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TL;DR: Stream Manchester United vs. Liverpool in the FA Cup for free on ITVX. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The FA Cup quarter-finals have thrown together some really intriguing matchups, but nothing comes close to Manchester United vs. Liverpool. It's arguably the biggest game in domestic football, and there's a place in the FA Cup semi-finals up for grabs. It's going to be electric.

If you want to watch Manchester United vs. Liverpool for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is Manchester United vs. Liverpool?

Manchester United vs. Liverpool kicks off at 3:30 p.m. GMT on March 17. This fixture takes place at Old Trafford.

How to watch Manchester United vs. Liverpool for free

The match between Manchester United and Liverpool will be broadcast live on ITV1, with coverage starting from 2:45 p.m. GMT on March 17. You can also live stream this fixture for free on ITVX.

ITVX is geo-restricted to the UK, but anyone can access this free streaming service with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the UK, meaning you can bypass geo-restrictions to access ITVX from anywhere in the world.

Access ITVX to stream Manchester United vs. Liverpool 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 the UK

4. Visit ITVX

5. Stream Manchester United vs. Liverpool for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Year Subscription + 3 Months Free) £82.82 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can gain access to ITVX without committing with your cash. This is not a long-term solution, but it does give you time to watch the FA Cup before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for ITVX?

ExpressVPN is the best service for unblocking ITVX, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 94 countries including the UK

• 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 five simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for £82.82 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Watch Manchester United vs. Liverpool for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

TL;DR: Stream Denver Nuggets vs. Dallas Mavericks in the NBA for free on BBC iPlayer. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

We're inching closer to the NBA playoffs, which could mean that teams are starting to build momentum before it really matters. It could also mean that teams are resting to save up energy for the latter stages. We're hoping that there are plenty of entertaining games still to come, given that a lot of teams have not yet confirmed their place in the playoffs.

The Dallas Mavericks are a team with a lot left to prove, but a big win against the NBA champions might convince some fans that they could go all the way this year. Any team with Luka Dončić has a chance, after all.

If you want to watch the Denver Nuggets vs. Dallas Mavericks for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is Denver Nuggets vs. Dallas Mavericks?

Denver Nuggets vs. Dallas Mavericks starts at 3:30 p.m. ET on March 17 (7:30 p.m. GMT). This game takes place at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

How to watch Denver Nuggets vs. Dallas Mavericks for free

Denver Nuggets vs. Dallas Mavericks will be broadcast live on BBC Three. You can also live stream this game for free on BBC iPlayer.

BBC iPlayer is geo-restricted to the UK, but anyone can access this free streaming service with a VPN. These powerful tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the UK, meaning you can access BBC iPlayer from anywhere in the world.

Access BBC iPlayer to stream the NBA 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 the UK

4. Visit BBC iPlayer

5. Stream Denver Nuggets vs. Dallas Mavericks for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Year Subscription + 3 Months Free) $106.14 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can gain access to BBC iPlayer without committing with your cash. This is not a long-term solution, but it does give you time to watch Denver Nuggets vs. Dallas Mavericks before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for BBC iPlayer?

ExpressVPN is the best service for unblocking BBC iPlayer, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 94 countries including the UK

• 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 five simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $106.14 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Watch Denver Nuggets vs. Dallas Mavericks for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

People long for the days when our smartphones weren't a crucial aspect of our lives. Our phones are how we connect to our friends and loved ones, how we get our news, schedule our appointments, buy our groceries, and where we listen to our music. But we also use our smartphones way too much.

That's what Humane says it wants to change with its Ai Pin. Founded by former Apple executives Bethany Bongiorno and Imran Chaudhri and backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the Ai Pin is designed to bring us a smartphone-less world through the use of AI and wearable computing.

SEE ALSO: Google is training an AI to play video games — why this could be problematic

Starting at a cool $699, the Ai Pin ships out in April. Before then though, Bongiorno, who also serves as Humane's CEO, let me watch as she demoed her personal Ai Pin at SXSW to remove any skepticism about the pin and Humane's goals.

First Impressions of Humane's Ai Pin Credit: Chance Townsend / Mashable

For the price tag of the Ai Pin, I expected to have my mind blown, and while truthfully, the demo given by Bongiorno didn't do that, I was impressed with how well it worked.

The gist of the Ai Pin is that it's an AI assistant that attaches to your clothes where a boutonnière would go. Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, you can ask it questions, play music, call/text people, or even take photos or videos. The more you use it and tell it about yourself, the more it'll learn about you and perform tasks suited to your specific needs, its makers say. It's similar in some ways to the Rabbit R1, which uses a Large Action Model (LAM) to learn and interact with different apps. But with the Ai Pin, there is no screen to interact with. If you need to mess with some settings, there's a very cool laser projector that turns your palm into a flesh-and-blood "screen."

SEE ALSO: Humane Ai pin gave 2 wrong answers in demo. Is this a bad sign?

Here's what Humane made clear that the Ai Pin is not: it's not a companion to your smartphone, and it's not just ChatGPT pinned on your chest. The pin comes with an SIM card, connecting it to mobile phone networks. While the pin itself is powered by GPT-4, Bongiorno made clear that the pin doesn't just take your queries, send them to OpenAI and then back to you. Instead, the device processes inputs locally, utilizing its own AI framework to provide immediate, context-aware responses.

You can activate the device through voice, touch, or gesture commands. Pressing and holding activates the device to take voice commands. Waving your hand in front of it will turn on the laser projector where you can enter your passcode. You can change the volume by swiping on the pin — it'll then make mechanical scrolling noises like a mouse wheel.

The laser projection is sharp on the palm, but it's meant for really quickly and quietly reading small bits of text and information. It will overheat if used for an extended period. It's supposed to be a screen-free experience.

It cannot be stressed how much Humane wants you off your phone.

Credit: Chance Townsend / Mashable

Most interaction with the pin will be done through voice commands. The Ai Pin has some well-designed speakers that in quiet environments can be heard loud and clear. Bongiorno also told us that she had no problem having full conversations with a colleague as she walked through a crowded airport. This does not mean we all have to be held hostage by the annoying guy with the Bluetooth earpiece — you can connect the Ai Pin to your AirPods or Bluetooth headphones.

Because most of the AI action is done off-device, it does take some time for questions to be answered. When Bongiorno asked it the name of "Austin's pink coffee place," the Ai pin took 10 or 15 seconds to answer "Revival Coffee." Would googling that be faster? Perhaps, but the whole point is to be off your phone.

