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TL;DR: Banish ads with a lifetime subscription to the AdGuard Family Plan, now just $19.97 through April 16.

Opens in a new window Credit: AdGuard AdGuard Family Plan: Lifetime Subscription $19.97
$169.99 Save $150.02   Get Deal

You can’t escape ads. They’re on your laptop, your smartphone, and even your tablet, disrupting your flow and popping up everywhere. If you want to take back your peace and browse the web without interruptions, AdGuard can help.

Right now, you can even secure a lifetime subscription that works on nine devices for just $19.97 until April 16.

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It’s time to browse the web as it was meant to be experienced — ad-free. AdGuard makes it happen, thanks to its advanced ad-blocking module. It eliminates all types of ads that can appear on your screen, allowing you to enjoy the internet without distractions.

Aside from giving you a more delightful internet experience, AdGuard can also keep you safer online. It hides your data, blocks trackers, and stops malware, phishing attempts, and cyberattacks in their tracks.

This AdGuard Family Plan lets you extend this peace and safety to others under your roof. You’ll be able to safeguard up to nine devices — from smartphones to tablets and computers — and it works on both Android and iOS. If you have little ones in the home, there are parental control features available to help keep them safer online, too. You can restrict access to inappropriate and adult content on their devices, allowing AdGuard to serve as another set of eyes.

Not only does your lifetime subscription allow you to pay once and enjoy the benefits forever, but it also includes access to future updates and new features.

Secure your own lifetime subscription to the AdGuard Family Plan, now for only $19.97 until April 16.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Get a feature-packed Apple MacBook Air for only $199.97 (reg. $999) through March 22, while supplies last.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple MacBook Air 2017 (Refurbished) $199.97
$999 Save $799.03   Get Deal

Not all laptops are created equal. While they’re all meant to be portable, the MacBook Air weighs less than three pounds, so it’s a breeze to take along anywhere. The only problem? It usually comes with a hefty price tag. Fortunately, you can snag a 13-inch MacBook Air for only $199.97 (reg. $999) until March 22, while supplies last.

If you’re in the market for a laptop you won’t mind bringing along everywhere, the MacBook Air is an excellent option. This Apple laptop weighs only 2.96 pounds, letting you tackle your to-do list from anywhere. But don’t think this means it skimps on power — a 1.8GHz Intel Core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM help you get everything done efficiently.

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This MacBook Air comes equipped with 128GB of storage, so you can store files locally and download your go-to apps. A 13.3-inch widescreen display is great for binge-watching, while the Intel HD Graphics 6000 ensures you see everything in vibrant colors.

Get a full workday and then some with a 12-hour battery life, and connect from anywhere thanks to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Wondering how you’re saving $800 on this model? It’s due to the grade A/B refurbished rating, which means you may see light scratches, dents, or scuffs, but you can rest easy knowing it will be clean and operational.

Get this Apple MacBook Air for only $199.97 (reg. $999) through March 22.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Make your workday a little easier with this Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows lifetime license, on sale now for just $39.97 through April 12.

Opens in a new window Credit: Microsoft Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows: Lifetime License $39.97
$219.99 Save $180.02   Get Deal

Whether you work from home, the office, or a coffee shop, one thing is certain — the suite of Microsoft Office apps can help you get your tasks done. If you’ve been living without these essentials, now is a great time to add them to your arsenal.

You can currently score eight tools for life for one low price — just $39.97 — now through April 12 with this Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows lifetime license.

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You can’t get much for $5 these days, but that’s exactly how much each app costs for life with this Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows license. This edition includes eight tools ready to help you work on personal and professional tasks, with no monthly subscriptions or cloud connectivity required.

Curious what’s included with this lifetime license? You’ll have permanent access to staples that have been around for decades, like Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint. You’ll also receive newer favorites like OneNote, which helps you upgrade your note-taking, Teams, to help you stay connected with others, Access, for your large database needs, and Publisher, a great way to design professional documents.

This edition may be dated 2021, but each app has been redesigned and features a ribbon-based interface that makes it easier to access features, tools, and customizations. Your purchase provides an instant delivery and download, so you can get started right away — just make sure your device is running Windows 10 or 11 for compatibility.

Get this Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows lifetime license for just $39.97 now through April 12.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

One of the most common questions asked about AdultFriendFinder is also one of the most basic: is the site safe to use? Everything from the dating site interface and design to the ubiquity of adult content sets off some understandable warning bells in veteran internet users, so the question makes a lot of sense. 

To better understand the risks of using AdultFriendFinder, we consulted Anna Larkina, Web Data and Privacy Analysis Expert at Kaspersky, one of the leading cybersecurity services in the world, about the nature of the threats users might face and the ways they can mitigate the risks.

Opens in a new window Credit: AdultFriendFinder AdultFriendFinder   Learn More Understanding the risks of online dating

First off, understand that there is a risk inherent to using any online service, and that even the most reputable websites have experienced major hacks or exploits. “Users should remember that any service can potentially encounter various cybersecurity issues,” Larkina told us, including “data leaks, attacks on third party contractors, or issues related to the human factor.” 

But the stakes are higher for some websites than others. For example, with a typical merchant website, you’re only providing them with your credit card information, but on a dating site, you’re potentially providing your credit card details and crucial personal information, from your date of birth to your phone number, that can all be exploited by bad actors. 

SEE ALSO: Is Hinge really 'designed to be deleted'? I tested it to find out.

While this is a risk you take with any dating service, AdultFriendFinder is perhaps more vulnerable than most dating sites, so it’s important to understand the potential pitfalls.

What risks are specific to AdultFriendFinder?The “adult content” angle

While there is absolutely no obligation for AFF users to share nude photos of themselves, or get naked on a webcam feed, many, many people opt to do so, and while we have no objection from a moral perspective — let your freak flag fly — it’s important that you know you’re risking more than an awkward conversation with the odd coworker or family member who comes across your account.

Unfortunately, bad actors who wish to do you harm can use your personal information against you. “Data from services with adult content or dating services can be especially sensitive for users, because it’s more personal,” warns Larkina. “If fraudsters somehow obtain such private data, they can use it for more ‘efficient’ blackmailing or targeted phishing.” Needless to say, you should be wary of how you use the site and what information you share, especially if you have a public-facing job.

AFF security breaches

While dating sites invest heavily in cybersecurity protections, another unfortunate reality of the online world is that the threats are constant and ever-evolving, and hackers eager to discover treasure troves of personal and financial information will always be incentivized to target online dating sites.

AdultFriendFinder has had two major security breaches in its 30-year history, which actually demonstrates a very stellar record of security, but it’s still worth being aware of these events. In 2016, hackers managed to gain access to the personal information of four million AFF users before the breach was found and stopped, while a larger breach occurred in 2016, impacting 300 million AFF accounts, including 15 million accounts that had been officially deleted by the user but whose data had not been properly expunged from their servers.

Phishing scams

Another common hacking technique, and one particularly effective on dating websites is phishing, which is when a bad actor assumes a false identity to gain your trust and deceive you into revealing compromising or sensitive information.

SEE ALSO: All your Tinder questions, answered

To combat phishing, AFF offers users the ability to verify their identities using government-issued identification, but this verification process is still an optional extra on the site rather than a mandatory step towards account creation.

Can your AFF account be found?

While the private information you offer to AFF during account creation (your real name and email address, for example) is not public-facing, that doesn’t mean no one will ever discover your account. AFF’s dating profiles are public by default, so if you include a picture of your face (as many accounts do), you can be recognized by friends, co-workers, and family members. 

Additionally, because AFF has had two major hacks before, you should assume there’s at least an outside chance that the site is hacked in the future, which may result in your email address ending up in a hacked database.

How to protect your online identity when using AdultFriendFinder

Does all of the above mean you should never use an online dating website, or never use AdultFriendFinder in particular? Absolutely not. We shared the risks to make you aware of them, and to better help you protect yourself, not to discourage you from signing up. 

To help you protect yourself, Larkina shared a list of best practices that will help you mitigate your risks while still having fun, on AFF or any other dating site:

1. Don’t use a professional email address to sign up for a dating site. If you’re especially nervous, consider creating a new email address just for the purposes of signing up.

2. To protect your accounts, use strong and unique passwords, change them regularly, and if possible, enable two factor authentication

3. Be extremely cautious with what you share with strangers, especially when it comes to sensitive information or intimate photos. “Always assess reputational and other risks before posting or sending anything,” cautions Larkina.

4. When using AFF in particular, limit your interactions to users who have verified their identity

Summing up her advice, Larkina urges online dating service users to treat these “platforms as public spaces, not as private ones” as far as possible, and be ever mindful that “every piece of data you provide — email, phone number, username, etc. — becomes part of your digital footprint.” If you’re careful about what you share and who you share it with, you can safely enjoy AdultFriendFinder as you would any other dating site.

