Technology

TL;DR: On April 14, visit your nearest Scoop Shop and grab a free cup or cone of your favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor.

It's that special time of year when free ice cream becomes the norm. Hot on the heels of Dairy Queen announcing the date of its Free Cone Day, Ben & Jerry's has done the same.

Ben & Jerry's celebrates Free Cone Day around the globe every year, sharing the love with free cups and cones of your favorite flavors. There's no catch. Simply visit your nearest Scoop Shop and grab a scoop for free.

When is Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day?

Ben & Jerry's is giving away free ice cream at a host of locations between 12-8 p.m. on April 14. You can check participating locations here.

Ben & Jerry's is aiming to spread more joy than ever before. They served up 1 million scoops in 2023, but they're targeting more in 2026. And you can help out with that ambitious target, because unlike a lot of these free giveaways, there's no limit on the number of times you can score a free cone. Can't decide what flavor to order? Don't worry — try them all.

Mark your calendars. This is a date you don't want to forget.

As we get closer to the New Moon phase of the lunar cycle, the Moon becomes more of a crescent shape. Its visible surface decreases each night as the Sun lights up less of the side facing Earth, making the Moon appear slimmer until it briefly disappears during the New Moon.

What is today’s Moon phase?

As of Friday, March 13, the Moon phase is Waning Crescent. According to NASA's Daily Moon Guide, 32% of the Moon will be lit up tonight.

There's less visibility tonight, but still enough to spot some features. With just your naked eye, you can see the Aristarchus Plateau and the Kepler Crater. With binoculars, you'll also see the Grimaldi Basin, the Gassendi Crater and the Mare Humorum.

When is the next Full Moon?

In North America, the next Full Moon is predicted to take place on April 1.

What are Moon phases?

According to NASA, the Moon takes roughly 29.5 days to orbit Earth, passing through eight distinct phases along the way. Although we always see the same side of the Moon, the amount illuminated by the Sun shifts as it moves, which is why it can appear full, half-lit, or just a thin sliver at different times in the cycle. These shifting appearances are known as the lunar phases, and there are eight altogether:

New Moon - The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it's invisible to the eye).

Waxing Crescent - A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).

First Quarter - Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.

Waxing Gibbous - More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.

Full Moon - The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.

Waning Gibbous - The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)

Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) - Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.

Waning Crescent - A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.

If the story of the Cornbread Mafia weren't true, you might think it's something the Coen Bros. had dreamed up. The stranger-than-fiction tale of a motley band of "dirt-poor dirt farmers" from Kentucky growing into "the largest homegrown marijuana operation in the U.S." fits in nicely with the likes of Raising Arizona and O Brother, Where Art Thou? in terms of outlaw energy and Southern-fried comedy.

SEE ALSO: 17 SXSW movies you need to know about right now

From the jump, documentarians Evan Mascagni and Drew Morris introduce the eponymous criminal organization with a disarming sense of humor. Cornbread Mafia begins on lush green farmland, where brothers Joe Keith Bickett and Jimmy Bickett pull up in a pick-up truck with a bed piled high with marijuana. Joe introduces himself and his brother from a script, but fumbles his delivery. So, they'll do another take… in which someone's cell phone will blare, interrupting Joe's flow. 

It's an amusing beginning that gives the audience permission to laugh along with the Bickett brothers as their audacious story is unfurled. But more than that, by drawing attention to the artifice that exists within documentary filmmaking, Mascagni and Morris offer a subtle disclaimer that every story is shaped by its teller. What you see here might not be the whole truth — but it's the truth according to the Cornbread Mafia. And that truth is outrageously entertaining, while offering some solid food for thought. 

Cornbread Mafia is a gangster story with a comic air. 

In talking-head interviews, the documentarians sit down with the Bicketts, a wide array of their notorious associates, and even the occasional lawman to reconstruct the history of the Cornbread Mafia. Their stories are hilarious and bonkers, involving car chases, half-cocked heists, tiger cubs, and an elegant ally named Susie, who's introduced with the snarled non sequitur, "I think rats should die." 

See, the Cornbread Mafia isn't just a name. They pulled inspiration for how they operated from the Italian mob's concept of omertà — meaning a code of honor and silence that favored community over going to the cops. This mafia began in the 1970s as a band of farmers who'd been buying pathetic dime bags of pot from Mexico, until they did the math. A baggie of marijuana was going for $30, while a pound of tobacco was $1.50. So, picking the seeds from their purchased dime bags seemed an almost inevitable move to grow a fortune fairly easily.

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The next bit was figuring out how to develop a breed of weed that could give them the most bang for their growing buck. Enter Johnny Boone, whose sharp mind not only grew their operation across the country, hiding their crops in fields of corn, but also led to the creation of the marijuana strain Kentucky Bluegrass. 