The Ai Pin can also take photos and short videos — always a touchy topic when it comes to wearables. Humane says it takes privacy very seriously, and to that end there are indicator lights brightly telling everyone around you that you activated the device or if you're taking a video. "Any attempt to cover the LED indicator, the Ai Pin will stop recording immediately," Bongiorno told me.

What's genuinely impressive is the camera's ability to scan things in front of you and describe them in detail. On top of that, when you're sending messages you can tell the pin what tone you want the message to have. For example, Bongiorno texted her sick daughter and told the pin "Send a message to Oliver and ask her to call me, and make it sound Gen Z." (Its Gen Z translation: "Hey Oliver, can you call me later, I wanna chat. Thanks.")

The Ai Pin also has a real-time translation feature, with over 50 languages. Bongiorno demoed some Mandarin and Spanish, which allowed me to flex my 300-day Duolingo streak chops. The pin does have a hard time picking up my voice and it's unclear if that's because I have a very low speaking voice or if the mics are directionally focused upwards to pick up the voice of the wearer. Regardless, the pin will speak back to you after translating and will then translate back your response in whatever language you're conversing in. Or if it's loud, the laser can project the translations on your palm.

While I wish I could do more hands-on testing myself, from the demo there's some practical use for the Ai Pin. From the live demo Bongiono gave, it feels as if the device is a very late-stage proof of concept for what the future of mobile computing can look like. However, the Ai Pin as it exists now is far from being the world-changer that Humane wants it to be.

There's nothing the Ai Pin can do for me that a smartphone can't already do, other than not be a smartphone. I can already call, text, listen to music, and have a basic Q&A AI on my iPhone that doesn't cost an additional $700.

It's official, Ireland is the first country to get the stan treatment. 

The small island country with a population of only 5 million — roughly the same as Alabama — is adored online. Film Twitter roots for Irish actors like they're a sports team, and in recent years, an entire language of memes has emerged in devotion to Ireland.

There's "Sometimes tha side chick ain't even a chick, it's the gorgeous and proud nation of Ireland" — used when an Irish person embraces their Irishness or does something the poster agrees with. For example, "cillian said fecking!!" There's "The Irish people do not deserve this," a screenshot of Azealia Banks' 2021 anti-Irish Instagram story — used when something bad happens to an Irish person (for example, when Colin Farrell lost Best Actor at the Oscars last year). Users edit it to "The Irish people do deserve this" when something good happens to an Irish person (for example, Cillian Murphy's Best Actor win at the Oscars this year). The latest addition to the canon is a video of PinkPantheress posing with an Irish flag on stage, also used in celebration of Murphy's achievement. 

Tweet may have been deleted Tweet may have been deleted Tweet may have been deleted

Ireland aficionados also refashioned the lyrics to Taylor Swift's "London Boy" from "But God, I love the English" to "But God, I love the Irish" to caption images of their favorite Irish "It" boy … and there are plenty to choose from: Murphy, Farrell, Paul Mescal, Barry Keoghan, and Andrew Scott. That's not to forget the Irish "It" girls: Saoirse Ronan, Ruth Negga, Nicola Coughlan, and Alison Oliver.

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There's been a huge outpouring of talent from Ireland in recent years, whether it be performances from the aforementioned actors to the work of Irish writers like Sally Rooney, Claire Keegan, and Paul Lynch to music from Hozier, Kneecap, and One Direction's Niall Horan, all ushering in the biggest wave of global interest in Ireland since the 1990s (thanks to the success of "Riverdance" and bands like U2, The Cranberries, and the boy band Boyzone reaching their peak).

Why do Americans identify with Ireland?

"There has always been a warmth towards Irish culture in the United States, which initially came from the Irish-American population, but more widely, Irish are known as entertainers and storytellers," Ruth Barton, a professor of film studies at Trinity College Dublin and the author of Acting Irish in Hollywood, told Mashable. 

Ireland has longstanding ties to the U.S. due to Irish emigration at different points in history. There were significant waves of immigration to the U.S. in the mid 1800s, the early 20th century, the 1950s, 1980s, and again in the 2000s. There are 14 million people in the United States that claim Irish heritage, 600 times the population of Ireland.

Eleanor O'Leary, a lecturer in media and communications at South East Technological University in Ireland, pointed to the large diaspora of Irish people as a reason why Irishness is so mobile. The latest iteration of Irish celebrities and popular media builds upon that initial connection Americans have to Ireland. "Ireland's online virality allows the Irish-American diaspora to reconnect to Ireland in different ways," she told Mashable. "Irish people have to negotiate what Irishness means inside and outside of Ireland, which is not always as linear as you would assume."

The fanfare for the country doesn't end with the large population claiming Irish heritage. 

The honorary Irishwoman Ayo Edebiri

Even if you don't exist in Hibernophile spaces online, you've likely caught wind of the obsession with Ireland. Ayo Edebiri, the star of three of 2023's screen obsessions — The Bear, Bottoms, and Theater Camp — brought this newfangled fondness to the mainstream. At South by Southwest last year, the actress, who is not Irish, joked that she went method to portray Jenny the donkey in Martin McDonagh's The Banshees of Inisherin. She's since kept the joke alive, tweeting when Bottoms came out in Ireland, thanking Ireland in her Critics Choice Awards acceptance speech, and wearing a T-shirt with a shamrock on it on Saturday Night Live. 

"Banshees of Inisherin plays with and against Irish stereotypes. The marketing of the film using Jenny the donkey was a masterstroke, because it tied the film to a notion of cute Irishness," Anthony McIntyre, a lecturer in film and media studies at University College Dublin and author of Contemporary Irish Popular Culture: Transnationalism, Regionality, and Diaspora, told Mashable. "It was brilliant of Ayo Edebiri to piggyback on that. She managed to get in on something that was already becoming a meme, attach herself to it, and reinvigorate it in subsequent moments." 

Edebiri has been accepted by Ireland — Film in Dublin tweeted, "Congratulations to Ireland's own Ayo Edebiri for her nomination for the 2024 BAFTA Rising Star Award" and the Irish Independent wrote, "the Irish couldn't be happier to welcome Edebiri into the fold" — and by Ireland aficionados online. All the aforementioned memes now apply to the actress as well. 

"Within Ireland, we fondly accept these tenuous links to Irishness," said McIntyre. "There's a history of playfully accepting African Americans [as our own]." For example, when Barack Obama was elected president, Ireland embraced his Irish ancestry with the Irish band Hardy Drew and the Nancy Boys, later known as the Corrigan Brothers, writing the folk song "There's No One as Irish as Barack O'Bama."

