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NASA's next trip around the moon will push four astronauts into the most demanding flight of their lives, a mission defined by enormous speeds, vast distances, and little margin for retreat.

Artemis II, the agency’s first crewed lunar flight in more than a half-century, will also be the first time humans test the Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule together. The 10-day flight, which could launch as early as Feb. 6, is designed to send astronauts far beyond Earth's orbit before hurtling them home at blistering speed.

How well Artemis II manages its risks — untested hardware, deep-space distance, and limited escape options — will shape NASA's plans for future lunar landings and, potentially, human missions to Mars. A serious failure could revive long-standing questions about whether the dangers of deep space still justify sending people there.

"When we get off the planet, we might come right back home. We might spend three or four days around Earth. We might go to the moon," said Commander Reid Wiseman. "It is a test mission, and we are ready for every scenario."

SEE ALSO: Artemis 2 mission timeline: An itinerary for the historic 10-day flight Speed and distance

The numbers alone stretch human comprehension. The crew — Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen — are expected to travel farther than any astronauts before them, reaching about 4,600 nautical miles beyond the moon.

At the end of the mission, Orion — which the astronauts have named Integrity — will slam into Earth’s upper atmosphere at roughly 25,000 mph, dozens of times the speed of sound. That would match the re-entry velocity of Apollo 10, whose crew returned at 24,791 mph in 1969.

The above video captures Orion during Artemis I, re-entering Earth's atmosphere and descending, from the perspective of a camera pointed out a spacecraft window.

"When you see numbers like Mach 39 at entry, when you see numbers like 38,000 miles, 250,000 miles," Wiseman said, "those are just insane. Numbers like those are just not numbers that humans generally think about."

Abort options and exit plans

NASA has built into the mission ways to bring the crew home if something goes wrong, from the first seconds of launch through the journey to the moon.

During ascent, flight controllers can change course based on how the mega moon rocket behaves. If an engine fails immediately after liftoff, NASA can still guide the capsule to a safe splashdown. A few minutes into the flight, they could skip the burn that sends Orion toward the moon and instead take another lap around Earth to troubleshoot.

If problems persist, the crew could opt out of the destination altogether and splash down off the coast of Baja California, Mexico.

"We would lose the lunar mission," said Judd Frieling, the Artemis II ascent flight director, "but we'd still make a mission and be able to check out all of the life-support systems."

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Beyond Earth orbit, the mission’s main safety net lies in its trajectory. The burn that sends Orion toward the moon is designed to place the spacecraft on a free-return trajectory, allowing Earth’s and the moon’s gravity to swing it back home even if later engine burns fail. Smaller thrusters can correct a short burn or bend the spacecraft’s path back to Earth, without having to reach the moon at all.

Radiation and solar storms

Radiation poses one of the greatest dangers to the Artemis II crew as they travel beyond Earth's magnetic field.

Once Orion leaves low-Earth orbit, the astronauts will no longer benefit from the natural shielding that protects the International Space Station. Outside the Van Allen belts — two rings of intense radiation thousands of miles above Earth — space becomes far more hostile to both people and electronics, said Mark Clampin, NASA’s deputy associate administrator for science.

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"You’re also at the mercy of coronal mass ejections, which fire lots of high-energy particles into space from the sun," he said.

The risk is heightened because the sun is nearing the peak of its 11-year activity cycle. Engineers have outfitted Orion with radiation sensors, and the astronauts will wear measurement devices in their suits.

The Artemis II astronauts will build an emergency radiation shelter in a stowage compartment of the Orion spaceship as a practice drill during the mission. Credit: NASA

If the sun erupts, the crew can shelter in a compartment beneath the capsule's floor, surrounded by stowage bags that add shielding. NASA will rely on solar-monitoring satellites for early warnings. The astronauts will practice building the radiation shelter during the mission regardless of whether an emergency arises.

Communication blackouts

Distance introduces another challenge. During Orion’s closest pass around the moon, the spacecraft will slip behind the lunar far side, cutting off radio contact with Earth for about 45 minutes.

"I would love it if the entire world could come together and just be hoping and praying for us to get that acquisition of signal," said Glover, the mission’s pilot.

Planned blackouts are one thing; unexpected ones are another. During the uncrewed Artemis I mission, NASA lost contact with Orion for 4.5 hours because of failures at the Goldstone Complex in California, part of the agency’s Deep Space Network. The problems stemmed from aging hard drives, outdated software, and warning systems that failed.

NASA's largest antenna at Goldstone has been offline since an accident four months ago, but officials say the dish was never required for Artemis II and will not affect communications.

After NASA recovered the Orion spaceship following Artemis I, engineers stripped the heat shield off the crew module to inspect the charring damage. Credit: NASA A heat shield under scrutiny

For many mission managers, the riskiest moment remains the return to Earth. During Artemis I, pieces of charred material flaked off Orion's heat shield as it endured the extreme temperatures of reentry.