What if a flock of ballerinas were stranded in a dive bar, where they must fight a vicious mob boss to get out alive? That's the premise of Pretty Lethal, the new action comedy starring Lana Condor (To All the Boys I've Loved Before), Millicent Simmonds (A Quiet Place), Avantika (Mean Girls 2024), Iris Apatow (The Bubble), and Maddie Ziegler, who was the center of such iconic Sia music videos as "Chandelier" and "Elastic Heart."

The plotline seems like something out of a '70s exploitation film, where ultra-femininity collides with gruesome, graphic violence. However, the cast feels more in line for a reboot of Sugar & Spice or Bring It On, teen comedies that relied on charming ingenues and high-energy antics. Like exploitation movies that capitalized on emerging media trends, Pretty Lethal seems to walk in the footsteps of recent ballerina-does-violence movies, like the 2024 horror-comedy Abigail, about a pint-sized vampire girl who paired her fangs with a tutu, and 2025's Ballerina, a John Wick spinoff starring Ana de Armas. So, audiences might well expect the kind of sleek style and jaw-dropping violence of these sorts.

Unfortunately, Pretty Lethal pales in comparison to all of these potential inspiration points. It's just not outrageous or surprising enough to rise above feeling like an imitator. 

Pretty Lethal feels pretty basic.  Uma Thurman plays a bar owner with a ballet past in "Pretty Lethal." Credit: Prime Video

Written by Kate Freund and directed by Vicky Jewson, Pretty Lethal begins in a ballet studio, where an American troupe of teen ballerinas is preparing for a big competition overseas. 

Faster than they can pirouette, their personalities are clear. Condor is the rich and privileged mean girl who feels entitled to the principal dancer role. Naturally, her name is Princess. And she absolutely loathes Bones, who is poor, tough as nails, and the best dancer, so she's played by Ziegler. Sweet, good girl Grace (Avantika) is deeply Christian and wishes the girls wouldn't fight — and would find Jesus as their personal lord and savior. Meanwhile, sisters Chloe (Simmonds) and Zoe (Apatow) are low-key fighting because Chloe, who is deaf, doesn't appreciate Zoe's overeager babying of her at every turn.

They're struggling to come together as a dance troupe. But when their bus breaks down in Hungary on the way to the competition, the five girls and their instructor stumble across a decadent bar called the Teremok Inn. Inside, they find mementos from the owner's (Uma Thurman) time as a ballet dancer. But the whole place, once luxurious, is stained by years of neglect, bar fights, and resentment. 

It's not long before a confrontation with a handsy patron leads to their instructor being murdered before their very eyes. Can these ballerinas put their personal issues aside and turn their art into a martial art to survive? 

Pretty Lethal lacks a distinctive style. 

There's promise in the Teremok Inn, as its interior immediately suggests a time of splendor and possibility long eroded by something ugly. However, Jewson falls into the tiresome color palette of dingy greens tinting mustards, magentas, and teals. This look has become tediously standard in any action movie trying to affect a chic John Wick vibe (see also: Hotel Artemis). 

Beyond that, though, even the ballerina's outfits are frustratingly expected. When they arrive, soaked to the bone from walking in the rain, a snarling bartender demands they put on dry clothes. Obviously, that means their meticulously white uniforms, complete with pointe shoes and long tutus. Now, a white dress (like a white T-shirt) is a perfect canvas for the anticipated sprays of blood as they'll brawl with dangerous Hungarian goons. But the simple design of these dresses does nothing to distinguish the girls from one another or to add panache to the film's production design. 

These uninspired visuals don't help the screenplay, which reads like a mediocre '90s teen comedy. The familiar archetypes of tough girl, mean girl, good girl, and bickering sisters is one thing, but the lack of zinging dialogue is another. None of Princess' barbs are stinging enough to remember. The battling between sisters is frustratingly surface-level. And halfway through, the "good girl" act gets so tedious that Grace is forced into a psychedelic drug trip. There, at least we get some unexpected visual flair, as towering nutcrackers come to life to warn her to run. 

Yet in the midst of those hallucinations, I wondered if the movie would be more visually exciting if Jewson had rejected the cool-toned approach and embraced the brightly colored, high-saturated, ultra-femme color palettes of films like Mean Girls, Bring It On, or But I'm a Cheerleader. Rather than undercutting the grime of the Hungarian bar, such a palette might have made the turn to violence less telegraphed. And to see blood spray in such a vivid setting would have been more surprising and even funnier. 

Pretty Lethal has solid action. 

Be warned: It takes a while to get to the ballerinas-fight-back stage of the movie. Freund attempts some semblance of realism by having the girls scream, run, and panic for quite a while before they decide to weapon up and fight back. However, when we finally get to this point, Pretty Lethal is pretty fun. 

It's not just that a razor blade at the point of a ballet slipper turns out to be the perfect way to slit an enemy's throat with a proper fouetté turn. It's also that seeing one of their number pull this off strengthens the others' confidence. They finally begin to come together, and the energy of the film finally musters excitement. However, because it takes so long to get going, the final act feels chaotic. The turns it takes feel like shortcuts instead of earned. So, even when I enjoyed the bonkers action (like a bunch of ballerinas leaping away from an enormous explosion), I felt disconnected from the vicarious thrill of it all. 

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There's potential in the set pieces of Pretty Lethal, including a sequence where the girls perform ballet on a stage, their once pristine costumes grungy in blood and muck. But Jewson's approach lacks punch in color, attitude, and music. The right song could have made this sequence rousing, but a simple piano isn't enough to sell the undercurrent of emotions that are given a place to explode here. So, it's more a whimper than a roar of a performance. 

Speaking of performances, they're all over the place. Perhaps that's intentional, to illustrate how different these girls are from each other. To Condor's credit, she successfully shakes off the rom-com heroine cheeriness of To All The Boys, recreating herself as a seething bitch. Ziegler, who shone in The Fallout opposite Jenna Ortega, is solid as the guarded tough girl, but is at her best in the dance/fight scenes where she can rely on physicality to speak for her. As was true in 2024's Mean Girls, Avantika's role was thin, but she's solidly amusing as a clueless hanger-on. Simmonds is the best of the bunch, however, managing to work in teen lust and angst, even within a flimsy subplot. Apatow struggles the most with the thinly written characters, playing earnest to the point where she's practically an echo. Thankfully, Thurman is darkly fun as a twisted former ballerina with an ax to grind. 

In the end, Pretty Lethal is fine for a movie to throw on for a night in. But with this cast and this premise, I definitely anticipated something weirder and wilder and more satisfying. 

Pretty Lethal was reviewed out of the 2026 SXSW Film Festival; it premieres on Prime Video on March 25. 

UPDATE: Mar. 14, 2026, 8:57 a.m. A previous version of this review misspelled Vicky Jewson's name and misidentified David Leitch as a producer.

In the last six months, I’ve flown to Argentina for a wedding, Miami for another wedding, South Carolina for the holidays, and Costa Rica for a friend’s birthday. And for every journey, the first thing I packed was my Soundcore Sleep A20 earbuds.

These have easily become my No. 1 travel necessity.

Soundcore Sleep A20 sleep earbuds $149.99 at Best Buy
$179.99 Save $30   Shop Now at Best Buy Shop Now at Amazon Why sleep earbuds?

Most people probably bring their AirPods or a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones when they fly — and so do I. So, why choose to bring such a niche audio product with limited bag space? 

Soundcore’s Sleep A20s are our favorite budget sleep earbuds. They have a 14-hour battery life, so they last through the night — or on a long flight — and the Soundcore app comes loaded with soundscapes and white noise options. The biggest draw for me is how comfortable they are.

My AirPods 4 are lovely for going on walks, taking calls, and listening to music for short periods of time. But the ear fatigue I feel is real. I’m not going to lie and say the Sleep A20s feel like they aren’t even there or anything, but they put a lot less pressure on my ear canal, and I can comfortably wear them for longer stretches of time. They’re also better at passive noise cancellation than my AirPods, with a more snug seal.

Plus, I enjoy having an app dedicated to my sleep sounds, so my Spotify Wrapped isn’t skewed by my top song “Deep Sleep Brown Noise.”

I slept an entire long-haul flight

My overnight flight from New York to Buenos Aires was about 10 hours, and I slept for eight or nine of them. I fired up The Bob’s Burgers Movie until I nodded off, then put on my eye mask and knocked out. 

My ultimate travel companion. Credit: Miller Kern / Mashable

The great thing about Soundcore’s sleep buds is that they also function as regular Bluetooth earbuds. So I was able to connect them to my iPad to play the movie audio, and then switch to sleep sounds once my eyes got heavy.

I have a few personalized soundscapes downloaded in the Soundcore app, so I let the sounds of crackling fire, rain on a tent, and cicadas lull me to sleep. Once the buds detect that I’ve truly fallen asleep, they switch to white noise.

