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

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

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

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

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

A siren.

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

ALARM

Hurdle Word 2 hint

Bird-related.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for January 1, 2026 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

AVIAN

Hurdle Word 3 hint

Our body has many of them.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for January 1 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for January 1, 2026 Hurdle Word 3 answer

ORGAN

Hurdle Word 4 hint

A transmitter.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for January 1 Hurdle Word 4 answer

RADIO

Final Hurdle hint

An excerpt.

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

BLURB

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

SAVE $50: As of Dec. 31, get the Google Pixel Watch 4 for $349.99 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $399.99. That's a discount of 13%.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Google Pixel Watch 4 $349.99 at Amazon
$399.99 Save $50   Get Deal

If you're looking to keep your New Year's resolutions revolving around self-improvement, a smartwatch is a helpful way to stay on track. The Google Pixel Watch lineup has just what Android users need to stay on top of their game, whether that means fitness tracking, improving communication and scheduling, or being more available. And you can get one now for a great price at Amazon.

As of Dec. 31, get the Google Pixel Watch 4 for $349.99 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $399.99. That's $50 off and a discount of 13%.

SEE ALSO: The best deals for anyone looking to cut their screen time in 2026

If you're new to the Pixel Watch lineup, you'll be delighted by the features on offer here. It has a screen crafted from domed glass with adaptive brightness, so you don't have to fiddle with it yourself. Plus, it has a robust haptic engine and uses a loudspeaker, so you won't miss notifications.

Couple all of that with AI functionality with Gemini right at your wrist, as well as all the usual smartwatch features you'd expect from this kind of device, and you've got a great option that won't set you back as much as an Apple Watch. Kick off the new year right and get more done while this sale is still going on.

Recently my PC just didn’t feel as quick as it used to. Apps seemed slower to launch and file operations felt laggy. I started digging with the usual tools I trust, like Task Manager, Resource Monitor, and CrystalDiskInfo, and everything kept pointing back to storage. At first, my assumption was the obvious one. I figured the SSD might be wearing out or starting to fail, which is where most people’s minds go when a system suddenly feels sluggish.

TL;DR: The 1min.AI lifetime subscription bundles AI writing and image tools into one platform and is discounted to $24.97 (reg. $234) through Jan. 31 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

Opens in a new window Credit: 1minAI 1min.AI: Lifetime Subscription $24.97
$234 Save $209.03   Get Deal

Staring at a blank screen and a blinking cursor can be one of the most time-consuming parts of creating content. AI writing tools won’t replace human creativity, but they can help get your creative juices flowing faster. For a limited time, the 1min.AI Lifetime Subscription is on sale for $24.97 (reg. $234), through Jan. 31 at 11:59 p.m. PT, and is at its lowest price to date.

1min.AI provides users with access to a variety of AI models through a single dashboard. Its writing tools include an article generator, rewriter, paraphraser, and summarizer, which are terrific features designed to help users get through writer’s block. Instead of starting from scratch, you can generate a rough draft, rewrite old copy, or tighten up phrasing before editing on your own.

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Beyond text, the platform also includes image-generation and editing tools that can help pair written content with visuals for blogs, social posts, or presentations. These features aren’t meant to replace design software, but again, they can help speed up creative tasks if you’re short on time or have a lot to get done. Think of 1min.AI as a creative assistant, not a permanent substitute.

The lifetime plan includes 1,000,000 credits per month, plus the option to earn up to 450,000 additional free credits monthly, which never expire. That credit pool translates into frequent use across writing, image creation, and other AI-assisted tasks without worrying about overages.

If you’ve been considering adding AI tools to your day-to-day work — whether it’s for content creation, brainstorming, or light visual work — this software offers a convenient way to finish your creative tasks.

Get your lifetime subscription to 1min.AI while it’s price-dropped to $24.97 (reg. $234), through Jan. 31 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

In case you haven't heard, we are smack in the middle of a massive RAM crisis. DDR5 prices have gone through the roof, and kept going until it reached orbit. Since DDR5 is in so many devices, this affects everything, including the Raspberry Pi 5.

I never used to give much thought to the peripherals I spent my money on. That led to some impulse buys, which, unsurprisingly, ended in disaster.

After a year like 2025, it's easy for anyone who inhales large quantities of online news to be downhearted.

This was a year that began with a terrifying salute from the world's richest man. His government IT department, known as DOGE, swung a wrecking ball at the agency that oversees U.S. overseas aid; many experts say widespread disease and famine will be the result. There was already a famine in Gaza, ceasefire notwithstanding. Ukraine remains at war. Climate change is still a thing, 2025 was one of the hottest years on record, and the tech industry's obsession with AI data centers is making it worse.

