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Like it or not, sleep is a non-negotiable aspect of being alive. We human beings require sleep to continue functioning. The problem is, for plenty of people, sleep is an elusive beast. For a gigantic list of reasons, people struggle to get enough high-quality sleep and keep that sleep schedule consistent. 

One of the main sleep disruptors is temperature. Some of us can sweat through the sheets in January, while others cannot warm up no matter how many wool duvets they add to the bed. The Eight Sleep Pod 5 aims to remedy temperature as a reason why you cannot get restorative sleep. It does this, primarily, with the Pod’s Cover, which slips over your mattress like a fitted sheet. You get to set your ideal Cover temperature, or you can let the Eight Sleep Autopilot take the wheel, which will make adjustments throughout the night.

SEE ALSO: The DreamCloud Premier mattress has no business being so affordable given its hotel-like luxury

Plenty of us have gone to great lengths to find the secret to getting great sleep, but the Eight Sleep Pod 5 has a glaring factor — it’s really, really expensive. We’re talking between $3,000 and $6,000+ for a queen-size setup, depending on how luxurious you want to go. Since that number is not one most people find easy to swallow, I slept on the Eight Sleep Pod 5 for several months to decide if I think it’s worth the price. In the end, I’ve come to love almost everything about the Pod 5, and I miss it when I’m not sleeping at home, but I did find some aspects frustrating. My detailed adventure with the Eight Sleep Pod 5 takes off from here.

Disclaimer: If you deal with chronic sleep issues, please seek out professional medical guidance before turning to any type of physical product for relief.

How does the Eight Sleep Pod 5 system work?

It’s helpful to get the whole overview of how the Pod works before I dive into what my experience was like sleeping on the system. At its core, the Eight Sleep Pod 5 is a cover that slips over your mattress much like a fitted sheet. But this cover contains a network of small tubes that pump either hot or cold water throughout. The aim here is to either warm you up or cool you down, and therefore, help you get better sleep.

The brains of this water system sit in the Eight Sleep Pod Hub, which sits next to your bed and attaches to the cover via a thick cord. Sleepers control the cover’s temperature through the Eight Sleep app or with three buttons located on the side of the cover. There’s also an autopilot mode that hands off temperature control to the app, and it’ll adjust throughout the night to what it thinks will help you sleep best.

The Pod Cover connects to the Hub, which sits near the bed. Credit: Lauren Allain / Mashable

Besides heating and cooling, the cover has some serious smarts in the name of sleep metrics. It detects heart rate and breathing patterns, and monitors sleep stages. All of that info gets sent to the app, which then gives a detailed nightly report on sleep quality. It also has a vibration function, allowing you to set an alarm to wake you up via vibration every morning, which is really snazzy and infinitely better than a cellphone alarm.

The blanket

In addition to the cover, sleepers can add the Eight Sleep Pod 5 blanket to the setup. It works in a similar fashion to the cover with small water tubing throughout that sends either warm or cool water through the channels. The blanket connects to the cover via cords to the ports located at the foot of the cover. Conveniently, the cords tuck under your mattress, so there’s little risk of kicking the blanket cords while you sleep.

An easy click-to-connect system attaches the blanket to the cover. Credit: Lauren Allain / Mashable

The temperature for the blanket is also controlled in the app. Since the Hub controls the temperature of both the cover and the blanket, you’ll need to select one temperature for both products.

The base

For an extra luxurious slumber, Eight Sleep sells an adjustable base to pair with your mattress, the Pod’s cover, and the blanket. The adjustable base articulates at the head and the foot, so you’re free to adjust either area to find your perfect combo. In the app, you can move the base into pre-set positions for reading, relaxing, or sleeping, or keep it flat. Getting more particular, you can adjust the head and foot to the specific degree of your liking.

At times during testing, I found the reading position to feel too upright, but the lower relax position to be too close to lying down, so I adjusted the degree of incline, which is super easy to do in the app. The Eight Sleep base also has a built-in speaker that can lull you off to sleep with the soothing sounds of a rainforest and awaken you with soft beach waves. You can also go with pink noise, white noise, or brown noise.

Choose your favorite degree on the adjustable base. Credit: Screenshot: Eight Sleep app The base can listen for snoring and adjust the head to help mitigate. Credit: Screenshot: Eight Sleep app

Another major benefit of the base is its snoring mitigation function. When the base detects snoring, it’ll raise the head area slightly. This small adjustment is undetectable, and its aim is to prop sleepers up in a better position to open their air passages, hopefully putting an end to snoring.

Since plenty of us get poor sleep on account of a partner snoring, myself included, this automatic adjustment is a lifesaver. I haven’t noticed my partner snoring in months, aside from the times we’ve been staying at a friend’s house where there was no Eight Sleep Pod provided in the guest room. Sigh.