This identification with Ireland is also happening at a time when other English-speaking countries, like the United States and England, are going through crises of increased polarization. Onscreen Ireland is often presented as "a safe harbor away from the difficulties of American contemporary life," said McIntyre, who pointed to films like The Matchmaker and The Quiet Man as examples.

Ireland's reality appeals to Americans. "[Irishness] is a positive identity. It's OK to be Irish, because we were colonized. It used to be a repressed Catholic country, but we are a liberal country now. You can get an abortion, you can express your opinion, you can get a divorce, you can do all these things and nobody's going to put you in prison," said Barton.

"There's an openness to Irish identity in the United States that there isn't to English identity. English people, without generalizing too much, stand for old colonialism, and there's a sense that the English are very upright and repressed. They do stand for something politically different to the Irish in the United States," said O'Leary.

Irish internet boyfriends

On an internet that traffics in white boys of the month, it's unsurprising that Irishness is so widely embraced. But Irish actors weren't always soft boy sex symbols. In the '90s, Irish men onscreen were often portrayed as hard-drinking, cursing tough guys. The Troubles in Northern Ireland perpetuated the stereotype of the Irish gunman, but with over 20 years passing since then, conceptions of Irish masculinity onscreen have evolved. "[Irish] actors [today] present with a very particular type of masculinity that's not so toxic, which stands out in the manosphere with the quite brash forms of masculinity that are circulating.They seem to be very gentlemanly, approachable, and unassuming," said O'Leary.

She pointed to Mescal's character in Normal People, the runaway COVID hit adaptation of Rooney's novel of the same name, as an example of this new masculinity that fits with the ideals of Gen Z and millennial posters.

Rooney's stories are rooted in Irishness, but rather than following the lead of traditional Irish storytellers and exploring disadvantage, she focuses on generational issues, inviting global identification. "She's interested in exploring relationships, and the relationship of the young person to an older, patriarchal, consumer-driven society, and in that she's really touching on a very universal set of anxieties around identity that any young person from any country could relate to," said Barton.

The country's history of oppression is another reason the internet is so endeared to Ireland. Until the 1990s, Ireland was very poor and economically disadvantaged. While it's not so anymore, it retains the identity of an underdog.

Irish actors like Cillian Murphy often assert their Irish identity in interviews. One popular fancam that features eight Irish actors — including Ayo Edebiri — begins with Keoghan correcting his Saltburn co-star Jacob Elordi for referring to him as a Brit. Keoghan says, "I'm Irish, just saying." The internet rallies around these moments of Irish confidence. 

Tweet may have been deleted

"We're used to Irish actors being appropriated by the UK. [British people] kind of assert that you're British really, and [Irish actors] often have to stand up and say no," explained McIntyre. "It's something in our history where there is a tendency for UK media to forget that Ireland is a different country."

Irish celebrities' strong attachment to Ireland makes them stand out in a sea of famous people. "[Irish] actors who operate outside the conventions of celebrity are more attractive to people in this moment. The fact that they really strongly identify as Irish helps [people] see them as a group," said Barton. For instance, while many actors relocate to London or Los Angeles, Murphy insists on raising his children in Ireland. Any sort of authenticity goes a long way online.

In many ways, the internet simply mimics the Irish pride seen from Irish celebrities and their supporters in their homeland. "The success of anyone from here on a world stage, we get a lot of national pride from. People who identify with Ireland in America also get a certain type of nationalistic pride when an Irish person succeeds on the global stage," said O'Leary. 

Ireland's history of being colonized and staunch stance against colonization makes it appeal not just to cinephiles looking to feel a part of something, but to another vocal group online, those advocating for ceasefire in Gaza. "Ireland is known for having a very strong pro-Palestinian stance," said O'Leary. "A lot of new people are aligning themselves with Ireland around that stance, particularly groups that weren't previously interested in Irish culture. Ireland's pro-Palestine stance forges new allegiances around Ireland globally."

Sometimes tha side chick isn't even a chick, it's the gorgeous and proud nation of Ireland.

It didn't just take a village to costume FX's Shōgun — it took an army.

SEE ALSO: 'Shōgun' review: 2024's first great TV epic is here

The Shōgun costume department spanned several countries, including the show's main shooting location in Vancouver. There, a team of around 125 people, headed by costume designer Carlos Rosario, worked with their international collaborators — a team Rosario estimates falls between 250 and 300 people — to produce the over 2,300 costumes needed to bring Shōgun to life.

The goal? To create a range of costumes that would read as authentic to 1600 Japan, when Shōgun is set, and that would also express character in subtle, meaningful ways. In an interview with Mashable, Rosario delved into the collaborative research process behind Shōgun's costumes, the ways in which clothing on the show reveals status, and how costumes showcase the evolution of characters like Japanese translator and noblewoman Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai) and English pilot John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis).

Shōgun's costumes strive for period authenticity through collaboration. Hiroyuki Sanada in "Shōgun." Credit: Katie Yu / FX

Right from pre-production, one of the most important aspects for every design element of Shōgun was ensuring authenticity. To achieve that in the series' costuming, Rosario collaborated with historian Frederik Cryns, professor of Japanese history at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto. Cryns provided a historical foundation for Rosario and his team, and also directed him to paintings from the Sengoku period for inspiration directly rooted in history.

Rosario also worked with Shōgun star and producer Hiroyuki Sanada, who advocated for cultural faithfulness and specificity across the board. (At a Television Critics Association panel, Sanada declared the show a "dream East-meets-West" collaboration.) Sanada brought his longtime dresser to Vancouver to teach the costuming team how to properly dress actors in Japanese period clothing. Experts in kimono dressing also provided consultation on how to perfect the looks of Shōgun's women.

SEE ALSO: How to watch the historical epic 'Shōgun' with or without cable

"By the second episode, everybody was a professional [at dressing the Shōgun actors] because they had to do that so many times every day, for so many people," Rosario told Mashable. "It was a group effort."

For the actual costume creation, the Shōgun team rented about 1,300 pieces and bought modern-day kimonos that they altered to give the shape of a kosode. "The kosode is the ancestor to the kimono," Rosario explained.

By the end of filming, Shōgun's costume pieces filled a massive warehouse in Vancouver — something Rosario could never have dreamed of at the start of the process. "When I saw the warehouse in the beginning, I thought, 'Oh my God, this is way too big. There's no way we're going to be able to fill this space,'" Rosario said. "Then, I think by the second episode, it was all filled. We had to create racks on top of each other."