Like any gangster story worth its grit, Cornbread Mafia charts the heady highs and rough lows of their journey, from fugitives to folk heroes. Then, it goes further, into contemporary politics, judicial hypocrisies, and life-changing activism. Yet the filmmakers never let the big topics dwarf the rollicking fun of being in (or near) the Cornbread Mafia. 

Cornbread Mafia uses animation and Boyd Holbrook for educational value and whimsy. 

Rather than hire actors for reenactments, Mascagni and Morris employ animation to illustrate these larger-than-life tales, as well as complicated explanations about the American justice system and the war on drugs. 

The animations for both have a vaguely '70s Schoolhouse Rock feel. Brightly colored pie charts illustrate a cheeky point about buyer demographics, while cartoon versions of the Bicketts and Boone skedaddle from the cops in a colorful pick-up truck. Then, to finesse  transitions between interviews or give context to graphs, the whiskey-smooth voice of Boyd Holbrook serves as narrator.  

Now, some might sneer at how this animated approach undercuts the criminality of the mafia's actions. As bobble-headed potheads, they seem more like the Scooby gang than Scarface. But that's precisely the point. Cornbread Mafia regards its subjects as outlaws, but it doesn't condemn them for their crimes. Instead, the doc gives space to these growers to express how they built an industry despite the poverty that threatened to choke their whole town. Like the bootleggers or moonshiners that were their ancestors (in some cases literally), they used their wits, their resources, and their friends to grow a fortune that could care for them all. And it did until the Feds rolled in with a reckoning in the form of mandatory minimums. 

From there, Cornbread Mafia explores the sentencing laws that regard non-violent drug offenses on the same level of punishment as double murder. (Sadly, this is not a hypothetical, but a tragic true story that ties into the Cornbread Mafia's saga.) However, because this movie reflects its subjects' lust for life and devil-may-care energy, Cornbread Mafia doesn't tread carefully into a formal march through history, politics, and opposing views. This is a raucous dance of a documentary. 

The cartoons, suave voice-over, and lively interviews challenge the narrative that drug dealers are bad guys, presenting these good ol' boys as rebels with a wild streak. Like the folk hero outlaws who came before them, they are beguiling rule-breakers who inspire awe, envy, and outrage. And Cornbread Mafia does right by them by welcoming its audience into the thrall of that outlaw American legacy. 

Simply put, Cornbread Mafia is a sensational true crime doc that gives fresh verve to the standard talking heads, rigorous reenactments, and voiceovers by leaning into the crooked-smiled charms of its subjects. They're not made to explain themselves, but invited to share their stories. And they do so with joyfulness and frankness that is intoxicating. Cornbread Mafia is not just eye-opening and provocative; it's also a hell of a lot of fun.

Cornbread Mafia was reviewed out of SXSW.

With no big stars, no flashy elevator pitch, and no provocative title, A Safe Distance might well get overlooked at its world premiere out of the 2026 SXSW film festival. And that would be the world's loss. Written by Aidan West, A Safe Distance is a lean and scintillating thriller that wears its influences — the works of Patricia Highsmith — on its sleeve without apology. The feature directorial debut of Gloria Mercer, this film is slippery, seductive, and smartly titillating. 

Like any psychological noir worth the price of salt, A Safe Distance begins in medias res, with a gunshot boom and a spatter of blood across a woman's face. In the woods, she and another woman, also marked with blood, walk quietly to a river and wash away the signs of violence. Who are they? And how did they get here? Where did the blood come from?

By hooking us with the promise of a shocking murder, A Safe Distance begins as a mystery before leaping back in time to a seemingly mundane camping trip. What follows, however, is the kind of fateful meeting that is the stuff of Highsmith novels like The Price of Salt, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Strangers on a Train. When strangers meet, anything is possible, including love and murder. 

A Safe Distance dares to tread the path less traveled. 

The story begins with a thirtysomething couple, Alex (Bethany Brown) and Joey (Chris McNally), celebrating their eighth anniversary with a camping trip in a sprawling forest. It should be romantic, but beneath her pleasant exterior, Alex seems bored. When Joey turns a cliffside hike into a cringingly clichéd opportunity to propose, she's not enthusiastic; she's repulsed. Dejected, he abandons her in the woods, which is when she meets Kianna (Tandia Mercedes) and Matt (Cody Kearsley). 

This couple is everything Alex and Joey are not. They are young, unconventional, and uninhibited. Alex feels lighter and more free just being in their company. At first, it might seem they're part of the Gen Z van-life community. But before long, Alex realizes they're not just living off the grid, they're bank robbers on the run. And far from being fearful, she's fascinated. 