But in many cases, this wasn't the full picture. Elon Musk, faced with multiple protests and a Tesla boycott, left his controversial government role in May to spend more time with his tech companies. DOGE died, unlamented. In December, the World Health Organization reported fragile gains in feeding Gaza that inched the region out of its famine. Ukraine remains undefeated while peace efforts continue. Renewable energy and conservation efforts had a banner year too. And attempts to rein in AI's worst excesses scored notable wins in 2025.

All in all, there are plenty of reasons for us to be seriously concerned about the world that 2025 left us — but also plenty of reasons to not get depressed. Here are 25 stories that might help us welcome 2026 on more hopeful notes.

1. China's carbon emissions dropped, for real.

This was the year China really started to clean up — and we're not just talking about DeepSeek, a surprisingly powerful and energy-efficient AI model coming out of nowhere in January to show up its U.S. rivals.

"Electricity supply from new wind, solar and nuclear capacity was enough to cut coal-power output even as demand surged," energy analyst Lauri Myllyvirta noted, in a study finding China's carbon dioxide emissions dropped for the first time under growth conditions. (Previous CO2 drops happened during economic downturns and the COVID pandemic.)

China, currently the world's largest emitter of CO2, also pledged to increase its wind and solar capacity another six times by 2035. The country is already responsible for 74 percent of all large-scale solar and wind power construction.

2. EV sales are surging everywhere.

You might have expected that the Tesla boycott, along with the Trump administration's decision to kill a popular electric vehicle tax credit, to have a negative impact on sales of these more eco-friendly cars. But that's not what happened.

In September, the number of EVs sold around the world broke through the 2 million-a-month mark for the first time ever, according to analysts at Rho Motion. That's a 24 percent rise year on year, and a 20 percent increase month on month. EVs are hottest in Europe and China, and adoption is slowest in the U.S. But the biggest surprise is the "rest of the world" category, where EV sales are up a stunning 48 percent in 2025 so far.

3. Solar power is so much cheaper than coal ...

This was the year that renewable energy produced more electricity than the world's dirtiest energy, coal, for the first time, according to a report from the energy analysts at Ember. Coal simply no longer makes economic sense. For the price of a gigawatt of coal power, one 2025 analysis found, you can now get two gigawatts of solar power.

That's bringing about a solar sea change in India, one of the last few coal powerhouses in the world. The subcontinent saw coal drop below 50 percent of all energy capacity in 2025 for the first time, and added more than 30 gigawatts of solar and wind energy (enough to power nearly 18 million homes). And that's just the start — Indian renewable capacity is expected to increase by 50 gigawatts a year in 2026 and beyond.

4. ... that countries are starting to give it away for free.

Another former coal powerhouse, Australia, notched up an impressive global first for solar power in 2025. Call it a green energy dividend: The country has so much capacity it will start offering three free hours of electricity per day to households regardless of whether they have solar panels or not. Renewables, in other words, are starting to achieve what nuclear power could not — becoming "too cheap to meter."

SEE ALSO: The orb-like Ocean-2 turns wave power into renewable energy 5. The energy storage industry is crushing it.

All that increased renewable capacity matters less if you can't store it in large batteries for rainy (or wind-free) days. Luckily, grid storage is on a roll right now around the world — even in the U.S., where tax credits were phased out for renewables in Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill," but not for the batteries that are needed alongside them.

Storage companies had set an eye-popping target back in 2017: 35 gigawatts of batteries hooked up to the U.S. power grid by 2025. At the time, that represented an eightfold increase in capacity. In the end, they didn't so much as reach the target as blast through it; the figure stood at 40 gigawatts and rising in the third quarter of 2025.

6. The world agreed to protect 30% of international waters.

The High Seas Treaty sounded pretty cool when the United Nations drew it up in 2023. It would be like a Paris Agreement for the oceans, a framework for making 30 percent of international waters — the areas beyond any country's control — into "Marine Protected Areas" (MPAs) with limits on shipping, fishing, and other destructive human activities.

There was a catch: 60 countries' legislatures would have to ratify the treaty first. Experts expected this process to take five years or longer. In fact, the 60th ratification came in September. The next step is to decide on the MPA locations, but some countries aren't waiting: 2025 saw the creation of the world's largest MPA so far.

7. Dozens of endangered species came back from the brink.

Congratulations to the green sea turtle, which is off the endangered species list as of 2025 thanks to a population rebound. It joins other conservation success stories such as the peregrine falcon, the American alligator, several species of rhino, the okapi, the Cape vulture, and the tiny kangaroo-like brush-tailed bettong.

8. The ozone hole continues to heal.

And if humanity required evidence that international treaties really can fix the planet, the incredible shrinking ozone hole was on hand to remind us. Scientists announced in December that the gap in the Earth's protective radiation shield had been its smallest in six years. This continues a long-term trend where the annually variable hole is closing up — entirely the result of the Montreal Protocol.