It was the same story on the flight back home. It was another overnight flight, and I queued up an episode of Bob’s Burgers until I was ready to knock out. I woke up with maybe an hour and a half left in the flight (just in time for the delicious breakfast service of plain Greek yogurt), and my partner said he kept getting woken up throughout the flight. I felt genuinely rested.

A lifesaver for noisy Airbnbs

The Airbnb I stayed at in Miami was across the street from a nightclub. The music there bumped well into the morning and made it nearly impossible to fall asleep. Luckily, I had my sleep buds handy.

I popped those bad boys in, selected my sleep sound made up of meditation music, a dryer, and rain, and fell into restful sleep. The next morning, my partner, once again, said he had slept horribly and kept getting woken up by the club music. I slept through the night, no problem.

The Soundcore app has preloaded soundscapes. Credit: Screenshot: Soundcore Or you can create your own with up to three white noise sounds at a time. Credit: Screenshot: Soundcore

If you’ve got a snorer in the house, sleep earbuds could be the difference between a frustrating, sleepless night and a night of white noise bliss. I visited my mom over Christmas, and she and her partner both snore like you wouldn’t believe. I could hear them from the guest room, so I popped in the Sleep A20s and blocked them out until the morning.

A permanent spot in my travel bag

I’ve brought the Soundcore Sleep A20 buds on every trip I’ve taken since I bought them, and I plan to take them on all my future trips. They’re small enough that I don’t feel like I’m taking up precious carry-on bag space. Because they act as regular old Bluetooth earbuds, I can also use them as an AirPods replacement — they’re way more comfortable, too.

If I happen to be on a loud plane or stuck sharing a space with someone who snores, I know the Sleep A20s will come to the rescue.

This model of Soundcore’s sleep earbuds doesn’t have noise cancellation, but that doesn’t bother me. The soundscapes mask enough for me to sleep comfortably. However, if you prefer noise-cancelling sleep earbuds, my colleague, Bethany Allard, loves the Soundcore Sleep A30 Specials.

Soundcore Sleep A20 $149.99 at Best Buy
$179.99 Save $30   Shop Now at Best Buy Shop Now at Amazon Soundcore Sleep A30 Special $199.99 at Amazon
  Shop Now at Amazon Shop Now at Soundcore

Ryan Coogler’s Sinners isn’t just a horror hit. It may be the film that finally proves horror musicals can work. Blending vampire horror with powerful musical storytelling, the film earned massive box office success and an unprecedented 16 Oscar nominations, raising a question Hollywood may soon start asking. Are horror musicals the future?

The newest MacBook Air from Apple is a near-perfect machine, but it's not getting a near-perfect rating. And it's not just because it arrived with a base price increase. It's because this sleek and lightweight laptop, now powered by Apple's M5 silicon, is too powerful for its own good, which means its greatest strength is also its greatest weakness.

Don't get me wrong — it's undoubtedly one of the best laptops and MacBooks in the world right now. And if you decide to invest, I don't think you'll regret it.

I'm still stress testing the M5 Air, so consider this a review in progress. A full battery run-down test is coming soon.

The M5 MacBook Air performs like a Pro Liquid Glass looks particularly good on the MacBook Liquid Retina display. Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

The new MacBook Air is definitely an iterative upgrade. Like its predecessor, it comes in 13.6 and 15.3-inch models, and you can choose from silver, sky blue, starlight, and midnight black. It's a mere 0.44 inches tall and a measly 2.7 pounds.

It's remarkably thin and lightweight, yet it never feels fragile or flimsy in the slightest. On the contrary, the MacBook's signature all-aluminum body makes it a very durable laptop.

The big difference, of course, is the M5 chip inside. When we put it through the Geekbench 6 benchmark test, it scored 16,099 on the multi-core test. On the single-core test, it scored 4,025, even higher than we expected. The multi-core score puts it within spitting distance of the M5 MacBook Pro released late last year.

For almost all intents and purposes, it is a MacBook Pro. Minus the fans, of course.

Take a look at how the M5 MacBook Air's Geekbench multi-core socre compares to other MacBook models. Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable

The single-core score is a good proxy for everyday performance (what our laptop expert calls "snappiness"), and that lines up perfectly with my testing so far. When exporting or importing large files, it barely flinches. It can handle video editing software, complex Apple Shortcuts, and even some gaming.

Please note that I tested the 15.3-inch model, and you may see some slight variations in performance with the 13.6-inch model.

The M5 MacBook Air is too powerful, in fact Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

In 2020, Apple introduced the M1 chip, its first in-house processor, and the beginning of a bit of a revolution in the laptop world. The M1 chip absolutely destroyed the competition, and the original M1 MacBook Air is probably the most award-winning laptop ever. It's a legendary device that's still popular six years later, which is unheard of.

As Apple introduced the M2, M3, M4, M5, and now M5 Pro and Pro Max chips, the MacBook Air and Pro laptops have become extremely powerful. In early benchmark tests, the M5 Max chip scored 29,000 on the Geekbench 6 test, putting the competition to shame. It's so powerful that pro laptop reviewers are struggling to test it properly.

As I wrote in my MacBook Neo review, I know professional film editors still working on M1 and M2 laptops. In 2024, my colleague Stan Schroeder wrote that "Apple's M series chips are too good for their own good." That's doubly true today.

The new MacBook Air is more powerful than ever, and it now comes with 16GB of RAM, 512GB SSD storage, and a higher starting price of $1,099. That's $100 more than the previous gen's starting price. Yes, Apple boosted the starting storage from 256GB to 512GB, but Apple experts like Bloomberg's Mark Gurman say that's just Apple's way of softening the blow of a price increase.

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Traditionally, the MacBook Air has been a popular laptop for college students, early-career professionals, and more casual users. If you're running complex programs like Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, or Adobe Suite, then you go with the Pro. But today's Airs are perfectly capable of most professional work.

Only hardcore superusers are going to come close to taxing the M5 Air, and those kinds of users should be using a Pro or Mac Studio anyway.

So, in a world with the $599 MacBook Neo — a surprisingly capable laptop that matches the M1 Air in performance — I'm not quite sure we needed a newer, even more powerful Air. The recipe was already just right.

We gotta talk about the price Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

Now, technically, the M5 MacBook Air only carries a $100 starting price increase, and you get twice the starting storage. But in reality, the M3 and M4 MacBook Airs are often on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, and other retailers. Mashable readers have certainly gotten used to buying the MacBook Air on sale at Amazon for $799.

And that's what makes the $1,099 price tag a lot harder for me to swallow. There's no denying that this laptop justifies its price with plenty of storage, the newest WiFi and Bluetooth tech, and a fast chip with no true competition in the Windows market. For the performance and specs, $1,099 is a great value. But I think most people will be just as happy with an M3 or M4 Air that costs less.

Again, I'm not saying the M5 MacBook Air is a bad laptop. I'm literally saying the opposite.

I just wish Apple had kept selling the M3 or M4 MacBook Airs for under $1,000 for another year or two. Those laptops already had enough performance for the typical Air customer.

If I were you, I would wait to buy the new Air until we find out what the inevitable sale price will be. Amazon has already discounted this device by 50 bucks to $1,049, and I expect it will go even lower for the Amazon Big Spring Sale or Prime Day 2026. (Of course, given the worsening global memory shortage, a further price drop isn't a given.)

For $899, or even $949, I'd find this laptop irresistible.

Seriously, though, it's a damn fine laptop The M5 Air has two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a MagSafe charging port, and a headphones jack. Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

When you evaluate the M5 MacBook Air purely on its own, it's a dangerously impressive piece of machinery. Even as a professional product reviewer, it's hard to believe how thin and light it is, and I'm a big fan of macOS 26 Tahoe and Liquid Glass. The default screensaver that plays is completely mesmerizing, and sometimes I find myself staring at it for minutes on end, enjoying a nice moment of zen in the middle of a workday.

On top of that, you get all the premium features you expect in a modern MacBook: An incredibly sharp Liquid Retina display, Touch ID, a 12MP Center Stage Camera, Magic Keyboard, and more.

To be clear, it only suffers in comparison to the other laptops Apple offers in 2026.

M5 MacBook Air review: Final thoughts

So, is the new M5 MacBook Air worth it for $1,099? Personally, I'd wait for it to go on sale. But if you have the coin, and if you want 92.5 percent of the power of the MacBook Pro (that's the difference in their performance scores) but in a lighter and more portable body, then you could spring for the new and improved Air.

However, if I were the one spending your hard-earned money, I'd get the M4 MacBook Air while it's still available. Best Buy still has it in stock for $899.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple MacBook Air 13.6 inches (M5, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $1,049 at Amazon
$1,099 Save $50   Get Deal Opens in a new window Credit: Apple MacBook Air 15.3 inches (M5, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $1,249 at Amazon
  Shop Now

There are a lot of emerging technologies at SXSW — AI voice restoration, robotaxis, XR experiences. But there's only one Ammortal Chamber — a $160,000 red light bed with "absolute state of the art" restoration and rejuvenation technology.