Abandoned by her banal boyfriend, not expected back at her HR job for days, and now in the hands of a pair of armed and dangerous criminals, a new world of possibilities falls before her. What could life look like if she just didn't go home? Turned on by their devil-may-care attitudes, she's in their thrall sexually and psychologically. Firing a gun for shooting practice becomes as thrilling as a ménage à trois. But how long can this criminal bliss last? 

A Safe Distance evolves into a sapphic romance with crackling chemistry. 

Unmistakably, both Matt and Kianna are into Alex. There's an electrifying excitement as their desire becomes a three-way flame for a steamy sex scene. But Matt soon becomes less intriguing and more tedious. Tossing his long, shiny hair and flexing his muscles, he monologues about feminism and society with a gnawing arrogance that feels like he's pitching a podcast. So it's little surprise when Alex brushes off his advances for a stolen kiss, and Kianna grows visibly irritated with his presumptions about his own prowess as a thief. 

Stolen glances and conversations about the books of Patricia Highsmith point to where A Safe Distance is headed. I mean, two women sharing a picnic blanket, talking about the brilliance of The Price of Salt (which Todd Haynes adapted into the sumptuous queer romance Carol) is anything but subtle. But it's not meant to be. It's these women's version of passing a note in class that essentially says, "I like you, do you like me? Check yes or no." 

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Brown and Mercedes are superb in these scenes. While their characters each try to maintain a facade of aloof cool, their conversation oozes with vulnerability and hopefulness. Like Highsmith's heroes, villains, and antiheroes, they fall fast and unstoppably for a life path that society might reject as deranged, dangerous, or wicked. The dream of being not Bonnie and Clyde but Alex and Kianna is clear and glittering as they pull off an impromptu robbery at a random convenience store. Of course, Matt bristles at being left out. 

From there, the heat and tension builds, promising an eruption that we know will end in blood. But whose? That question pulls the final act into a place of dizzying anxiety and anticipation. It's a threesome turned love triangle turned deadly dance, and who will be left standing might seem obvious. But A Safe Distance has solid surprises in store. 

Cheers to West and Mercer, for this is a spectacular example of smart, sexy, and satisfying indie cinema. Their locations are modest. Their production design is mostly a forest. They have only a handful of characters, and no big names to boost the production's profile. So they lean into sharp storytelling, intoxicating chemistry, and a lean runtime of 85 minutes. A Safe Distance is terrifically paced, unapologetically alluring, and psychologically exciting, making this thriller a salty, twisted treat. The allusions to Highsmith could have hurt the film if it weren't such a solid homage to her storytelling style. Instead, it's easy to see Alex and Kianna among the ranks of Tom Ripley or Carol Aird, figures driven by their desires, for better or worse. And by damn, don't we love them for it? 

A Safe Distance was reviewed out of the 2026 SXSW Film Festival.

Apple TV and A24's Margo's Got Money Troubles begins with a bang, thanks to a fanciful, pinball-themed opening sequence that careens through a handmade world of books, overdue bills, and baby supplies.

Our guide through it all is a green alien woman rolling atop a small silver ball. She takes the punches of the pinball machine as they come, bouncing off platforms and falling down holes before emerging, triumphant, from her bedazzled spaceship. It's a sweet, richly textured sequence, and with the accompanying use of Robyn's "Blow My Mind," it promises the show to follow will blow our minds, too.

SEE ALSO: Everything we know about Apple TV's 'Margo's Got Money Troubles'

If only the rest of Margo's Got Money Troubles could live up to that promise.

The series itself, created by David E. Kelley (Ally McBeal) and led by Elle Fanning, is a heartwarming tale of an unconventional family unit coming together despite the odds. Yet it mostly lacks the imagination of both its title sequence and its central character, becoming a paint-by-numbers dramedy elevated by a great cast.

What's Margo's Got Money Troubles about? Elle Fanning and Michelle Pfeiffer in "Margo's Got Money Troubles." Credit: Apple TV

Based on the novel of the same name by Rufi Thorpe, Margo's Got Money Troubles introduces its titular character (Fanning) at a crossroads in her life. She's a college freshman with a promising writing talent. She's also pregnant, the result of an affair with her scummy, married literature professor, Mark (Michael Angarano). Against the wishes of both Mark and her mother Shyanne (Michelle Pfeiffer), she chooses to keep the baby, dropping out of school to raise him.

Raising baby Bodhi will take money that Margo does not have, and Margo's Got Money Troubles immediately sinks viewers into her stress spiral. To earn money for Bodhi, she needs a job. To work a full-time job, she needs to pay for childcare. To pay for childcare, she needs to earn money, and on and on it goes. It's a nightmarish cycle that the series renders in claustrophobic detail. When Margo shows up to a job interview with Bodhi in tow, you can feel the interviewer's cloying judgment shutting down any path forward. When Margo rings up her groceries, each beep of the scanner is a mini heart attack. And when two of Margo's roommates move out because they can't deal with living with a newborn, the added rent feels like a death sentence.

