Good morning! Let’s play Connections, the NYT’s clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you’ve finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I’ve also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc’s Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

Early editions of the index were a tabbed notebook. “I still have some of the original versions of it,” Boyer says. “You would go through, laboriously, by hand, turning the pages, and it would say ‘see page 27,’ like one of those find-your-own-ending books, and then you would put in a phone call, because the last section in the Antivenom Index was the home phone numbers of zookeepers.”

In 2006, Boyer and Steven Seifert, then a medical toxicologist at the University of Nebraska, partnered to bring the index online, where it remains today. Now, nearly 90 zoological organizations list their wares.

When Chris Gifford was bitten by his deadly green mamba, he was lucky to receive antivenom from South Carolina’s Riverbanks Zoo.

Courtesy of Chris Gifford

Gifford, the North Carolina man, had been comparatively lucky, as only one of his mamba’s fangs had pierced his skin. By the time he reached a nearby hospital, Gifford’s hand was swelling and creeping paralysis was causing his eyelids to droop. The Antivenom Index was activated, and South Carolina’s Riverbanks Zoo, about 200 miles to the southwest, had the antivenom he needed. Just 30 minutes after the mamba’s bite, Gifford was struggling to breathe as the paralysis started to affect his diaphragm.

“It feels like you’re drowning,” he says.

Keepers at the Riverbanks Zoo packed 10 vials of antivenom on ice and sent them on a helicopter. Just as Gifford’s timer hit the six-hour mark, the hospital began administering the first of the vials. “Almost immediately, I could feel myself breathing,” Gifford says. He left the hospital some two days later.

If you’re bitten by a venomous snake in the northeastern United States, odds are good that you’ll be treated with vials of antivenom nestled in a refrigerator in the back room of the Bronx Zoo’s reptile house. The zoo collaborates with the nearby Jacobi Medical Center, whose dedicated snakebite response team makes it a rarity among US hospitals.

Inside the refrigerator are boxes, bins, and bags of the delicate glass vials that are often the difference between life and death. Shelves are lined with jars full of antivenom for Indian species and the North American coral snake, and lavender cartons with images of a poised king cobra. In all, the Bronx Zoo stocks 25 different antivenom varieties, many of which are polyvalent, meaning applicable to multiple species.

Waymo’s driverless taxis are making their way to London, starting with a pilot this month (April 2026), with a full launch coming in September, but what does that mean for the UK’s capital?

Will the city’s notoriously difficult-to-drive streets become a chaotic mess of robot carnage? Well, hopefully not — in fact, if the London experience is anything like the Waymos I’ve ridden in San Francisco, it might be the Uber replacement you’ve been waiting for.

from the bring-in-the-next-scapegoat! dept

You’re never safe when you’re working for Trump. That much was obvious in Trump’s first term, when he fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, National Security Advisor John Bolton, and FBI Director James Comey. They were all fired for the same reason: failing to be completely loyal to Trump.

This time around even die-hard MAGA loyalists are being fired. DHS head Kristi Noem was dismissed from her position, despite being the enthusiastic figurehead of anti-migrant cruelty Trump definitely wanted in that position. Now, she’s cooling her heels and watching the dust settle on her political hopes as the doesn’t-sound-made-up-at-all “Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas.”

Less than a month later, another head has rolled. This time it’s Pam Bondi, who’s getting fired for failing to do the impossible while still remaining fiercely loyal to the Trump’s lost causes.

In recent weeks, Ms. Bondi tried to shore up her position by moving more aggressively against investigative targets singled out by Mr. Trump, including the former Obama official John O. Brennan and a former White House aide, Cassidy Hutchinson, whom the president has accused of lying about his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, according to officials briefed on the effort.

It is not entirely clear if any specific action or event finally tipped the balance for Mr. Trump, who had been reluctant to fire senior officials to avoid reprising the chaotic turnstile personnel turnover of his first administration.

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But with the dismissal of Ms. Noem and now Ms. Bondi, that might be changing. His calculus appears to have shifted after the quick confirmation of Markwayne Mullin as Ms. Noem’s replacement.

Bondi’s head may have been destined for the chopping block months ago, when Trump (in what appeared to be a personal message accidentally posted on main) berated Bondi for not doing all the impossible stuff he wanted done right now, like engaging in vindictive prosecutions that were (1) obviously vindictive, and (2) didn’t have enough evidence to support the hallucinatory charges dreamed up by Trump and his DOJ enablers.

Nothing has improved since then. Lots of prosecutors have left the DOJ, refusing to engage in Trump’s overt politicization of the department. Others have been dismissed for the same reason. A handful of handpicked prosecutors have been sidelined by judges because they were never formally appointed. And grand juries are frequently refusing to buy what the government’s selling, terminating prosecutions before they can even get off the ground.