An investigation found that while the shield performed its job — slowly burning away to carry off heat — gases in some areas built up faster than they could escape. Though alarming, NASA officials said in 2024 that the damage would not have harmed a crew.

"They would have not sensed any disturbance inside the vehicle, there would not have been any excessive heating on the structure, and the guidance would have put them exactly where the Navy needed to recover them," said Amit Kshatriya, a senior NASA official.

Still, NASA has modified Artemis II’s re-entry plan to reduce stress on the heat shield. By targeting a splashdown closer to San Diego, Calif., instead of Baja California, engineers can shorten the hottest portion of the descent.

Even with those changes, the final plunge carries risk — an unavoidable reality of human spaceflight, said John Honeycutt, who leads NASA’s mission management team.

"From an overall perspective," he said, "that’s just part of cheating gravity."

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After weeks of electric competition, we've reached the 2026 Australian Open finals. Sabalenka takes on Rybakina in the showpiece event of the women's draw. Neither player has dropped a single set making it to this huge matchup, so this final is a mouth-watering prospect for fans.

Top seed Sabalenka has won this Grand Slam twice before, but she was beaten in last year's final. Fifth seed Rybakina was Wimbledon champion back in 2022, but that's her only Grand Slam triumph. She was beaten by Sabalenka in the 2023 Australian Open final. Will history repeat itself in Melbourne? Or can Rybakina deliver something special to overcome the dominant Sabalenka?

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The NHL action continues this weekend with a number of interesting matchups. The Blackhawks and Blue Jackets are both knocking around the middle of the standings at this stage in the season, but a run of positive results could change the feeling around the arena. Columbus Blue Jackets have shown some promising form recently, but they'll need to be at their best to secure a win in Chicago.

If you want to watch Chicago Blackhawks vs. Columbus Blue Jackets in the NHL from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is Chicago Blackhawks vs. Columbus Blue Jackets?

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Columbus Blue Jackets in the NHL starts at 8:30 p.m. ET on Jan. 23. This fixture takes place at the United Center.

How to watch Chicago Chicago Blackhawks vs. Columbus Blue Jackets for free

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Hot off its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, The Moment is rolling into theaters. But what can fans of Charli XCX expect from this comedy that's masquerading as a documentary?

First off, let's not flat-out call this a "mockumentary." While that's not the wrong term for writer/director Aidan Zamiri's film, the popularity of the term typically used for Christopher Guest parodies and The Office might have moviegoers expecting a comedic romp. The Moment is far more dry and cutting than wacky. But make no mistake, it's awesome. 

The British singer/songwriter who redefined "brat" plays herself in a compelling, often unvarnished look at what it means to achieve massive fame at breakneck speed. Beginning in September 2024, The Moment kicks off at the tail end of "brat summer." 

With her sixth studio album becoming a massive hit that inspires memes, TikTok dances, and controversy, Charli XCX has her first arena tour ahead of her, pinned to brat. An eye-jittering montage of news clips and internet videos is intercut with flashing neon-colored production company logos, and Charli thrashing around in a feral dance under strobe lights. Right off, Zamiri captures the non-stop energy that is this 365 party girl's image. But once the montage stops, The Moment pauses on Charli, who practically collapses from her dance when "Cut!" is called. Just like that, she goes from fantasy to reality, and she's utterly exhausted. 

What's The Moment about?  Charli XCX and Alexander Skarsgård star in "The Moment." Credit: A24

Charli XCX is credited with the original story behind Zamiri and Bertie Brandes' screenplay, which follows the pop star through business deals, meet-and-greets, and tour rehearsals, to a last-minute retreat to Ibiza, and onto the stage. Now, plenty of musicians have allowed camera crews behind the scenes for concert docs that reveal the human frailty behind the epic shows. But The Moment has more in common with St. Vincent's The Nowhere Inn, a 2020 mockumentary/psychological thriller that blended fact and fiction to explore the strangeness of being famous for your music. 

The plot of The Moment is Charli prepping for the tour, initially eager to collaborate with her trusted creative director, Celeste (Hailey Benton Gates), who envisions each show turning the arenas into a nightclub, complete with strobe lights and flashing graphics that include the word "cunt." However, this hard party energy clashes with the vision of documentarian Johannes (Alexander Skarsgård), who's been hired by a snarling record exec (Rosanna Arquette) to make the brat moment last forever with a concert doc that'll appeal to the mainstream and "dads."

This battle for creative control seems simple at first. Everyone from those above to Charli's timid manager Tim (Jamie Demetriou), her make-up artist Molly (Kate Berlant), and her famous friends, like Rachel Sennott (playing a comically shallow version of herself) insist Charli has the final say. But as pressure from the record company grows more intense, Charli realizes how little power she actually has, and struggles to make sense of what's best for her and brat. 

