IT General

Thrilled. Perhaps that’s exactly how you also felt back when you were unboxing the brand-new AirPods in 2016. At that time, it was Apple’s latest innovation that had just hit the market. I was itching to get my hands on them. But my enthusiasm has waned.

Yakuza is a long-running franchise celebrated for its unique blend of intense drama, whimsical humor, and everything in between. The latest entry, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, continues the tradition by unapologetically embracing its identity as an entertaining and self-aware video game.

Ubuntu 25.04 is almost upon us, which makes this a good time to look back at just how much Canonical's popular Linux desktop has changed over the past ten years. The answer? Both more and less than you might expect.

Surrounding the Andromeda galaxy, three dozen tiny galaxies aren't behaving the way scientists expected. 

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has trained on Andromeda for a deep dive into how its orbiting satellite galaxies formed and changed over time. What they found revealed a population of dwarf galaxies that are quite unlike the ones circling the Milky Way. 

Some 2.5 million light-years away, these space neighborhoods formed the bulk of their stars long ago. But rather than halting production, as computer simulations would suggest, they continued slowly making new stars out of a stockpile of gas.

"Star formation really continued to much later times, which is not at all what you would expect for these dwarf galaxies," said Alessandro Savino, an astronomer at UC Berkeley, in a statement. "No one knows what to make of that so far."

SEE ALSO: A tiny galaxy ceased making stars for billions of years. Then it rebooted. Hubble captured a bird's eye view of the known dwarf galaxies orbiting the large Andromeda galaxy. These 36 smaller satellites are circled in yellow. Credit: NASA / ESA / Alessandro Savino / Joseph DePasquale / Akira Fujii DSS2

In the past, scientists primarily observed dwarf galaxies near the Milky Way, but they were never sure whether those were representative of others in the universe. That's why they pointed Hubble, which orbits Earth, at the closest large galaxy, which has its own bevy of satellite galaxies.

The study, published in The Astrophysical Journal, is based on observations from over 1,000 telescope orbits. The sweeping science campaign allowed astronomers to build a detailed 3D map of Andromeda's 36 dwarf galaxies and reconstruct how they made new stars over the 13.8 billion years since the Big Bang. The images have provided a unique bird' s-eye view of Andromeda and its environment.

In addition to the dwarf galaxies' prolonged star-bearing years, scientists were surprised to find that half were sitting on the same plane and moving in the same direction. However, mergers and collisions usually result in objects traveling in inconsistent directions.

"That's weird," said Daniel Weisz, the principal investigator at UC Berkeley, in a statement. "It was actually a total surprise to find the satellites in that configuration, and we still don't fully understand why they appear that way." 

Astronomers have learned that galaxies tend to start out small and grow larger by collecting gas and merging with other galaxies. But most dwarf galaxies that made stars before the so-called Epoch of Reionization never got back to business after. Reionization was an era of major transition that occurred more than 13 billion years ago.  It was when the baby universe transformed from a neutral state to one filled with free electrons and protons. 

The above animation gives a fly-around view of the Andromeda galaxy and its surrounding dwarf galaxies, based on Hubble data. 

Because most of the tiny galaxies turned off their star-making activity in the first few billion years of the universe, many scientists have thought reionization was the reason. However, some researchers are calling that idea into question. 

Astronomers suspect Andromeda had a major collision with another galaxy relatively recently, perhaps 2 to 5 billion years ago. The Milky Way, on the other hand, probably hasn't had a run-in with another galaxy for 8 to 10 billion years. Andromeda's collision — and its more massive scale — could explain the galaxy's exotic and diverse satellite system.

The study has only deepened the team's speculation that dwarf galaxies aren't all like the ones close to home. They can have a wide range of fates, the researchers posit, and it'll take more observations to ascertain why. 

"Everything scattered in the Andromeda system is very asymmetric and perturbed. It does appear that something significant happened not too long ago," Weisz said. "Our work has shown that low-mass galaxies in other ecosystems have followed different evolutionary paths than what we know from the Milky Way satellite galaxies."

