camera called the Stellar Reference Unit, showing hot lava and fresh lava flows.

"During the #JunoMission's close flybys of Io, its instruments detected recent changes on the surface, and even the glow of active lava," the space agency posted online.

SEE ALSO: NASA scientist viewed first Voyager images. What he saw gave him chills.

In the image below, snapped on Dec. 30, 2023, active lava breakouts on the surface are shown by the red arrows and circles. This volcanic region is called the Zal Montes-Patera complex, and it's comprised of those two mountains sandwiching a dark "patera," made of fresh lava flows.

Juno was just 932 miles (1,500 kilometers) above Io when it captured these images, which are the highest-resolution views Juno has ever captured of Io.

NASA's Juno spacecraft detected glowing lava hot spots in Dec. 2023 during a close flyby. Credit: NASA / Caltech-JPL / SwRI

The following image shows an "unprecedented elongated, curved emission feature," NASA explains, which is located near the dark patera. Planetary scientists suspect it's an active lava channel. Also visible is part of a giant lava flow, called Tonatiuh after the Aztec deity, that's 98 miles long and 11 miles wide. It's located on the left edge of the left image and the top edge of the right image.

High-resolution views of the Zal Montes-Patera complex on Io. Credit: NASA / Caltech-JPL / SwRI / LPI/USRA

Io is blanketed in erupting volcanoes because it's relentlessly locked in a tug-of-war between nearby objects, notably Jupiter. "Not only is the biggest planet in the solar system forever pulling at it gravitationally, but so are Io’s Galilean siblings — Europa and the biggest moon in the solar system, Ganymede," NASA explained in a statement. "The result is that Io is continuously stretched and squeezed, actions linked to the creation of the lava seen erupting from its many volcanoes."

NASA's recent flybys of Io, however, reveal that it likely doesn't contain a global magma ocean beneath its surface, as determined by new observations of the moon's gravity. Instead, each of Io's 400 or so volcanoes may harbor their own chamber of magma.

And as Juno's swoops by Io reveal, this roiling hot rock often pours onto the surface, creating a constantly evolving, extreme volcanic land.

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The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is a fascinating experiment in adaptation. It's not adapting a novel of J.R.R. Tolkien's, but rather two pages from his Appendices, which lay out the last great stand of one of Rohan's most famed kings, Helm Hammerhand (voiced by Succession's Brian Cox).

SEE ALSO: 'The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim' review: What if Éowyn got her own movie?

In this section of the Appendices, Tolkien writes that a rival lord named Freca (voiced by Shaun Dooley) proposed that his son Wulf (voiced by Luke Pasqualino) marry Helm's daughter. Not only does Helm reject the proposal outright — he also kills Freca with one mighty punch. (His name is Hammerhand for a reason.) Wulf vows vengeance and spends the next few years assembling a mighty army. Then, he takes the city of Edoras, and pushes Helm and the Rohirrim back to the Hornburg, where a long, cruel siege awaits.

It's a great story, one that sees Helm singlehandedly terrorizing Wulf's men until his very last breath. But to make it into a full-length film, screenwriters Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou (who took over from original writers Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews) had to make some changes from the original text, expanding on it in some places, and cutting it in others.

To learn more about The War of the Rohirrim's adaptation process, Mashable spoke with Gittins and Papageorgiou about the choice to center Helm's daughter Héra (voiced by Gaia Wise), the role of The Lord of the Rings' Éowyn (Miranda Otto, returning in voiceover) as narrator, and more.

Helm's daughter Héra — unnamed in Tolkien's work — takes the lead in The War of the Rohirrim. Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Featured Video For You

While you might think two pages of fictional history isn't a lot for writers to draw from, Gittins and Papageorgiou disagree.

"It's actually so dense," Papageourgiou told Mashable in a Zoom call alongside Gittins.

Gittins added: "It's Tolkien! The strength of his world-building means there's always going to be a thread that pulls another thread that pulls another thread."

One of the threads from the original text The War of the Rohirrim pulls on is that of Helm's unnamed daughter, mentioned just once in Tolkien's writing. ("Do not look for tales of her in the old songs," Éowyn tells us in her opening narration. "There are none.") It was producer Philippa Boyens, who co-wrote The Lord of the Rings movies and is also Gittins' mother, who suggested that the film dive into what her story might look like. After all, the conflict between Wulf and Helm starts as a result of a marriage proposal involving her.