SEE ALSO: 'Margo's Got Money Troubles' trailer teases a single mother starting an OnlyFans

With her finances crumbling and no job opportunities in sight, Margo decides to make content on OnlyFans. What initially begins as a means to an end soon becomes a creative outlet, allowing her to flex her writing skills and earn enough money to take care of Bodhi.

Margo's Got Money Troubles' alien OnlyFans is bonkers fun, and I wish we had more of it. Elle Fanning in "Margo's Got Money Troubles." Credit: Apple TV

For her initial OnlyFans gimmick, Margo offers to tell her fans which Pokémon their penis resembles, and what their attacks would be. This results in several delightfully silly lines lifted straight from Thorpe's novel ("Your penis is a Tentacruel!"), delivered with gusto by Fanning. Later, as Margo tries to expand her empire, she draws on her father Jinx's (Nick Offerman) background as a pro wrestler and her roommate Susie's (Thaddea Graham) passion for cosplay. With their help, she builds an alien persona who regularly collaborates with fellow OnlyFans performers KC (Rico Nasty) and Rose (Lindsey Normington). The trio shoot elaborate wrestling matches, dance sequences, and even a mesmerizing short film involving alien Margo — resplendent in green body paint and a metallic silver dress — looming over a small model movie theater.

Just like the opening credits, these sequences are pure, imaginative fun, made all the more endearing by the characters' intense commitment. They're also proof of something Margo's Got Money Troubles told us from the start: that Margo, as an only child, needed to "develop a complex inner world." With each Pokémon penis comparison or alien short film, Margo's Got Money Troubles externalizes that inner world and gives her a clear point of view. I would have loved to see more of it — more of where her ideas come from, more of her creative process, more of why this alien storyline is what she wants to present to the world.

Instead, Margo's Got Money Troubles spends the bulk of its time on a plot that feels cobbled together from things we've seen before: teacher-student affairs, estranged parents reconnecting with their children, custody battles. When Margo tells her parents she's been doing sex work, you're all too aware of the judgment that will follow, just as you're all too aware that warm reconciliation will come next. It's pleasant to watch, but it rarely dives back into Margo's head in the way that her content creation scenes do.

Thorpe's novel alternates between first and third person, so maybe those varying degrees of distance are intentional. Yet Thorpe's novel also has a wry, observational style throughout that's as cutting and funny as it is heartwarming. Often, it feels like Margo's Got Money Troubles sacrifices the former for the latter.

Elle Fanning leads a great cast in Margo's Got Money Troubles. Nick Offerman and Thaddea Graham in "Margo's Got Money Troubles." Credit: Apple TV

Even when Margo's Got Money Troubles skews towards the formulaic, its cast keeps you locked in on its messy, complicated family. Fanning shines as Margo. From embodying Margo's alien persona to fighting tooth and nail for Bodhi's future, Fanning is tender, fierce, and funny, continuing her banner run of projects including 2025's Sentimental Value and Predator: Badlands.

Within mere seconds of screen time together, Fanning and Pfeiffer establish a raw, lived-in mother-daughter dynamic full of unspoken judgment and unconditional support. In Pfeiffer's hands, Shyanne's nickname of "Noodle" for Margo can either make you laugh or break you at a moment's notice. Elsewhere, Offerman brings warm, protective Papa Bear energy to Jinx as he tries to connect with Margo and remain in recovery after a stint in rehab. His former wrestling persona adds an extra layer of fun to the show, whether we're watching him dance around in the ring or lay Bodhi down while stage-whispering, "Slo-mo bodyslam!"

There's no denying that Margo's Got Money Troubles and this stellar cast will melt your heart. Yet overall, I just wish that the series could have been just as fearless and imaginative as Margo herself.

Margo's Got Money Troubles had its world premiere at SXSW. It premieres April 15 on Apple TV.

Four years after the ChatGPT revolution began, it's fair to say the humans are getting a little restless. AI's infinite slop machine cannot go on unchallenged; it's time for creatives to fight back. That much is clear from anyone who's joined the cult known as Your AI Slop Bores Me, where users conspire to steal AI's job.

The viral hit of the week, YASBM — let's just call it that — is a website where humans go to pretend to be AI to other humans. Users LARP (that's live-action role-play to you non-nerds) by writing or drawing anything that other humans request, within a strict time limit. You earn tokens by LARPing successfully; you spend tokens asking questions yourself.

The result? Amateurish and charming, which is very much the whole YASBM aesthetic (the site was designed to mimic the lo-fi coding of the 1990s web) — and very much the opposite of AI slop.