This was a busy week in the tech world, from Framework revealing its new compact desktop PC to Microsoft's announcement of Skype's shutdown. Here are the biggest stories you might have missed.

Five months ago, iOS 18 began rolling out, and that meant Android and iPhone users could finally text over RCS. Well, most of them. There's a hold up with several smaller carriers, and it seems Apple is to blame.

The new mid-range iPhone 16e is good, but not that good. It's cheap, but not that cheap. With room to beat it on both price and features, could it inspire a new wave of great mid-range Android phones?

Players have spent decades arguing the pros and cons of PC and console gaming. While it all comes down to your needs as a gamer, one platform comes out on top. This is why you should build a PC rather than buy the latest gaming console.

Proton Drive is the Switzerland-based security company’s foray into cloud storage. It’s just as ambitious as its siblings Proton Mail and Proton Pass, but despite some interesting features, falls short of its own promises, never mind the competition.

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 Saturday, March 1, 2025:

AcrossChocolate/marshmallow sandwich

• The answer is Smore.

Weighed down (with)

• The answer is Laden.

Birthday cake inserts

• The answer is Candles.

First U.S. state alphabetically

• The answer is Alabama.

0%

• The answer is Not a bit.

Free-for-all fight

• The answer is Melee.

Puts on the market

• The answer is Ash.

DownWinding ski races

• The answer is Slaloms.

Herbivore seen off Florida shores

• The answer is Manatee.

Strange person

• The answer is Oddball.

Give another name

• The answer is Relabel.

Bowser and King Boo, in the Mario games

• The answer is Enemies.

Container on the pantry shelf

• The answer is Can.

Took a chair

• The answer is Sat.

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 the latest Mini Crossword.

TL;DR: Live stream South Africa vs. England in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

We've reached the final round of group-stage games in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. Things are seriously heating up, as places in the knockout rounds are limited. It's now or never for the likes of South Africa and England.

If you want to watch South Africa vs. England in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is South Africa vs. England?

South Africa vs. England in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy starts at 4 a.m. ET on March 1. This ODI takes place at the National Stadium.

How to watch South Africa vs. England for free

The following platforms are offering coverage of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy:

• Australia — Prime Video (free with 30-day trial)

• India — Disney+ Hotstar

• New Zealand — Sky TV NZ

• Pakistan — Tamasha (free) and PTV (free)

• UK — Sky Sports

• USA — Willow and Sling TV

The 2025 ICC Champions Trophy is available to live stream for free in Pakistan. The free streaming platforms are geo-restricted to Pakistan, but anyone can access these free live streams with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Pakistan, meaning you can unblock free live streams of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy from anywhere in the world.

Live stream the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy for free by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

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 Pakistan

4. Visit Tamasha or PTV

5. Live stream South Africa vs. England for free from anywhere in the world

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The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can access free live streams of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy without actually spending anything. This obviously isn't a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream South Africa vs. England (plus every other 2025 ICC Champions Trophy game) before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for live sport?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including Pakistan

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

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Live stream South Africa vs. England in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy for free with ExpressVPN.

I have something to admit upfront before we get into this. And don't come for me in the comments, please.

I've only seen the first Twilight film, so I can't really say that I'm a true fan. For what it's worth, I really enjoyed that movie. Especially that scene where Bella struggles to use a ketchup bottle.

"Well, then, why'd you spend $220 on the Twilight Cullen House Lego set, Dylan?" you're probably saying to yourself. It's simple: My wife is a Twilight superfan, and I thought it'd be a lot of fun for the both of us to undertake the massive, 2,000-plus-piece replica of the Cullen's modern forest mansion that Lego released in mid-February. Now, that's quite the chunk of change for a box of plastic bricks, but as we constructed the three-story behemoth, we quickly realized that we were getting way more out of the experience than just our money's worth.