SEE ALSO: Tempur-Pedic’s smart bed frame taught me I’m bad at sleeping Surprise! Setting up the Eight Sleep Pod 5 is super easy.

Since I tested the entire Eight Sleep Pod 5, which includes the cover, blanket, adjustable base, and legs for the base, I had a total of eight boxes. To say I was intimidated by the setup is an understatement. But to my absolute delight, it was super easy. Yes, it was a lengthy process that took several hours, but it was all straightforward. I had the help of my partner, but none of the elements would have been unmanageable by myself. The adjustable base is split into two sides, which makes it easier to carry into the bedroom. Perhaps best of all, the setup requires zero tools. 

Setting up the cover, blanket, and adjustable base was straightforward, thanks to the app's instructions. Credit: Lauren Allain / Mashable

All you need to set up any and all elements of the Eight Sleep Pod 5 system is distilled water, a WiFi connection, the app up and running, and some time. I’ve assembled simple platform mattress bases that were far more complicated than the Pod 5. Phew. The app takes you through detailed setup instructions in a way that makes the entire process a cinch.

What I loved about sleeping with the Eight Sleep Pod 5

In truth, I loved a lot about the Eight Sleep Pod 5. Seattle summers have followed the global trend of getting way too hot, and most of us don’t have AC. I sleep hot to begin with, so summers have felt especially evil to me. The Eight Sleep Pod 5 made me forget what it was like to sweat the bed every single night. In my several months of testing, I woke up sweaty exactly once. Just one time I woke up drenched. Before the Pod 5, it was a rare occurrence if I didn’t wake up soaked. The difference was shocking. I also deal with migraines from dehydration, so having a sleep solution that keeps me from sweating a ton and losing a bunch of water at night has been a miracle.

Controls on each side of the bed means you don't have to look at your phone to make temperature adjustments in the middle of the night. Credit: Lauren Allain / Mashable

My testing continued into the fall, and once the weather turned rainy and gray, I found comfort and pleasure in crawling into a pre-warmed bed each night. Napping on a pre-warmed bed also felt like I had unearthed some kind of hidden level of enjoyment in life that I didn’t have access to before the Pod 5.

The Pod 5’s base also changed my partner’s proclivity for snoring. In fact, it stopped it entirely. Not once did I wake up to shake him. I have to assume that not only did I sleep way better because of this, but he did, too.

Things I didn't love about the Eight Sleep Pod 5

Sleeping on the Pod 5 for the first two weeks or so was a journey, and I often wanted to get off the Pod train. Some nights, I woke up too cold and had to reach for my phone to bump up the temperature. (My partner preferred to make temperature adjustments with the Cover’s side controls, but I always went into the app.) Other nights, I woke up too hot and had to lower the temperature. All of that disrupted my sleep, probably more than getting sweaty would have.

In the app, select your ideal temperature for bedtime, night, and dawn. Autopilot will make adjustments, if you'd like. Credit: Screenshot: Eight Sleep app A nightly look at how autopilot adjusted the cover's temperature. Credit: Screenshot: Eight Sleep app

It took several weeks for me to get acquainted with the Pod 5 and for it to get used to my preferences. On occasion, the bed would decide a toasty +7 was optimal for my bedtime temperature, which felt like I was sleeping on the sun itself. Other nights it went with a more moderate +5. I told it +3 was my preference, but the cover did what it wanted at times. To this day, it still spurts out bedtime temperatures seemingly at random. This, however, is easy to adjust in the app.

Because the Eight Sleep Pod 5’s Blanket has water channels, it’s heavier than your normal duvet insert and cover. Personally, I love a weighted blanket, so the Pod 5’s blanket is heaven for me. My partner, however, does not like weighted blankets and is not in love with the hefty feel of the blanket. The Blanket is an add-on to the Pod’s Cover, so I only recommend going for it if you enjoy the feel of a weighted blanket.

I love the weight of the Eight Sleep blanket. My partner doesn't. Credit: Lauren Allain / Mashable Who might love the Eight Sleep Pod 5

After sleeping on the Pod 5 for months through several seasons, I’ve compiled a list of people who I think would get significant benefit from the Sleep Pod 5 and might be able to justify the price. They include:

• Especially hot sleepers who don’t find relief with bedding or a breathable mattress

• Cold sleepers who can’t warm up with bedding

• Those who live in a warm environment without AC

• People with persistent aches and pains

• Couples who prefer to sleep at different temperatures

• Sleepers who are dealing with hot flashes

• Those who are super interested in detailed sleep metrics

In essence, if you want better control of temperature paired with detailed sleep metrics but you don’t want a wearable sleep tracker, the Eight Sleep Pod 5 could be ideal. 