For example, I spent a token asking "AI" for a picture of "a vampire drinking a cup of blood" — an image conjured up earlier in the day by a friend going through chemo who found herself oddly jealous of other patients getting transfusions. The resulting scribble from a stranger brightened my friend's day more than any polished-but-soulless image I could have asked for on ChatGPT. (What's more, it was better for the environment.)

YASBM reminded me of the 0.5 selfie, Gen Z's deliberately silly, surprisingly meaningful revolt against the too-perfect selfie world of Millennials. I was also reminded that humans creating freely for humans can hold a lot more interest to humans than machine content. Funny, that.

And it seems like a lot of other humans agree — because YASBM doesn't seem to be one of those viral hits that fades after a week. There are early signs that YASBM has what it takes to become something bigger.

'People enjoy being the AI'

"We’re now seeing a more loyal user base with people returning daily," YASBM creator Mihir Maroju tells Mashable. That is, roughly a million unique visitors (not to mention more than 25,000 hardcore fans on the YASBM Discord server) coming back for more "helpful" answers and charming sketches. "People still enjoy being the AI over the human, though."

Navigating a week's worth of viral exposure — from Reddit, to a Twitter/X trending topic, to TikTok — hasn't been easy. Earlier this week, YASBM practically melted down its hosting company's server farm, leaving the site barely useable. But in the spirit of YASBM, Maroju found human help.

In just a few days, "the project has grown into a small volunteer team," he enthuses — with four humans on website and support, and five more managing the Discord server. "We’ve also tightened moderation systems and queues to make sure spammers don’t ruin the fun for everyone else," Maroju adds. Appropriately enough, that means users must click to confirm they're human.

What's next? When I asked Maroju if there was a YASBM app in the works, here was his reply: "We have some very cool stuff cooking! Stay tuned."

There's something else humans do best: create mystery around what's next. Your move, ChatGPT.

TL;DR: Planning a big trip? Babbel’s lifetime subscription lets you learn 14 languages with bite-sized lessons, conversation practice, and offline access — for a one-time $159 payment.

Opens in a new window Credit: Babbel Babbel Language Learning: Lifetime Subscription (All Languages) $159
$646.20 Save $487.20   Get Deal

Travel gets a lot more interesting when you can speak the language — even just a little. Ordering dinner, asking for directions, or chatting with a shop owner suddenly feels less stressful and more like a real cultural exchange. This All-Language Lifetime Subscription to Babbel is currently available for $159 (reg. $646.20) with the StackSocial code LEARN.

Babbel offers courses in 14 languages, including Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Swedish, Turkish, and more. Lessons focus on practical conversation skills, so instead of memorizing random vocabulary, you’re learning phrases you’re more likely to use while traveling.

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Each lesson takes about 10 to 15 minutes, making it easy to practice during a commute, lunch break, or while waiting for a flight. Babbel also includes speech recognition technology to help you improve pronunciation, plus an AI conversation partner to practice realistic back-and-forth dialogue.

The platform adapts to your skill level — beginner through advanced — and reinforces what you’ve learned with personalized review sessions. You can even download lessons for offline learning, which comes in handy when Wi-Fi isn’t available.

If you’ve got a big trip on the horizon, learning some key phrases beforehand can go a long way — and Babbel makes that process surprisingly manageable.

Get lifetime access to Babbel for a one-time $159 payment (reg. $646.20) with the StackSocial code LEARN while you can.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

If you're interested in a career as a creator, you can go a long way with a tripod and a smartphone equipped with 4K video (which is most of them). Maybe you upgrade, at some point, to a gimbal.

But when you're ready to graduate from a webcam or smartphone to a more professional setup? That's when livestreaming suddenly gets a lot more complicated. And that's where multi-camera livestreaming products from a Chinese company called Obsbot can help.

At the International Innovations expo at SXSW 2026 in Austin, Texas, I got the chance to try out Osbot's setup. Using the company's touchscreen Video Switcher Monitor, you can combine up to seven streams at once — in theory, cutting between shots, angles, and cameras for your audience on Twitch or YouTube.

Osbot cameras at SXSW 2026. Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable

This could be particularly useful when hosting a livestream with multiple participants — but even for a simple setup where you're talking to the camera, having multiple angles and cameras will instantly make your show look more professional.

Obsbot has been on the livestreaming scene since 2016; it was the official webcam partner of the 2025 Esports World Cup. Still, the company cites a very broad range of potential use cases: pastors livestreaming church services, gamers livestreaming on Twitch, professors teaching digital classes, and video creators of all kinds (or as we used to call them, vloggers).

The company's app supports livestreaming on Twitch, YouTube, X, Vimeo, and other popular platforms. Obsbot has webcam-style cameras and tracking cameras that can follow your face using AI, or operated by remote control.