SEE ALSO: Why Pharrell Williams made his biopic ‘Piece by Piece’ a Lego movie

After almost a month of waiting since we placed our preorder, our long-awaited shipment arrived at our door. I shook the box just to be sure, and from the sound of it, there were definitely Lego pieces in there. We cut open the package and marveled at the set in all its glory, albeit feeling somewhat nervous. Were we ready to take on a project like this? How long would it take? Would Jacob's minifigure come with a pair of ripped denim shorts? We were going to find out. We waited until the following weekend so we'd have as much time as we needed, and then began our pre-build preparations.

The box that the set came in was, not surprisingly, quite large. For scale, here's a photo of my dog sitting next to it:

Unfortunately, Stevie couldn't help us build the set. Credit: Dylan Haas / Mashable

As you can see, the box itself is almost exactly one Stevie tall, which is pretty damn big. Upon opening the box, we were greeted with a whole lot of Lego pieces (also not surprising). Thankfully, the over-2,000-piece set was neatly portioned out into 18 separate bags, all numbered to coincide with the included booklet's step-by-step instructions. That was a huge relief to the two of us — we'd never tackled a Lego set of this size before, so we didn't know what to expect when it came to the actual process of putting everything together. But, it seemed like our hands were going to be held all the way to the finish line. Splitting each section up into manageable and understandable chunks kept us from feeling overwhelmed by the sea of colored plastic that was strewn across our kitchen table.

The workspace. Credit: Dylan Haas / Mashable A few hours later... Credit: Dylan Haas / Mashable

We carefully opened the first bag that Lego kindly meal-prepped for us, which included a brick removal tool in case we made any mistakes and a sheet of stickers that would be used on specific pieces throughout the process. We emptied out the pieces from the first group and started making our way through the instructions, which kicked things off with Charlie Swan's truck. It was a breeze to put together, thanks to the easy-to-follow instructions, and looked great when it was done. It even has working wheels!

Then, it was time to move on to the house, which got a bit more complicated. The instructions were still just as simple, but our method of dumping all the bricks from each bag onto the table wasn't working anymore. Too many of them looked alike, and it would take us minutes just to find the one part we needed. The small moments of panic that would set in whenever it seemed like we were missing a piece weren't fun, either. We never were, and each bag had some extras in it just in case something did vanish into the void.

Something tells me that a lot of people will be happy with the inclusion of Bella's dad. Credit: Dylan Haas / Mashable

So, we changed our plan of attack. Going forward, every time we opened a new bag, we'd carefully sift and sort through each plastic piece, grouping them with their identical cohorts. This way, we'd know exactly where everything was and how many of each piece we had at all times. Once we got the hang of our new game plan, we started zooming through the rest of the set. (Well, relatively zooming. It still took us about eight hours to complete from start to finish.)

We were a well-oiled machine, quickly glancing back and forth between the instruction booklet and the miniature Cullen household, adding to it each time. We worked on different sections simultaneously and with finesse as if we'd been doing it our whole lives. We were officially in The Flow State™. Is this what Lego hobbyists felt like all the time?

Brick by brick, floor by floor. Credit: Dylan Haas / Mashable

We constructed the compound literally from the ground up, starting from the foundation all the way to the third floor. As we built, we were constantly impressed by the sheer detail that went into the items on each floor of the house — stuff you wouldn't see unless you opened the whole thing up and inspected it closely, like the Cullen's wall of graduation caps or their grand piano. Those items require you to be a bit more surgical while building due to their small pieces, but the result is super rewarding.

A part of the building experience that I personally loved was the tension of not always knowing what you were building right away. The instructions are careful not to spoil the end product before you get there yourself, so a lot of times, you're staring at a strange grouping of bricks, wondering if it is, in fact, anything at all. It's a great exercise in relinquishing control and trusting the process, which can get especially challenging when it seems like whatever you're building just isn't coming together. It always came together, though. I feel like there's a life lesson somewhere in that.