SEE ALSO: I slept on Nectar's cooling mattress for a month and still got sweaty Sizing options for the Eight Sleep Pod 5

Eight Sleep offers the Pod 5 in full, queen, king, and California king sizes. All of these sizes are capable of supporting two sleepers, with separate temperature controls on each side. However, if you sleep alone, you can indicate that during the initial setup to have the entire bed set for one sleeper.

The separate sides make the Pod easier for couples to use since temperature preferences tend to vary. It’s also ideal for when one person is napping and the other isn’t, or if your bedtimes vary. But the lack of a twin-size is a miss, in my opinion. After testing the Pod for months, I think older people who deal with pain or lower mobility are great candidates for the Pod 5, but they’ll have to be in a full-size bed or larger. The lack of a twin also means you can’t use the Pod 5 for a split king set-up, which is identical to two twins in a side-by-side arrangement. I love the idea of a split king adjustable base with the Eight Sleep Pod since this would allow each sleeper to choose their ideal base position, in addition to the temperature.

The Autopilot membership is extra

When you buy the Eight Sleep Pod 5, you’ll also need to select your Autopilot plan for the first year of ownership. The options include standard, enhanced, and elite, with varying levels of metrics and functions attached to each plan. These memberships provide access to Pod 5’s Autopilot feature, which enables your Cover to adjust the temperature throughout the night to what it deems most comfortable. Here’s the pricing breakdown for the first year:

• Standard: $199

• Enhanced: $299

• Elite: $399

Each Autopilot membership gives two users access to the plan, so you only need one plan per bed. And here’s what’s included:

• Standard: Autopilot temperature adjustments, sleep and health reports, vibrating and thermal alarms, snoring detection, and a two-year warranty

• Enhanced: Everything in Standard, but with a five-year warranty

• Elite: Everything in Enhanced plus advanced wellbeing monitoring, cardiovascular monitoring, and respiratory monitoring, like abnormal heart rates or breathing patterns.

It’s not possible to purchase the Pod 5 without signing up for one of these plans. However, after your first year, you can bail on the plan. But that means the Pod Cover will not automatically adjust temperature at night, and you’ll need to set it manually. You’ll also lose access to vibrating and thermal alarms, and you won’t get sleep tracking metrics, either. Boiled down, without the Autopilot plan, the Cover is pretty much just a fancy heated or cooling mattress cover. I fail to see much allure in using the Pod 5 Cover without the plan, so I’d factor the annual price into the overall cost of ownership.

An always-improving app that’s hungry for details

I’ll hand it to Eight Sleep — the developers put so much thoughtful design into the Pod 5 that it’s complicated to explain every feature of the bed and the app. Even a month after sleeping on the Pod 5, I would open the app to find a new area with new metrics and controls that I did not know existed.

The app is a complex beast, and I think data-driven folks will love it. Each morning, you get a comprehensive look at how you slept the previous night, including time spent in REM, deep sleep, and overview numbers that include how much time you spent asleep and how long sleep interruptions lasted.

The app also lets you see sleep biometrics, like resting heart rate, heart rate variability, snoring time, and breath rate. In addition to these detailed metrics, the app has some functions I’m pretty smitten with, like nap mode and a jet lag protocol. There’s also a special function that those who are transitioning into menopause will be thrilled about.

Hot flash mode could be a savior for those who deal with disrupted sleep from them. Credit: Screenshot: Eight Sleep app The away function in the Eight Sleep app is snazzy. Credit: Screenshot: Eight Sleep app Hot Flash Mode

About a month into my testing journey, Eight Sleep launched a new Hot Flash Mode. Once enabled, this mode lets sleepers alert the Cover about a hot flash, which will send the cover into a super quick cooling mode for a set amount of time. You get to choose the temperature drop and the duration. To make this easier than heading into the app when experiencing a hot flash, you can assign Hot Flash Mode to a button on the cover’s side.

I got to chat with Dr. Nicole Moyen, Eight Sleep’s Director of Science & Clinical Research, about Hot Flash Mode. She explained that about 80 percent of people in perimenopause will experience hot flashes, and many will go through several each night. Not only is this uncomfortable temperature spike disruptive to sleep, but Dr. Moyen also said it’s basically impossible to predict when a hot flash will occur. 

She said Eight’s Sleep’s own research has shown that simply sleeping on the Pod itself can cut the normal instance rate in half, even without using Hot Flash Mode. “We’re lowering people’s core body temperature and therefore keeping them within a narrow thermostat range that the brain needs,” she explained over our video call. But with Hot Flash Mode, sleepers can access rapid cooling in an attempt to mitigate the hot flash. Plus, the Pod will warm back up after the set time. Dr. Moyen explained that this experience is a stark contrast to how most people experience a hot flash, which involves intense heat, sweating, and getting out of bed to cool down — not to mention this is often followed by chills on account of the now sweaty bed.