Far from finger-wagging or self-pitying, The Moment is electrifying.  Charli XCX takes a call in "The Moment." Credit: A24

The faux documentary Zamiri has made is not presented as Johannes' concert doc. That faux documentarian is an antagonist to Charli, pushing her to change her image, her signature green color, and even "brat" itself, daring to capitalize the B. 

Yet within the film's logic, it's unclear whose movie we're watching. The camera crew and director stay out of frame. However, through the persistent strobe effects — which mirror the opening title cards and Celeste's vision for the brat tour — it seems the film is from Charli's perspective, even as she is intruded upon. The cameras invade squabbles with Charli's team, doing cocaine in a nightclub bathroom, and an emotional breakdown in a private resort. And whereas in a narrative film people would ignore the camera, those around Charli look right into the lens, audibly alarmed. The pop star doesn't look, implying that Charli has gotten so used to being watched that she doesn't even notice them anymore. 

This reflects the message at the core of The Moment. In a tearful phone message, Charli recounts how she made brat the way she wanted to. It was hers, and now everyone else acts as if it is theirs, as if she is theirs, and as if they are entitled to tell her what to do next. 

Rather than enjoying the success she dreamed of, she's being relentlessly pushed to make big decisions. Will brat define her for life? Will she cling to it or let it go to look for something new? Will it be destroyed by capitalism's insistence on making all art into a commercial opportunity? 

And yet, Charli is not painted as a pitiable victim of her own success or a noble heroine for creative freedom. The portrait she and Zamiri offer is more complicated and refreshing. She shares personal insecurities about her hair and body, showing herself flushed and without make-up next to a meticulously made-up Kylie Jenner, who is in a bikini to boot. Beyond creating space for the venting of her frustrations, The Moment also shines a light on the bad calls made when caving to studio pressure. Thus, Charli demystifies the glory of being a pop star by uncovering some unflattering truths about commercial compromise, even when you are the moment.

The Moment has a dry, razor-sharp wit.  Rachel Sennott plays herself in "The Moment." Credit: A24

Not a romp or a laugh fest, this is the kind of movie where a laugh escapes you like a gasp or a scream, booming and deliciously surprising. There's cringe humor, like Sennott's scene, which plays like her HBO Max satire, I Love L.A., probing a particularly venal element of self-promotion. There are inside jokes that will only hit for Charli's fans, like a brief but biting appearance from Julia Fox as herself. For his part, Skarsgård is frightfully convincing as a faux-feminist douchebag. Then, there's Gates, whose bristled creative director is wickedly funny in her rage. Her delivery of the phrase "metaphorical cocaine" is sublimely absurd. 

Rather than broadly skewering the rich and famous, The Moment shrewdly targets the corporate side of making art for a living. Through celebrity cameos, a succinct yet riveting story, earnest emotion, and biting humor, Charli XCX's mockumentary captures something real about the battle of art versus commerce. How does one hold onto themselves when hit by an avalanche of more, more, more, for better or worse? The Moment shows one answer, urging audiences to find their own.

The Moment was reviewed out of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, and opens in theaters on Jan. 30.

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Bless Sam Raimi. With the Evil Dead trilogy, this subversive American filmmaker bestowed upon horror fans an outrageous collision of horror, comedy, and gross-outs gags that became truly iconic. His madcap energy made the Spider-Man trilogy a foundation in superhero cinema, and then the grisly Drag Me to Hell (2009) assured fans that his foray into family-friendly fare didn't mean he'd lost his touch. Now, nearly 45 years since The Evil Dead debuted, he's once again serving up gloppy, gnarly, and hilarious horror with Send Help. 

SEE ALSO: 2026 movie preview: All the films you need to know about right now

2026 is off to an incredible start in terms of horror cinema, thanks to Nia DaCosta's epic 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. And even though that zombie movie involves a prolonged scene of torture and flaying, Raimi's Send Help is far more likely to have audiences gagging, thanks to an almost gratuitous amount of glop. We're talking blood, sweat, vomit, and whatever else might ooze in quantities that had a packed theater of critics gasping and yelping in shock and deranged delight. But all this gross spectacle is just the start of what makes Send Help a totally twisted thrill ride. 

Send Help plays like Romancing the Stone meets Triangle of Sadness... meets Misery.  Dylan O'Brien and Rachel McAdams in "Send Help." Credit: Brook Rushton / 20th Century Studios

Rachel McAdams stars as middle-aged pencil pusher Linda Liddle; she's diligent, smart, and has a lot of unexpected skills, thanks to her deep love of Survivor. So, she's pretty pissed off when her nepo baby boss, Bradley Preston (Twinless' Dylan O'Brien), decides the promotion she deserves will go to one of his frat bros. However, their power dynamic shifts dramatically when a business trip leaves them both shipwrecked on a desert island. 