“You better hold on tight, spider monkey.” Credit: Dylan Haas / Mashable Another one of my favorite details is the Cullen's grand piano. Credit: Dylan Haas / Mashable

We kept progressing through the set, eventually hitting autopilot. Now, we were well-versed enough to multitask — 50 percent building, and the other 50 percent just yapping. My wife would talk me through all the Twilight movie references I didn't understand, and perk up with excitement whenever I was able to call one out myself. It was a joy to connect with her over what Lego detractors would refer to as a children's toy. It felt nostalgic, like we were in a simpler time. For those next few hours, I wasn't thinking cynically, which feels wild to say in 2025. I wasn't thinking about planes falling out of the sky or about the dire condition of our political landscape. I was only thinking about how each of these tiny plastic pieces would snap together, how I was enjoying quality time with my favorite person, and how, at least at this moment in time, everything felt like it was OK.

Look, I’m not saying that you should bury your head and ignore what’s going on in the world — actually, I advise heavily against that. But if the state of it all is getting to be overwhelming, maybe I am saying that you should pick up a Lego set and just see what happens. You might be surprised by how therapeutic it can be.

SEE ALSO: 33 years to read 'Twilight'? This TikTok account isn't in a hurry.

Before we knew it, we were putting the finishing touches on the set, which involved making a wolf version of Jacob and the verdant surrounding area of the Cullen abode. We also put together all of the character Minifigures, including Carlisle, Alice, Rosalie, Charlie, human-form Jacob, and, of course, Bella and Edward. The latter two even came with an extra piece that lets you attach Bella to Edward's back so you can perfectly reenact the iconic tree-climbing scene.

The final product. Credit: Dylan Haas / Mashable

Finally, our job was done. We carefully lifted the replica and placed it on our bookshelf where we could appreciate its beauty. We stepped back to enjoy the view, proud of the work we'd put into it and feeling unexpectedly reinvigorated. I'm not trying to sound dramatic — it's not like this Lego set fundamentally changed us as people. But, it was a moment of respite during a time filled with uncertainty, and that was enough.

If you haven't already gleaned that I think Lego's Twilight collaboration is absolutely worth the money, consider this my confirmation. I'm most certainly a Lego and a Twilight guy now. So, I guess it's time for me to watch the rest of those movies.

And in case you were still wondering: No, Jacob's minifigure did not come with a pair of ripped denim shorts.

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego 'Twilight' Cullen House Lego set $219.99 at Lego
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There are a number of compelling reasons to catch the looming March 13-14 total lunar eclipse, which will be visible in the entire lower 48 states and greater Americas.

Perhaps the best one is that no two such eclipses are the same. That means, weather permitting, you'll witness something unique.

Total lunar eclipses occur when the sun, Earth, and moon are in alignment, allowing Earth to cast a shadow on the moon and block most sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. But our planet's atmosphere still allows red wavelengths of light to squeeze through, illuminating the moon in reddish, rusty, orangish, or crimson colors. Crucially, both the fickle conditions in Earth's atmosphere, and how deeply the moon passes through Earth's shadow, impact how light is ultimately projected onto the moon. This means different, and even unexpected, light shows.

"It's part of the thrill," Bennett Maruca, an astronomer at the University of Delaware who has witnessed a number of total lunar eclipses, told Mashable. "You don't know exactly what you're going to get."

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

Totality — meaning when the moon is totally within Earth's shadow — will begin at 11:26 p.m. PDT on March 13, 2025 / 2:26 a.m. EDT on March 14 / 06:26 UTC, lasting for 65 minutes. And the reddening progresses over hours, as the moon gradually moves into the Earth's shadow. (Technically, the eclipse starts with slight dimming on March 13 at 8:57 p.m. PDT / 11:57 p.m. EDT / 03:57 UTC). So, weather permitting, you'll have ample opportunity to see these bloody colors in action.