I haven’t experienced the joy of hot flashes yet, but I tested out the function, and it does exactly what it should: cools you like you’re on fire. For people who deal with interrupted sleep each night for years on account of hot flashes, I can see how this feature could offer great relief. Plus, it could mean less disruption to a partner.

Away mode

When you head off on vacation or leave for the weekend and won't be around to sleep on the Pod 5, the app has an away mode. It takes you into a calendar to select when you'll be leaving and when you're returning. When setting up this schedule, you can indicate if both sleepers will be gone or just one. This'll put the bed in a dormant mode until your return. If you happen to come back earlier than expected, it's easy to push the "I'm back" option, and the Pod 5 will resume its normal schedule.

A bed that lives on WiFi

We all love WiFi, but the Eight Sleep Pod 5 is really, really in love with that connection. In fact, it hardly works without access to WiFi. That means the AWS outage took every Eight Sleep Pod offline. My bed went cold, but I was fine once I put on warmer pajamas and grabbed an extra blanket. Other users were in worse shape, and some took to the internet to complain of missing work because the bed’s alarm didn’t go off or struggling to sleep because it was too hot or too cold.

The following day, the brand's CEO, Matteo Franceschetti, posted on his X account that Eight Sleep would roll out Backup Mode, making some of the bed’s functions available via Bluetooth, bypassing the need for WiFi. If AWS crashes or your WiFi goes out, you can still adjust temperature and elevation. Some features won’t work, like the bed’s Autopilot adjustments, and the bed won’t turn on automatically at bedtime like it usually does, but you can manually set the temperature.

Eight Sleep said this new feature’s rollout would be “gradual,” and I haven’t seen any update on my Pod. But this update gives potential owners reassurance that their beds will still be able to heat or cool in the event of an outage. Keep in mind you’re still kinda screwed if the power goes out, unless you own a portable power station or have a generator for home backup.

A sad note about cleaning

You’re probably wondering how you’d go about cleaning a mattress cover that includes a network of water tubing. I sure was while I was testing. The answer is a pretty big letdown — you can’t. The Eight Sleep Pod 5 cover is not safe to clean in the washing machine. Instead, you’ll need to spot clean it as necessary with water and a smidge of soap. The Pod’s blanket is also not machine washable, and the tag notes instructions to “spot clean with a damp cloth only.

This brings me to urge caution to anyone who has pets or small kids from investing in the Pod 5. Any accident from pets, kids, or yourself (like spilled coffee or wine) could be near impossible to thoroughly and hygienically clean. Should you sweat at night (hopefully not, thanks to the temperature control), that could also soak into the non-cleanable cover.

Pair this with the premium price of the Eight Sleep Pod 5, and I’m not feeling like this is a wise splurge for those who share a bed with kids or pets. In theory, you could add a waterproof mattress protector over the Pod 5 Cover, but that could also create a barrier between you and the cooling or heating effects that cost top-dollar.

Is the Eight Sleep Pod 5 worth the price?

In a queen-size, the Eight Sleep Pod 5 with Hub and Cover sells for $3,248 with the Standard Autopilot plan. If you add the blanket and adjustable base to the setup and go with the Elite Autopilot plan, the queen-size price shoots up to $6,497. That’s a heavy lift for most people, especially considering you have to bring your own mattress to the party. 

But before I say I think the Pod 5 is too expensive, I have to point out that sleep is one of the most important pillars for us human beings. Sacrificing sleep is not smart, and the CDC mentions it's a large player in how our immune system functions and a major player in overall heart health and brain function.

With that in mind, if you cannot sleep because you’re too hot or too cold, the Eight Sleep Pod 5 might very well be worth the high price tag. If the Pod 5 allows you to get better sleep even for just one year, it works out to about $8 per night in the queen size. If we up the time frame to five years, it works out to just $1.67 per night. That’s not much for an investment in wellbeing and health.

I don’t think the Eight Sleep Pod 5 is a good investment for all sleepers, but it could be a life-changer for some. Considering some people drop more than the price of the entire Eight Sleep Pod 5 setup to spend one week on a cruise ship with Mickey Mouse (no shade — those Disney cruises look incredible), I don’t think the $3,049 price tag or even the $6,395 price for the cover, blanket, and base is all that wild. 

Sleep has the power to make a dramatic difference in almost every aspect of our waking hours, and if the Eight Sleep Pod 5 helps you get better sleep, I think it’s well worth the price. Keep in mind, Eight Sleep offers a 30-day trial, so you have some reassurance knowing you have a month of sleeping on the Pod 5 to decide if it’s a worthwhile investment.

It took me a while to fall in love with the Pod 5, but now that we’ve gotten to know each other better, I’m a big fan.

A parting note: You deserve an adjustable base

When testing the entire Eight Sleep Pod 5 setup with the temperature-regulating cover and blanket with the adjustable base, something stuck out to me: an adjustable base is a next-level sleep accessory that you need. Adding an adjustable base to your bedroom setup makes it feel like you splurged to book the first-class suite every single night. The pleasure of hanging out in bed to watch shows, read, or reply to emails while cozy in an elevated position is something I underestimated.