9. The AI bubble didn't burst — yet.

Three years after OpenAI first shook the world with ChatGPT, there seems to be a sudden and near-unanimous agreement that investors have sunk too much money into the industry; even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman now says it's a bubble. That's why an unusual amount of eyes were on NVIDIA earnings in November; the chip maker had become a $4 trillion company on the back of special AI-friendly GPU chip sales, and its success is pretty much keeping the entire U.S. economy out of recession.

Luckily for anyone with a stock-based retirement plan, NVIDIA did well enough to avoid a 1929-style stock market meltdown. And in a "best of both worlds" result, NVIDIA stock has been on a gentle downward trend since those earnings, which suggests that the air might be leaking out of this particular tech bubble in much the same way it did with the dotcom bubble in 2000 and 2001: Slowly enough for a smooth landing.

10. AI companies ditched some of their most ill-advised ideas ...

So long, Character.AI chatbots for teens. Farewell, weird AI-generated profiles on Meta. Don't come back any time soon, ChatGPT-powered teddy bear.

11. ... and crumbled when it came to creators.

In 2025, the scramble to feed AI models with the work of creatives without paying them led to one of the largest copyright payouts in history. Warned by a judge that it was faced with a much larger fine if it went to trial, Anthropic agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit from writers for a total of $1.5 billion — or $3,000 per book in an online archive that was used to build its Large Language Models without the writers' consent.

Not only did that set a precedent for future lawsuits, "it proves AI companies can afford to compensate copyright owners," noted the Copyright Alliance. Indeed, Anthropic raised another $13 billion at the same time as the settlement. Another case is in the works that may yet set a precedent for visual artists: Midjourney, which is valued at $10 billion and is also facing a massive copyright lawsuit from the world's major visual entertainment companies.

SEE ALSO: The Mashable 101: The creators shaping the internet in 2025 12. Some creators got Universal Basic Income for life.

AI may not in fact be coming for all our jobs, but it's certainly coming for our artists — witness the terrifying rise in AI slop in 2025, fed on the hard work of artists who detest it. So it's high time at least one country started paying its human artists simply to exist. That country is Ireland, which announced it would turn its Basic Income for Artists (BIA) pilot scheme into a permanent program, starting in 2026. The BIA pays 2,000 artists around $1,500 a month.

13. Kids are getting more protections from ill effects of tech.

Like it or not, there's a growing body of evidence showing that social media and smartphones are risky for our children, especially status-sensitive teens. Social media in particular can lead to depression, while being chronically online in general can be isolating, so there are plenty of reasons to want to get your kids off their phones in 2026.

But 2025 was a year in which more companies and political leaders started to take the risk seriously. Roblox, hit with a wave of lawsuits over a game platform that has attracted half of all kids in the U.S., became the first to use facial recognition age checks that aim to prevent users under 13 from chatting outside game-based "experiences"; this will become mandatory in January. Meanwhile, Australia went whole hog, banning all social media accounts for kids under 16, and an increasing number of states in the U.S. are enacting bans on smartphones in schools.

14. We figured out how to regenerate heart cells ...

Heart disease remains the planet's biggest killer in 2025, but there's plenty of promising research that could bring heart attack numbers down. Most crucially, we have figured out how to do something the body can't — regenerate damaged muscle tissue in the heart. In November, Mayo Clinic researchers revealed they'd done that in the lab for the first time, using reprogrammed stem cells.

15. ... and pioneered new ways to fight cancer.

What some experts are calling a "golden age of cancer treatment" continued in 2025, becoming more personalized and less invasive at its cutting edge. Top of the promising list: An mRNA cancer vaccine, developed at the University of Florida (despite U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s decision to defund such research) that revs up the immune system's ability to attack cancer cells.

Meanwhile, gene therapy treatment for aggressive leukemia has shown astonishing success, and we're figuring out how to destroy some tumors using nothing but sound waves.

16. There are blood tests for Alzheimer's disease now.

In the U.S., the FDA cleared the way for two powerful new diagnostic tools that can detect Alzheimer's in elderly brains via a simple blood test. That means treatment can start earlier on one of the world's biggest killers — one that has likely gone under-reported for years.

17. Surgeons can operate remotely around the world.

In June 2025, a surgeon named Dr. Vip Patel removed a patient's prostate. Nothing unusual about that — except the fact that Patel was in Florida, and his patient was 7,000 miles away in Angola. The operation was the first transcontinental robotic telesurgery approved by the FDA.

The surgery was "a critical step toward delivering high-quality surgical care to remote, rural and underserved communities that have long lacked access," Patel noted. "This is more than innovation — it’s a humanitarian leap forward."

18. CRISPR saved a child's life for the first time.

We've known for years that the gene-editing technology known as CRISPR has the potential to revolutionize medicine. But 2025 was when the rubber met the road — specifically at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where a six month-old with a rare genetic disorder received the first dose of his bespoke treatment, and is now thriving.

19. Eye implants let the elderly see again.

In a landmark study published this year, 38 people with age-related macular degeneration — the leading cause of blindness in the over-50s — had a chip inserted into their eyes. Combined with special glasses, the technology lets a majority of them see again — creating hope for an estimated 5 million people around the world.