Not only am I a millennial who's fast approaching middle age, but I've always been a sucker for a bougie spa experience. That's why I took a break from SXSW tech panels to step inside the demonstration version at the Fairmont Hotel spa.

The same way batteries recharge your cell phone, the Ammortal Chamber recharges you. At least, that's the idea.

What is the Ammortal Chamber?

The Ammortal Chamber looks like a tanning bed from the future. It has a striking, sculptural design. During your treatment, you lie on a zero-gravity glass bed with built-in electromagnetic coils, surrounded by infrared lights.

Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable

The chamber combines red and infrared light, molecular hydrogen inhalation, guided meditation and breathwork, vibroacoustic sound therapy, and pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapy into one immersive experience.

Or, as the Ammortal sales team put it, the chamber "combines proven treatment modalities to reset your body and mind."

In addition to writing about gadgets and AI, I've also covered the world of male grooming. I first encountered red light therapy in the form of those Hannibal Lecter-like masks, and was extremely skeptical. These $500 masks can't possibly be doing anything ... right?

In fact, every dermatologist I asked told me that, in fact, light therapy can be extremely effective as a skincare tool, if you use it consistently. It's also become very popular for workout recovery.

Still, I definitely wouldn't expect results after a single red light session, even in a futuristic chamber that bathes you in light from tip to tail. For that reason I'm not qualified to render a verdict on the health aspects of the Ammortal Chamber, but I can tell you what it's like inside one.

What the Ammortal Chamber is like

Using a control panel, you select a speciic 15 or 25-minute experience. I tried one named "Energize". There are different types of music, breathwork, and settings depending on the experience.

Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable

A technician helped me insert a nasal cannula for the molecular hydrogen inhalation, and then the treatment began.

I was a little intimidated at first — there's a lot going on in the chamber, and I felt a bit exposed — but it didn't feel claustrophobic.

The upper panel lowered, and extremely bright lights activated. Even with the provided goggles, the lights were powerful. (The chamber uses 60nm red light, 850nm near infrared light, and 100mW/cm2 red light for deep-tissue penetration.)

Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable

A loud musical soundscape enveloped me, syncing with the acoustic vibration. It was intense. I felt vibrations throughout my entire body. As for the PEMF, I felt a slight tingling, though that could have been a placebo effect. When I accidentally touched a colleague filming the experience, he received a static shock from the mild electric field (the chamber uses frequencies ranging from 0.5 Hz to 50 MHz).

At the beginning and end of the experience, a soothing voice guided me through simple breathwork meditation. The session flew by, and I was vibing the entire time. It felt very meditative.

Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable

When the session was over, my entire body was still buzzing. Did I feel energized? Restored? Rejuvenated? I'm not quite sure, but I definitely wanted to go again.

Who is the Ammortal Chamber for? Credit: Ammortal

The Ammortal Chamber is a device for rich people, in case the $160,000 price tag didn't make that clear. But that's not to say regular folks can't try it. If you like going to spas, you may encounter an Ammortal Chamber as a treatment option among the ice baths, infrared saunas, and hyperbaric chambers.

An Ammortal representative said the machines are currently being used by several NFL teams. And that after one NFL team adds a chamber to its facilities, some of the players want a chamber installed at home.

Like I said, I won't speak to the medical benefits of the machine, and I can't say that my short session had any dramatic long-term health effects. Maybe this machine is just a really clever way to separate rich people from $160,000 in return for a short-term buzz. If that's the case, I tip my hat to the Ammortal folks.

But one thing's for sure: I want to book another session before I leave Austin.

Scientists have discovered that a hardy microbe can endure pressures strong enough to pulverize rock, strengthening the case that life might survive the impact of an asteroid blasting it off a planet.

In a series of experiments at Johns Hopkins University, Lily Zhao fired tiny samples of a microorganism with a room-sized gas gun. The gun drove a steel plate into a thin, carefully prepared layer of bacteria at up to 2.4 gigapascals — tens of thousands of times Earth's atmosphere at sea level. The purpose was to simulate the highest pressure a microorganism might face on its space journey: The initial launch. 

Instead of total extermination, Zhao, a mechanical engineering doctoral student, found life — lots of it, in fact. After her initial test run, she cultured a regular sample, as well as the shocked sample so she could compare them side by side. 

"I really didn't know what to expect," she told Mashable. "I was like, 'Did I mislabel something or mix things up? Did I get the control and the shot sample confused?' I was quite hesitant because it was such a high survival — like 95 or 97 percent survival."

The research, funded by NASA and published in the journal PNAS Nexus, examines a key part of the long-debated lithopanspermia hypothesis — the notion that alien life might migrate between worlds sealed inside rocks knocked loose by asteroids or comets. Though no one knows whether this has happened, scientists have identified at least 400 meteorites on Earth that originated from Mars.

SEE ALSO: NASA is so dead set on an April moon launch, it won't talk backup dates

Even at the highest pressure the setup could reach before the steel hardware began to break, survival stayed around 60 percent.

Zhao's faculty supervisor, K.T. Ramesh, said his interest in the problem grew out of involvement in a National Academies study that asked whether microbes could move from Mars to one of its close potato-shaped moons, Phobos.

NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars captures an eclipse of Phobos crossing in front of the sun. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU / MSSS / SSI

"We ended up saying the probability was very low, but we also ended up saying there really wasn't any good data on what microbes could survive," Ramesh, a mechanical engineering professor, told Mashable. "So I thought, 'Well, somebody should get that data.'"

Hopkins microbiologist Jocelyne DiRuggiero chose the superbug for the experiment. She selected Deinococcus radiodurans — or, "D. rad" — for its resistance to extreme radiation, dehydration, cold, and other factors.  Those kinds of adaptations would be relevant for anything trying to persevere in space conditions. The so-called extremophile has even been found living in Chile's Atacama Desert, one of the driest and most radiated places on Earth.

Extremophiles and space

Earlier experiments by other groups had tried to test microbial survival from asteroid-like impacts, but the data were often sparse and hard to interpret, the researchers said. Some studies shot pellets containing microbes into sand or rock. But when a fraction survived, no one knew exactly what pressures those specific cells had experienced because their positions inside the target were unknown.

The Hopkins team set out to control that key variable. Zhao grew the cells in a liquid broth, then filtered them onto a thin membrane to create a uniform layer. She sandwiched that membrane between two ultra-flat steel plates, then used the gas gun to slam a third plate into the stack.

Machining and polishing the plates to the required flatness took weeks. On a firing day, Zhao spent eight to nine hours setting up the gun, then moved to a biology lab after each shot to put the shocked cells back into liquid culture and watch them regrow. A single experiment could take a few weeks of preparation for just a few microseconds of data.

DiRuggiero didn't have high hopes for what would remain.

"I'm like, 'There is no way,'" she said of the plan. "'Shooting a bullet at a microorganism? This thing is going to explode.'" 

From a physics standpoint, the pressures are extreme, even for non-living materials. Ramesh noted that water — which makes up much of any cell — begins to respond strongly around two gigapascals, changing its volume and forming ices.

Working with detailed modeling, DiRuggiero realized the worst damage didn't happen when the cells were squeezed. The real trouble came when the pressure suddenly let up.

Damage to the microbes

Among the surviving cells, some of their outer lining received damage, allowing DNA and proteins to get hurt. The cells temporarily dropped their normal routine — feeding, growing, and dividing — and switched into repair mode. Within a couple of hours, though, they had already begun to look like their old selves. The real surprise was in something basic: how the physical structure of a single cell could hold up under such violence in the first place. 

Even at the highest pressure the experiment could reach before the steel hardware began to fail, survival stayed around 60 percent. Credit: Lisa Orye / Johns Hopkins University infographic

"I should know better by now that microorganisms are absolutely amazing. They are colonizing every possible environment on Earth. We found them at the bottom of the ocean. We found them in Antarctica sea ice. We found them in acidic mud pools," DiRuggiero said. "If we find any life elsewhere in the solar system — or outside of the solar system — it most likely is going to be microorganisms."

But for lithopanspermia to cross from possible on paper to something that actually happens, life would have to survive much more than the ejection from its home turf. An inhabited rock would have to withstand the deep freeze of space, drying out, space radiation, perhaps millions of years of travel, and then the heat of reentering another world before it lands. For years, Ramesh considered that chain of events to offer incredibly remote odds.

While the new results don't prove life moves between planets and moons, it has changed how he thinks about the possibility.

"I've gone from saying, 'This is just extraordinarily unlikely, and we shouldn't worry about it,' to saying, 'Well, OK, this is possible,'" he said. 

Planetary protection and contamination Researchers have identified at least 400 Martian meteorite rocks on Earth. Credit: Tobias Roetsch / Future Publishing / Getty Images illustration

The study also touches a live nerve in planetary protection — the effort to avoid accidentally seeding other planets with Earth life. Space agencies already scrub spacecraft within reason before sending them on their missions, but a few resilient hangers-on almost always remain. 