Every detail of Shōgun's costumes means something — especially when it comes to status. Cosmo Jarvis and Anna Sawai in "Shōgun." Credit: Katie Yu / FX

Rosario worked to incorporate every tidbit of his research into Shōgun. For example, he learned that only lords and ladies could wear tabi — split-toe socks — indoors. As a result, you'll notice that less influential characters are barefoot in the scenes taking place in Osaka Castle.

There's even a hierarchy of status when it comes to the material of the tabi socks. Members of the Council of Regents wear deerskin tabi. ("Hiroyuki Sanada said he'd never seen tabi as beautiful," Rosario said.) But the highest-ranking characters, such as Lady Ochiba (Fumi Nikaido), mother of the heir, wear tabi made of cotton. Why? "Cotton was very rare at the moment, and very expensive," said Rosario.

Fabric as a status symbol factored into another key element of Shōgun's costuming: layering. "The more layers you have, obviously the more fabric you need to use, and the more expensive it gets," Rosario said. This is why villagers in Ajiro wear one layer of clothing, while higher-ranking characters wear several.

SEE ALSO: 'Apples Never Fall' review: Can this Liane Moriarty show top 'Big Little Lies?'

Layering is especially important when it comes to the women of Shōgun. Rosario explained that Lady Ochiba, being the highest-ranking woman, would usually wear five or six layers, while Mariko would usually wear two or three. Even though the lowest layers of clothing weren't always visible, Shōgun's costuming team worked to keep them periodically accurate. The weight of the layers proved influential to the actors' performances, impacting their physicality and speech.

Meanwhile, Rosario relished working with so many different layers, even if some would never be seen in their entirety. "It's how architectural it is, and how you could play with all these different tones that could work together," he said. "It's a beautiful moment of styling, when you have to just work with the colors."

On the less flashy side, pay attention to the men's hakama — wide-legged, almost skirt-like pants — for more indicators of status. More pleats means more fabric, so Ajiro's villagers pants tend to only have one pleat, while people like Toranaga have far more.

"We created our own language with the clothing," Rosario said of these revealing choices.

Shōgun's costumes also reveal character. Anna Sawai in "Shōgun." Credit: Katie Yu / Fx

In addition to emphasizing status, Shōgun's costumes are also hints at a character's mental state or their place in Shōgun's broader narrative. In an interview with Harper's Bazaar, Rosario spoke to how Mariko's costumes at first depict lifeless scenes covered in snow as a reflection of her cold outlook on life. As the season continues and she embraces her role as translator for Blackthorne, her internal world comes alive. To reflect that change, Rosario incorporated flowers, brighter colors, and bolder patterns into Mariko's looks.

Blackthorne's costumes undergo an evolution of their own, Rosario told Mashable. We first meet him in his British clothing, including britches and a blouse. But once he's taken in by Toranaga, he's given a kosode. "To me, symbolically, it means he's letting go of his identity," said Rosario.

The more time Blackthorne spends with Toranaga, the more Japanese pieces Rosario added to his overall costume, such as hakama pants or sodenashi (sleeveless work jackets or vests). "All that was a way for the audience to see that slowly, he's been immersing himself into Japanese culture," Rosario said. "Or it's almost like they are imposing on him the fact that, if you're going to be here, you need to look Japanese."

Still, Blackthorne's color palette remains fairly neutral and plain — a contrast from his more "flamboyant" looks in the 1980 miniseries. "He's one of the lead male characters, but in that world, he's a foreigner. He's powerless," said Rosario. "I wanted to keep him very basic, so it would contrast with the opulence and the luxurious fabric of all the other characters around him."

One of the most luxurious characters of all? Toranaga himself. Toranaga's looks don't go through a season-long evolution in the same way that Mariko or Blackthorne's do. Instead, the goal for his costumes was adapting to Toranaga's changing needs in a variety of circumstances, whether he's politicking in Osaka, going hunting, or traveling to Ajiro.

"This wasn't like a show where you create a wardrobe for each character and go back to the closet for every episode and pull something," Rosario said of working on Toranaga's looks. "We continuously needed to actually design everything until the last episode, so there was no relaxation."

Toranaga's power asserts itself through his clothes — not just the copious amount he has, but also their use of more luxurious fabrics and colors that denote prosperity, like golds and coppers. "I wanted to [show] mostly his wealth, his abundance, and his authority over everybody else," said Rosario. "If you notice, he's the only character who actually changes costumes in pretty much every scene in the first episode. Every single scene, he's wearing a different outfit. He's the only one. That was my way of saying he's above everybody else."

Between the grand scope of Shōgun and the intense amount of research, manpower, and physical endurance that went into its costuming, Rosario considers his work on the show to be his best yet. "I just feel like this is my legacy," he said. "This is as good as it gets. Who gets to design something like this in a lifetime?"

Shōgun is now streaming on Hulu.

TL;DR: As of March 17, get The 2024 Guitar Lessons Training Bundle for only $16.97 — usually $480.

Is learning to play the guitar on your life to-do list? Maybe you already know a little and want to amp up your efforts, or you are just starting out. No matter where you fall on the guitar-playing spectrum, this online learning tool could help. This guitar lesson bundle is even on sale for just $16.97 through March 17 during this 48-hour flash sale.

With 12 lessons to get you playing and feeling confident, this comprehensive bundle has over 77 hours of instructional content. And it's all taught by Dan Dresnok, who has been teaching guitar for over 30 years.

The best place to start is at the very beginning, which means the Beginner Guitar Lessons Crash Course. Here, you'll learn all the basics, leaving you comfortably able to play open and barre chords, name the notes on all the frets, perform solos over songs, and more.

Once you've gone through the crash course, you can move on to other courses, like Songwriting for the Curious Guitarist, to learn to be a confident songwriter. There are also courses that teach you fingerstyle and ear training, which helps you learn to recognize notes and all pitches by ear, amongst other things.

There's even a course on playing specific genres of music, including jazz, blues, and children's songs. And if you want to showcase your hard work at the end of the year, play some holiday songs for friends and family with the help of the Christmas Songs for the Curious Guitarist course.

During this 48-hour flash sale, get the 2024 Guitar Lessons Training bundle for just $16.97 when you order by March 17 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: Your First Program The 2024 Guitar Lessons Training Bundle $16.97 at the Mashable Shop
$480.00 Save $463.03 Get Deal

TL;DR: Through March 17, get StackSkills Unlimited for just $39.97 — you'll save 93%.

What if the key to lifelong success is to never stop learning? It's not the easiest thing to do, especially if you already have a job, family, and life outside of those commitments. Since online learning is now a thing, it can be an easier undertaking to build your skills and knowledge. 