SEE ALSO: 'The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim' trailer teases an epic battle for the fate of Rohan

"We felt Tolkien really did place her at the heart of this conflict," Gittins said. "It is her story in large part. A lot of this war is because of her. And once we got our heads around that, it became very exciting to see what we could do with this character, and see what we could bring to the table with her."

Héra's involvement allows The War of the Rohirrim to further flesh out Helm's dynamic with his own family, as well as pay tribute to Rohan's shieldmaidens. But it also solves a bit of a logistical problem in terms of how to carry The War of the Rohirrim forward following Helm's final sacrifice.

We felt Tolkien really did place [Héra] at the heart of this conflict. - Phoebe Gittins

"When you look at the text, you know the fate of Helm Hammerhand. You know it's epic, and it's tragic, and it's iconic, but it didn't really give us an ending," Gittins explained. "The value at stake, the Rohirrim, are still behind those walls in the Hornburg. You can't just leave them there. So who can see this story through for us?"

The answer became Héra, the only one of Helm's children whose fate is left uncertain in the Appendices. Bringing her to the forefront allowed The War of the Rohirrim to explore a new kind of warfare in the latter part of its siege sequence.

"We get to see the defense of the Hornburg from a nontraditional general or leader or commander," Papageorgiou said.

The War of the Rohirrim shows us a different kind of attack on the Hornburg — with some callbacks. Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

The War of the Rohirrim is not the first time Lord of the Rings fans have seen the Hornburg under attack. That honor falls to the Battle of Helm's Deep in The Two Towers, a sequence so monumental that anything remotely resembling it has some big shoes to fill.

"That is untouchable in the films," Gittins said.

So how would The War of the Rohirrim bring something new to an attack on the Hornburg? By focusing in on the brutal, months-long attrition of the siege. (For comparison, the Battle of Helm's Deep lasts one night.) As the Long Winter rages on, Helm leaves the Hornburg nightly and fights his way through parts of Wulf's camp. Meanwhile, Wulf has his men build a siege tower that will eventually breach the walls of the keep.

"It was exciting for us to go into that space in a deeper way," Gittins said. "What we found really cool was that there's suffering on both sides in the stalemate, and at some point it's going to break. There is this great horror that begins to unfold where the Rohirrim are seeing their impending doom."

"There's this sense of a ticking clock," Papageorgiou added.

SEE ALSO: The 'Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' cast debates whether Sauron is "brat"

Wulf's presence at the Hornburg is a deviation from Tolkien's work, where he remains on the throne in Edoras until his defeat at the hands of Helm's nephew Fréaláf (voiced by Laurence Ubong Williams). Here, though, his vengeance drives him to pursue Helm and Héra all the way to the Hornburg himself, intensifying the standoff. It also brings the final clash between Fréaláf and Wulf's men to the Hornburg, instead of leaving it in Edoras.

Fréaláf and his army's arrival at the battle echoes Gandalf and Éomer's arrival at Helm's Deep in The Two Towers — they even ride down the same hill! Meanwhile, Héra's idea to distract Wulf with a duel (a new addition to the story) calls to mind a smaller scale of Aragorn's plan to draw Sauron's eye away from Frodo in The Return of the King. But these aren't the only references to the original Lord of the Rings trilogy that Gittins and Papageorgiou added to The War of the Rohrrim.

The War of the Rohirrim brings Éowyn back ... as a narrator. Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Tolkien's appendices are presented as straightforward histories. The War of the Rohirrim adds a twist to that by presenting its story as a tale told by Éowyn. It's a fitting choice, given that Héra is basically Éowyn 2.0. Both are headstrong daughters of Rohan's king during a time of crisis, each desperate to help their people even when their fathers' protectiveness may hold them back.

"We knew we would need to draw inspiration for [Héra] from somewhere, and we asked ourselves the question, 'Who would have paved the way for the likes of Éowyn?'" Gittins said. "So it just felt like a really natural fit, given that we'd drawn so much inspiration from Éowyn to Héra, that we use Éowyn as a narrative device as well."

SEE ALSO: 'The Lord of the Rings' movies are stunning — except for one strange shot

Éowyn's narration frames the film as a story passed down through generations, in a choice that Papageorgiou said "spoke to the storytelling aspect of the Rohirrim culture."