Scientists have particularly wondered what that means for Mars. If bacteria, fungi, or other microscopic life were to survive a clean room on Earth, it doesn't guarantee those stragglers will actually grow once they get to the Red Planet. But dead microbes still leave traces of DNA, which could complicate future attempts to discern a native Martian from our own contamination.

Planetary protection policies classify some worlds as needing strict spacecraft cleanliness to prevent contamination. Results like these could influence which bodies space agencies deem vulnerable. Phobos, in Ramesh's view, probably should be added to that list.

In the meantime, the work underscores how tough even simple, tiny life can be. For Ramesh, who has studied the mechanics of asteroid cratering for more than 15 years, the results have convinced him that fresh craters might actually be good places to look for life. Craters have cracks, perhaps allowing water to flow through them. 

"Maybe they're not as good at sterilizing life as I thought," he said.

There's something sublime about a really good ghost story, and I'm pleased to say Never After Dark is a really good ghost story. 

From House of Ninjas' writer/director Dave Boyle comes a horror thriller that has the slow burn of '70s classics like The Shining and The Exorcist. Like those searing horror legends, Never After Dark also centers its story of supernatural infestation in one location. The forest-bound bed-and-breakfast of Never After Dark might seem an unremarkable space, much like the Overlook Hotel or the MacNeil home at first glance. But as the chilling story develops, its many-windowed exterior grows foreboding, and its wood-paneled interiors slyly sinister, suggesting the presence of something inhuman and dangerous. 

SEE ALSO: 17 SXSW movies you need to know about right now

Within this familiar setting of a remote hotel rotten with dark secrets, Boyle sets loose a strange specter whose ragged breath can be heard on the phone when he's not stalking the halls, his face hanging with gore, its bottom half nothing but a bloody absence. However, in his protagonist, Boyle offers a curious twist, blending the haunted-house archetype of the eccentric medium (Poltergeist, Insidious) with the hard-nosed detective of film noir. 

Shōgun's Moeka Hoshi stars as Airi, a nomadic clairvoyant who travels Japan making a living by communing with the dead. Each new haunted home is a mystery to be solved. Once Airi knows what the ghost wants, she performs a special ritual involving a candle to pierce the veil between the living and dead, then leads the ghost to their great beyond. But from the start, something is off about this job. A shrewdly paced mystery with mounting horror and gore, Never After Dark is sensationally spooky and devilishly entertaining. 

Never After Dark is more than what it seems. 

Deep in the woods sits a long-abandoned hotel that's haunted by an unnerving specter. When Airi pulls up in her beater of a car, she's got with her everything she possesses, meaning baggage physical, emotional, and supernatural. As she is greeted by the hotel's chipper owner Teiko (Tae Kimura) and her openly skeptical son Gunji (House of Ninjas' Kento Kaku, who is also a producer on Never After Dark), neither addresses Airi's teen sister Miku (Kurumi Inagak), who sits in the backseat of Airi's car, her head swaddled in a yellow knitted cap. That's because this girl is a ghost, seen only by Airi and only in reflections. 

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Working as a ghostbusting duo, their bond brings a levity to Never After Dark. Sure, in front of clients, Airi is professional, listening patiently to the story of a jawless ghoul creeping down the halls at midnight and noon. But when it's just Airi and her sister, there's the breezy energy of a slumber party. Theirs is an easy intimacy, spiked with playfulness as the teen pulls a poltergeist prank or Airi dances to a pop song through the haunted hotel. This subplot energizes the thriller, threading a liveliness in a tale of death, making it fun while frightening.

SEE ALSO: The best horror movies of 2025, and where to watch them

However, even with such joyful moments, Airi's suffering from mounting ennui. Her life has steadily become all about the dead. She has no home. Her best friend is her ghost sister, and it's hard to meet a potential beau when you're always off to your next seance. Even her hair reveals how this vocation is eating away at her. At a glance, she's a mild-mannered young woman in denim and sneakers who stands out only because of her asymmetrical haircut. Her black hair is long and lank on the left side, a choppy bob on the right. It is nearly chic, but noticeably a bit haphazard. Once we see the ritual, we understand. Communing with the other side demands a sacrifice of hair. So with each session, Airi surrenders a chunk of herself. In this visual clue of a messy haircut, Never After Dark asks what will happen when she's got nothing left? Perhaps no one is so aware as Airi that her time may be running out. 

Never After Dark is like an enchanting nightmare. 

Boyle rejects the temptation for jump scares, even when the opportunity for them is obvious. The antagonist ghost may appear abruptly, but never in a frantic attempt to frighten. He silently strides into rooms, or stands quiet in a corner staring hard, or clawing at a wall panel as if scratching for a secret door. These scenes of shrewd practical effects are all chilling because Boyle often frames them in wide shots, creating the sense that this is the ghost in its organic habitat. Dread blooms in this deceptively simple staging, because of how matter-of-fact the ghoul is placed in these spaces. It's Airi who is the outsider, not him. There's the sense that there's no escape from his menace. 

Bolstering the suspense, Boyle brews a soundtrack of plunking piano keys, whistling flutes, and a shuffling percussion that sounds like footsteps on stairs. A cool color palette leans into the eeriness, a constant reminder of flesh paled by decay.

Boyle fills his film with eerie elements that create an electric atmosphere, rich with paranormal possibilities. In this setting, Airi is the eye of the storm, surrounded by the big energies of the cheerful hotelier, a moody teen ghost, and a malicious spirit. She is our conduit to understanding them all, exuding patience, persistence, and pain. Yet as this mystery gets gnarlier, Hoshi capably plays frightened without losing Airi's edge. She is like the gumshoe, rattled but relentless in her mission to uncover the truth and do whatever good she can from there. 

This quest leads to a winding climax full of twists and violence, because this medium is no fragile flower. She'll fight with the same passion she brings to dancing, and the result is suffocatingly tense and satisfying. 

In the end, Never After Dark is a beguiling haunted house tale with tantalizing twists, skin-crawling scares, and a tender tale of sisterhood at its core. Horror lovers should be on the lookout for this one.

Never After Dark was reviewed out the 2026 SXSW Film Festival.

If you search for the term "alpine divorce," you'll find loads of headlines calling it the latest "TikTok trend." But while it might sound like just another fleeting internet buzzword, the reality is actually a chilling form of domestic abuse.

The phrase originates from a 1890s short story by Robert Barr about a man who takes his wife on a mountain hike, intending to push her off a cliff. Recently, the term resurfaced on social media following a high-profile criminal case in Austria.

SEE ALSO: 'Use a gun': AI chatbots help people plan violence, report says

A man — who can only be identified as Thomas P due to Austrian privacy laws — was convicted of grossly negligent manslaughter after abandoning his girlfriend, Kerstin G, in a winter storm near the summit of Mount Grossglockner. Kerstin G died of hypothermia after Thomas P left her on the mountainside in Jan. 2025 in treacherous conditions — winds of 45 mph, a temperature of −8 °C (18 °F), with a windchill temperature of −20 °C (−4 °F). Thomas P pled not guilty, but prosecutors argued that Thomas neither turned back nor sought help quickly enough to save his girlfriend. During the 14-hour trial, an ex-girlfriend, Andrea B, testified that he'd left her entirely alone on the exact same mountain in 2023. Thomas P was handed a five-month suspended sentence and fined €9,600 ($10,982).

Following that tragedy, women began sharing their own survival stories on forums like Reddit. A quick read through the thread r/climbergirls reveals numerous accounts in which a male partner endangered their female companions either by literally leaving them in perilous situations or by exhibiting a profound lack of consideration for their safety and well-being.

As a r*pe survivor and as someone who’s struggled with abusive partners in the past, reading these accounts was deeply unsettling. How are we (women) supposed to trust anyone in this world?

Our fears are unfortunately backed up by staggering statistics. In 2021, an estimated 4,970 women were victims of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter in the United States, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Thirty-four percent were killed by an intimate partner, though some experts estimate that number is actually closer to half. Globally, the reality is just as grim: the United Nations reports that a woman is murdered by her partner or a family member every 10 minutes. The threat is disproportionately high in the U.S., which accounts for 70 percent of all femicides in high-income countries.

I spoke to trauma therapists and relationship experts to break down the psychology behind an alpine divorce, and how to spot the warning signs before you ever hit the trail.

The psychology of isolation

Abuse thrives in silence and isolation. In a domestic setting, there’s still some semblance of a safety net, whether it be neighbors, a cell signal, or just the ability to walk out. But when an abusive partner takes you into a remote, survival-based environment, all of those safeguards disappear. And suddenly, the person who put you in danger is also the only person you can rely on to survive.

"Taking someone to a remote location is the ultimate form of isolation and control because they're essentially taking away all access to help, communication, or witnesses," explains Jessica Ronyak, LMHC, LPCC, a licensed psychotherapist who specializes in abuse trauma. "It changes the psychological grip the abuser has on the victim because the abuser becomes the only point of safety and way out. This makes the abuser the threat but also the person to rely on for survival."