This lifetime access to StackSkills Unlimited is something to consider if you'd like to fit some learning into your life. And because there's no limit to how long you have access, you can take your time and learn whatever your schedule allows. Though, you shouldn't wait to purchase it because it's on sale for $39.97 through March 17 only.

You'll instantly get access to over 1,000 courses to discover. The 350 instructors teaching them are said to be committed professionals who are among the top available online. From business to graphic design to marketing and IT and so much more, you can build your skills one course at a time while testing the waters without a steep financial commitment. There are even personal-type courses like learning an instrument and self-help.

To keep things exciting and fresh, new courses are added every month. You also get easy progress tracking, customer support, and quarterly question-and-answer webinars from instructors.

Updates are included, and you have access for life on unlimited devices.

Take advantage of this limited-time offer and invest in your future now.

Pick up lifetime access to StackSkills Unlimited during this flash sale for just $39.97 until March 17 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: StackSkills StackSkills Unlimited: Lifetime Access $39.97 at the Mashable Shop
$199.92 Save $159.95 Get Deal

TL;DR: As of March 17, get the PDF Converter Pro for life for only $24.97 — usually $99.99.

In this digital world, it can be incredibly useful to have tools to make some of the more time-consuming jobs easier. Case in point, this PDF Converter Pro was created to make easier work of converting files to and from the  PDF format. A lifetime license is on sale for 48 hours only for just $24.97 (reg. $99) when you order through March 17.

Available only to new users, students, professionals, and business owners alike will find it easier to change document formats. Convert PDFs to a variety of formats, including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Text, HTML, PNG, and JPG. You can also create PDFs from Word, Excel, PPT, and images to be more efficient and back up your work.

Say goodbye to manual retyping and tedious formatting — PDF Converter Pro was made to transform your documents with just a few clicks. It also has other tricks up its sleeve, including the ability to merge and split PDF docs, extract images, compress, and more. You can even secure your PDFs through easy encryption.

You need to have Windows 8 or higher or macOS X 10.8 or later. You'll get access on two devices for life, with updates included.

Take control of documents and streamline your workflow with this invaluable tool.

During this 48-hour flash sale, get a lifetime license to the PDF Converter Pro for just $24.97 (reg. $99) until March 17 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: Acethinker PDF Converter Pro: Lifetime License $24.97 at the Mashable Shop
$99.99 Save $75.02 Get Deal

TL;DR: As of March 17, get this LED Bedside Lamp with Wireless Charger for only $14.97 — usually $39.

A nightstand cluttered with cables may not create the relaxing ambiance you're looking for at the end of your day. Another option is to switch your cable charger out for a wireless charger that does the same job with much less cable tangles, and you can even get one in green to celebrate the season. 

This LED Bedside Lamp doubles as a wireless charger for Qi-enabled devices. And instead of paying $39 for this standout nightstand companion, you can get it for just $14.97, but that price is for today and today alone. 

This lamp charges your phone

Give the green light to a new look for your bedroom. This LED bedside lamp shines a soft green light in a unique arch design. Switch from low, medium, and high brightness using the one-touch control. Though it may light up a small area well on the highest setting, this lamp might work best as an accent rather than as a main source of lighting, but light isn't even the only thing it has to offer. 

The base of this lamp doubles as a Qi-enabled wireless charger with up to 15W output. Lay your phone down or stand it up with the lamp itself acting as a phone stand so you can stream or browse while you charge. 

Marked down today only

Don't miss your chance to get a stunning green LED lamp that doubles as a wireless charger. 

Until March 17 at 11:59 p.m. PT, you can get the LED Bedside Lamp for $14.97. No coupon needed. 

StackSocial prices subject to change. 

Opens in a new window Credit: TechZebra LED Bedside Lamp with Wireless Charger (Green) $14.97 at the Mashable Shop
$39.00 Save $24.03 Get Deal

TL;DR: As of March 17, get a Hushed Private Phone Line Lifetime Subscription for just $24.99 — that's 83% off.

No one's phone is busier than those in a field where they need to be in contact with clients or team members. If you are looking to implement some boundaries into your personal life, getting a second phone line could help. For a limited time, you can get a lifetime subscription to the Hushed Private Phone Line app for just $24.99 (reg. $150) to help you get there.

Hushed offers an easy way to keep your personal contact information hidden from your business associates and clients. Easily set up a second phone number that's devoted to business only to shield your personal information from those you don't want to have access, including people on dating sites.

Send texts and make calls on a secure additional line through this app instead of getting a pricey extra phone. The $24.99 plan gets you 6,000 SMS or 1,000 phone minutes per year, and you are able to choose from hundreds of area codes across the United States and Canada.

You'll also be able to set up a customized voicemail, set call forwarding, and use data or WiFi so you don't wrack up service charges while you talk.

It's all managed from an easy-to-use app that gives you separation from work and home life without the commitment of another contract.

Get a lifetime subscription to the Hushed Private Phone Line app for just $24.99 (reg. $150) for a limited time.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: Hushed Hushed Private Phone Line: Lifetime Subscription $24.99 at the Mashable Shop
$150.00 Save $125.01 Get Deal

TL;DR: A lifetime subscription to Prism Drive Secure Cloud Storage (20TB) is on sale for £78.25, saving you 93% on list price.

Regardless of the timing, seeing another subscription charge on your card often feels like a monthly (or yearly) visit from the bill fairy. One way to make her go away is finding lifetime subscriptions that allow you to pay just once to use the service for life, the way you can with Prism Drive cloud storage. And for a limited time, you can own a 20TB cloud storage for life for just £78.25. That’s an exclusive price you won’t find anywhere else.

Pay once and access your 20TB cloud forever — no renewals, no fees, and certainly no catch. It’s not only Prism Drive’s lifetime value that makes it a trailblazing cloud storage solution, you’ll find plenty of other features, like:

• AES 256-bit encryption guards your files during rest and transfer.

• Upload any type of file, with support for large files, from any device.

• Easily create shareable links to send files to family, friends, or clients.

• Enjoy a fully featured interface with drag-and-drop transfers, quick file preview, and 30-day trash recovery.

Let’s not forget the tremendous amount of cloud space you get: 20TB — that’s about 80 times the amount of storage found on the newest iPhone. Needless to say, that’s likely enough space to cover your needs for life, storing up to millions of photos, videos, and other files.

Now, let’s do some more math. With Prism Drive, you only have to pay £78.25 once for lifelong access — that’s less than a year’s worth of monthly payments through Dropbox. Plus, you get way more storage.