There's an added layer of myth-making here. Since this tale is now legend, any of its exaggerations or deviations from Tolkien's text could simply be viewed as the legend warping and changing with each telling.

How does The War of the Rohirrim fit into the wider context of Middle-earth? Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Éowyn isn't the only familiar face — or really, voice — popping up in War of the Rohirrim. Saruman (voiced by the late Christopher Lee in a line taken from archival footage) makes an appearance at Fréaláf's coronation, just as he does in the Appendices. But we also get a hint at another wizard from The Lord of the Rings: Gandalf. He writes to Héra at the end of the film, hoping for more information about the orcs she encountered stealing rings behind the Hornburg.

Gandalf's inclusion was another idea of Boyens', in an effort to gesture out to the wider world of Middle-earth, and also provide a counterpoint to Saruman's cameo. "If you're going to introduce the dark, you have to introduce the light as well," said Papageorgiou. "You can't have Saruman without Gandalf."

The wizards are just some of many Lord of the Rings details Gittins and Papageorgiou incorporate into War of the Rohirrim. Also present are the ring-stealing orcs, the Great Eagles, and a runaway Mûmakil (or Oliphaunt), each a hint at the war to come, as well as proof of Tolkien's vast, interconnected legendarium.

"Even the smallest detail will launch a geopolitical rabbit warren of investigation," Papageorgiou said. "That's actually the hard part. It's not a question of, 'How did you make this number of paragraphs into a feature film?' It's more, 'Well, how didn't we make six films?'"

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is now in theaters.

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Many textbooks and science educators have attempted to describe the Big Bang as the birth of the universe — an explosive start that happened at a specific point creating matter and flinging it into the void like shrapnel from a grenade. 

But the Big Bang is not really the moment of creation — more like its aftermath. The Big Bang didn't emerge from a particular location in space, and it wasn't an explosion — at least not in the traditional sense. 

Popular culture — and cosmologists, begrudgingly — made the unfortunate mistake of adopting a name for the theory that even evokes the sound of a gunpowder blast. So… bazinga?

"It’s often said that the whole universe we can now observe was once compressed into a volume the size of a golf ball," wrote John Mather, a Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist and senior project scientist for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, in an essay for Theedge.org. "But we should imagine that the golf ball is only a tiny piece of a universe that was infinite even then." 

SEE ALSO: Webb telescope spots proof of the first stars to light the universe When the universe was still in its infancy, less than 1 billion years old, star formation fed on hydrogen that emerged from the Big Bang. Credit: NASA / ESA / A. Schaller (for STScI) illustration

The Big Bang Theory describes an event when existing space — much hotter, denser, and smaller at the time — suddenly and rapidly started stretching out. The primitive universe was a scalding goulash of tiny particles, light, and energy, but as it expanded, space cooled enough to allow important processes to occur, such as forming atoms and elements. The expansion continues today.

That's it. It doesn't suggest what the conditions were before expansion. It doesn't suppose what the universe is expanding into. It doesn't even explain what caused the expansion in the first place. And there are reasons why trying to imagine the event as an explosion can lead to some misinformed conclusions.  

"No reputable scientist will claim that we understand in detail what happened at the exact moment when the universe began. We just don't," said Don Lincoln, senior scientist at Fermilab in Illinois, in a video. "In spite of the fact that we don't know everything about how the universe began, I'm constantly staggered by the fact that we know so much."

The Big Bang pertains to the visible universe 

To understand the Big Bang — and Mather's previous comment — it's first important to clarify that this theory applies to the visible universe, not the universe as a whole. The visible universe is a bubble of the cosmos centered on our perspective from Earth, with a radius determined by the speed of light. The entire bubble is about 92 billion light-years wide.

The bubble's size is not determined by the range of telescopes, but the literal limitation of light. There is a maximum distance from which photons could have traveled to an observer in the age of the universe. This boundary is known as the cosmic light horizon: Any potential signals beyond it haven't had time to reach us — and they never will, not even billions of years into the future. That's because at a certain extreme distance, far-flung objects recede faster than the speed of light.

So what's beyond this bubble? No one knows because it's unseeable, but scientists could speculate there's more universe. After all, with the expansion of space, scientists are aware that, every second, thousands of stars are escaping our view, beyond that horizon. 

Where exactly did the Big Bang happen?

The Big Bang should be thought of as a "point" in time but not happening at a particular place. Astronomers will often say that the Big Bang happened everywhere, which is a confounding idea if you've been thinking of the Big Bang like a detonating bomb.