20. Love still wins.

The U.S. Supreme Court may have made a series of questionable decisions in 2025, many of them via its creepily-named "shadow docket." But its conservative majority also refused to revisit its decade-old decision that made same-sex marriage the law of the land. Meanwhile, Thailand became the first country in south east Asia to grant the same rights to its LGBTQ citizens — and celebrated with a mass wedding.

SEE ALSO: 9 LGBTQ creators discuss not backing down from Pride 21. The National Guard is going home.

The U.S. president's ability to deploy the National Guard at will, a power that was much feared at the start of 2025, has been checked. On the last day of the year, the Trump administration finally stopped fighting a court order to return control of troops in Los Angeles to the governor of California. A week earlier, the Supreme Court ruled against a deployment in Chicago. Most of the troops in Portland are returning home.

They remain in Washington, D.C. for now, as the administration appeals legal orders from a judge there, and have just arrived on the streets of New Orleans — though they won't be assisting any immigration crackdowns.

22. Millennials and Gen Z are changing the face of politics.

Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old incoming mayor of New York City, owes his victory to a wave of younger voters which helped drive turnout to its highest level in decades. But he wasn't the only one. Political observers this year noted greater participation on both sides of the aisle from younger voters and younger candidates — a welcome change for a country that is about to have its second octogenarian president. Some are even talking of an alliance between Millennial and Gen Z voters.

23. There's a surprising amount of policy agreement in America.

Mamdani and Trump's Oval Office meeting may have produced the most heartening moment of 2025: Two bitter enemies, who'd previously called each other "communist" and "fascist" respectively, united on the key issue of affordability. There's strong support across both red and blue states for reducing medical debt, leaving Obamacare subsidies in place, legalizing cannabis at the federal level, creating more affordable housing and improving public transit.

24. Bipartisanship still exists ...

We won't sugarcoat it: For anyone hoping that Congress would provide a check on that almost-octogenarian authoritarian, 2025 was a mostly terrible year. But legislators did have a few moments of bipartisan agreement — most notably on the release of the Epstein files, which Trump opposed until it was clear the bill would pass with veto-proof majorities.

25. ... and a bipartisan majority wants to regulate AI.

Congress's other big bipartisan effort this year? Removing a moratorium on state-level regulation of AI companies from that Big Beautiful Bill, which went down 99-1 in the Senate. Trump tried to enact the moratorium by executive order, but he's on shaky legal ground doing so — and a coalition of Republican and Democratic state attorneys general strongly oppose it. Given the pressing need for more regulation and widespread public distrust of AI, 2026 may be the year humanity fights back.

There are tons of browsers out there. A lot. And really, I could go for any. I've thought about my options in the past and gauged whether any other browser is a better fit for me.

Our lives revolve around the internet, but online security is often not up to the job of protecting our sensitive files and data from prying eyes or malicious actors. This is how I ensure my data is safe on the internet.

So you bought your first mechanical keyboard, started modding it, and realized that you'd like to take the next step of your mechanical keyboard journey: building your own custom keyboard.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is spending millions to turn the chronically online into deportation agents, according to internal communications reviewed exclusively by the Washington Post.

The agency's $100 million marketing strategy, detailed in a 30-page document distributed to ICE officials this summer, includes a massive push to flood the digital market with geo-targeted and content-based advertising. The plan even names specific platforms, like Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Substack, and Rumble, a popular "alt-tech" video platform frequented by conservatives.

SEE ALSO: Trump's golden phone is delayed. Again.

Recruitment advertisements under this plan would specifically target users whose devices ping near military bases, NASCAR races, UFC fights, college campuses, or gun and trade shows, as well as listeners of "patriotic" podcasts, country music, fitness, and true crime. A significant portion of the strategy hinges on getting influencers, commentators, and live streamers on board to boost ICE's message, with $8 million allocated to a new influencer program, Washington Post reported. Online creators accepted into the program would receive around $1,500 for joining.

While analysis shows the agency has yet to reach its $100 million advertising goal, many have already noticed the aggressive push into online and entertainment spaces, including television and streaming ads, social media campaigns, and celebrity endorsements. In October, many Spotify users boycotted the app for hosting ICE recruitment slogans, as well as CEO Daniel Ek's financial ties to companies developing AI technology for the military.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told the Washington Post that the agency was “thrilled" about coverage of the "wildly successful ICE recruitment campaign, which is under budget and ahead of schedule.” She did not dispute the information presented in the document.

Officials and citizens have raised alarm bells over ICE's traditional advertising methods, too, including public campaigns and propaganda efforts that many say are stoking unnecessary fear within communities.

Under the Trump administration, federal immigration officials have pivoted to extreme, high-risk tactics to meet deportation aims set by the president, including periodically violent operations in areas far from the border. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino has said the unprecedented actions of ICE agents are a new "turn and burn" strategy that sees agents deploying tactics normally reserved for major offenders on families and individuals who haven't been suspected of violent offenses.