The great outdoors is also inherently dangerous, which gives the abuser the perfect cover for “accidents.” If you get left behind in a forest or on the side of a mountain, it’s easy for them to weaponize the unpredictability of the natural world.

"Nature is morally neutral," adds Ruth Darlene, founder and executive director of WomenSV. "What some men end up doing to women out there is not." Her nonprofit is dedicated to empowering survivors of coercive control, which she defines as "a pattern of threatening, isolating, controlling, and often shaming behaviors that entrap an intimate partner in their personal life."

She explains that for a covert abuser (someone who hides their controlling behavior behind a charming, respectable public persona), a hike is the ultimate way to exercise control while preserving their public image (because anything can happen). "Two go into the woods as husband and wife or boyfriend and girlfriend, and one comes out grieving the loss of his beloved partner, with no witnesses, only the tears of the remaining survivor."

Two go into the woods as husband and wife or boyfriend and girlfriend, and one comes out grieving the loss of his beloved partner, with no witnesses, only the tears of the remaining survivor. - Ruth Darlene, founder and executive director of WomenSV

Darlene calls this the "monopolization of perception," a psychological tactic where an abuser manipulates a victim into believing the world revolves entirely around them. By taking a partner into the wilderness, they completely isolate them from all outside assistance.

Ultimately, coercive control turns a romantic partner into a possession. "What is the ultimate right of property possession? Disposal," Darlene says. "The right to dispose of it when it no longer serves a useful purpose or begins to cause trouble."

A panic response or a calculated punishment?

When these stories go viral, the comment sections inevitably fill up with people playing devil's advocate or outright blaming the victim. In comments Mashable has reviewed, for example, you'll see variations of, "What was he supposed to do, stay there and freeze too?" or "Unless he did something to incapacitate her, he isn't responsible for her." Others argue that in high-risk situations, a partner might just panic and let their "flight" survival instinct take over.

According to Darlene, there's a visible difference between a trauma-triggered panic response and an act of coercive control. While a partner in an "unhealthy" relationship might run away during a conflict due to emotional immaturity or an instinctive fight-or-flight response, a covert abuser operates on a more "calculated" level.

"This kind of impulsive, reflexive 'trauma-triggered' behavior differs markedly from the calculating and premeditated tendencies of the abuser," Darlene clarifies. "Unhealthy crosses over into abusive behavior where there is a lack of accountability, self-reflection, empathy, remorse, or willingness to consider the needs of others."

Other therapists agree, noting that the true test is how the partner acts after the incident. Ronyak points out that "someone who acted in panic will show actual remorse and be sincerely apologetic," and likely try to help or attempt a rescue. Conversely, Gabrielle Wanchek, LMFT at Mindpath Health, explains that an abuser lacks true concern and will instead "get angry with the person who was in danger or shame the person before they try to reassign blame, making themselves the victim."

In short: It's one thing to storm out of a bedroom during an argument. It's an entirely different, calculated choice to drive off and leave someone in the wilderness.

Red flags and micro-abandonments

"Something as extreme as an alpine divorce doesn't usually appear out of nowhere," says Ronyak. She notes it’s almost always preceded by a pattern of behavior — like repeatedly minimizing your distress — that lets the abuser test the waters, establish dominance, and erode your self-esteem.

"Love is a slippery slope, and so is coercive control," Darlene warns. She explains that it often starts with excessive attention and lovebombing, or being overly affectionate very soon into the relationship. "What looks like checking in at first, over time can begin to look more like checking up on you." She emphasizes that the abuser's "mask" typically only begins to slip once the victim becomes vulnerable (e.g., falling in love, getting married, or moving to a new town).

Therapists refer to the stepping stones leading up to an alpine divorce as "micro-abandonments." These are everyday, seemingly mundane instances where a partner leaves you emotionally or physically stranded when you're vulnerable.

"I pay attention to patterns where one partner consistently withdraws care in moments of vulnerability, refusing help when the other is sick, stranded, overwhelmed, or frightened," says Melissa Legere, LMFT, clinical director and co-founder of California Behavioral Health. "These 'micro-abandonments' communicate a disturbing message: your safety and wellbeing are conditional and can be withdrawn as punishment."

It also shows up in how they handle conflict. Doriel Jacov, JD, LCSW, a psychotherapist and former corporate attorney, says that this type of abandonment reflects a "profound inability to tolerate and manage conflict." Instead of working through a disagreement, the abuser withdraws.

This can look like a partner who walks way ahead of you on a trail and gets annoyed when you ask them to slow down because they have a "low frustration tolerance." Or, it's the partner who stonewalls you during an argument. Complex trauma therapist Sheri Heller, LCSW, RSW, explains that "stonewalling (shutting down, disappearing, and refusing to engage in any way) is a powerful form of micro abandonment that keeps the target on edge, wondering what they did wrong this time to incur this form of punishment."

In many of these survival stories, the abuser is an experienced outdoorsman, while the victim is a beginner.

There's also the insidious weaponization of expertise. In many of these survival stories, the abuser is an experienced outdoorsman, while the victim is a beginner. The abuser builds a false sense of security by acting as a guide and protector, but once you're out in the wild, you're on your own.

"Any trepidation on the target's part will be framed as paranoia and a betrayal, as they're insinuating that the abuser is not trustworthy," says Heller. They might shame you for not understanding a climbing system, withhold vital information, or intentionally set an exhausting pace just to prove how much you need them.

According to Darlene, when an abuser has superior survival skills, the victim becomes completely dependent on him, mirroring Stockholm Syndrome. "Here we see this phenomenon sped up, where suddenly, he literally has the power of life and death over her," Darlene adds.

Will the law actually protect you?

If you’re hoping the criminal justice system will protect you from this kind of abuse, the reality is incredibly bleak. In the Austrian case that started this international discourse, the offense carried a maximum sentence of just three years in prison, but the convicted climber received a far more lenient punishment, despite the guilty verdict. The court cited his "clean record" and the "loss of a person close to him" as mitigating factors, with the judge ruling that he did not "willfully" leave her behind. He didn't even serve immediate jail time for her death.

But other legal systems recognize the severity of this crime. For example, under UK Crown Court guidelines, a conviction for gross negligence manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, with a typical range of one to 18 years in custody. UK guidelines specifically list acting with a "blatant disregard for a very high risk of death" as a factor indicating high culpability. A history of abuse or violence, including coercive or controlling behavior, is an aggravating factor that increases the seriousness of the offense.

In the U.S., these types of "accidents" carry more weight depending on how the charges are filed. According to the United States Sentencing Commission, involuntary manslaughter carries a statutory maximum of six years, while voluntary manslaughter carries a maximum of 10 years. If the prosecution can prove intent and secure a first-degree or second-degree murder charge, the maximum penalty is life in prison.

Abusers are often aware of these loopholes. "For the covert abuser who decides that his relationship has 'run its course,' and who is now running the cost-benefit analysis... the cheapest, most efficient solution isn't a long, drawn-out, costly court battle," Darlene cautions. "It's a camping trip."

When it comes to family court or a literal divorce, judges can also view this coercive control with the severity it deserves. Mehnaz Zanil, an associate solicitor at the UK-based family law firm Rayden Solicitors, explains that courts do not treat these incidents as mere dramatic breakups.

"If a partner deliberately strands the other in a remote or unsafe location in order to frighten, punish, humiliate, or exert control, the court may consider that behavior within the wider definition of domestic abuse, which includes controlling or coercive conduct as well as psychological or emotional abuse," Zanil says.

If you're fighting for custody and trying to protect your kids from a guy who pulls this kind of stunt, don't let him gaslight you into keeping quiet about it — bring it up in family court. Leaving a partner stranded in a dangerous, isolating situation isn't just an "oops, I made a bad call" moment. Judges will look at the context and intent behind these so-called "accidents" to see them for what they really are: a calculated misuse of power and a glaring pattern of abuse.

Finding your footing again

Surviving an alpine divorce, or any relationship defined by coercive control, leaves a psychological scar. For many survivors, the hardest part is reconciling how their abuser used their best traits against them.

"What he has done is taken what's right with her, her very best qualities of understanding and empathy and self-reflection, and weaponized even those so that he gets used to blaming her and she gets used to blaming herself," Darlene says.

"The recovery process involves grieving the loss of the relationship, and also the fantasy of who they thought their partner was," Sabrina Romanoff, PsyD and clinical psychologist and relationship expert, tells Mashable. Legere agrees, noting that therapy often focuses on helping the survivor process the shock of the realization and stabilizing the trauma symptoms.

When you're ready to date again, Darlene insists the most important tool you have is patience. "Time is the enemy of the covert abuser," she says, noting that abusers often push for physical intimacy early on to short-circuit a victim's analytical mind. She recommends keeping a private journal to track early pink flags (like teasing, moodiness, road rage, or how he talks about his exes) to help you see the reality of his character before you're fully invested.