Sleeping with the head slightly elevated is great for those who deal with light snoring, and raising the feet is optimal for athletes or those who work on their feet all day, since it can help with blood flow. But the simple luxury of reading in bed while sitting up on a stable surface (instead of an unstable pillow pile) is a life upgrade I wholeheartedly recommend. Temperature-adjusting Eight Sleep Pod or not, an adjustable base is a life changer.

Opens in a new window Credit: Eight Sleep Eight Sleep Pod 5 $3,048 at Eight Sleep
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Apple's iPad Mini is back on sale, and, as of Dec. 9 you can save $100 on the WiFi + cellular model which is now down to $549. The iPad Mini gives you the full Apple iPad experience, but in a smaller design. It features Apple Intelligence, an 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display, the ultrafast A17 Pro chip, a 12MP Ultra Wide front camera with Center Stage, USB-C, Wi-Fi 6E, and support for Apple Pencil Pro, making it great for note-taking, marking up documents, and editing photos and videos while on the go.

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SAVE $350: As of Dec. 9, the Garmin fēnix 8 is on sale for $849.99 at Amazon. That's a 29% discount on the list price.

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The Garmin fēnix 8 is one of the most advanced Garmin models. Really, there's very little it can't do. It's especially a great companion for the endurance athlete (thanks to its impressively long battery life), but it's also great for anyone who takes their fitness and recovery seriously, with all kind of metrics to help you train smarter. Right now, this watch is on sale at Amazon with a discount that brings it down to its best-ever price. As of Dec. 9, save $350 and take it home for only $849.99.

This fitness tracker has a 1.4-inch solar-charged display with a scratch-resistant sapphire lens and a durable titanium bezel, so it's perfect for activities on rougher terrain. It even has a built-in LED flashlight for visibility after dark, and if you're running 5K or 50K, the battery life will keep you going. You’ll get up to 48 days in smartwatch mode with solar charging and up to 149 hours in GPS mode with solar charging, all with an always-on display.

This smartwatch really is designed to be your training companion, helping you to boost performance and reduce injury risk with targeted strength training plans, real-time stamina tracking, sport-specific workouts, and a huge range of built-in sports apps. It includes one of Garmin's most popular health metrics, the training readiness score, which uses sleep quality, recovery, training load, and HRV status to gauge whether you’re in peak condition or if you're due some rest.

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SAVE $202: As of Dec. 9, the Hisense 75-inch QD7 is on sale for $597.99 at Amazon. That's a 25% savings on the list price.

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Christmas is the perfect time of year to treat yourself to a new TV. If you've been looking for a new TV to bring in the festive season, this latest Amazon deal on the Hisense 75-inch QD7 is not one to ignore.

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This week’s tips are adapted from Phil Le-Brun and Jana Werner’s new book, The Octopus Organization: A Guide to Thriving in a World of Continuous Transformation (HBR Press). An “Octopus Organization” is flexible, decentralized, and built for change. The journey to becoming one begins with identifying “antipatterns”: formulaic responses to complex challenges that can set […]

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A CPU cooler doesn't have to be expensive to be great. If you have a hot-running CPU, the ID-COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE is all you really need. It's a chunky air cooler with two 120mm fans that do an excellent job at keeping your modern AMD Ryzen or Intel CPU cool without breaking the bank.

TL;DR: Watch the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations for free on Channel 4. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

There is quite simply no tournament like the Africa Cup of Nations. It's an electric combination of heated rivalries, colorful fans, and football without the handbrake. We know that the eyes of the footballing world are already fixed on the 2026 World Cup, but this incredible tournament should whet the appetite of fans before the main event next summer.

The likes of Mohamed Salah, Achraf Hakimi, Sadio Mane, Bryan Mbuemo, and Victor Osimhen will be taking center stage in Morocco. We're expecting some scintillating football from the best of the best.

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If you're interested in watching the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

What is the Africa Cup of Nations?

The Africa Cup of Nations (or AFCON) is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. 24 teams are drawn into six groups of four teams. The top two teams from each group and the four best third-placed teams advance to the knockout rounds.

The defending champion is Ivory Coast. Egypt is the most successful nation in the tournament's history, winning seven times and securing three consecutive titles in 2006, 2008, and 2010.

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The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations is the 35th edition of the competition. This year's event takes place from Dec. 21 to Jan. 18 in Morocco.

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Channel 4 is geo-restricted to the UK, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the UK, meaning you can stream the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations for free by following these simple steps:

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The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer pretty generous money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch AFCON without committing with your cash. This is obviously not a long-term strategy, but it gives you enough time to stream the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations before recovering your investment.