Banish the monthly or yearly bill fairy visits with a lifetime subscription to Prism Drive’s 20TB cloud storage plan, now £78.25. No coupon is needed for this price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Prism Drive Prism Drive Secure Cloud Storage: 20TB (Lifetime Subscription) £78.25 at the Mashable Shop Get Deal

Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for March 17's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

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

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles used to be available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it. Unfortunately, it has since been taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

How a pig laughs.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no letters that appear twice.

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter S.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. What's the answer to Wordle today?

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to Wordle #1002 is...

SNORT.

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

Reporting by Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

Connections is the latest New York Times word game 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 March 17's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

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.

Tweet may have been deleted

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.

Tweet may have been deleted

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.

Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Clown behavior

• Green: Onward

• Blue: Smelly

• Purple: Things that can be deep

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Foolishness

• Green: Move Forward

• Blue: Things That Might Stink

• Purple: Words After "Deep"

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 Connections #280 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Foolishness: ABSURDITY, FOLLY, MADNESS, NONSENSE

• Move Forward: ADVANCE, MARCH, PROGRESS, PUSH

• Things That Might Stink: CHEESE, FEET, GARBAGE, SKUNK

• Words After "Deep": CUT, FAKE, FREEZE, SIX

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.

Is this not the Connections game you were looking for? Here are the hints and answers to yesterday's Connections.

Upon the announcement of the 2024 March Madness NCAA Tournament men’s basketball field, you will want to get your hands on a bracket.

Action in the 2024 NCAA men’s basketball tournament gets underway Tuesday, March 19 with the First Four games in Dayton, Ohio. The first round of the NCAA Tournament starts Thursday, March 21. 

The best place to get a bracket is on the NCAA website.

Sites for the first and second round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament are Brooklyn, New York; Charlotte; Indianapolis; Memphis; Omaha, Nebraska; Pittsburgh; Salt Lake City; and Spokane, Washington. Games will take place in Charlotte, Omaha, Pittsburgh, and Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 21 and Sunday, March 23. The games in Brooklyn, Indianapolis, Memphis, and Spokane will take place on Friday, March 22 and Sunday, March 24. 

The Sweet 16 is set to take place on Thursday, March 28 and Friday, March 29. The Elite Eight will occur on Saturday, March 30 and Sunday, March 31. Sites for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight are Boston, Dallas, Detroit, and Los Angeles. Boston and Los Angeles will play on Thursday, March 28 and Saturday, March 30. The Dallas and Detroit games will be on Friday, March 29 and Sunday, March 31.

SEE ALSO: How to watch college basketball without cable this season

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four is scheduled for Saturday, April 6 with the championship game set for Monday, April 8. The Final Four and national championship will occur at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix. 

The UConn men’s basketball team won the 2023 NCAA Tournament. It defeated San Diego State 76-59 in the championship game on April 3, 2023, in Houston’s NRG Stadium.

March Madness goes to another level on Sunday, March 17. The 2024 NCAA Tournament men’s basketball bracket will be announced for the 68-team field. 

The one-hour selection show is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT. 

Action in the 2024 NCAA men’s basketball tournament gets underway Tuesday, March 19 with the first four games in Dayton, Ohio. The first round of the NCAA Tournament starts Thursday, March 21. 

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four is scheduled for Saturday, April 6 with the championship game set for Monday, April 8. The Final Four and national championship will occur at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix. 

SEE ALSO: How to watch college basketball without cable this season March Madness: How to watch the 2024 NCAA Tournament men’s basketball selection show

Start time: 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT on Sunday, March 17

TV channel: CBS 

Selection show broadcasters: Adam Zucker, Clark Kellogg, Jay Wright, and Seth Davis

Online live stream: ParamountPlus.com and NCAA.com/march-madness-live/watch

Mobile live stream: CBS Sports app; March Madness Live app; and Paramount+ app

The UConn men’s basketball team won the 2023 NCAA Tournament. It defeated San Diego State 76-59 in the championship game on April 3, 2023, in Houston’s NRG Stadium. The 2023 national championship marks the fifth by the UConn men’s basketball program.

The Starbucks NFT rewards program will soon be no more.

In late 2022, Starbucks dipped its toes into the world of Web3 with a beta launch of its new NFT rewards program, Starbucks Odyssey. It has remained as a closed, invite-only beta ever since.

However, according to a recently updated FAQ on the official Starbucks Odyssey website, it seems that the NFT reward program will never leave beta. That's because Starbucks is killing it.

SEE ALSO: The pink Starbucks x Stanley cup is going for $200 on eBay. Shop these dupes instead. What's happening to Starbucks Odyssey?

On March 15, Starbucks added the following question to its FAQ: "Why are you ending the Starbucks Odyssey Beta program?"

"The Starbucks Odyssey Beta must come to an end to prepare for what comes next as we continue to evolve the program," reads Starbucks' answer.

According to the website, the Starbucks Odyssey program will officially end on March 31. Users in the closed beta have until March 25 to complete any remaining Journeys, which were "themed activities" like online games and quizzes that enabled members to earn NFTs and reward points. The project's Discord channel, a major element for any Web3 community, will be shut down on March 19.

Starbucks shared its crypto-related ambitions in early 2022, when the market was still booming. During a "Partner Open Forum" that year, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz attempted to shut down an ongoing union drive among its employees. One of the talking points Shultz used in an attempt to excite them about a union-less future with the company: NFTs.

"We are going to be in the NFT business," Schultz declared.

Cryptocurrency has seen a minor resurgence over the past few months, with Bitcoin's value rising to a new all-time high. However, wariness among retail investors continues to remain after 2022's crypto crash and FTX's demise. Furthermore, NFTs or non-fungible tokens have yet to really see signs of a potential comeback in the way that certain crypto tokens have. Even social media platforms, like Facebook and Instagram, have removed NFT-related features that they had added in anticipation for a Web3 boom.

Still, for those who viewed the Starbucks Odyssey reward program as a major win for the NFT space, the move came as a surprise. In February, TechCrunch published an interview with Starbucks Odyssey’s community lead Steve Kaczynski, who said he expected NFT brand building to expand. On Friday, Kaczynski shared that the coffee company was indeed sunsetting the Starbucks Odyssey program and he had unfortunately lost his job as a result.

As for the Polygon blockchain-based NFTs doled out as part of the program, Starbucks says users can continue to hold them, trade them, and buy or sell them on the Nifty Gateway NFT marketplace.

Start saving up, PlayStation fans. It appears a new Sony gaming console is on the way.

According to new documents leaked from a PlayStation game developer portal, Sony is readying the release of the PS5 Pro just in time for the 2024 holiday season.