While a wounded Bradley is useless in building shelter, foraging, hunting, or gathering water, Linda's untapped survival skills make her a force to be reckoned with in the wild. So, yeah, it's basically like the third act of Triangle of Sadness, when the sunken yacht's cleaning lady, Abigail (Dolly de Leon), takes charge of the spoiled, rotten rich folk who've washed up on shore. However, Send Help's screenplay — by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift — pushes this premise beyond the expected "eat-the-rich" comedy into terrain that is both familiar and strange. 

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Some scenes hint at an enemies-to-lovers arc, where, forced to survive together, Linda and Bradley find the good in each other, despite their differences. Perhaps, in the wild, they'll get past their egos and fall for each other like Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas did in Romancing the Stone? There's certainly enough tousled curls and bared flesh for the possibility. However, other scenes suggest that Linda's interest in Bradley isn't so simple. Her obsession with not only showing him her worth, but also making him pay for his bad behavior leads to scenes that are jaw-dropping in their menace. As she flashes the only knife they have at him, I couldn't stop thinking about the hobbling scene in Misery, wondering just how dark Send Help would go. And in this weird space of genre mash-up, McAdams is riveting and darkly, darkly funny. 

Rachel McAdams is unexpectedly brilliant in Send Help.  Rachel McAdams in "Send Help." Credit: Brook Rushton / 20th Century Studios

No shade to the Oscar–nominated Canadian movie star, but for the first half of this movie I thought she'd been miscast. The premise of Send Help and some of its flirtier scenes might suggest that a rom-com icon like The Notebook star would be well-suited to the role of Linda. However, from the opening frames of this film, Raimi paints Linda not as a standard quirky-but-cute heroine, but as a repulsive mess. Her attire is ill-fitting, as if every piece of it is fighting with the next. Her hair is flat and greasy, as if she's forgotten that her hair even exists. And she brings a sloppy tuna salad sandwich to work every day for lunch, which ends up smudged onto her desk, her face, and even her boss' hand. When he coldly tells her there have been complaints about the "noxious" smells at her desk, you can practically get a whiff of the tuna and Miracle Whip through the screen. 

I marveled at why Raimi would cast McAdams in a repulsive role that felt like a riff on Roseanne Barr in She-Devil. It's strange to see this elegant movie star dressed badly, making cringeworthy, socially awkward conversation. But this discomfort is intended, as she will bloom like the She-Devil anti-heroine. Incredibly, Linda's time on the island leads to her getting a natural glow-up as she rediscovers her confidence. Frolicking under a waterfall, this is the romantic heroine McAdams audiences are familiar with — but not entirely. 

Always under the surface of Linda, there's something off about her. Despite her being the protagonist of the film, there's the unnerving sense that we can't really tell what's going on in her head. Sure, at first audiences might well relate to the "eat-the-rich" fantasy of thriving on a tropical island while a shitty boss' life is in your hands. But McAdams never leans fully into her charisma, always keeping an edge to Linda that flickers like her annoyed eyes or the blade of her knife. Raimi wrings excitement out of a cat-and-mouse game between Linda and Bradley, where your empathy might well shift from one to the other and back again, and again, and again. By the film's end, McAdams has transformed, not just physically, but from a pitiable heroine in distress to something far more camp and thrilling, putting her performance here in the good company of Goldie Hawn and Meryl Streep in one of my all-time favorite comedies, Death Becomes Her.

Send Help is a gross and glorious good time.  Dylan O'Brien in "Send Help." Credit: Brook Rushton / 20th Century Studios

McAdams feasts on every frame of this movie, and O'Brien — who thrilled critics with his astounding double act in last year's dark comedy Twinless — is her perfectly paired scene partner. At the start, his Bradley is an archetype of a rich asshole, brashly bullying his employees and casually sexually harassing any hot woman in his orbit, while wearing obscenely expensive clothing. On the island, however, the power dynamic shift pitches him into sulking, whimpering, or cajoling — all done with a keen comedic awareness. His torment is meant to be horrifying and hilarious, and it is, not only because of Raimi's mastery at building tension but also because O'Brien has a sly but stellar skill for playing the fool. 

He and McAdams collide so sensationally in this movie that it could have been fun, even if it were less gross. But honestly, the sheer amount of glop that Raimi flings at his stars and onto the screen enhances the sense of mayhem and suspense. Just as the script slams genre elements of romantic fantasy, dark comedy, and psychological thriller together to keep the audience off balance, the glop and gore knocks us out. For example, just when you think a scene is done with the vomit (or the blood), there will be another burst of fluid. Then another. And again. And each time, the audience I was part of screamed in horror, shock, and awe. 