ICE is reportedly set to sign on tens of thousands of new agents in the coming months as a result of its "surge hiring marketing strategy," incentivized by major signing bonuses and inflated salaries allocated from Trump's Big Beautiful Bill. The agency has also reduced requirements for new hires. DHS reported that it received over 200,000 job applications in the last five months alone, with McLaughlin stating the vast majority are former law enforcement.

Former officials say the scale of raids and countrywide recruitment is unlike anything the country has seen before, according to a report in the Idaho Statesman.

In a market increasingly dominated by crossovers and electrified powertrains, affordable all-wheel-drive sports sedans are becoming rare, but one Japanese model still delivers serious performance without a supercar price tag. Its blend of spirited acceleration, sharp handling, and everyday usability makes it easy to overlook, especially alongside flashier rivals, but that would be a mistake for drivers who value grip and engagement in all weather.

Installing Windows used to be a simple process back in the days of Windows 7 and 8, but Microsoft has made it a terrible experience in Windows 11. Linux, which had a reputation for being hard to install, takes 5 minutes to set up and install. Windows 11 takes ten times as long and forces you to jump through countless hoops just to collect more data.

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Setting intentions for 2026 looks different for everyone. Some people have fitness-focused goals while others are vowing to head into the kitchen more often to become the best home chef in the neighborhood. If you're thinking more of the self-care route, we're all in.

Working on self-improvement is always a great idea, and it can take on so many different paths. From spending more time with your e-reader instead of scrolling to making time each week for an LED face mask session, your self-care intentions can encompass anything that makes you feel good.

Health and wellness usually take center stage when we talk about self-care, but we've included tons of options in this list of the best self-care deals. Gift any of these to yourself ahead of 2026, and you'll be well on your way to becoming the best version possible.

SEE ALSO: The best deals for anyone looking to cut their screen time in 2026 Best beauty deal Opens in a new window Credit: Solawave BOGO sale at Solawave   Get Deal Why we like it

If you didn't get the Solawave skincare device you were hoping to get for Christmas, here's your chance to take matters into your own hands. The Solawave BOGO New Year sale is live, and that means you can buy one Solawave product and get another for free. You can even mix and match with this sale, getting the cheaper item for free. That means you can snag the viral 4-in-1- Skincare Wand for free when buying the Wrinkle Retreat Pro Mask. Or you can go with two Skincare Wands and generously gift one to a friend in 2026.

Best deal for reducing screen time Opens in a new window Credit: Brick The Brick $53.10 at Brick
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Does your 2026 New Year's Resolution involve reducing your time spent scrolling mindlessly? Enter The Brick. This tiny gadget has proven to be a surefire way to finally (finally) get us to stop spending so much time staring at something that doesn't really produce joy. Mashable Shopping Reporter Samantha Mangino tested out The Brick and wrote, "...the Brick is even great when I'm not trying to focus on something else. With all my most distracting apps blocked, I'm finally bored again. When I have some downtime, rather than defaulting to scrolling, it motivates me to spend more time reading or finally tackle those errands I've been putting off." In total, it cut Mangino's screen time in half.

As a New Year's treat, The Brick is 15% off, and one of the coolest parts about The Brick is that it works on multiple devices, so you can share one Brick with other people in your household.

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Sleep is one of the most important elements of health, both physical and mental. If you struggle to sleep because of a dog who runs around at midnight or a snoring partner, sleep earbuds can help. The Soundcore Sleep A30 earbuds are designed to be comfortable enough to wear all night, even for side sleepers. They're the first sleep earbuds to come with noise cancellation.

In Mashable's review of the Sleep A30 earbuds, Lead Shopping Reporter Bethany Allard noted these are the sleep earbuds you want if you're looking for a pair that sets the bar for all other sleep earbuds. Thanks to today's sale at Amazon, the Soundcore Sleep A30 earbuds are down to $199.99.

Best air quality monitor deal Opens in a new window Credit: Airthings Airthings 2930 Wave Plus $199.99 at Amazon
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If you're looking for an all-encompassing way to take care of yourself, it's time to consider your indoor air quality. Especially in the winter, when we have windows closed, levels of CO2 can easily creep into unhealthy levels. Hanging out in high CO2 environments can lead to drowsiness, headaches, and an increased heart rate, according to the CDC.

The Airthings 2930 Wave Plus is an easy way to keep tabs on your indoor air quality through the app. If the CO2 reading shows a high number, all you'll need to do is open a few windows to get some fresh air inside. The Airthings also lets you know how your humidity and temperature are doing. If you live in an area that's prone to high levels of radon, this compact monitor will also give you useful radon readings.

BookTok still runs the publishing industry.