In the demo, there was something very satisfying about remote-controlling the cameras, and watching them track my face as I moved around. Most webcams now offer some type of face tracking, of course, but Osbot's gimbal cameras are rare in offering 360-degree facial tracking.

Osbot cameras at SXSW 2026. Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable

Unfortunately, there is a downside to graduating from your camera and tripod era: the price tag.

The Osbot Video Mixer Monitor will set you back $1,099, and the Tail Air 4k Streaming Camera and remote is priced at $549. Still, you can supplement these pricier elements with more traditional webcams, like the Obsbot Tiny 2 Lite, a 4K webcam, for only $179.

When you start adding all the cameras and accessories you need to make the mixer monitor work, the price can rise quickly. For example, if you want to go all-in, B&H Photo & Video has an Obsbot Streaming bundle with the video mixer, three Tail 2 AI cameras, three NDI license keys, three tripods, filters, and more accessories. The cost? A cool $6,669.

But, hey, if you're a professional creator, you can always write it off come tax season.

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NASA has cleared Artemis II for launch following a lengthy flight readiness review, mission managers said Thursday, as teams work toward a liftoff as early as April 1.

The new timeline follows the discovery of a helium-flow problem in the mega moon rocket's upper stage that required teams to roll the vehicle back to its enormous hangar for repairs. After swapping out seals and testing them, along with replacing some batteries, mission managers said they're ready to fly. 

So dead set is the space agency on launching next month that its managers have refused to provide launch windows beyond April 30. 

"I've said in the past that, yes, there are opportunities in other months," said Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator for exploration systems development, on Thursday, "but right now, we are solely focused on April." 

The flight readiness review serves as the final, agency-level check of hardware, teams, and plans before the Space Launch System and Orion spaceship move back to the launch pad. "Polling go" means the agency is comfortable sending astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day flight around the moon, the first crewed deep space mission in more than 50 years.

SEE ALSO: The interstellar comet gets stranger as scientists learn what's in it

Mission managers said they expect to roll the 322-foot stacked rocket back to its launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, next week on March 19.

Engineers identified and fixed a blocked helium seal in a ground line. The problem caught teams by surprise after a near-perfect fueling test in late February. NASA tested a redesigned connector and installed the modified part on the upper stage. Teams also replaced flight-termination system batteries and tested abort system batteries for the crew module.

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NASA said it remains on track to attempt liftoff as early as April 1, with the launch window opening at 6:24 p.m. ET. Backup dates are available April 2 through 6. The crew will enter pre-launch quarantine on March 18 and travel to Kennedy Space Center in Florida about five days before the launch, as part of standard procedures to protect crew health and readiness.

During the news conference, NASA officials had a tense exchange with reporters regarding the probability of a mission failure or crew loss. When pressed for a single risk number, mission managers balked, offering rough historical comparisons. Test flights often face high uncertainty, said John Honeycutt, chairman of the Artemis II mission management team.

When asked about it again, NASA moderator Rachel Kraft declined to let the panel answer. 

"We've addressed the risk question several times," she said. "We have plenty more questions to get to."

From left, astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Jeremy Hansen will be the first crew to fly in deep space since Apollo 17 about half a century ago. Credit: NASA / Joel Kowsky

Work still remains in the Vehicle Assembly Building. Teams will complete checkouts, remove access platforms, and secure the hardware for moving back to the pad. 

NASA does not plan to have another wet dress rehearsal, a practice launch countdown with actual fuel, that would eat up time in the April launch window. Instead, the agency aims to fill the rocket on a day that could lead directly into a launch.

The flight readiness review, albeit a significant achievement for any mission, was just a "step along the way," Honeycutt said. 

"We're not going to celebrate 'til we get Reid and Victor and Christina and Jeremy safely home," he said.  

Nothing captures the hearts and attention of an American audience like a good old-fashioned romance. Love Story is the latest obsession sweeping the internet. From executive producer Ryan Murphy and creator Connor Hines comes Love Story, an FX limited series about the tragic relationship between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette.

At a Wednesday rally in Kentucky, President Donald Trump heaped praise on YouTuber Jake Paul and insinuated the influencer would soon run for political office.

Trump was in the Bluegrass state to campaign for Congressional candidate Ed Gallrein, who is running against Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican and avowed enemy of Trump’s. After Gallrein spoke to the crowd, Trump heaped praise on Paul, calling him a powerful fighter, a "great guy," and "a very tough cookie."

Paul came out briefly, saying he and Trump "never back down from a fight." The influencer also stated that he hopes to see more factories thriving in the area and throughout the country, possibly hinting at future issues he’ll campaign on.