This was an incredible viewing experience; Raimi took me back to being a kid again, watching Evil Dead 2 on VHS and squealing at the sheer outrageousness of it all. All these years later, I'm much harder to shock — and yet he did it again. Watching Send Help, my stomach churned, my jaw dropped, my eyes bulged, and I threw my hands over my face a few times to guard from the gross explosion on screen. Then I walked out cackling and giddy, because Send Help is not just one of the grossest movies I've seen in the last decade. It's also a rip-roaring, no-fucks-to-give good time. 

Send Help opens in theaters on Jan. 30.

I fell in love with Arco from its very first frames.

In these opening moments, a flock of birds soars towards a cluster of towers jutting into the clouds, each holding up platforms covered in greenery and wind turbines. The image is utopian, yet there's a slightly foreboding to it. What led humanity to move to the sky? What lies below the clouds? The answer, unsurprisingly, is ecological disaster of our own making.

SEE ALSO: 2026 Oscar nominations: Full list of nominees

That tension between beauty and hard truths fuels the entirety of Arco, as French director Ugo Bienvenu pairs a charming tale of friendship with a sobering look at the realities of climate change. It's a glorious sci-fi journey, one told through the most remarkable animation you'll see this year.

What's Arco about?

The people who live on the platforms from Arco's opening scene are able to time travel. They fly to the past with the help of colorful cloaks and light-refracting crystals, bringing rainstorms and rainbows as they go.

Kids under the age of 12 are not allowed to use this technology, which doesn't sit right with 10-year-old Arco (voiced by Juliano Valdi in the English-language dub). So what does this aspiring adventurer do? He steals his sister's cloak and jets off to 2075, only to find himself stuck there. Thankfully, he has a newfound friend in Iris (voiced by Romy Fay), who is determined to help him get back to his own time.

Arco is another formidable animated film about climate change. Credit: Courtesy of NEON

While Arco's future is an idyllic one, fueled by renewable energy and a deep connection to nature, Iris' version is far more troubling — and hits closer to home.

Iris lives in a suburb that would seem right at home in our current moment, apart from a few changes. Her robot caretaker Mikki (voiced by Natalie Portman and Mark Ruffalo), as well as her town's hordes of robot laborers, speaks to significant technological advancements. So, too, do the holograms her workaholic parents (also voiced by Portman and Ruffalo) use to communicate while they're away at work.

But the most telling difference between our present and Iris' future is that of the protective bubbles that pop up around people's houses during ever-frequent destructive weather events. The threat of severe storms looms over the town, while kids talk casually about their families preparing for disaster in the face of encroaching wildfires. Clearly, this is a society that lives with the impacts of climate change, yet makes no large-scale attempts to mitigate its effects for future generations. (Sound familiar?)

SEE ALSO: 'The Wild Robot' and 'Flow' are quietly revolutionary climate change movies

Arco knows that climate change — and humans' acceleration of it — is what led his ancestors to make their way above the clouds. Through his eyes, everyday elements of Iris' world become accelerants of oncoming ecological collapse, such as the town's cars, or the excess of grocery stores, as opposed to his family's homegrown approach.

Bienvenu is never too heavy-handed in his messaging around climate change. Still, each of these world-building details combine to build a growing background sense of dread, one that only makes Iris and Arco's friendship all the sweeter by comparison. They offer up hope in a rapidly deteriorating world.

Arco's treatment of climate change recalls two of 2024's most outstanding films, Flow and The Wild Robot. Like Arco, each present worlds impacted by ecological calamities. However, these are not grand, sweeping stories of saving the world, but rather stories of the innocents — like Flow and The Wild Robot's animals, or Arco's young Iris and Arco — who have no choice but to endure these storms. In addition to Flow and The Wild Robot, Arco is further proof of animation's ability to communicate the realities of climate change to younger and older audiences alike.

Arco is a downright stunner.

And what animation is on display in Arco! A comic book artist himself, Bienvenu translates his 2D illustrative style to the big screen. The effect is glorious, reminiscent of the fantastical works of Jean Giraud (aka Mœbius) and the films of Studio Ghibli.

In addition to the rainbows and solarpunk sky towers of Arco's future, Bienvenu finds wonder in the 2075 timeline. The forests of Iris' town are lush wonderlands, while her school provides unexpected opportunities for escapism. Each classroom can transform into a variety of environments, from galaxies to underwater landscapes, offering Bienvenu and his team opportunities to flex their animation muscles and take Iris and Arco's adventure to new heights.

Another highlight of the animation is the mysterious trio of men (voiced by Will Ferrell, Andy Samberg, and Flea) who are tracking Arco down. They each rock colorful suits, bowl cuts, and rainbow glasses, and their bumbling attempts to find Arco are among the funniest and most visually distinct moments of the film.

In a mainstream animation landscape dominated by 3D-animated films, Arco's visuals are a testament to the enduring power of 2D work, as well as French filmmakers' commitment to the medium. If you love animation, run, don’t walk — or better yet, fly by rainbow — to catch it.