Many of the books you might hear about most on TikTok aren't exactly recent. Readers are drawn into the community by watching re-reads of Harry Potter or experiencing the thrill of first reads of A Court of Thorns and Roses, the gripping young adult fantasy series by Sarah J. Maas. However, when a new novel is released, BookTok can take on a contemporary feel.

Here are the top 16 books published in 2025 so far, according to BookTok, organized alphabetically by author. How many have you read?

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You cannot go on BookTok without hearing about Alchemised by SenLinYu, the Harry Potter fanfic originally titled Manacled, which has been turned into a dark fantasy novel. What started as a wildly popular romance about Harry Potter characters Draco and Hermione became a story about Helena, a former alchemist who lost her memories after a war. It immediately became a New York Times bestseller after its September 2025 release.

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David Szalay's newest release, Flesh, was already pretty popular before it won the 2025 Booker Prize — it was Dua Lipa's book club pick in October. Since then, it's been almost impossible to find on the shelves. It's the story of trauma, class, and identity told through István, a man who grew up in Hungary and found himself navigating London's elite circles.

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While this novel was published in 1995, we would be remiss to not include it on this list. It didn't gain significant popularity until 2025, largely thanks to TikTok's influence on the book publishing world. The novel follows the story of a girl confined to a cage with 39 other women in an underground bunker. Men keep them caged until all of the men disappear and the women escape into a nameless, largely population-less world. It became a bestseller this year, according to The Guardian.

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If you're in the mood to cry, I'd recommend Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. It's a historical fiction novel about family, identity, and love that follows Joan Goodwin, one of the first women to train as a NASA astronaut in the Space Shuttle program of the 1980s.

The Devils by Joe Abercrombie Opens in a new window Credit: Barnes & Noble The Devils by Joe Abercrombie $26.99 at Barnes & Noble
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Joe Abercrombie, the author behind The First Law and The Age of Madness trilogies, among other fantasy novels, brought something new to life with The Devils.

Elves — a far cry from the kind you might remember from The Lord Of The Rings — threaten to eat all of the flesh in Europe, so a special team of monsters is recruited to save the world.

Oathbound by Tracy Deonn Opens in a new window Credit: Barnes & Noble Oathbound by Tracy Deonn $19.79 at Barnes & Noble
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If you're on BookTok at all, you know about the Legendborn series. It's the third book in the series that combines the legend of King Arthur, secret societies, and the mythos of the American South.

Hungerstone by Kat Dunn Opens in a new window Credit: Barnes & Noble Hungerstone by Kat Dunn $28 at Barnes & Noble
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This novel is a feminist retelling of Carmilla, the 1872 Gothic novella that inspired Dracula.

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry Opens in a new window Credit: Barnes & Noble Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry $24 at Barnes & Noble
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The newest novel from the queen of contemporary romantic fiction features her classic blend of depth, wit, and humor. You might see it referred to as BGGL on TikTok.

Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney Opens in a new window Credit: Barnes & Noble Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney $25.99 at Barnes & Noble
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This novel follows Grady Green, whose wife goes missing. He ends up moving to a small Scottish island, as one does following the disappearance of their wife, and sees someone who looks remarkably similar to his missing partner.

Deep End by Ali Hazelwood Opens in a new window Credit: Barnes & Noble Deep End by Ali Hazelwood $17 at Barnes & Noble
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As Ali Hazelwood is known to do, she has written another of her classic romantic comedies, featuring two leads who might be too smart for their own good.

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix Opens in a new window Credit: Barnes & Noble Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix $30 at Barnes & Noble
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With Hendrix's classic mix of dark humor and supernatural chaos, this book follows a group of teens at a home for pregnant girls as witchcraft enters the fold.

Wild Side by Elsie Silver Opens in a new window Credit: Barnes & Noble Wild Side by Elsie Silver $15.99 at Barnes & Noble
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This small-town, western, enemy-to-lovers romance features two people who hate each other and get married just to take custody of a nephew.

The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar Opens in a new window Credit: Barnes & Noble The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar $24.99 at Barnes & Noble
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Amal El-Mohtar is one of the bestselling authors of This is How You Lose the Time War, which sailed to the top of bestseller lists and TikTok For You Pages. This novel, at just under 150 pages, follows two sisters who cannot be apart.

Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor Opens in a new window Credit: Barnes & Noble Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor $25 at Barnes & Noble
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This novel follows a disabled Nigerian American woman who writes a successful sci-fi novel and then must deal with the consequences of her newfound fame.

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins Opens in a new window Credit: Barnes & Noble Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins $22.39 at Barnes & Noble
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For anyone who loves a book that you can binge, it should come as no surprise that BookTok is obsessed with the newest addition to The Hunger Games. This novel, a prequel to the original trilogy, follows Haymitch during the 50th Hunger Games.

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros Opens in a new window Credit: Barnes & Noble Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros $26.99 at Barnes & Noble
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The highly anticipated third book of Yarros' adult romantic fantasy series, the Empyrean series, after Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, came out at the beginning of the year and set BookTok up for some spicy conversations. Dragons. Romance. Rebellion. It's got it all.

