IGN's second annual live games show comes back to Los Angeles and tickets are now on sale.

Here's the answer to April Fool's tricky Connections puzzle for April 1, #660.

March 31, 20252 min readWatch SpaceX Launch Historic Fram2 Crewed Mission over Earths Poles TonightFram2, a first-of-its-kind private mission to send four astronauts into polar orbit around Earth, is about to launchBy Mike Wall & SPACE.com A close-up view of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and a Crew Dragon spacecraft before a launch at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The four-person Fram2 crew is set to ride similar hardware into polar orbit on the evening of March 31, 2025. Evgeniy Baranov/Alamy Stock PhotoSpaceX plans to launch the Fram2 astronaut mission over Earth's poles tonight (March 31), and you can watch the action live.Fram2's Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule are scheduled to lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida tonight at 9:46 p.m. ET (0146 GMT on April 1). If that timeline isn't met, there are three additional opportunities available over the next roughly 4.5 hours, at 11:20 p.m. ET (0320 GMT), 12:53 a.m. ET (0453 GMT) and 2:26 a.m ET (0626 GMT).SpaceX will stream the launch live via its website and X account, beginning about an hour before liftoff. Space.com will air the webcast as well.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.Fram2 will send four people from four different nations to low Earth orbit for three to five days. Those crewmembers all of them spaceflight rookies are mission commander Chun Wang of Malta, vehicle commander Jannicke Mikkelsen of Norway, pilot Rabea Rogge of Germany, and Australian Eric Phillips, Fram2's medical officer and mission specialist.The quartet will circle our planet over both of its poles a trajectory no human spaceflight mission has ever taken before. Fram2 will also break ground with several of its 22 science experiments. For example, the mission will attempt to grow mushrooms and take X-rays of the human body in orbit for the first time."Additionally, after safely returning to Earth, the crew plans to exit from the Dragon spacecraft without additional medical and operational assistance, helping researchers characterize the ability of astronauts to perform unassisted functional tasks after short and long durations in space," SpaceX wrote in a Fram2 mission description.Fram2 will be SpaceX's 17th human spaceflight overall and the sixth conducted for private customers. Among the company's other commercial human flights were Inspiration4 and Polaris Dawn, both of which were funded and commanded by Jared Isaacman, President Donald Trump's nominee to be the next NASA chief.SpaceX's 11 other crewed missions to date have been voyages to and from the International Space Station for NASA.Copyright 2025 Space.com, a Future company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

IGN Live confirmed to run 7-8 June, with tickets on sale nowIGN says to expect reveals, giveaways, demos, and celebrity guests - plus a t-shirt cannon if last year is anything to go by.Image credit: IGN News by Tom Orry Editorial Director, Gamer Network Published on March 31, 2025 IGN Entertainment (Eurogamer's parent company) has officially announced that IGN Live will run in LA from 7-8 June, 2025.The fan-focused event, which takes place during summer's video game event season, is being held in downtown Los Angeles at Magic Box @ The Reef. Currently the confirmed list of studios, publishers, and brands includes Netflix, 2K Sports, Lenovo, and Arcade1Up, with more set to be announced soon. IGN Live will feature playable games on PCs, consoles, and handheld devices, plus gameplay and trailer reveals, celebrity panels, merch giveaways, a live DJ and more. It's not just video games, either, with the show aiming to be a celebration of games, movies, TV, comics, collectables and more.Tickets can be bought now from IGN at a reduced price compared to buying at the door.Ticket prices are detailed below:Early bird, single day tickets: $15 USDEarly bird weekend/VIP tickets: $30Regular pricing, single day tickets: $25Regular pricing, weekend/VIP tickets: $40Single day tickets at the door: $30Weekend/VIP tickets at the door: $45Act early if you want the cheapest prices, with early bird tickets only available until 30th April. A VIP pass also includes a goodie bag containing exclusive items valued at $40. You can still save money on the door price if you buy tickets online after 30th April.If you can't make it to LA in June, IGN will be livestreaming the entire weekend event across IGN platforms, including IGN.com, YouTube, Twitch, social channels, and more.IGN Live 2024 saw a number of big-name guests and reveals including The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power cast, Xboxs Phil Spencer, Ubisoft discussing Assassins Creed Shadows, and Casper van Dien talking Starship Troopers: Extermination.For more information and to stay up to date on announcements, head over to ign.com/live.Sort-of-E3 replacement, Summer Game Fest, kicks off on 6th June, and it's fair to expect showcase videos from the major players at around that time, too, with reveals of games due this year and beyond.