Not that we should expect anything better (or more ethical) from her replacement. Todd Blanche is a true Trump loyalist. But he’s taking over a DOJ that’s short on experience, long on MAGA loyalty, and whose reputation has been completely destroyed by this administration and its actions.

The stuff Bondi failed to get done will continue to not happen. Anyone stepping into this position should know it’s only going to be temporary. The president who thinks he’s a king will continue to see courts stifle his worst impulses. Changing the name on the letterhead isn’t suddenly going to make vindictive, politically motivated prosecutions any more legal or feasible.

But I don’t have any sympathy for anyone being shit-canned for failing to satisfy the whims of a megalomaniac who thinks he’s a king, rather than a temporarily elevated politician. They’re far more than merely complicit. They’re fully supportive of destroying America and its institutions to usher in a new age of white Christian nationalism. So, fuck ’em. They got what they deserved.

Filed Under: doj, epstein files, failure, pam bondi, todd blanche, trump administration, vindictive prosecution

On day six of its mission, Artemis II is closing in on the far side of the moon. Meanwhile, the historic journey has not been without fascinating and curious stories, from the images and videos that its four crew members have shared with the world to the inevitable unforeseen events—including a tricky toilet situation.

A few hours before the crew begins its lunar flyby, here’s how things are going on Artemis II.

When Will They Reach the Far Side of the Moon?

While Artemis II won’t actually land on the moon (that won’t happen until Artemis IV), that does not make this mission any less compelling. Once the Artemis II astronauts finish flying over the dark side of the moon, they will have the historic distinction of being the humans who have traveled the farthest from Earth.

They will also test all the systems needed for future lunar missions, validating life support, navigation, spacesuits, communications, and other human operations in deep space.

But when are they supposed to reach this far-off point? First, the Orion capsule reached what is known as the moon’s “sphere of influence” on Sunday night. This is the point where the moon’s gravitational force is stronger than the force of the Earth.

At present, Orion is circling the moon. Once the capsule is on the dark side of the moon, approximately 7,000 kilometers from the surface, communications with Earth will be interrupted. For six hours, they will be able to view the far side of the moon, something no human being has ever seen with their own eyes—not even the astronauts of the Apollo program, as this region of the moon was always too dark or difficult for them to reach.

That six-hour flyby of the dark side of the moon is expected to begin Monday, April 6, at 2:45 pm EDT and 7:45 pm London time.

After that, the capsule will use the moon’s gravity to propel itself back to Earth. Splashdown, when the astronauts reach Earth, is scheduled for April 10 in the Pacific Ocean, not far from the coast of California, the 10th day of the mission.

Remember that you can follow the live broadcast of the Artemis II mission from NASA’s official channels.

What Has Happened so Far?

Since its successful launch on April 1 from Kennedy Space Center, the Artemis II crew has shared several spectacular photos, such as the featured image in this post, which shows mission specialist Christina Koch looking down at Earth through one of Orion’s main cabin windows.

This incredible photo of a Earth, taken on April 2, went viral on social media, referencing the famous “Blue Marble” image captured by the Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972.

View of Earth taken by astronaut Reid Wiseman from the window of the Orion spacecraft after completing the translunar injection maneuver on April 2, 2026.Photograph: Reid Wiseman/NASA/Getty Images

(One word on the arch, though—it reduces the oven mouth width from 16.5 inches to about 13 inches. I learned the hard way one night that many pizza peels will no longer fit, including Gozney’s own large-size models. Make sure you have a peel that’s 12 inches or smaller.)

Also, thanks to the generous ceiling height, the Dome is a more versatile oven than its competitors in that it can be used for cooking meals other than pizzas. Steaks, fish, or other skillet meals are safe not to splatter on the ceiling, and two included meat probes can be connected to show real-time temps on the Gozney’s display. (Among the Dome’s accessories is a mantel designed to extend the cooking surface for things like skillets and dutch ovens, as well as a wood-handled door to enclose the oven for baking.)

King of the Road

Photograph: Kat Merck

While the Gozney isn’t a permanent install, unless you spring for the wheeled stand ($500), you will want a sturdy, semi-permanent space where it can live, as well as moving help. The stainless steel body and 30-millimeter corderite stone weigh a total of 150 pounds in the packaging—instructions recommend four people to lift the box, though my husband and I were able to lift it ourselves onto a Gorilla wagon to carry it to its testing location on our deck.

There are straps on the bottom of the oven for maneuvering, but the Dome really should only be lifted once; you will not be carrying it in and out of the garage like an Ooni. There is a cover for either the oven by itself or on its stand, but like all of the accessories, it’s not included.