During a total lunar eclipse, the sun, Earth, and moon are in alignment. Credit: NASA Scientific Visualization Studio A map showing how the Americas will have the opportunity to witness a total lunar eclipse on March 13-14, 2025. Credit: NASA

The first major factor at play in the amount of light and coloration illuminated on the moon is what's transpiring in our atmosphere, as sunlight must pass through our skies.

"Dust and clouds can affect the ultimate color of the moon during this event, which means that each total lunar eclipse ends up being somewhat unique and ultimately 'reflective' of the state of our own planet's weather," Eric Edelman, the planetarium director at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium, told Mashable.

For example, if there's lots of dust in the atmosphere — such as expansive dust clouds from the Sahara desert — you'll generally get a redder eclipsed moon, Edelman noted. Storms play a role in impacting how the penetrating light hits the moon, too. And volcanic eruptions — which can blast prodigious amounts of ash and gas high into the atmosphere — can dim lunar eclipses, as volcanic particles impede light that would otherwise get refracted towards the moon.

"It can be quite surprising."

The other significant player in the moon's illumination is how far the moon travels into Earth's shadow (called the "umbra," and visualized in the short NASA video below). When passing closer to the shadow's center, the moon is illuminated with the darkest colors — to deep browns and even purples. When passing nearer to the shadow's edge, the moon is illuminated with rusty, orange colors. The coming March 2025 eclipse, then, may be more on the rusty spectrum.

But the moon won't be all the same color. Our expansive natural satellite, some 2,159 miles across, will be illuminated by different parts of Earth's shadow, meaning it will display some of those darker colors, as well as the lighter rusty colors. "That's one of the cool things about this eclipse," noted Maruca. "You see the color gradient."

Tweet may have been deleted

Witnessing totality will mean a late night, or early morning, for many of us. But Maruca emphasizes it's worth it. It'll be a one-of-a-kind space light show. And you don't know exactly what you're going to get.

"It can be quite surprising," Maruca said.

This story has been updated with more information about the March 13-14 total lunar eclipse.

Connections is a game from the New York Times that challenges you to find the association between words. It sounds easy, but it isn't—Connections categories can be almost anything, and they're usually quite specific. If you need a hand getting the answers, we've got you covered.

While social platforms like Instagram and TikTok seem to rule the internet, some prefer quieter sites.

"I get very burnt out from social media a lot," 19-year-old Lauren told Mashable. Lauren prefers to chat with her long-distance boyfriend, Charlie, on Discord, but they met on another non-major social site: Quotev.

SEE ALSO: They met on Tumblr, and their relationship outlasted their accounts

Quotev, formerly Quizazz, is a quiz-making and fan fiction website aimed at teens. Lauren and Charlie met there nearly five years ago, when they were both 15, and they've been together ever since.

Bonding over a passion for writing

Lauren and Charlie's relationship started when she noticed his writing on Quotev.

"This was before I even knew I wanted to go into journalism," said Lauren, who's since published work in publications like The Nation and Teen Vogue. "I was still very impressed with his writing. I was like, 'I need to keep in touch with this person. Like, this person is really cool. I want to be this person's friend,'" and that's how it started.

They chatted on Quotev for a while (the site used to have more social functions that no longer exist), but eventually moved to Discord and texting as they built more trust. Now, they talk every day for hours about school, their lives, and their fandoms — even though their interests don't always align.

"We do both love writing, and we both focus on that," she said. She discovered she wanted to go into journalism when she was 16. "We obviously have that to kind of bond us together."

"We talk every day for hours so we share a certain type of mundaneness," she said, "which is really nice. And I kind of prefer that over the interests part of it."

Lauren didn't tell her parents about Charlie due to the nature of how they met.

"We met really young, and when you're really young, you can't exactly come up to your parents and be like, 'Hey, I found this guy online that I'm dating now,' because there's a lot of safety concerns in that," she said. The concerns are valid and should be considered, Lauren said, but when she was 15, she wasn't thinking about that.