Taiwan is investing heavily in unmanned surface vehicle (USV) technology, with the recent launch of the domestically built Endeavour Manta.The first domestically developed unmanned surface vehicle (USV) from Taiwans CSBC Corp strengthens the islands defense against PLA threats. The Endeavour Manta USV supports Taiwans asymmetric warfare strategy, using advanced, cost-effective technologies to counter a numerically superior adversary.USV features AI targeting and autonomous navigationThe drone attack boat was unveiled on Tuesday during a launch event in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan. Measuring 8.6 meters by 3.7 meters (28 feet by 12 feet) and with a displacement of over 5 tonnes, the boat is constructed from fiber-reinforced plastic. It boasts a payload capacity of more than 1 tonne and can reach speeds of up to 35 knots (40 mph) with two outboard engines.The USV is equipped with various communication systems, including 4G, line-of-sight radios, and beyond-line-of-sight satellite links, ensuring continuous contact with a control center. CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung highlighted its AI-driven targeting, anti-hijacking features, and autonomous navigation, which enable it to return to base even if jammed by enemy forces, the South China Morning Post reported.The vessel is capable of carrying high-explosive warheads and light torpedoes, maximizing damage through direct suicide collisions. The USVs trimaran hull improves stability in the Taiwan Strait, where powerful currents and rough waves pose challenges. Its maneuverability allows for quick deployment with towing vehicles at beaches or ports.While the satellite guidance and engines are imported, all other components are locally made, and removing satellite guidance could reduce costs by 45%, according to Huang, who did not specify specific pricing.USV project aims for mass production by 2026In early 2024, CSBC began developing a military-grade USV as part of a $24 billion project led by Taiwans National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) to create drone boats, with plans for mass production by 2026. Taiwans defense ministry has set specific requirements for the USVs, including a length of 10 meters, a full-load displacement under 4 tonnes, and a remote control range of around 43 miles.Local media reports suggest that the institutes USV features autonomous navigation and a stealth-optimized hull for surprise attacks. Once designated, it autonomously targets and strikes enemy warships. NCSIST aims to complete combat evaluations by the end of the year, with mass production set for next year. Reports also indicate that the army plans to acquire more than 200 units.RECOMMENDED ARTICLESIn June, NCSIST will conduct an open-sea trial and has invited local manufacturers to participate, though CSBC, which has taken a separate development path, will not join. Several other Taiwanese companies are also developing military USVs. At the Taiwan International Boat Show in December, Thunder Tiger showcased two attack models: the Tigershark 200 and Seashark 400.Furthermore, Taiwans military plans to deploy USVs for reconnaissance, minelaying, and direct attacks, strengthening its overall defense as Beijing increases its military activity near the island.

We already knew that IGN Live was coming back this year, but now it's official: the show will returning to Los Angeles June 7-8, 2025. Read more

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has joined Bluesky, following in the footsteps of former president Barack Obama, who made his first post on the platform last week. Clinton confirmed her Bluesky accounts legitimacy in an Instagram story and a post on X.In her introductory post, Clinton wrote about the Wisconsin Supreme Court election taking place on Tuesday. The state judicial race is getting unprecedented attention on both sides of the aisle, since it determines the political bent of the swing states court, which will impact rulings on abortion rights, redistricting, and other issues.Musk has allegedly pumped more than $20 million into Republican candidate Brad Schimels campaign; he gave Trumps 2024 campaign around $250 million. Like his strategies during Trumps presidential run, Musk gave two Schimel voters checks for $1 million each. As X owner Elon Musk becomes more entrenched in the Trump administration, Bluesky has continued to emerge as an alternative social platform for people disillusioned by Musks politics and Xs shift to the right. Though Blueskys reach is smaller than that of the platform formerly known as Twitter, the open source network has north of 33 million users. But as Bluesky attracts high-profile users like Clinton and Obama, the platform is building more legitimacy as a competitor to X.

OpenAI says that it intends to release its first open language model since GPT2 in the coming months. Thats according to a feedback form the company published on its website Monday. The form, which OpenAI is inviting developers, researchers, and [members of] the broader community to fill out, includes questions like, What would you like to see in an open-weight model from OpenAI? and What open models have you used in the past?Were excited to collaborate with developers, researchers, and the broader community to gather inputs and make this model as useful as possible, OpenAI wrote on its website. If youre interested in joining a feedback session with the OpenAI team, please let us know [in the form] below.OpenAI plans to host developer events to gather feedback and, in the future, demo prototypes of the model. The first developer event will take place in San Francisco within a few weeks, followed by sessions in Europe and Asia-Pacific regions.OpenAI is facing increasing pressure from rivals such as Chinese AI lab DeepSeek that have adopted an open approach to launching models. In contrast to OpenAIs strategy, these open competitors make their models available to the AI community for experimentation and, in some cases, commercialization.It has proven to be a wildly successful strategy for some outfits. Meta, which has invested heavily in its Llama family of open AI models, said earlier in March that Llama had racked up over 1 billion downloads. Meanwhile, DeepSeek has quickly amassed a large worldwide user base and attracted the attention of domestic investors.In a recent Reddit Q&A, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that he thinks OpenAI has been on the wrong side of history when it comes to open-sourcing its technologies.[I personally think we need to] figure out a different open source strategy, Altman said. Not everyone at OpenAI shares this view, and its also not our current highest priority[] We will produce better models [going forward], but we will maintain less of a lead than we did in previous years.Altman expanded on OpenAIs open model plans in a post on X on Monday afternoon, saying that OpenAIs upcoming open model will have reasoning capabilities along the lines of OpenAIs o3-mini.[B]efore release, we will evaluate this model according [to] our preparedness framework, like we would for any other model, Altman said. [A]nd we will do extra work given that we know this model will be modified post-release [] [W]ere excited to see what developers build and how large companies and governments use it where they prefer to run a model themselves.Excerpts of a forthcoming book by Wall Street Journal reporter Keach Hagey published over the weekend allege that Altman misled OpenAI executives about model safety reviews prior to his brief ouster in November 2023.