Imagine instead a hypothetical scenario where space was condensed within a speck, like a pinhead-sized balloon. Then imagine that this tiny balloon somehow inflated into the size of an orange. In this analogy, you can begin to understand why there is no "origin point" for the Big Bang: Nothing left the pinhead where it began; the pinhead point got exponentially bigger. 

This is one of the reasons why many astrophysicists say everywhere in the knowable universe could be considered part of the Big Bang's center. There was no particular site from which bits were blown away, according to the theory. 

Astronomer Edwin Hubble used the 100-inch Hooker telescope in California to observe that galaxies were receding in space in all directions. Credit: NASA / Edwin P. Hubble Papers / Huntington Library The Big Bang wasn't really an explosion

Scientific observations support the idea of rapid universal expansion versus an explosion. If there had been a firecracker-type blast that scattered matter outward, for example, the laws of physics would dictate that debris farther from that place where it exploded would be moving faster than the stuff closer to that starting point. 

"That's because objects far away from the firecracker have to be moving faster. That's how they got far away," Lincoln said. 

But that is not what astronomers see. In the cosmos, the space between galaxies is increasing, in all directions — not just relative to a central spot. Astronomer Edwin Hubble, for whom the Hubble Space Telescope was later named, discovered this in 1929. 

Using the 100-inch Hooker Telescope in California, Hubble noted that the farther a galaxy was from the Milky Way, Earth's home galaxy, the faster it seemed to be receding. He figured this out by plotting 24 nearby galaxies' velocities and distances. The plot showed that everything was drifting uniformly, at speeds proportional to distance, in all directions. 

The rate of expansion has been dubbed the Hubble Constant. Two years after Hubble's observations, a Belgian astronomer and priest, Georges Lemaître, used this premise to publish the first Big Bang-like theory to explain the beginnings of the universe. 

Cosmologists believe the universe has expanded over 13.8 billion years since the Big Bang. Credit: Britt Griswold (Maslow Media Group) / NASA illustration How astronomers know the universe is expanding

With Hubble's finding that space itself is expanding, scientists have been able to estimate the age of the universe. The formula for velocity — which you might have learned in high school — is distance divided by time. Scientists already know the speeds of galaxies and their distances, so they can figure out the duration by dividing distance by speed. 

If scientists rewind the clock from the present day to the time that everything in the knowable universe crumples back into that small deflated balloon, it occurred about 13.8 billion years ago. 

So, if the universe is 13.8 billion years old, one might incorrectly assume that the visible bubble of the universe has a radius of 13.8 billion light-years, with an overall width of 27.6 billion light-years. But the universe isn't standing still, and the distance between objects isn't fixed. The expansion of space explains the discrepancy between 27.6 billion light-years and 92 billion light-years, the diameter of the visible universe. 

Have scientists disproved the Big Bang? 

Scientists have not disproved the Big Bang Theory, but they have discovered disagreements in the rate of expansion — the Hubble Constant — from different research teams' measurements. The disagreement is known as the Hubble tension. 

In short, speed measurements based on telescope observations of the present universe are somewhat higher than projections based on known conditions of the universe during its infancy. For the past few years, astronomers have considered that something is causing the expansion rate to speed up. Studies using the Webb telescope have found that the small-but-significant divergence in the expansion rate is probably not the result of miscalculations but an aspect of the universe that is not yet understood. 

As scientists work to solve this mystery, the Big Bang might need some tweaking, but so far this disparity has not upended the bottom line, which is that space was once smaller and hotter, then it suddenly stretched out, and it's still expanding.

U.S. physicists Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson unintentionally discovered the Cosmic Microwave Background, which fills the visible universe. Credit: ESA / Planck Collaboration The expansion rate of the early universe

Researchers have calculated the expansion rate of the baby universe using data from the so-called Cosmic Microwave Background. U.S. physicists Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson accidentally discovered this phenomenon, a faint afterglow from 380,000 years after the Big Bang, using a radio telescope in 1965. 

Around the same time, a separate team at Princeton University had predicted that such waves should exist. If astronomers were archaeologists, this discovery would be akin to finding the earliest fossil of light. It is the oldest thing in the universe anyone has seen.