SAVE 55%: As of Dec. 31, the Shark AV2501S AI Ultra robot vacuum is on sale for $249.99, down from $549.99. That's a 55% discount or $300 in savings.

Shark AV2501S AI Ultra $249.99 at Amazon
$549.99 Save $300   Get Deal at Amazon Get Deal at Walmart

If your 2026 goal involves a deep clean, you’re probably already dreading the manual labor. While you can't exactly outsource the closet decluttering to an algorithm, you can at least stop pushing a vacuum around every day.

SEE ALSO: I found the best robot vacuums for every floor, budget, and level of laziness (after testing 30+ models)

As of Dec. 31, the Shark AI Ultra Robot Vacuum (AV2501S) is on sale for $249.99, down from $549.99, at Amazon. That's a 55% discount or a $300 price cut. It's also a pretty good deal for a robot vacuum with a self-empty base (usually these go for $400+).

This vacuum uses Matrix Clean Navigation to scrub the floor in a precise grid pattern. It takes multiple passes over the same spots to ensure no pet hair survives the trip. The 360-degree LiDAR vision allows the robot to map your home and dodge obstacles in total darkness.

The best feature for the lazy (or the busy) is the bagless, self-emptying base. After every run, the robot dumps its own bin into a storage unit that holds up to 30 days of debris. The base also uses HEPA filtration to trap 99.97 percent of dust and allergens. It's an easy way to improve your air quality without actually doing any work.

Many PC builders have one or two components they don’t like buying or recommending. I’ve got quite a few of them, and there’s a good chance you’ll agree with me once you hear why.

The best deals for watching 'Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve' without cable: Watch live for free YouTube TV free 2-day trial, then $72.99 per month for 3 months (save $30) Get Deal Watch live for free Fubo TV Pro Plan free 7-day trial, then $48.99 for your first month (save $25) Get Deal Watch live for free Hulu + Live TV free 3-day trial Get Deal Watch the next day Hulu with ads annual subscription $119.99 per year (save 16%) Get Deal

Ringing in the new year from your couch this year? You certainly aren't alone — especially with the all-star lineup of performers from Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve on hand to assist in the countdown to midnight.

The party is bigger than ever this year, as the New Year's Rockin' Eve special will be broadcast from multiple cities and time zones. Special co-hosts from beyond New York City and 42 different performers will join the festivities as we ring in 2026. Here's everything to know about Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2026 (a mouthful, I know) — including how to watch it with or without cable.

What time does the New Year's Rockin' Eve special start?

The annual New Year's Rockin' Eve special kicks off at 8 p.m. ET on Dec. 31 and is scheduled to go until 4 a.m. ET on New Year's Day. This marks the longest broadcast in the show's history.

Who is hosting and performing?

Ryan Seacrest is returning to host Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve for the 21st year in a row. Rita Ora will be joining him as co-host for the third time.

Additionally, Chance the Rapper will host the first-ever Central Time Zone countdown from Chicago, while four-time Super Bowl champion Rob Gronkowski will team up with Dancing with the Stars host Julianne Hough for the broadcast in Las Vegas, and singer-songwriter Roselyn Sánchez will host from Puerto Rico.

As for performers, the lineup is stacked. Diana Ross will headline the New York City celebration with a medley of hits from her iconic catalog. Other Times Square performers include Maren Morris, Little Big Town, Ciara, and LE SSERAFIM.

Other musical acts of the night include:

• Mariah Carey

• 50 Cent

• Demi Lovato

• Post Malone

• Chappell Roan

• Daddy Yankee

• KPop Demon Hunters: The Singing Voices of HUNTR/X - EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and REI AMI

• Chance the Rapper

• Lil Jon

• New Kids on the Block

• 4 Non Blondes

• 6lack

• AJR

• BigXthaPlug

• DJ Cassidy’s Pass the Mic Live! Starring Busta Rhymes, T.I., and Wyclef Jean

• Filmore

• Goo Goo Dolls

• Jess Glynne

• Jessie Murph

• Jordan Davis

• Leon Thomas

• Madison Beer

• OneRepublic

• Pitbull

• Rick Springfield

• Russell Dickerson

• The All-American Rejects

• Tucker Wetmore

• Zara Larsson

How to watch Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve special live

For those with cable or over-the-air TV, you can tune your TV to your local ABC station or watch online via ABC.com or the ABC app by logging in through your pay TV service provider.

No cable access? Things get a bit more complicated. Your best (and easiest) option is to snag a digital antenna and get free access to local networks (if you live relatively close to broadcast towers). You also have the option of signing up for a live TV streaming service to catch the festivities live. These services essentially act as cable alternatives, allowing you live access to a well-rounded channel selection via your internet connection (rather than a cable connection). They're contract-free and often offer trials to test them out. That means you could very well watch Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2026 live for free, then cancel before being charged. We've rounded up the best of those live TV options (including free trials) below.