Lauren still hasn't told her parents about the relationship, however, because they're both queer and trans. Lauren uses both she and they pronouns.

"I'm very open about it anywhere else," like the internet, "but, yeah, it's still a bridge that I have to cross, that I will have to," Lauren said. 

That's also part of the reason Lauren and Charlie haven't met in person yet. They both live in the American South, but because of circumstances, they haven't taken their relationship offline.

That's going to change this year, however.

Meeting in person for the first time

"We do have plans to meet this year," Lauren said. She's graduating from community college in May, and Charlie plans to attend the ceremony. Once Lauren transfers to a four-year college, they will look into moving in together as she'll be living off-campus. 

"Hopefully, exciting things will be happening," she said.

While she's excited to finally meet Charlie in person, she's also nervous because he's a secret from her parents.

"I will need to figure out some sort of solution," Lauren said. She said she could lie and say Charlie is just a friend, but lying all this time has been exhausting. 

"I've always hidden this anyway, so it's not just the five years," she said. "Hiding my queerness has been a lifelong thing for me that I'm getting very frustrated and tired of doing, but at the same time, that fear is just still so high."

This is, unfortunately, not entirely uncommon. According to research gathered by The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth advocacy organization, one-third of LGBTQ young people face parental rejection, while another one-third don't come out until they're adults.

"The truth will come out eventually, but I don't know how I feel about that," Lauren said.

Lauren also calls the prospect of meeting Charlie surreal, as they've been together but apart for so long. "We are so used to being online and so we both always wanted to be together in person, but it's just like we're so close now, after talking about this since forever," she said.

While some might gawk at an online-only relationship, Lauren feels very lucky to have met her boyfriend. 

"Being almost 20 years old, people will see a relationship like mine, almost five years entirely online, high school sweethearts, something like that, and they'll kind of be like, 'Um, how did you do this?'" she said. 

But she doesn't regret meeting Charlie on Quotev. "Even though we haven't met in person, it's very hard, if anything happened to us, would I try to find someone else online? No, I wouldn't. But that doesn't mean that I regret how things are now. I just hope for a future where we're together in person, and we're still comfortable."

TL;DR: Get a refurbished 13.3-inch Apple MacBook Air (1.8GHz i5, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) on sale for just $229.97. Act fast, because we have fewer than 50 available.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Refurbished 13.3-inch Apple MacBook Air (1.8GHz i5, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) $229.97
$999.00 Save $769.03 Get Deal

MacBooks rarely come cheap, so this is a deal you don’t want to miss.

Get a refurbished 13.3-inch Apple MacBook Air (1.8GHz i5, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) that was originally $999 laptop for just $230, plus free shipping.

This MacBook received a grade “A” rating — the highest possible. Plus, on the off chance you run into any issues, your purchase is backed by a 90-day warranty.

Let’s talk about your new-to-you laptop

You arrived just in time to grab this MacBook Air deal, but you don’t have much time to grab it before they’re gone. So here’s what you need to know before you check out:

• An Intel Core i5 and 8GB of RAM are enough for everyday tasks and multitasking, but not for running intense programs

• You’ll have 128GB of SSD storage for downloading apps and saving files

• Enjoy a 13.3-inch display with Intel HD Graphics 6000

• Get up to 12 hours of battery life on a single charge

Hurry — get your MacBook at a steep discount of $230 with free shipping before they’re all gone (reg. $999).

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Use code GUARD20 to grab AdGuard's ad-blocker, malware protection, and more for nine devices for only $15.97.

It seems as though ads run your life, popping up as unskippable video ads on YouTube or targeted promos that make it seem as though your phone is actually listening to your conversations. Rather than dealing with pesky ads for another day, invest in AdGuard.