"Recovery looks like rebuilding nervous system safety and self-trust, helping survivors reconnect with their instincts, use self-compassion to reduce shame and self-criticism, and recognize early warning signs of coercive or controlling behavior," explains Chloë Bean, LMFT, a somatic trauma therapist.

Learning to trust your internal warning signals again is the most important step you can take. If your partner makes you feel unsafe, unsupported, or like your needs are a burden, listen to that instinct. Your safety should never be conditional.

If you have experienced sexual abuse, call the free, confidential National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), or access the 24-7 help online by visiting online.rainn.org.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, you can call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), text "START" to 88788, or access live chat support at thehotline.org/get-help

We're on a mission to bring you free food deals on special occasions. When we took on this task, we were expecting a lot of planning and careful preparation to make sure we were across the handful of events that go live every year. In reality, we're actually inundated with these free giveaways. It turns out that leading stores don't need much of an excuse to throw free food your way.

The latest event is Pi Day, an annual celebration of the mathematical constant π. Pi Day takes place on March 14 since 3, 1, and 4 are the first three figures of π. On this special day, select pizza shops and stores across the country offer great discounts and freebies on pizza and pies.

We've checked out everything on offer from big names like Burger King, 7-Eleven, DoorDash, Papa John's, and more. We'll be updating this list with any new free food deals that drop over the weekend.

Pi Day 2026 food deals7-Eleven

7-Eleven is offering any flavor of large pizza for just $3.14. 7Now app users can also snag a whole pizza for just $3.14 at participating 7Eleven, Speedway, and Stripes locations.

Anthony’s Pizza

Visit Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza & Wings on Pi Day to score a 10-inch coal-fired cheese pizza for $3.14 with any beverage purchase. This offer is only available dine-in through 4 p.m. local time and you need to mention the offer when ordering.

BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse

BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse ise offering a full-size Pizookie Dessert for just $3.14 after the purchase of a large or shareable pizza on Pi Day. This offer is available for dine-in only.

Blaze Pizza

Blaze Pizza is offering a second pizza for $3.14 when you purchase any 11-inch pizza. You're limited to one pizza per person and it's only valid for in-restaurant orders.

Burger King

On Pi Day, you can grab a free slice of Hershey’s Sundae Pie or Cinnamon Apple Pie with any purchase of $3.14 or more at Burger King.

Cici’s Pizza

Cici’s Pizza is offering a BOGO on any pizza for $3.14 with the purchase of a medium or large one-topping pizza. There's a limit of one order per customer and it's only valid for carryout and dine-in.

DoorDash

DoorDash is offering multiple deals on March 14:

• Blaze Pizza: BOGO Simple Pie 11-inch cheese pizza

• Pizza Hut: BOGO medium or large Create Your Own Pizzas

• Sbarro Pizza: $4 off orders of $20 or more or $5 off orders of $25 or more (DashPass members only)

Famous Dave’s

Famous Dave’s is offering a free slice of Bakers Square pie with a purchase, online, in-app, and in-store orders on March 14.

Goldbelly

Get 31.4% off pizzas and pies on March 14.

Grand Traverse Pie Company

Grand Traverse Pie Company is offering a free slice of Michigan ABC Crumb Pie with any purchase.

Grimaldi’s Pizzeria

Score pizza slices for just $3.14 each.

Marco’s Pizza

Buy any regular menu-priced large or extra-large pizza, and you can get a medium one-topping pizza for $3.14 with the promo code PIDAY. This offer is available online or via the app. 

Papa John's

Papa Rewards members can buy one large one-topping pizza at regular price and get a second one for just $3.14.

Pieology

Pieology Pies & Perks Rewards members can score a free cookie or fountain drink with a purchase of a Create Your Own Pizza, Calzone, or Salad. There’s a limit of one redemption per customer.

Round Table Pizza

Members of Round Table Pizza Rewards can get a one-topping personal-pan pizza for only $3.14 with the purchase of any large or XL pizza.

The Pizza Press

Get a Signature Pizza for $3.14 when you order in-app at The Pizza Press. There's a limit of one order per customer.

This content originally appeared on Mashable for a US audience and has been adapted for the UK audience.

All the single ladies — and single fellas — are saying the same thing lately. Everyone’s absolutely exhausted from the rigmarole of online dating. App fatigue is very real, and it’s not making those genuine connections any easier to find. Sometimes it feels downright impossible, in fact. We understand the major issue all too well: Ultimately, you just want the dating apps that actually work. So which dating apps actually work?

There are no right answers because it’s less about finding an app that works than it is finding the right app for what you actually want. People on eharmony are probably looking for long-term commitment, while people swiping through hookup apps such as Tinder are after… well, let’s just say we know what they’re looking for.

The important thing is not to lose the faith. Sure, everyone’s suffering from dating app burnout, but it’s worth remembering they do get job the done. The best dating apps are one of the most reliable ways to meet a partner. A SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus found that 65 percent of people aged between 18 and 29 have used dating apps, while a 2023 report found that one in five young people met their partner via an app.

You just need the right app for you. Fortunately, Mashable’s dating experts have put in the hours to determine which apps are best for every kind of dater. So, to help you find your match, here’s a roundup of dating apps worth downloading in 2026.

TL;DR: Sign up for a 7-day free trial of Apple TV+ through Prime Video Channels to watch select F1 races live. Watch the Chinese GP for free with the Prime Video app.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Apple TV Prime Video Channel Watch the Australian GP for free with a 7-day trial Shop Now

The new F1 season started in the way most fans expected. There was a lot of good, but plenty of bad.

I still don't really know where we stand this season after the introduction of regulation changes, but that uncertainty mostly feels like a good thing. Sure, the cars sound funny and there definitely seems like a lot of unnecessary complication, but there was also some genuinely thrilling racing from the first race weekend. And that's not always the case with F1, so I'll take that as a win.

And now the attention turns to China, and the first Sprint of the season. Can anyone stop Mercedes from flying to the front? I honestly have no idea at this stage, but I can't wait to see how Ferrari, Red Bull, and McLaren respond to Russell's dominant performance at Albert Park.

If you want to watch F1 2026 for free from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

When is the Chinese GP?

The Chinese GP is the second race of the 2026 F1 season. Here's the full schedule from the Shanghai International Circuit:

• Practice 1 — 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. ET on March 12

• Sprint Qualifying — 3:30-4:14 a.m. ET on March 13

• Sprint — 11 p.m. to 12 a.m. ET on March 13

• Qualifying — 3-4 a.m. ET on March 14

• Race — 3 a.m. ET on March 15

It's possible for fans to follow all the action from this race weekend without spending anything.

How to watch the Chinese GP for free

I'm a paid-up member of Amazon Prime. You probably know by now that Amazon Prime comes with fast shipping, exclusive Prime Day deals, and access to Prime Video. That Prime Video access is crucial for this season of F1.

It's now possible to sign up for a 7-day free trial of Apple TV+ through Prime Video Channels. F1 is now exclusive to Apple TV in the U.S., so by gaining access to this free trial, you can watch select races for free this season. The subscription typically costs £9.99 per month after the trial ends, but you can cancel at any time. That means you can watch the Chinese GP for free this weekend and then back out before needing to pay anything. It's a sneaky trick, but it works.

I already pay for Amazon Prime, so is this really a free hack? That's up for debate, but Amazon Prime does offer a 30-day free trial period if you're new to the service. By signing up for this free trial and then gaining access to Apple TV through Prime Video Channels, you can watch select races without spending anything.

If you've already used this method for the Australian GP, I suggest you go direct to Apple TV. This popular steaming service comes with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers. Alternatively, Apple One bundles Apple TV with Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness Plus, Apple News Plus, and 50GB of iCloud Storage for $19.95 per month after a one-month free trial.

How to live stream 2026 F1 for free in 2026 Best Apple TV Deal Apple TV 7-day free trial Shop Now Best Prime Video Deal Apple TV Prime Video Channel 7-day free trial Shop Now Best Apple One Deal Apple One 30-day free trial Shop Now

How to live stream 2026 F1 for free at a glance: Best Apple TV Deal Apple TV 7-day free trial Shop Now Best Prime Video Deal Apple TV Prime Video Channel 7-day free trial Shop Now Best Apple One Deal Apple One 30-day free trial Shop Now

This season of F1 could be special. Every season of F1 has a number of fascinating storylines to follow, but due to a major set of regulation changes, there's so much uncertainty right now. And uncertainty can lead to exciting racing.

Lando Norris secured an incredible title victory on the final day of last season. Now the pressure is on McLaren to defend that title against a long list of talented drivers and motivated teams. Expect the likes of George Russell, Kimi Antonelli, Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, and Max Verstappen to challenge for race wins this season. Mercedes look like the team to beat this season, but Ferrari and Red Bull have shown pace at points.

If you are interested in watching F1 2026 for free from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

What is F1?