Arco is in theaters nationwide.

UPDATE: Jan. 29, 2026, 12:04 p.m. EST This review was first published on Nov. 14, 2025. It has been updated to reflect theatrical availability.

SAVE $150: As of Jan. 30, the 13-inch Apple MacBook Air M4 is on sale for $849 at Amazon. That's a 15% discount on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple 2025 MacBook Air M4 $849 at Amazon
$999 Save $150   Get Deal

The 2025 MacBook Air M4 is back on sale at Amazon, and this time it’s got a $150 discount. It’s a stellar laptop, and its 15-inch counterpart even ranked as our best laptop of 2025. So if you’re looking for a slightly smaller version with a great discount, head to Amazon now.

But what makes this laptop so good? This MacBook can handle everything from juggling multiple apps to video editing and gaming. This is thanks to the powerful M4 chip. The battery life doesn't disappoint either and can last up to 18 hours.

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The picture quality is impressive too, delivering a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display that supports a billion colors. A great choice for photo or video editing. It also has smart tools to help you with your day to day tasks. These come from the built-in Apple Intelligence which helps with things like editing, writing, organizing, and more.

You’ll also get a 12MP Center Stage camera with great-sounding speakers with Spatial Audio. Center Stage is an Apple feature that keeps you at the center of the camera on calls. If you move slightly to the left, the camera follows you to keep you in the middle of the frame.

This MacBook Air deal is available at Amazon now.

SAVE $16: As of Jan. 30, the Amazon Fire TV 2-Series is on sale for $143.99 at Amazon. That's a 10% discount on the list price.

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$159.99 Save $16   Get Deal

A new TV for under $150 sounds like a good idea, and that’s exactly what you’ll find at Amazon right now. As of Jan. 30, the Amazon Fire TV 2-Series is on sale for just $143.99, down from $159.99. This price is for the 32-inch model for the TV alone, however there are bundle options with protection plans and added soundbars. 

This smart TV has so much going for it, from picture quality to special features. The 720p HD picture quality is impressive for such a low price, and the Fire TV OS lets you load apps fast and easily thanks to the quad-core processor.

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Streaming is nice and easy, with Fire TV giving you access to over 1.8 million movies and TV episodes through services like Netflix. You can even use Alexa to search, switch apps, control smart home devices, or ask questions using the handy voice remote. 

And one really impressive feature is the Omnisense technology. This means the screen wakes when you walk into the room. You can display artwork when it comes on or start watching instantly. And this is a great option for gamers. In fact, it supports casual gaming through the Appstore or Amazon Luna, and with two HDMI ports plus AirPlay support, it’s easy to hook up consoles or other devices.

This TV deal is available at Amazon now.

Melania Trump's Amazon MGM Studios documentary had its premiere on Thursday, attended by celebrity guests including Dr. Oz and RFK Jr. — an event Jimmy Kimmel described as "either a movie premiere or Season 35 of Dancing with the Stars."

In the clip above the host breaks down everything from the First Lady's softball question-filled promo tour of the movie to Amazon's decision to spend $75 million on making and promoting it.

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"Amazon shelled out $40 million to make this movie, and another $35 million to promote it, which is so much more than probably any documentary, ever," says Kimmel. "But they want you to know that this had nothing to do with the fact that her husband is a petty, vengeful bloodsucker. A spokesperson for Amazon said, 'We licensed the film for one reason and one reason only — because we think customers are going to love it.' And then she laughed and laughed until they had to carry her away."

SAVE $900: As of Jan. 30, the Asus ROG Strix G16 is on sale for $2,299.99 at Amazon. That's an 28% discount on the list price.

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  Get Deal

There's a great deal on the Asus ROG Strix G16 at Amazon right now, so if you've been on the hunt for a new gaming laptop, look no further. As of Jan. 30, it is priced at $2,299.99, down from $3,199.99. That's an extra $900 in your pocket. This price is for the 32GB option with 1TB SSD. And this deal also comes with an added accessory pack that includes an additional mouse, gaming keyboard, and data cable organizer.

The laptop alone has so much going for it, and if you're a serious gamer, this device can more than cope. It runs on AMD’s Ryzen 9 8940HX processor with 16 cores and 32 threads, so it has no trouble handling AAA games, multitasking, or any demanding task.

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Graphics are handled by the NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti, so you can enjoy a smooth performance, ray tracing, and DLSS 4 support. And you can enjoy these graphics on a 16-inch 165Hz display with a 16:10 aspect ratio and Dolby Vision HDR. It also uses Asus's flagship cooling system with triple fans, multiple heat pipes, and smart airflow to keep things running cool and quiet.

Get this limited-time gaming laptop deal from Amazon now.