The AdGuard Family Plan could be your permanent solution for banishing ads — as well as a smart addition that protects your devices and prevents malware and online trackers from ruining your digital experience. Grab lifetime access for only $15.97 (down from $39.99) with code GUARD20 at checkout.

All-in-one ad-blocking and privacy protection

AdGuard handily eliminates ads from your devices, so it's no surprise that it boasts 1,400+ five-star ratings. It's designed to remove distracting banners, intrusive pop-ups, or irritating YouTube ads for pet food, but you can also create filters to customize your experience on different platforms and manually block any missed ads.

In addition to streamlining your browsing, streaming, and gaming, AdGuard acts as a digital bodyguard, shielding your digital activity from trackers and analyzers. It even protects your devices from harmful malware and phishing scams, keeping your digital world safe and secure.

Since this AdGuard plan works on up to nine Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS devices simultaneously, it's perfect for anyone with an entire Apple or PC ecosystem—and families. Those with children will appreciate this ad-blocker's parental controls. You'll be able to restrict content that is inappropriate for your kids, ensuring they can only watch Peppa Pig and Bluey or access other child-friendly content.

Ditch the ads and protect your browsing by grabbing this AdGuard Family Plan lifetime subscription for nine devices, now just $15.97 when you use code GUARD20 at checkout. Act while supplies last.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: AdGuard Software AdGuard Family Plan: Lifetime Subscription $39.99
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TL;DR: Through March 30, grab a lifetime of cloud storage from Koofr on sale for $119.97 with coupon code KOOFR.

Opens in a new window Credit: Koofr Koofr Cloud Storage: Lifetime Subscription (1TB) $119.97
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So many cloud storage services come with a monthly fee. It may feel cheap at first, but how many of those files are only there temporarily? With every month you pay for cloud storage, the value starts to fade. The cheaper overall alternative is to get cloud storage that lasts for life without needing to pay more than a one-time fee. Take a look at Koofr's offer for a 1TB lifetime cloud storage subscription for $119.97 with code KOOFR.

Koofr takes your privacy seriously with top-notch encryption for your files, both when they're being transferred and while they're stored. They also don’t track your activity, so you can rest easy knowing your data is secure and private.

What really stands out about Koofr is how flexible and user-friendly Koofr is. Whether you're on your smartphone, desktop, or using WebDAV, you can easily access and manage your files from anywhere. The interface is straightforward, so even if you're new to cloud storage, you’ll find it easy to use.

Plus, if you’re already using other cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon, or OneDrive, Koofr integrates smoothly, letting you handle everything from one place.

And for keeping your digital space in order, Koofr has some neat features. The Duplicate Finder helps you eliminate unnecessary duplicates, while advanced renaming options let you customize file links. This way, you can keep your files organized and your digital space clutter-free.

Keep your files safe and sound with a Koofr 1TB Cloud Storage lifetime subscription for $119.97 with promo code KOOFR through March 30.

StackSocial prices subject to change. 

The James Webb Space Telescope is peering into distant worlds and rewriting our grasp of the cosmos.

And in 2025, its budget is on track to get slashed.

At January's Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, Tom Brown, who heads Webb's mission office at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), showcased the observatory's achievements, while also revealing the institute has been asked to consider around 20 percent in cuts to its science and mission operations during the prime years of Webb's operation. (The institute manages major telescopes for NASA, like Webb and the Hubble Space Telescope.)

The budget shortfall would begin in October 2025, the start of the federal fiscal year. The telescope, orbiting about 1 million miles from Earth, has a team of scientists and engineers choosing the the most valuable targets, calibrating its observations, and fixing problems. Budget cuts would hit these jobs, and significantly diminish Webb's productivity, Brown said.

"The operations work at STScI, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and other NASA contractors is funded by the operational budget for Webb, so the funding cuts would incur reductions in staff working in these areas," Brown, who also researches star and galaxy formation, told Mashable.

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

"One could see reductions in observing efficiency, anomaly response, calibration cadence and fidelity, support for instrument modes, and even the number of observing modes available for science," he added.