Formula One (F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars. A season consists of a series of races (Grands Prix) that take place in multiple countries and continents on either purpose-built circuits or closed public roads.

Lando Norris is the defending champion. McLaren won the Constructors Championship in 2025.

When is F1 in 2026?

The 2026 F1 season is the 77th edition of the championship. This year's championship features 24 Grands Prix events held all over the world between March and December:

1. Australian Grand Prix — March 8

2. Chinese Grand Prix — March 15

3. Japanese Grand Prix — March 29

4. Bahrain Grand Prix — April 12

5. Saudi Arabian Grand Prix — April 19

6. Miami Grand Prix — May 3

7. Canadian Grand Prix — May 24

8. Monaco Grand Prix — June 7

9. Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix — June 14

10. Austrian Grand Prix — June 28

11. British Grand Prix — July 5

12. Belgian Grand Prix — July 19

13. Hungarian Grand Prix — July 26

14. Dutch Grand Prix — Aug. 23

15. Italian Grand Prix — Sept. 6

16. Spanish Grand Prix — Sept. 13

17. Azerbaijan Grand Prix — Sept. 26

18. Singapore Grand Prix — Oct. 11

19. United States Grand Prix — Oct. 25

20. Mexico City Grand Prix — Nov. 1

21. São Paulo Grand Prix — Nov. 8

22. Las Vegas Grand Prix — Nov. 21

23. Qatar Grand Prix — Nov. 29

24. Abu Dhabi Grand Prix — Dec. 6

It's important to note that these dates are only for race days. The Chinese, Miami, Canadian, British, Dutch, and Singapore GPs will host a sprint race.

How to watch F1 for free

In the U.S., F1 is now exclusive to Apple TV. An Apple TV subscription costs $12.99 per month or $99 per year, but it's possible to gain access to Apple TV without spending anything.

Apple TV Opens in a new window Credit: Apple TV Apple TV (7-day free trial) Apple TV comes with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers. This is a sneaky trick, but you could sign up to watch the next F1 race and then cancel your subscription before you need to spend anything. This obviously isn't a long-term fix, but it does give you the opportunity to live stream select F1 race weekends for free. Shop Now Apple TV Prime Video Channel Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Apple TV Prime Video Channel (7-day free trial) Already an Amazon Prime member? You're in luck. You can sign up for a 7-day free trial of Apple TV+ through Prime Video Channels. This lets you watch select F1 races live with the Prime Video app. The subscription typically costs £9.99 per month after the trial ends, but you can cancel at any time. That means you can watch select races without actually spending anything. Shop Now Apple One Opens in a new window Credit: Apple One Apple One (30-day free trial) Apple One bundles Apple TV with Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness Plus, Apple News Plus, and 50GB of iCloud Storage for $19.95 per month after a one-month free trial. Time it right and this trial could provide access to up to four race weekends for free. You do need to be a new or returning subscriber to each of the included services to get the free trial. Shop Now

It's worth noting that the best Apple TV free-trial offer comes with purchases of new Apple devices. New subscribers can get three months of Apple TV for free after purchasing any eligible Apple product, including iPhones, iPads, Macs, or Apple TVs. This special offer goes live for 90 days after the new device is activated — that's a good chunk of the season.

TL;DR: Stream the 2026 Six Nations for free on BBC iPlayer and ITVX. Access these free streaming services from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The Six Nations is a special competition. Want to see incredible speed and skill from supremely talented athletes? Check out the Six Nations. Want to experience intense passion from heated rivalries? The Six Nations offers that in abundance. Enjoy the sight of absolutely huge men smashing into each other at speed? Yep, the Six Nations is for you.

We've already been treated to some huge performances from the 2026 edition of this competition, and now the final round of games promises real drama. Everything is still to play for in this epic conclusion.

If you want to watch the 2026 Six Nations for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

What is the Six Nations?

The Six Nations Championship is an annual international men's rugby union competition between England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales. Each team plays every other team once, with home ground advantage alternating from one year to the next.

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The current champions are France. England and Wales have won the competition most often (39 titles).

When is the 2026 Six Nations?

The 2026 Six Nations Championship is the 132nd edition of the competition. This year's competition will take place from Feb. 5 to March 14. Here's the full schedule of games:

• France vs. Ireland — 8:10 p.m. GMT on Feb. 5 (ITV)

• Italy vs. Scotland — 2:10 p.m. GMT on Feb. 7 (BBC)

• England vs. Wales — 4:40 p.m. GMT on Feb. 7 (ITV)

• Ireland vs. Italy — 2:10 p.m. GMT on Feb. 14 (ITV)

• Scotland vs. England — 4:40 p.m. GMT on Feb. 14 (ITV)

• Wales vs. France — 3:10 p.m. GMT on Feb. 15 (BBC)

• England vs. Ireland — 2:10 p.m. GMT on Feb. 21 (ITV)

• Wales vs. Scotland — 4:40 p.m. GMT on Feb. 21 (BBC)

• France vs. Italy — 3:10 p.m. GMT on Feb. 22 (ITV)

• Ireland vs. Wales — 8:10 p.m. GMT on March 6 (ITV)

• Scotland vs. France — 2:10 p.m. GMT on March 7 (BBC)

• Italy vs. England — 4:40 p.m. GMT on March 7 (ITV)

• Ireland vs. Scotland — 2:10 p.m. GMT on March 14 (ITV)

• Wales vs. Italy — 4:40 p.m. GMT on March 14 (BBC)

• France vs. England — 8:10 p.m. GMT on March 14 (ITV)

Fans can watch every game from the 2026 Six Nations without spending anything.

How to watch the 2026 Six Nations for free

The 2026 Six Nations is available to live stream for free on BBC iPlayer and ITVX.

BBC iPlayer and ITVX are both geo-restricted to the UK, but anyone can access these free streaming platforms with a VPN. These tools can hide your digital location and connect you to a secure server in the UK. This quick and easy action makes it look like you're connecting from the UK, so you can stream on BBC iPlayer and ITVX from anywhere in the world.

Unblock BBC iPlayer and ITVX 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 or ITVX

5. Stream the 2026 Six Nations for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.99 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can gain access to BBC iPlayer or ITVX without committing with your cash. This is obviously not a long-term solution, but it does give you time to stream most of the 2026 Six Nations before recovering your investment.

If you want to retain permanent access to all your favorite free streaming platforms, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for streaming is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for the Six Nations?

ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream sport for free, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 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 10 simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99 (with money-back guarantee).

Live stream the 2026 Six Nations for free with ExpressVPN.

With the New Moon just a few days away, the Moon is shrinking into a thin crescent, with its lit surface fading more each night. For now, there's still a small bit of its surface illuminated, so keep reading to find out what you can see.

What is today’s Moon phase?

As of Saturday, March 14, the Moon phase is Waning Crescent. According to NASA's Daily Moon Guide, 24% of the Moon will be lit up tonight.

There's less visibility tonight, but still enough to spot some features. With just your naked eye, you can see the Aristarchus Plateau and the Kepler Crater. If you have a pair of binoculars or a telescope, get these out to see the Grimaldi Basin and the Gassendi Crater.

When is the next Full Moon?

In North America, the next Full Moon is predicted to take place on April 1.

What are Moon phases?

According to NASA, the Moon takes roughly 29.5 days to orbit Earth, passing through eight distinct phases along the way. Although we always see the same side of the Moon, the amount illuminated by the Sun shifts as it moves, which is why it can appear full, half-lit, or just a thin sliver at different times in the cycle. These shifting appearances are known as the lunar phases, and there are eight altogether:

New Moon - The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it's invisible to the eye).

Waxing Crescent - A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).

First Quarter - Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.

Waxing Gibbous - More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.

Full Moon - The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.

Waning Gibbous - The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)

Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) - Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.

Waning Crescent - A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.

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

Accessible.

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

HANDY

Hurdle Word 2 hint

Infected.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for March 14, 2026 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

RABID

Hurdle Word 3 hint

Goofy.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for March 14 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for March 14, 2026 Hurdle Word 3 answer

SILLY

Hurdle Word 4 hint

A boss.

Hurdle Word 4 answer

MOGUL

Final Hurdle hint

A blanket.

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

COVER

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

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you love a fictional mystery.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for March 14, 2026 Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Mesmerized

• Green: A pair

• Blue: Detectives

• Purple: Girls in the wild

Here are today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Hypnotic state

• Green: Starting with prefixes meaning "Two"

• Blue: Fictional inspectors

• Purple: Ending in female animals

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

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

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections #1006 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Hypnotic state: DREAM, HAZE, SPELL, TRANCE

• Starting with prefixes meaning "Two": BINARY, DIOXIDE, DUOLINGO, TWILIGHT

• Fictional inspectors: CLOUSEAU, GADGET, JAVERT, MORSE

• Ending in female animals: HOOTENANNY, LICHEN, MOSCOW, NIGHTMARE

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

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for March 14, 2026

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

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

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