Speaking of Ooni: Like the Koda Max, the Dome heavily touts its size as being ideal for cooking “up to two pizzas at once.” However, if you’re buying a dedicated pizza oven, you probably want high heat, and if you want high heat, this requires frequent turning of a pie—usually every 30 seconds—to ensure it cooks evenly. (Gozney turning peel: $80.) Multiple pies in the oven will complicate access, to say nothing of the logistical issues. You will also likely find yourself needing to move the pie to the side farthest away from the flame at times, to avoid charring your cornicione.

The Federal Police in Germany (BKA) has identified two Russian nationals as the leaders of GandCrab and REvil ransomware operations between 2019 and 2021.

According to BKA’s disclosure, 31-year-old Daniil Maksimovich Shchukin and 43-year-old Anatoly Sergeevitsch Kravchuk acted as the heads of the two ransomware groups “from at least the beginning of 2019 until at least July 2021.”

Shchukin hid behind the monikers UNKN/UNKNOWN for years, posting on cybercrime forums and speaking as a representative of the ransomware operation.

The German authorities say that Shchukin and Kravchuk participated in at least 130 extortion cases targeting companies in the country specifically.

Following these attacks, at least 25 victims paid Shchukin and his co-conspirators $2.2 million in ransom, while the total financial damage caused by them is estimated in excess of $40 million.

GandCrab started in early 2018, and its leader at the time decided to retire in June 2019, after claiming to have earned $2 billion from ransom payments. The leader, however, cashed out with $150 million, which they claimed to have invested in legal businesses.

Soon after, a new operation called REvil emerged, following the affiliate model established by GandCrab through advertising and building partnerships with cybercriminals.

REvil, also known as Sodinokibi, was formed from previous GandCrab affiliates and operators who had already learned the successful tactics and started to apply them to their operations.

REvil later added public leak sites and ran data auctions to pressure victims. Notable victims include multiple Texas local governments, computer giant Acer, and the Kaseya supply-chain attack that impacted around 1,500 downstream victims.

Following the massive Kaseya hack, REvil took a two-month break, during which law enforcement breached their servers and started to monitor operations.

Multiple infrastructure disruptions were recorded at the time, and in mid-January 2022, Russia arrested more than a dozen REvil gang members, who were released in 2025 after time served on carding charges.

It is unclear if either Shchukin or Kravchuk joined other ransomware operations following REvil’s demise in 2021.

BKA believes that Shchukin and Kravchuk are now in Russia and asks the public to share any information that could lead to their whereabouts. Relevant entries were also created on the EU’s Most Wanted portal.

The police shared several images, including tattoo photos, to help track down the two threat actors and bring them to justice.

Automated pentesting proves the path exists. BAS proves whether your controls stop it. Most teams run one without the other.

This whitepaper maps six validation surfaces, shows where coverage ends, and provides practitioners with three diagnostic questions for any tool evaluation.

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Tired of taking your action camera on an adventure, only to get home and find out you missed the action with a bad angle? One option is to switch to a 360-degree action cam, so you can capture all of the action and then edit down to just the good stuff later. One of our favorite options, the DJI Osmo 360, is currently available for just $390 on Amazon, a $209 discount from its usual price, and it comes with a selfie stick and an extra battery.

The DJI Osmo 360 achieves its impressive all-around video quality by leveraging a pair of 1/1.1-inch sensors, larger than some other offerings, and by supporting 10-bit color. You can really see that in the camera’s output, with colors that are vivid and bold, to the point that you may need to dial them back a bit in post if you want something more natural. With support for up to 50 frames per second at 8K when recording in 360 degrees, or 120 fps at 4K when shooting with only one sensor, you’ll have plenty of material to work with. In our testing, it ran for just shy of two hours at 30 fps, which is also around the time the internal storage had filled up anyway.

If you plan on catching any serious discussions with your Osmo 360, you’ll be pleased to know it connects directly to DJI’s line of wireless lavalier microphones, including the excellent and frequently discounted DJI Mic 2 and Mic Mini. If you want to mount it to something other than the included 1.2-meter selfie stick, it has both DJI’s magnetic attachment system and a more traditional ¼”-20 tripod mount. The DJI Mimo app lets you control the camera and adjust any settings, and there’s even a simple editor for on-the-fly production. For desktop users, DJI Studio has even more in-depth settings and editing options, in case you don’t want to pay for Premiere.

The DJI Osmo 360 is one of our favorite action cameras, and is particularly appealing at the discounted price point, but make sure to check out our full review for more info, or head over to our full roundup to see what else is available.