TL;DR: Live stream Djokovic vs. Sinner in the 2026 Australian Open for free on 9Now. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

Can anyone stop Jannik Sinner from winning his third straight Australian Open? The second seed has marched through this year's tournament, only dropping one set on his way to a semi-final showdown with Djokovic. The only thing that has looked like troubling the Italian has been the heat in Melbourne.

Novak Djokovic hasn't looked quite so impressive. In fact, it looked a lot like he was on his way out in the last round before Musetti retired with an injury. At this late stage in his career, Djokovic will need to deliver a stunning performance to beat Sinner. That's the reality. But tennis fans will know that you can never count out Djokovic.

If you want to watch Djokovic vs. Sinner in the 2026 Australian Open for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

How to watch Djokovic vs. Sinner for free

Djokovic vs. Sinner in the 2026 Australian Open is available to live stream for free on 9Now.

9Now is geo-restricted to Australia, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These handy tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Australia, meaning you can unblock 9Now from anywhere in the world.

Access free live streams of the 2026 Australian Open 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 Australia

4. Visit 9Now

5. Watch the 2026 Australian Open for free from anywhere in the world

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The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading services do tend to offer deals such as free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these deals, you can live stream Djokovic vs. Sinner without actually spending anything. This isn't a long-term solution, but it gives you enough time to watch the Australian Open before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for 9Now?

ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live tennis on 9Now, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including Australia

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

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure

• Fast connection speeds

• Up to 10 simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $59.88 and includes an extra three months for free — 69% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99 (with money-back guarantee).

Live stream Djokovic vs. Sinner in the 2026 Australian Open for free with ExpressVPN.

Today's Connections: Sports Edition will be easier if you know soccer players.

As we've shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections: Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. Here's a hint for today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Shoes

• Green: Uniform

• Blue: NFL team

• Purple: Soccer-related

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Parts of a sneaker

• Green: What a jockey wears

• Blue: Seattle Seahawks

• Purple: Former MLS team names

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections: Sports Edition #494 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Parts of a sneaker - EYELET, LACES, SOLE, TONGUE

• What a jockey wears - BOOTS, BREECHES, GOGGLES, SILKS

• Seattle Seahawks - BARNER, LOVE, WALKER, WOOLEN

• Former MLS team names - BURN, CLASH, FUSION, IMPACT

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

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

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

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.

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 SEE ALSO: How to play Pips, the newest NYT game

Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Friday, Jan. 30, 2026:

Across"Top Gear" channel

• The answer is BBC.

Announcement that causes groans among travelers

• The answer is Delay.

Middle of a drum kit, typically

• The answer is Snare.

Political staffers

• The answer is Aides.

Bottom line figure

• The answer is Net.

DownFrench-speaking nation in West Africa

• The answer is Benin.

Sharp part of a sword

• The answer is Blade.

This text mark: ^

• The answer is Caret.

Left-leaning political org.

• The answer is DSA.

"Right you are!"

• The answer is Yes.

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

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 yesterday's Mini Crossword.

Fallout Season 1 is available for free on YouTube, letting viewers retrace the journey through its nuclear wasteland before the Season 2 finale next week. It won't be available for long, though.

Prime Video is uploading all eight episodes of Fallout Season 1 to its official YouTube account, compiled into a convenient playlist for easy viewing. However, you will have to wait a bit if you're hoping to binge the entire first season in one sitting. While the first four episodes of Fallout Season 1 are already available on YouTube now, the remaining two will be released on Saturday from 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.

SEE ALSO: People are freaking out about 'Fallout' — but are they right?

Once the episodes are available, you'll want to get on them quickly. Fallout Season 1 will be removed from YouTube on Feb. 10 at 2:59 a.m. ET / Feb. 11 at 11:59 p.m. PT, giving just 10 days to watch it.

Based on the popular video game franchise of the same name, Fallout follows Lucy (Ella Purnell), a woman born and raised in an underground vault following a nuclear apocalypse over 200 years earlier. Venturing out into the wasteland in search of her kidnapped father (Kyle MacLachlan), Lucy soon encounters a colourful variety of surface dwellers such as Maximus (Aaron Moten), a member of the military order Brotherhood of Steel, and the Ghoul (Walton Goggins), a bounty hunter mutated by radiation.

Fallout Season 2 picks up where Season 1 left off, with Lucy travelling across a post-apocalyptic U.S. toward New Vegas, once known as Las Vegas.

The Fallout Season 2 finale premieres next Tuesday, Feb. 3 at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT on Prime Video.

As you become more senior in an organization, visibility isn’t optional—it’s expected. But when your team is doing the hands-on work, how do you talk about your role without taking undue credit or sounding vague? Here’s how to own your contributions with clarity and credibility.  Use “we-then-me” structure. Acknowledge the team first, then describe your own role. This signals collaboration while making […]

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If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Hurdle: Everything you need to know to find the answers Hurdle Word 1 hint

To burn.