The best live TV streaming services (cable alternatives)

If you prefer a cable alternative, which will give you access to your local ABC station as well as hundreds of other live channels, there are a few live TV streaming services we recommend. And many of them offer free trials and introductory pricing. Here are a couple of options to choose from.

Watch for free: YouTube TV Opens in a new window Credit: YouTube YouTube TV 2-day free trial, then $72.99/mo for your first 3 months (save $30) Get Deal

YouTube TV's base plan includes over 100 live channels, including your local ABC network. You'll also get unlimited DVR space, three simultaneous streams, and up to six individual accounts with personalized recommendations. Currently, the streaming service is only offering a two-day free trial, but fortunately, that's all you really need to tune into the New Year's Eve broadcast live. Then, your first three months will cost $72.99 per month instead of the usual $82.99 per month. Be sure to cancel before your two-day trial is up if you want to avoid that charge.

Watch for free: FuboTV Opens in a new window Credit: FuboTV FuboTV free 7-day trial, $48.99 for your first month Get Deal

FuboTV offers seven-day trials to newbies, giving you the ability to watch the Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve broadcast on your local ABC station for free. You'll get access to over 200 other networks, as well as unlimited cloud DVR, and up to 10 different screens. After your trial, the cost for your first month is $48.99 ($73.99 per month thereafter). Be sure to cancel before the trial ends to avoid charges.

Watch for free: Hulu + Live TV Opens in a new window Credit: Hulu + Live TV Hulu + Live TV free 3-day trial, then $89.99/month Get Deal

Hulu + Live TV is expensive at $89.99 per month, but it does come with a free three-day trial, giving you the ability to watch Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve for free. You also get a lot for your money, should you choose to keep it after your trial. Beyond the live TV aspect, you'll also get access to the full Hulu library, Disney+ (With Ads), and ESPN Select.

Most affordable long-term: Sling TV (only for select areas) Opens in a new window Credit: Sling Sling Orange + Blue package $33.99 for your first month Get Deal

Sling's a la carte setup and affordable pricing make it a huge competitor in the live TV streaming market. You can pick your package and channels depending on what you actually want to watch. In order to watch the New Year's Rockin' Eve special, you'll need access to ABC, which is included in Sling's Blue base package. Unfortunately, since ABC is a local network, it's only available in some local markets. Check to see if your local market includes ABC before you pull the trigger — Chicago, Fresno, Houston, Los Angeles, and more are included. Typically, Sling's base package costs $50.99 per month, but you can get the Orange + Blue bundle for just $33 for your first month and save.

Watch it the next day on Hulu

If, for whatever reason, you want to tune into the New Year's Rockin' Eve broadcast the day after it airs, you have the ability to do so on Hulu. Hulu still offers new and eligible returning subscribers a free 30-day trial. If you don't qualify for the trial period, you can also score a discount by opting for an annual subscription (save 16%) or a Disney+ bundle (save 45%).

Tired of using many different commands, each with dozens of flags, to transform text? Meet sttr, a command-line tool that can replace your whole text processing toolbox. Let’s look at why this tool is making the "old way" of text processing look like hard labor.

SAVE $150.04: As of Dec. 31, get the Dyson Ball Animal 3 vacuum for $299.95, down from its usual price of $449.99 at Amazon. That's a discount of 33%.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Dyson Ball Animal 3 vacuum $299.95 at Amazon
$449.99 Save $150.04   Get Deal

If one of your New Year's resolutions includes keeping a cleaner house or doing a big purge, a great vacuum is a must-have. You don't want to clean your place up only to have dirt and debris everywhere left over after your hard work. If you're ready to pick one up, Amazon has you covered these last moments of 2025 with a deal on a vacuum that can help you power through all your cleaning tasks for next year.

As of Dec. 31, get the Dyson Ball Animal 3 vacuum for $299.95, down from its usual price of $449.99 at Amazon. That's $150.04 off and a discount of 33%.

SEE ALSO: I found the best robot vacuums for every floor, budget, and level of laziness (after testing 30+ models)

This is a satisfyingly powerful upright vacuum that can handle just about any mess you throw at it. Whether you need help cutting through stubborn dirt, pet hair, or other nastiness in your carpet, it's built to tackle it all. Its suction comes from Dyson's radial root cyclone technology, which works in tandem with the vacuum's motorbar cleaner with detangling features to power through messes. Plus, it can automatically clear wrapped hair from the brush bar on its own.

With three suction modes, it's built to handle all types of floors, and the ball makes the vacuum itself simple to maneuver. It has a lengthy cord and whole-machine filtration to ensure all the dirt and dust particles you trap while working stay in the vacuum, so your house stays cleaner.

If you plan on improving your cleaning sessions in 2026, this vacuum is a no-brainer. Grab yours while it's still on sale.