If you want to retain permanent access to free streaming platforms from around the world, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for streaming live sport is on sale for a limited time.

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It's day 19 of the lunar cycle and we're close to a new lunar phase, the Third Quarter. From here, the moon will quickly get smaller each night until there's nothing left at all. That phase is known as the New Moon. But what's happening tonight, on day 19? Read on to find out.

What is today’s moon phase?

As of Tuesday, Dec. 9, the moon phase is Waning Gibbous. This means 73% of the moon is lit up tonight, according to NASA's Daily Moon Observation.

We've still got more than half of the moon on display, so for the time being there's lots to see on its surface. If you're looking up without any visual aids, keep an eye out for the Mare Tranquillitatis, Tycho Crater, and Oceanus Procellarum. If have binoculars to hand, pull these out to see the Gassendi Crater, Clavius Crater, and the Alps Mountains. If you're serious about moon gazing and have a telescope to hand, take it out to see all this plus the Apollo 15 and 16 landing spots and the Reiner Gamma.

When is the next full moon?

The next full moon will be on Jan. 3.

What are moon phases?

NASA explains that the lunar cycle (which is about 29.5 days long) is made up of the Moon’s phases, which describe how the Moon looks from Earth as it travels around us. We view the same side of the Moon at all times, but the sunlight hitting its surface shifts as it moves through its orbit. That changing illumination is what makes the Moon appear full, half-lit, or not visible at all. The cycle includes eight distinct phases:

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.

Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalogue.

Released in August 2025, the Pips puts a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single-player experience that could become your next daily gaming habit.

Currently, if you're stuck, the game only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing you to move onto the next difficulty level and start over. However, we have you covered! Below are piecemeal answers that will serve as hints so that you can find your way through each difficulty level.

How to play Pips

If you've ever played dominoes, you'll have a passing familiarity for how Pips is played. As we've shared in our previous hints stories for Pips, the tiles, like dominoes, are placed vertically or horizontally and connect with each other. The main difference between a traditional game of dominoes and Pips is the color-coded conditions you have to address. The touching tiles don't necessarily have to match.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for December 6, 2025

The conditions you have to meet are specific to the color-coded spaces. For example, if it provides a single number, every side of a tile in that space must add up to the number provided. It is possible – and common – for only half a tile to be within a color-coded space.

Here are common examples you'll run into across the difficulty levels:

• Number: All the pips in this space must add up to the number.

• Equal: Every domino half in this space must be the same number of pips.

• Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must have a completely different number of pips.

• Less than: Every domino half in this space must add up to less than the number.

• Greater than: Every domino half in this space must add up to more than the number.

If an area does not have any color coding, it means there are no conditions on the portions of dominoes within those spaces.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for December 9, 2025 Easy difficulty hints, answers for Dec. 9 Pips

Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 2-2, placed horizontally; 1-3, placed horizontally.

Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 1-3, placed horizontally; 3-2, placed vertically.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 3-2, placed vertically; 6-0, placed horizontally.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for Dec. 9 Pips

Number (7): Everything in this space must add up to 7. The answer is 1-1, placed horizontally; 5-3, placed vertically.

Number (9): Everything in this space must add up to 9. The answer is 5-1, placed vertically; 4-0, placed horizontally.

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 4-0, placed horizontally; 4-3, placed vertically.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 5-1, placed vertically; 1-0, placed horizontally.

Number (0): Everything in this space must add up to 0. The answer is 1-0, placed horizontally.

Number (5): Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 1-2, placed horizontally; 4-3, placed vertically.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for Dec. 9 Pips

Number (14): Everything in this space must add up to 14. The answer is 5-5, placed horizontally; 4-0, placed vertically.

Less Than (3): Everything in this space must be less than 3. The answer is 0-2, placed vertically.

Equal (0): Everything in this purple space must be equal to 0. The answer is 1-0, placed vertically; 0-5, placed vertically; 4-0, placed vertically.

Equal (2): Everything in this red space must be equal to 2. The answer is 0-2, placed vertically; 3-2, placed vertically; 2-2, placed horizontally; 2-6, placed vertically.

Number (17): Everything in this space must add up to 17. The answer is 0-5, placed vertically; 6-4, placed horizontally; 6-3, placed vertically.

Equal (4): Everything in this light blue space must be equal to 4. The answer is 6-4, placed horizontally; 4-5, placed vertically.

Less Than (4): Everything in this space must be less than 4. The answer is 6-3, placed vertically.

Greater Than (8): Everything in this space must be greater than 8. The answer is 4-5, placed vertically; 5-6, placed horizontally.

Number (12): Everything in this space must add up to 12. The answer is 2-6, placed vertically; 5-6, placed horizontally.

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

Today's Connections: Sports Edition will be easy if you've had to buy equipment from Academy.