HBO has just announced that production has begun on Season 3 of House of The Dragon. Based on George R.R. Martins book, Fire & Blood, the series is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones and tells the story of House Targaryen.Tommy Flanagan joins the Season 3 cast as Ser Roderick Dustin, while Dan Fogler will star as Ser Torrhen Manderly. Previously announced new season cast members include James Norton as Ormund Hightower.Returning cast members include Matt Smith, Emma DArcy, Olivia Cooke, Steve Toussaint, Rhys Ifans, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Sonoya Mizuno, Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Jefferson Hall, Matthew Needham, Tom Bennett, Kieran Bew, Kurt Egyiawan, Freddie Fox, Clinton Liberty, Gayle Rankin, and Abubakar Salim.Directors for Season 3 are Clare Kilner, Nina Lopez-Corrado, Andrij Parekh, and Loni Peristere.Season 3 credits include Co-Creator/Showrunner/Executive Producer, Ryan Condal; Co-Creator/Executive Producer, George R.R. Martin; Executive Producers Sara Hess, Melissa Bernstein, Kevin de la Noy, Vince Gerardis, David Hancock, and Philippa Goslett.Season 2 VFX houses included BUF, Frame by Frame, FutureWorks Media, Incessant Rain Studios, Lux Machina Consulting, Midas VFX, MPC, MR. X, NVIZ, Outpost VFX, Pixomondo, The Third Floor, Weta FX, and Vast. No word yet on the new season.Source: HBO Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.

Pair of Covered Vases (2024), acrylic, image transfer and marble dust emulsion on canvas, 56 x 62 inches. All photos by Jenny Gorman, courtesy of Hesse Flatow, shared with permissionFlowers Entwine Porcelain Animals and Objects in Lizzie Gills Surreal TablescapesMarch 31, 2025ArtGrace EbertTo have something be uncanny, you must first introduce the familiar, says Lizzie Gill. Likening her compositions to a dining tables place settings, the artist paints elaborate still lifes that explore the matriarchal lineages and how objects passed down shift in meaning over time.The vivid works feature flat backdrops met by boldly striped or floral linens and a menagerie of animals seized by fresh blooms. A marble and dust emulsion, which Gill layers on the acrylic-painted panel with a bakers piping tool, adds a life-like texture to the petals. She also utilizes an image-transfer process to translate various pieces from her mothers porcelain collection, further enmeshing her works in domestic traditions.Wedgwood (Nightlines) II (2025), acrylic, image transfer and marble dust emulsion on panel, 30 x 24 inchesThe still life, Gill says, is her preferred platform for exploring the tenets of Surrealism and what it means to be a steward. In Lunar Still Life (Avec Lhippopotame), for example, long stems coil around an animated porcelain seal and hippo rendered in delicate blue and white. Still Life With Four Cerulean Vessels is similarly lively as a miniature fox with a vine wrapped around its torso wanders across the tablescape.Decorating the vases are unlikely scenes depicting volcanic eruptions, rocket launches, and even a menacing twister ripping across the terrain. Embellishing antique forms with contemporary imagery, the works juxtapose the calm propriety associated with domestic spaces and world-changing, explosive actions generated by both humans and nature.Based in Sharon, Connecticut, Gill is currently researching historic textiles for upcoming works, and those shown here are on view in her solo exhibition Paraphernalia through April 26 at Hesse Flatow. Follow the latest on Instagram.Lunar Still Life (Avec Lhippopotame) (2025), acrylic, image transfer and marble dust emulsion on panel, 30 x 40 inchesDetail of Wedgwood (Nightlines) II (2025), acrylic, image transfer and marble dust emulsion on panel, 30 x 24 inchesStill Life With Four Cerulean Vessels (2025), acrylic, image transfer and marble dust emulsion on canvas, 48 x 40 inchesTea For Two (Avec Le Caniche) (2025), acrylic, image transfer and marble dust emulsion on canvas, 40 x 48 inchesWedgwood (Nightlines) III (2025), acrylic, image transfer and marble dust emulsion on panel, 30 x 24 inchesLunar Still Life (Avec le Elephant) (2025), acrylic, image transfer and marble dust emulsion on canvas, 60 x 80 inchesWedgwood (Nightlines) (2025), acrylic, image transfer and marble dust emulsion on panel, 30 x 24 inchesNext article