SEE ALSO: Jimmy Kimmel reacts to Jake Paul speaking at a Trump rally

After Paul left the stage, Trump said, "I predict, I’m gonna make a prediction, that [Paul] will be, in the not-too-distant future, running for political office. And you have my complete and total endorsement."

Trump’s embrace of Paul is quite a reversal for the creator, whose California home was raided by the FBI in 2020. The raid was connected to a looting at an Arizona mall; Paul was never charged with any crimes.

Paul was accused of sexual assault by TikTok star Justine Paradise in 2021, but denied the claims.

In the years since, Paul has become as well known for his MMA and boxing careers as his highly lucrative work as a YouTuber and influencer.

Google Maps just got a major upgrade. A really major upgrade. In fact, according to Google, it's the biggest update to the company's mapping service in more than a decade.

What's new? Two features that have the power to change how users use the app entirely: Ask Maps and Immersive Navigation.

Ask Maps

The new AI feature, Ask Maps brings Google's most advanced Gemini models into the app. The goal: allow users to ask destination questions in a conversational way.

Users can get real specific, the company says, and ask questions like “My phone is dying — where can I charge it without having to wait in a long line for coffee?”

Ask Maps will then suggest locations where they can do exactly that. How accurate the suggestions are is another question.

Ask Maps Credit: Google

Google Maps users can also provide Ask Maps with a list of locations they are planning to visit, and ask if there's anything interesting they should check out.

The company says that it "analyzes information from over 300 million places, including reviews from our community of more than 500 million contributors" in order to build each user's itinerary.

Ask Maps will also reference your previous preferences when recommending locations and businesses — for example, a type of restaurant.

Ask Maps Credit: Google

Once a user picks a spot, Ask Maps says it can help book reservations at the restaurant, save the location to a list for a later date, and share locations with friends.

Immersive Navigation

What's a bigger deal than yet another Google app getting an AI feature? Answer: Immersive Navigation.

Google has basically introduced a whole new way to use Google Maps, with a redesign that the company is calling "a complete transformation of the navigation experience, with redesigned visuals and more intuitive guidance."

Immersive Navigation provides a 3D way to navigate in the app. The environment your avatar is driving through highlights important road details like lanes, crosswalks, traffic lights, and stop signs. Surrounding buildings, overpasses, and terrain will match more closely what they look like in real-life.

Immersive Navigation Credit: Google

Google Maps is also getting a slew of smaller features: more advanced notices for your routes, more natural and conversational voice guidance, parking recommendations when approaching your destination, and real-time road disruption alerts.

And when you're deciding whether to continue using the current direction, or opting for an alternate route that the app discovers, Google Maps will now offer more context for your decision.

Ask Maps is rolling out today in the U.S. for iOS and Android devices, and will come to the desktop app later in the year. Immersive Navigation will begin to roll out today in the U.S. and expand over the next few months to eligible iOS and Android devices, CarPlay, Android Auto and cars with Google built-in.

There's a slippery magic that can occur between two strangers. At first, they are nothing to each other, except perhaps a means to an end. Maybe they are even slightly repelled by each other. Then something flicks, and they are not just strangers anymore. They are people who, for better or worse, can see truly each other, even if they never see each other again.

This is the story at the core of Anima, which has a sci-fi setup that might suggest a cold world of disconnected folk. The story begins with Beck (Alien: Earth's Sydney Chandler), a young woman with a bob that's best described as retro-futuristic while French. Though trained as an engineer, Beck's lack of people skills has her searching for work. When a company that promises it can upload human consciousness into a cloud system is hiring, she'll take any job they've got on offer. Little does she expect it'll be a life-changing journey.

Anima is an entrancing road-trip movie.

An unappealing entry-level gig is how Beck meets Paul (Shōgun's Takehiro Hira), a man who's made his fortune on buttons (the clothing kind, not the pushing kind). Paul is a client of this consciousness-cloud storage company; she's been hired to pick him up and drive him to his final appointment. There, he will, according to the sales pitch, be copied over to a computer drive and then euthanized.

The instructions Beck is given from a formal executive (Birth/Rebirth's Marin Ireland) are simple: Drive him here and see that he has a good last meal. But Paul throws a curve into their journey by demanding they make a few stops along the way.

See, before he goes, Paul wants to make amends. Well, maybe "amends" isn't the right word. But he has some regrets to get off his chest, and Beck will be his sidekick whether she likes it or not.

Anima is a tale of opposites finding common ground.

At first, Beck regards Paul as a job, perhaps in part so she won't think too much about what their destination has in store for this soon-to-die man. But as their car ride kicks off, she soon is sneering at him — and understandably so! Sulking in a leather trench coat and business suit, he demands detours, detests the radio, and drags Beck into backyards, shops, and humble homes on his unhinged quest for resolution.