This heat signature, radiating from atoms that are now more than 46 billion light-years away and stretched into microwaves, fills the sky. The European Space Agency’s Planck mission mapped the microwaves to measure teensy fluctuations in temperature. These slight variations allow scientists to infer the expansion rate at the time. 

How 'cosmic inflation' theory fits into the Big Bang

Cosmic inflation tries to describe one brief but crucial phase in the Big Bang narrative that launched the universe onto its expansion timeline. 

Alan Guth, a theoretical physicist at MIT, put forward the idea in 1980. It suggests that some repulsive form of gravity, something like dark energy, drove the universe's rapid expansion for an early instant. This phase would have lasted for a fraction of a trillionth of a second. Then, the energy that propelled inflation turned off. 

"I usually describe inflation as a theory of the 'bang' of the Big Bang," Guth said in a 2014 Q&A by the university. "In its original form, the Big Bang theory never was a theory of the bang. It said nothing about what banged, why it banged, or what happened before it banged."

During the inflation phase, the tiny universe would have expanded at a rate faster than light. And get this: It wouldn't have broken any laws of physics. 

"It's true that nothing can move through space faster than light, but there are no restrictions on how fast space can expand," Lincoln said. 

How the 'Big Bang' got its name

Fred Hoyle, an astronomer and well-known science communicator in the United Kingdom, is largely credited with coining the "big bang" in 1949. He was in many ways the Neil deGrasse Tyson of his time. But today many astrophysicists and cosmologists lament that the misnomer stuck.

During a BBC broadcast, Hoyle described theories based on the idea that "all the matter in the universe was created in one big bang at a particular time in the remote past," according to a transcript published in a BBC magazine. He later mentioned the phrase again in his 1950 book "The Nature of the Universe."

Hoyle balked at the idea of a sudden origin of the universe, but he didn't use the words "big bang" disparagingly, according to a recent essay about it in the journal Nature. Instead, he meant to convey the hypothesis with descriptive metaphors to help get the point across over radio.

Bazinga, indeed.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, an anime prequel set 183 years before The Lord of the Rings, spends most of its time centered on the bloody war between Rohan's king Helm Hammerhand (voiced by Succession's Brian Cox) and Dunlending lord Wulf (Medusa Deluxe's Luke Pasqualino). But for one brief moment, the film shifts from its solely human focus to a broader look at what's going on in the rest of Middle-earth — specifically, Mordor.

SEE ALSO: How 'The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim' adapts two pages of Tolkien lore into a whole movie

Mordor's influence creeps into The War of the Rohirrim during the film's prolonged siege sequence, when the people of Rohan are trapped in the fortress of Hornburg. Helm's daughter Héra (voiced by Gaia Wise) finds a secret passage leading into the mountains behind the stronghold, where she comes across two orcs robbing the corpses of dead soldiers. They pocket any rings they find, although they don't seem to enjoy the grunt work.

"What does Mordor want with rings?" one grumbles.

While Héra and the orcs might not know the answer to that question, audience members certainly will. Sauron's influence is beginning to seep back into Middle-earth, and he's on the hunt for the one object that can restore his total power: the One Ring. The orcs' presence in Rohan, so far from Mordor, is proof not only of his hunt, but also of how far his presence, subtle as it is, has already spread.

"You want to see how the world's changing," Arty Papageorgiou, who wrote The War of the Rohirrim with Phoebe Gittins, told Mashable of the orcs' inclusion. "That darkness is starting to creep in from the sides, from the periphery. "

There is no mention of orcs in the short section of J.R.R. Tolkien's Appendices on which The War of the Rohirrim is based. But for Gittins and Papageorgiou, the fact that their source material was one and a half pages long created opportunities to draw larger connections to the events of Lord of the Rings, the biggest, of course, being the War of the Ring. Thus, the inclusion of the orcs, and the hints at Sauron's presence.

"They're Easter eggs, but they're purposeful." - Phoebe Gittins

"They're Easter eggs, but they're purposeful," Gittins told Mashable. "They have their place in the story."

Papageorgiou added: "Most audience members know exactly what's coming. It's no secret. So how do we lean into it in a non-overbearing way?"

That darkness that Lord of the Rings fans have come to associate with Sauron and orcs manifests itself in The War of the Rohirrim in other ways, too. From the sacking and burning of Edoras to Wulf's lack of honor in his final duel against Héra, it's clear the Men of Middle-earth are on a slow but sure path to corruption. Even the white skull masks of Wulf's men call to mind the non-human foes our heroes will face many years down the line.