As we've shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, 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 the latest 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: Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. 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.

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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: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. Here's a hint for today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

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

• Yellow: Baseball catcher

• Green: Football flags

• Blue: Premiered after 2000

• Purple: Types of bags

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

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

• Yellow: Catcher's Equipment

• Green: Football Penalties

• Blue: Sports Movies of 2001

• Purple: ____Bag

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: Sports Edition #441 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Catcher's Equipment - CHEST PROTECTOR, MASK, MITT, SHIN GUARDS

• Football Penalties - CHOP BLOCK, CLIPPING, FALSE START, HOLDING

• Sports Movies of 2001 - 61*, ALI, HARDBALL, SUMMER CATCH

• ____Bag - DUFFEL, HEAVY, ROSIN, SPEED

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

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

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 the latest Connections.

Alex Karp, the CEO of controversial tech company Palantir, raised eyebrows during a recent live interview with the New York Times. In a viral video of the discussion, Karp defended his company to the Times' Andrew Ross Sorkin, gesturing dramatically with his arms, bouncing up and down on his chair, and struggling to make his point. 

Palantir’s X account shared the video on Sunday morning and announced Karp is launching The Neurodivergent Fellowship: "If you find yourself relating to [Karp] in this video — unable to sit still, or thinking faster than you can speak — we encourage you to apply."

Palantir announced Karp himself would conduct final interviews for the fellowship. In a reply to the first message on X, the company included an application link to the fellowship, which is available in Palantir’s New York City and Washington, D.C. offices.

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"The current LLM tech landscape positions [neurodivergent people] to dominate," according to the application. "Pattern recognition. Non-linear thinking. Hyperfocus. The cognitive traits that make the neurodivergent different are precisely what make them exceptional in an AI-driven world."

Palantir, a data and analytics company co-founded by conservative "kingmaker" Peter Thiel, was quick to argue that the fellowship is not a DEI initiative.

SEE ALSO: What is Palantir? The secretive tech company behind Trump's data collection efforts

"Palantir is launching the Neurodivergent Fellowship as a recruitment pathway for exceptional neurodivergent talent," according to the application, "This is not a diversity initiative. We believe neurodivergent individuals will have a competitive advantage as elite builders of the next technological era, and we're hiring accordingly for all roles."

Applicants do not need a formal diagnosis to be eligible and the position pays between $110,000-200,000 annually, with potential for stock units and even a sign-on bonus.

Karp’s interview and his company's new fellowship cap off a newsworthy year for Palantir, which was tapped by the Trump White House to track immigrants in the U.S., aid in deportations, and potentially create a master database on every American.

President Donald Trump announced Monday that he plans to sign an executive order permitting only "one rule" for regulating artificial intelligence in the U.S.

"There must be only One Rulebook if we are going to continue to lead in AI. We are beating ALL COUNTRIES at this point in the race, but that won’t last long if we are going to have 50 States, many of them bad actors, involved in RULES and the APPROVAL PROCESS," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

Several states, including California and New York, have passed statewide legislation this year regulating various aspects of AI, including transparency, whistleblower protections, and user and teen safety. Trump did not elaborate on which states he considered bad actors in the regulatory process, or what qualified them as bad actors.

SEE ALSO: AI safety report: Only 3 models make the grade

A version of an executive order that leaked online last week reportedly directed federal agency and cabinet leaders to determine how to punish states with existing AI laws, according to The Verge.

Earlier this year, Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act attempted to ban state regulation of AI for 10 years, a provision that Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green notably rejected. The moratorium was very unpopular amongst registered voters, according to a poll conducted in mid-May. The measure was eventually voted down 99-1 by the Senate. Some MAGA supporters, including Trump ally Steve Bannon, continue to oppose industry-led regulation of AI.

Still, proponents of a regulatory ban still want to provide AI companies carte blanche to innovate without having to address state-by-state regulations. David Sacks, a tech venture capitalist and the Trump administration's special advisor for AI and crypto, is reportedly behind the executive order, according to The Verge.

It's not clear how Trump's executive order would affect Congressional legislation, like the bipartisan bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Josh Hawley and Democrat Sen. Mark Hawley that would require federal agencies and major U.S. companies to account for AI-related workforce reductions.

A report released last week by the tech research nonprofit Future of Life Institute found that only three of eight major AI models got a passing grade on safety.

Network attached storage devices have become increasingly popular as people search for alternatives—or supplements—to their cloud storage subscriptions. That is where a new mini PC released by Youyeetoo, which is designed primarily for use as a miniature NAS, can shine.

TL;DR: Give your kids non-addictive, educational, and fun screen time with a lifetime subscription to the app Pok Pok, now just $39.97 (reg. $250) with code PLAY20 through Dec. 14.