SEE ALSO: PS5 Pro: Release date, controller, price and other rumors

The YouTube channel Moore’s Law is Dead originally reported the leaked documents. Video game news outlet Insider Gaming says they've also seen the documents and confirmed that the leaked information is legitimate.

While a late 2024 release may come to fruition, there is potential for delays, especially as it relates to first-party game releases. So, there's also a possibility that the PS5 Pro won't arrive in time for Christmas. But, the documents point to the fact that it won't be too long before the new PlayStation hits stores.

What to expect from the PS5 Pro

The leak from the Sony PlayStation developer portal doesn't just provide a potential release schedule. These documents also lay out some very interesting specs for the PS5 Pro.

According to Insider Gaming, the PS5 Pro will see "improved and consistent FPS at 4K resolution, a new ‘performance mode’ for 8K resolution, and accelerated ray tracing." The documents also mention PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution or PSSR, which is believed to be Sony's own in-house machine-learning solution for upscaling images.

Most notable in the leaked documents is the comparison made to the previous generation of PlayStation. Insider Gaming's report says the leak shows the PS5 Pro rendering 45% faster than the PS5. 

As PCMag points out, "allegedly the PS5 Pro's GPU has a 16-bit floating point calculation figure of 67 TFLOPs, which equates to an estimated 33.5 TFLOPs of FP32 compute performance." The Verge further breaks down the significance by sharing that "the existing PS5 is a 10.28-teraflop console, so tripling that would be a significant performance increase on the GPU side alone."

PS5 Pro's 3x performance increase over the PlayStation 5 is certainly nothing to sneeze at. Nor is the additionally leaked spec of 2x to 3x the ray tracing performance, with the documentation saying in some cases it's even as much as 4x its predecessor.

Insider Gaming reports that the devkits for the new PS5 Pro have been available to first-party studios since September 2023 and third-party developers since January of this year.

The PlayStation 5 Pro will be Sony's first new gaming console since the PlayStation 5 was released 4 years ago. The original PS5 was launched amid the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently global semiconductor chip shortage. As a result, PS5s were very hard to come by in stores for quite some time.

Hopefully, now that those issues are — mostly — over, gamers will have a much easier experience getting their hands on the new PS5 Pro later this year.

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: NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for March 16 SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Here's the answer and hints for March 16

Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Saturday, March 16, 2024:

AcrossRotten

• The answer is Bad.

Window Segments

• The answer is Panes.

Part of school that totally bites

• The answer is Piranha.

2003 Will Ferrell film

• The answer is Elf.

Approximate percentage of the world's population that is left-handed

• The answer is Ten.

Party bag contents

• The answer is Goodies.

Wedding reception speech

• The answer is Toast.

When tripled, symbol of a texter's typing

• The answer is Dot.

DownWings, nachos, onion rings, etc.

• The answer is Bar food.

Actress de Armas

• The answer is Ana.

Canine Handler

• The answer is Dentist.

Season one, episode one

• The answer is Pilot.

Mattress cover

• The answer is Sheet.

Place to hang coat

• The answer is Peg.

The "A" of Q&A: Abbr.

• The answer is Ans.

Philosophy for Laozi

• The answer is Dao.

The powerful eye of the James Webb Space Telescope has spotted vital chemicals around two youthful stars.

Astronomers focused the space observatory, which orbits 1 million miles from Earth, on cosmic regions around these protostars, which are so youthful they haven't yet formed planets. But they almost certainly will: NASA suspects nearly every star has at least one planet.

And in these planet-forming regions the Webb telescope found "complex organic molecules," including ethanol (the alcohol found in alcoholic beverages) as well as another ingredient found in vinegar. Crucially, these ingredients, which form into icy materials in frigid space, might one day become part of future solar system objects, including the large space rocks that can carry organic molecules and important materials to planets. (Much of Earth's water, for example, may have come from asteroid impacts.)

"All of these molecules can become part of comets and asteroids and eventually new planetary systems when the icy material is transported inward to the planet-forming disk as the protostellar system evolves," Ewine van Dishoeck, an astronomer at Leiden University and an author of the new research, said in a NASA statement. "We look forward to following this astrochemical trail step-by-step with more Webb data in the coming years."

SEE ALSO: Webb telescope makes unexpected find in outskirts of our solar system

The new research has been accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

The Webb telescope carries instruments, called spectrometers, that can detect the composition of distant objects or places, like the atmospheres of alien planets. Spectrometers separate the light coming from these objects, similar to a prism. Different elements or molecules absorb different types of light, so the light viewed by Webb can discern what chemicals are there, and which aren't.

The first graphic below shows the different light spectrums Webb picked up while scanning the distant protostar IRAS 2A. Ethanol was present in different groups of icy materials.

The complex organic molecules identified by the James Webb Space Telescope around the protostar IRAS 2A. Credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / L. Hustak (STScI) // Science: W. Rocha (Leiden University) The chemical-rich region of space around the protostar IRAS 23385. Credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / W. Rocha (Leiden University)

In addition to alcohol, the Webb telescope identified formic acid, methane, and likely acetic acid, NASA explained. Crucially, these are "key ingredients for making potentially habitable worlds," the space agency said.

A habitable world is one that harbors conditions that can sustain life — though this doesn't nearly mean there's life there. NASA is currently sleuthing for worlds that might be habitable, some of which might even resemble ocean-covered Earth.

Featured Video For You 10 mind-blowing discoveries from the James Webb Telescope The Webb telescope's powerful abilities

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

Here's how Webb is achieving unparalleled feats, and likely will for decades:

- Giant mirror: Webb's mirror, which captures light, is over 21 feet across. That's over two-and-a-half times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope's mirror. Capturing more light allows Webb to see more distant, ancient objects. As described above, the telescope is peering at stars and galaxies that formed over 13 billion years ago, just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang.

"We're going to see the very first stars and galaxies that ever formed," Jean Creighton, an astronomer and the director of the Manfred Olson Planetarium at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, told Mashable in 2021.

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

"It lifts the veil," said Creighton.

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

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

Already, astronomers have successfully found intriguing chemical reactions on a planet 700 light-years away, and as described above, the observatory has started looking at one of the most anticipated places in the cosmos: the rocky, Earth-sized planets of the TRAPPIST solar system.

In 1979, Alan Cummings, a scientist working on NASA's unprecedented Voyager mission, entered a Caltech room in Pasadena, California, and saw an unusual, alien world projected on a screen.

The brand-new image, just beamed back from space, revealed a place like no other ever seen. It was a moon teeming with vibrant volcanoes. Cummings, a cosmic-ray physicist at Caltech — the research university that manages the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory — couldn't believe his eyes.