With the Trump administration's agency reductions and mass-layoffs, including firings of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists, significant cuts of some 20 percent to Webb may now be even more realistic. "We expect worse. The announcement of this 20 percent budget cut was made before the arrival of DOGE and other ongoing budget reductions," Franck Marchis, a planetary astronomer at the SETI Institute, said in a statement. Marchis noted that there will also likely be a "significant impact" to the outreach programs that provide the public information about Webb's progress and discoveries.

In 2025, NASA's budget request for Webb was $187 million, which included $60 million in grants that enable scientists at other institutions to plan and pursue investigations with the telescope. Yet Brown noted, in his presentation, that Webb's operations costs were "set idealistically low in 2011," and the operations budget must now contend with higher-than-anticipated inflation and a tight NASA budget. The space agency has a lot of ambitions and investments spread across a budget of some $25.4 billion, such as $7.6 billion in annual costs for the looming exploration of the moon, and eventually Mars. For example, NASA's new megarocket, the Space Launch System, was afforded over $2.4 billion in the 2025 fiscal year.

"If the budget cuts were to happen, the cuts would impact all aspects of operations."

Should Webb's operations budget be cut, meaning a drop of some $37 million compared with 2025 levels, little would be immune.

"If the budget cuts were to happen, the cuts would impact all aspects of operations," Brown said. "This includes solicitation and peer-reviewed selection of observing programs, observation planning and scheduling, flight operations and commanding, systems engineering, anomaly response, data calibration, data analysis tools, science data products, data processing and archiving, management of research grants, and public outreach."

The Webb telescope, which came online in 2022, is currently in its prime five-year mission. But it's performing excellently, and NASA suspects it could run for two decades, if not more. Its productivity over this span, however, could be hampered.

A deep field view of the universe captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, including some of the farthest-away objects ever seen in infrared light. Credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI Tweet may have been deleted

UPDATE: Mar. 1, 2025, 5:00 a.m. EST This story originally published on Jan. 29, 2025, and has been updated with a quote from Franck Marchis along with other information about the Webb telescope.

The Webb telescope's powerful abilities

The Webb telescope — a scientific collaboration between NASA, ESA, and the Canadian Space Agency — is designed to peer into the deepest cosmos and reveal new insights about the early universe. It's also examining intriguing planets in our galaxy, along with the planets and moons in our solar system.

Here's how Webb is achieving unparalleled feats, and may for years to come:

- Giant mirror: Webb's mirror, which captures light, is over 21 feet across. That's over two-and-a-half times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope's mirror, meaning Webb has six times the light collecting area. Capturing more light allows Webb to see more distant, ancient objects. The telescope is peering at stars and galaxies that formed over 13 billion years ago, just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. "We're going to see the very first stars and galaxies that ever formed," Jean Creighton, an astronomer and the director of the Manfred Olson Planetarium at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, told Mashable in 2021.

- Infrared view: Unlike Hubble, which largely views light that's visible to us, Webb is primarily an infrared telescope, meaning it views light in the infrared spectrum. This allows us to see far more of the universe. Infrared has longer wavelengths than visible light, so the light waves more efficiently slip through cosmic clouds; the light doesn't as often collide with and get scattered by these densely packed particles. Ultimately, Webb's infrared eyesight can penetrate places Hubble can't.

"It lifts the veil," said Creighton.

- Peering into distant exoplanets: The Webb telescope carries specialized equipment called spectrographs that will revolutionize our understanding of these far-off worlds. The instruments can decipher what molecules (such as water, carbon dioxide, and methane) exist in the atmospheres of distant exoplanets — be they gas giants or smaller rocky worlds. Webb looks at exoplanets in the Milky Way galaxy. Who knows what we'll find?

"We might learn things we never thought about," Mercedes López-Morales, an exoplanet researcher and astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics-Harvard & Smithsonian, told Mashable in 2021.

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