Along the way, they'll meet characters who burst with energy neither of these heroes can muster. A poolside vixen with a mouth painted perfectly red and welcoming. An American business colleague who practically cheers at Paul's arrival. An awkward teen clerk whose hobby is talking to an AI chatbot modeled after a Twin Peaks character. With each encounter, Beck sees who Paul is in contrast to those he'll leave behind. And in each stop, she reveals a bit of herself too.

Sydney Chandler and Takehiro Hira have a strange but compelling chemistry.

Writer/director Brian Tetsuro Ivie sculpts a story lean yet deep, where small plot points echo across the road trip. A stolen CD plays a song about a broken parent-child bond, allowing Beck and Paul to connect over a shared heartache from opposite sides. Something flips, just like that, and these two are not strangers but friends. So what will that mean for the end of their journey? I wouldn't dare reveal. But I will say that Chandler and Hira manage each step with a resonating reserve.

In dialogue, they move from crisply rude to hesitantly curious to trippingly warm to achingly vulnerable. Yet despite its themes of life, death, and regret, Anima never falls into suffocating sentimentality or tear-jerking theatrics. Its tone is softer and more elegiac, but never stoic.

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There's a thrum of yearning reverberating through Ivie's vision of a not-so-distant future. There, these heroes are often bathed in cool tones, perhaps reflecting the icy exteriors that have been their respective shields. But as they collide with the friends and family of Paul's life, the palette grows warm, as if to indicate life choices that really could have made the grass greener.

Paul's early rejection of the radio sets up a soundtrack that is selective, not constant. Sometimes the only music is the whispering of a river, or the hum of the car speeding down the highway. Other times, it's a deceptively cheery pop song, an artist perhaps singing the feelings neither Paul or Beck can dare to confess.

In the end, Anima is a touching story of human connection in a world where tech suggests we can do without. Moving and meditative, this drama is a ride well worth the taking.

Anima was reviewed out of SXSW.

Google Chrome has been a first-class web browser on Linux for years, but there has been a problem over the years: no Chrome builds for Raspberry Pi boards and other ARM hardware. That’s finally changing.

This weekend, we’ve set you up with some engrossing drama series to watch on Amazon Prime Video. Each features a well-structured, character-driven narrative in an immersive world of deeply flawed personalities, solid performances, and strong thematic depth. They’re guaranteed to strike a bingeworthy chord of connection.

The latest trailer for Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day, ahem, discloses a bit more information about the film's plot than its initial teaser.

According to the trailer, Josh O'Connor plays a whistleblowing cybersecurity administrator who's planning to reveal the sensitive information he's paid to protect. The information? That humans aren't alone in the universe.

SEE ALSO: Netflix's 'Thrash' trailer is hungry sharks after tsunami after hurricane

Soon, he'll be mixed up in a vast fight for the truth, and he won't be alone. He'll team up with a Kansas City TV meteorologist (Emily Blunt) who begins emitting alien clicking sounds while on air. His acquaintance Jane (Eve Hewson) also gets wrapped up in things, crossing paths with a menacing administrator (Colin Firth) who appears to be able to project himself anywhere in the world thanks to a machine he's wired up to. Said machine also seems to give him mind control powers and the ability to change his eye color, making it a Swiss Army knife of cool powers. (That doesn't mean I'd like to cross paths with anyone using it, though.)

The rest of the trailer is chock-full of intriguing imagery, from crop circles to a mysterious deer leading a young girl toward a glowing door. Do I know what's going on? No. Do I trust Spielberg to deliver another alien banger? Given that he's behind E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, that's going to be an absolute "yes."

Disclosure Day was written by Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp, from a story by Spielberg. Colman Domingo and Wyatt Russell also star.

Disclosure Day hits theaters June 12.

One of the primary issues people face when using Microsoft Word is how the program deals with formatting. At times, it seems the program has a mind of its own! However, many of these frustrations can be solved by displaying non-printing characters.

This weekend is the Super Bowl for cinema. Sunday marks the 98th Academy Awards, and by all accounts, it should be an unpredictable show. One Battle After Another and Sinners are set to duel it out in 11 different categories, including the night's top prize, Best Picture. Other categories to keep an eye on are Best Actor, featuring Timothée Chalamet versus Michael B. Jordan, and Best Supporting Actress.

The floppy ruled removable storage for decades, but it quickly became too small and spurred on many pretenders to the throne. Yet while many tried to topple the floppy from its throne, it clung on far longer than you'd expect.

America’s appetite for SUVs isn’t slowing down, and Toyota is leaning into it with a whole lineup of high-riding family haulers. Among them is a three-row model that’s quietly putting up some impressive numbers in the brand’s early-2026 sales reports.