"I thought the Caltech students had pulled a prank," Cummings told Mashable. "But no, it was real."

It was Jupiter's moon Io, the most volcanic place in our solar system. It was nothing like our pale moon, a barren surface beaten into fine dust by countless impacts. On Io, volcanoes erupted. Lava flowed. It was alive.

"It gives me chills, even just now," Cummings, who started working on the Voyager mission 51 years ago, said.

SEE ALSO: NASA spacecraft keeps on going faster and faster and faster

The two Voyager craft, both launched in 1977, were built to last five years. They're now approaching 50 years of operation, and are respectively over 15 and 12 billion miles away. They've left behind the influence of our star and entered interstellar space. "These are the only spacecraft that have been there," Cummings marveled. Decades later, the craft and their antiquated computers have each encountered a number of glitches — which have been repeatedly remedied by a clever group of devoted Voyager engineers.

The latest hurdle, however, could be serious. NASA reported that engineers were still working to fix a stubborn problem the agency identified in December: They can send messages to Voyager 1, but "no science or engineering data is being sent back to Earth." There's an issue with a critical onboard computer, the flight data system. The space agency more recently received a memory "readout" from Voyager 1 (at such a great distance, it takes nearly a day for a message from the craft to reach us), which the team is now scrutinizing for hints of a solution. The prolonged issue has space onlookers worried.

"It gives me chills, even just now."

Indeed, the Voyager craft have continually persevered. But their power is finite. In the coming few years or so, NASA may need to turn off more instruments to preserve dwindling nuclear fuel. Eventually, perhaps in the mid-2030s, communication will cease. But these robotic explorers have forever altered Cummings' view — and our own — of what's out there.

Voyager 1 captured this image of Io on March 4, 1979. A volcano is seen erupting on the moon's surface. Credit: NASA / JPL Tweet may have been deleted Featured Video For You 10 mind-blowing discoveries from the James Webb Telescope The Voyager missions changed our view of deep space

The Voyager missions, originally conceived to explore Jupiter and Saturn, have vastly exceeded their original two-planet itinerary. For Cummings and some of his Voyager colleagues, that was always the plan. After all, the craft are nuclear-powered; they wouldn't run out of fuel for decades.

"The biggest problem was getting it past the launchpad," the physicist said, recalling a number of failed launches. "A lot of us had a goal of getting to interstellar space."

Soon after launching, both craft made good time to Jupiter, venturing by the gas giant in 1979. They revealed the planet like never before. Scientists saw Jupiter's roiling atmosphere, with vibrant belts of clouds traveling in alternate directions and teeming with giant storms — some bigger than Earth.

"We were shocked and amazed," Cummings said.

But the Jovian moons were stars of the show, too. Besides volcano-blanketed Io, the mission captured views of ice-clad Europa, with giant cracks crisscrossing the surface. Intrigued planetary scientists have continued to investigate Europa, and now suspect a briny ocean — reaching some 40 to 100 miles (60 to 150 kilometers) down — sloshes beneath that icy surface. Another NASA probe, bound for Europa, will soon depart Earth.

"We were shocked and amazed."

Both Voyagers then continued to majestic Saturn. The craft spied astounding detail in the rings, and revealed the nature of the strange Saturnian moons. Mimas, previously known to astronomers as just a little dot in the sky, had been walloped by something. "It looked like the Death Star," Cummings said, referencing the moon-sized space station in Star Wars. The mission also introduced humanity to Titan. Voyager discovered it harbors a thick atmosphere, and possibly seas of methane. Years later, researchers can't stay away. NASA will send a car-sized craft, fitted with eight spinning rotors, to the moon in 2028, a mission called Dragonfly. It will land on Titan's ice-covered dunes, an environment that might have resembled early Earth.

Saturn and four of its moons, captured by Voyager 2 in 1981. Credit: NASA / JPL / USGS Tweet may have been deleted

At this juncture, the Voyager craft took disparate paths through the solar system. Voyager 1 continued toward the far reaches of our cosmic neighborhood, while Voyager 2 would first make historic swoops by Uranus and Neptune — the "ice giants." Again, the moons were stars.

For the first time, scientists like Cummings saw worlds like Uranus' icy, grooved moon Miranda. And then there was Neptune's bizarre moon Triton, a world some 3 billion miles away. Voyager 2 detected extreme surface temperatures of minus 391 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 235 degrees Celsius) on this frozen realm. Even so, the moon still shot out miles-high plumes of icy material from geysers.

"It's so amazing we saw all this activity on cold moons," Cummings said.

The Voyager craft, however, weren't nearly finished. After all, it was only 1989.

Uranus' icy moon Miranda, captured by Voyager 2 in 1986. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech Tweet may have been deleted

On Feb. 14, 1990, NASA engineers planned to turn off Voyager 1's cameras to conserve power. The flybys of glorious worlds had ended, and the journey into the farthest reaches of our solar system had begun. But the space agency captured one final group of shots, a "family portrait" of the faraway planets that Voyager left in the dust. Included is a view called the "Pale Blue Dot"; it's a look back home, from some 3.7 billion miles (6 billion kilometers) away.

"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us," wrote the famed cosmologist Carl Sagan.

The Voyager craft would press on, surviving perpetual cold and enduring the hazard of galactic cosmic rays — energetic particles created by powerful events in the cosmos, like the explosion of stars.

Both craft have now entered interstellar space, the region between stars. They've traveled beyond the protective balloon of particles and magnetic fields generated by the sun, and have collected unprecedented information about the radiation in an uncharted realm of space (though Voyager 1 isn't currently sending back this information). "The science data that the Voyagers are returning gets more valuable the farther away from the Sun they go, so we are definitely interested in keeping as many science instruments operating as long as possible," Linda Spilker, Voyager’s project scientist, said last year.

The "Pale Blue Dot," or Earth, captured by the Voyager 1 spacecraft. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech

Cummings hopes the remaining instruments can stay online for another few years or so, at least until the mission reaches the half-century mark. Yet even when both spacecraft run out of power, the greater mission won't be over. In fact, the longest part of its expedition, as a spacefaring messenger, will commence.

The Voyager craft carry "a kind of time capsule, intended to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials," NASA explains. "The Voyager message is carried by a phonograph record, a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth." Included on the album is Chuck Berry's scintillating single, "Johnny B. Goode."

Out in the vast emptiness of space, the craft certainly aren't likely to be smashed by anything. They'll keep going, and going. I asked Cummings if the mission might just keep journeying in perpetuity, for perhaps billions of years.

"It will," he said.