The Lyrid meteor shower, Cuomo to visit Trump at White House, Queen Elizabeth II: 5 things to know Tuesday

Editors, USA TODAY
·4 min read

Look up at the sky for the Lyrid meteor shower 💫

The Lyrid meteor shower is coming to a sky near you on Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, the first major meteor shower since January. The meteor shower sometimes bombards the sky with up to nearly 100 meteors per hour, which are known as outbursts. The Lyrids begin as tiny specks of dust that hit Earth’s atmosphere at 109,600 mph, vaporizing from friction with the air and leaving behind the streaks of light we call meteors, Astronomy magazine reported. Bonus: This year, the skinny and almost-new moon won’t hinder the view. (Bright light from the moon can sometimes wash out meteor showers.)

  • Far out: Has NASA discovered another Earth? Perhaps.

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Three months since coronavirus confirmed in the US

Three months ago Tuesday, the U.S. confirmed the nation's first case of what was then called the "novel" coronavirus – a Washington state man in his 30s who had recently returned from Wuhan, China. In just a few months, experts say we've genetically sequenced the virus, identified risk factors and initiated drug tests and learned that social distancing can help bend the curve. But there's still a lot we don't understand about COVID-19. How did the virus originate? Why are men so much more severely affected than women? Why are children minimally affected? Do COVID-19 antibodies really offer protection and, if so, how much? For how long? Is it enough to prevent further spread? Here's what to know as we move forward together:

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to visit President Trump at the White House

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a frequent sparring partner of President Donald Trump during the coronavirus crisis, will visit the White House on Tuesday, Trump said. New York has been the hardest hit by COVID-19 with more than 250,000 cases and 18,000 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University data dashboard, but numbers have been improving. The meeting comes on the heels of a testy exchange Friday between the two politicians. After Cuomo chastised the president for asking governors to take on coronavirus challenges without federal resources, Trump tweeted that the governor should "spend more time 'doing' and less time 'complaining.'"

Happy birthday, Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II, who turns 94 on Tuesday, will ring in her birthday without any celebrations this year as the world faces the coronavirus pandemic. She has asked that there be no gun salutes to mark her special day and has chosen not to celebrate, according to reports. The queen deemed gun salutes – firing blanks to mark special occasions – inappropriate due to the circumstances. Britain is in the fourth week of a national coronavirus lockdown, which will continue for at least three more weeks. Prince Charles, the queen's 71-year-old son and heir to the crown, tested positive for COVID-19 last month.

Spotify launches 18 new curated playlists to help you find your next favorite podcast

Spotify rolled out a new suite of curated playlists Tuesday to make it easier to discover new podcasts. There will be three flagship podcast playlists — a weekly collection of must-hear episodes, popular crime-related content and a channel dedicated to teaching listeners something new. The move is meant to serve as a solution to the podcast discoverability problem in which people typically only find out about specific podcasts from word of mouth, cross-marketing between shows or watching television. Spotify is also adding 15 other podcast categories based on various themes, genres and categories.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lyrid meteor shower, Cuomo to visit Trump, Queen Elizabeth: 5 things to know Tuesday