Thanks to these moments, and the orc cameos, we get an idea of where Middle-earth stands nearly two hundred years before The Lord of the Rings, and how Sauron's shadow is gradually moving across the land. The end result, viewers know, is all-out war, with a key battle being fought at none other than the Hornburg. That's just one of several ways The War of the Rohirrim echoes the events of The Two Towers, emphasizing just how much history can influence and speak to the present (even in Middle-earth).

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is now in theaters.

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It's the question Lord of the Rings viewers have been asking ever since Peter Jackson's trilogy came out: Why didn't Frodo and the Fellowship just ride eagles into Mount Doom?

SEE ALSO: How 'The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim' adapts two pages of Tolkien lore into a whole movie

The reasons are fairly simple. A flock of Great Eagles flying into Mordor would have immediately wrecked the secrecy the Fellowship strove for. Plus, the eagles just aren't a long-haul taxi service. However, if you still aren't satisfied with these answers — or you just crave more eagle action in your Middle-earth movies — then The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is here to tide you over.

How are the eagles involved in The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim?

This anime prequel from director Kenji Kamiyama focuses on the war between Rohan's formidable King Helm Hammerhand (voiced by Brian Cox, Succession) and vengeful Dunlending Lord Wulf (voiced by Luke Pasqualino). The conflict takes Helm, his daughter Héra (voiced by Gaia Wise), and the people of Rohan to the Hornburg stronghold, where they must weather a months-long siege and a brutal winter.

Desperation rises as the siege progresses, especially once Helm passes away. Forced into a leadership role she didn't anticipate, Héra makes a bold decision. She seeks the aid of a Great Eagle who lives high above the Hornburg, in the hopes of getting a message to her cousin Fréaláf (voiced by Laurence Ubong Williams) and his army at Dunharrow fortress.

SEE ALSO: 'The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim' review: What if Éowyn got her own movie?

Against all odds, the plan succeeds. After Héra implores the eagle for help, it brings the late Helm's helmet and armor to Fréaláf. He then wears it in his army's assault against Wulf's forces. The image of him in Helm's armor, silhouetted against the moon, is enough to make Wulf's men turn tail, thinking they've seen a ghost. None of this would have been possible without the help of the eagles! And while we don't get full-on eagle riding, we do get messenger eagles — a new use for them onscreen in Middle-earth.

The eagle in The War of the Rohirrim is more than a plot device.

Eagles aren't originally present in J.R.R. Tolkien's description of Helm and Wulf's war, which spans about a page and a half in The Lord of the Rings' Appendices. (Likewise, Héra herself is expanded from an unnamed bit part to a lead role.) But for screenwriters Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou, Héra's reliance on an eagle wasn't just a nod to the eagles' usefulness as plot devices. It was also a key character beat for her in her journey to becoming a leader.

"It was super important that Héra really earned that moment," Papageorgiou told Mashable.

The eagle's involvement was an idea passed to Gittins and Papageorgiou from Kamiyama and producer Philippa Boyens, who co-wrote The Lord of the Rings films. (Gittins is also her daughter.)

"We approached [the eagles] as embedded storytelling," Gittins told Mashable. "We knew that it was a storytelling device that [Kamiyama and Boyens] wanted to use. So how do we make it believable that this a course of action Héra would take?"

Gittins and Papageorgiou laid the groundwork of the eagle moment from Héra's first scene, in which she summons a fledgling and offers it meat. The sequence establishes Héra's love of the natural world and her connection to the eagles, but there's a further symbolic kinship between her and the eagle. Like it, she's a fledgling at the start of her journey. She'll have to grow leaps and bounds by The War of the Rohirrim's end if she is to become the leader her people need.

Which brings us to the moment at the end of the siege, when Héra decides to find the eagle (fittingly, the fledgling from the start, all grown up). It's a last-ditch attempt, but there are no other options. No messenger birds can make it out of the Hornburg, but this eagle may just be the one bird Wulf's men can't shoot down.

For Gittins and Papageorgiou, Héra's willingness to reach across entire species in order to save her people spoke volumes about her character, and really solidified who she was as they worked on the film.

"What type of protagonist were we going to have in this film?" Papageorgiou said. "It wasn't a war lord.

Added Gittins: "It was someone who had the strength to ask for help."

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is now in theaters.

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