SEE ALSO: Apple’s new M3 MacBook Air is $300 off at Amazon. And yes, I’m tempted. Hurdle Word 1 answer

SINGE

Hurdle Word 2 hint

Be quiet!

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for January 30, 2026 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

SHUSH

Hurdle Word 3 hint

A long-nosed mammal.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for January 30 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for January 30, 2026 Hurdle Word 3 answer

TAPIR

Hurdle Word 4 hint

Livid.

Hurdle Word 4 answer

IRATE

Final Hurdle hint

Has gotten bigger.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Games available on Mashable Hurdle Word 5 answer

GROWN

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

With episode 4 of Season 2, The Pitt has finally revealed what happened to Dr. Heather Collins, played by Tracy Ifeachor.

The second season of the hit HBO Max show has seen much of the Season 1 cast return, including Patrick Ball's disgraced Dr. Langdon and Katherine LaNasa's fed-up charge nurse Dana. However, news broke last July that Ifeachor would not be appearing in Season 2. So, how did the show's writers explain her absence?

Fans have been speculating about how Collins' exit might be explained. Because the show's seasons are set over one day, with each episode just one hour in a shift, The Pitt could have simply suggested Collins was not on duty this July Fourth. However, with episode 4, titled "10 A.M.," Whitaker (Gerran Howell) reveals that Collins's exit is more long-term, and he gives a satisfying explanation why.

Where did Dr. Collins go in The Pitt Season 2? Tracy Ifeachor and Katherine LaNasa in "The Pitt" Season 1. Credit: HBO Max

While Dr. Whitaker is caring for returning patient Louie (Ernest Harden Jr.), the amiable drunkard asks where Dr. Collins is, noting, "Sister always helps me out."

In response, Whitaker says, "Dr. Collins finished her residency, took up a job in Portland as an attending physician."

This tracks with what The Pitt's executive producer John Wells told The Hollywood Reporter about the reason for Ifeachor's exit.

In an interview with Mikey O'Connell, Wells said, "Look, the show is set at a teaching hospital. And if you’re a fourth-year resident in a teaching hospital, your time there is done at the end of that year. Not to scare any of the other cast members, but people don’t stay at these hospitals forever. They’re going to roll off, and that will be part of the evolution of the show. We’re not committed to doing a year every season as we go on, but we can’t say that we’re going to be true to the medicine and teaching hospitals and maintain the same cast for the entire time."

This might put to bed rumors about Ifeachor being fired, which have been disputed by her reps and star/executive producer Noah Wyle. In July of 2025, he told Deadline, "“I mean, we’ve all been sort of amused by the speculation about what everybody thinks might be a reason.” The actor continued, “But truthfully, we loved the actress. We enjoyed having her with us very much. She’s gotten really big and we will miss her.”

Don’t miss out on our latest stories: Add Mashable as a trusted news source in Google.

However, it's what Whitaker says next that might better satisfy fans. He tells Louie of Portland, "I think that's where she's from. She's adopting a baby, wanted to be closer to her family."

Dr. Collins' last appearance in Season 1 was episode 11. Sitting on the back of an ambulance during a lull in action, she confided to Dr. Robby (Wyle) about her challenges in becoming a mom through pregnancy. Earlier that season, she suffered a miscarriage while on shift. In this scene, she talked about the cost of IVF, then says, "Even if my insurance would pay for more rounds or I could pay out of pocket, I'm not sure I could go through this again. Maybe it's just not meant to be."

Robby shows support, telling her to go home for the day. He tells her, "Turn off your phone. Turn off the TV, pour a glass of wine. Have a bath. Go to bed." And as far as we know, she does. When the PittFest shooting brings a flood of wounded to their ER, Collins is long gone. But in Season 2, she is not forgotten. Louie remembers her for her compassion. And Whitaker reveals that she found a way to be a mom after all.

"It's a beautiful thing," Louis says in response, and we couldn't say it better ourselves.

The Pitt Season 2 streams on on HBO Max, with new episodes each Thursday.

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult to solve if you're well-groomed.

Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections?

The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for January 30, 2026 Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: A sector

• Green: Beauty tools

• Blue: Sticky things

• Purple: Five fingers

Here are today's Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Region

• Green: Grooming items

• Blue: Things with adhesive surfaces

• Purple: ___ Hand

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections #964 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Region: AREA, CLUSTER, PATCH, POCKET

• Grooming items: COMB, COMPACT, NAIL FILE, TWEEZERS

• Things with adhesive surfaces: BAND-AID, LINT ROLLER, STICKER TAPE

• ___ Hand: HELPING, MINUTE, POKER, UPPER

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

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for January 30, 2026

Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today's puzzle.

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

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.