Opens in a new window Credit: Pok Pok Pok Pok: Lifetime Subscription $39.97
$250 Save $210.03   Get Deal

Calm screen time for kids? Though it sounds like an oxymoron, Pok Pok makes it a real possibility. This app offers low-stimulation content that simultaneously entertains and educates, and right now a lifetime subscription is on sale for just $39.97 (reg. $250) with code PLAY20 through Dec. 14.

Pok Pok is not like the usual apps geared toward little ones. This award-winning app lets kids ages 2 to 8 enjoy Montessori-based games. This child-centered educational approach emphasizes hands-on learning, independence, and natural development. It’s an ideal way to give kids a non-addictive and healthy introduction to technology.

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You’ll instantly see the difference between Pok Pok and your average kids’ app — Pok Pok uses hand-drawn animations and calm, low-stimulation sound effects that are actually made in-house. Games teach topics like STEM, numbers, and language, and they’re all self-paced and emphasize problem-solving and exploration through open-ended play.

There are no ads, ever. And Pok Pok is COPPA-certified, which means your children won’t be tricked into making any purchases. You also have the option to let your children play in an offline mode if you want to avoid the internet completely.

This lifetime subscription to Pok Pok means your little ones will have access to unlimited games. There are regular updates with new seasonal and cultural content added often, so the app will never feel stale. You’ll also receive an exclusive gift mailed to your home after your purchase.

Give the kiddos a lifetime subscription to Pok Pok for just $39.97 (reg. $250) with code PLAY20 through Dec. 14.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

PhpStorm has stuck around as one of the best PHP development environments, and now JetBrains has released a new major version. PhpStorm 2025.3 is now available with PHP 8.5 support, a new theme, Claude agent integration, and much more.

OpenAI and Instacart are bringing grocery shopping to ChatGPT.

The two companies announced Monday that the Instacart app is being directly integrated into ChatGPT, meaning you can browse for groceries and check out, all within the popular chatbot.

The aim is that users can ask ChatGPT for meal ideas or help with a recipe, then boom: buy everything they need from Instacart.

"With the Instacart app directly in ChatGPT, users can go from meal planning to checkout in a single, seamless conversation," said Nick Turley, head of ChatGPT, in a statement.

"It's another step toward bringing our vision to life—where AI delivers helpful suggestions and connects directly to real-world services, saving people time and effort in their everyday lives."

Curious culinary customers should, however, keep in mind that AI tools do have a habit of being confidently wrong — meaning the recipes might not always be perfect.

Reviews of ChatGPT-generated recipes online, for instance, are a mixed bag — but mostly middling.

Also worth noting: the AI model can hallucinate when it comes to recipes, and we're not just talking about the infamous "glue on pizza" bit made up by Google's AI overviews in 2024.

As recently as August 2025, one person was hospitalized after reportedly following ChatGPT dietary advice that suggested replacing table salt with sodium bromide, which is toxic for human consumption.

So if any user wants to take advantage of recipe ingredients via the OpenAI-Instacart partnership this holiday season, they would be well-advised to make like Santa Claus — and check their list at least twice.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

Are you shopping for an SBC right now? There are tons to choose from, but the conventional choice is a Raspberry Pi device. It isn't your only option, though, and looking into alternatives is worth your while.

A bizarre video of one of Tesla's Optimus robots appearing to malfunction and fall over while serving drinks at an event is going viral online.

The incident happened at an "Autonomy Visualized" event at its Miami store. As Electrek writes, the Tesla event was promoted as a way to showcase the company's “Autopilot technology and Optimus.” 

The fall is a potential embarrassment for Tesla chief Elon Musk, who has highlighted recent demos of Optimus — including one in which the robot appears to be performing Kung Fu.

"AI, not tele-operated," Musk claimed in a reply to a video showcasing the robots skills.

Musk was referring to the fact that previous showcases of Optimus actually involved the robot being operated remotely by a human. Still, Optimus did not seem to be in control of itself at the "Autonomy Visualized" event.

Reddit

The video was first posted on Reddit and is now going viral across social media, including on Musk's own X platform. It shows an Optimus robot serving water bottles at the event.

The robot's hands knock into the table, causing water bottles to fall. Then, suddenly, the robot seems to completely malfunction and falls back.

The weirdest part of the video, though, may be the motion the robots arms and hands make while it begins to tip backwards.

The Optimus robot lifts its arms upwards as its hands make a motion as if removing something — rather like someone removing a VR headset from their head. 

As Electrek points out, VR headsets are exactly what Tesla teleoperators use to control the robots.

A headset fail wouldn't be the first setback for Tesla's Optimus robots, which Musk has referred to as his "robot army." But when it comes to assessing just how effective this army would be in practice, this video is an eye-opener.

So, while Musk touts autonomous robots, it appears Optimus may still be remotely operated — at least, at public events that aim to promote their autonomy. 

Petco has confirmed that its data security breach exposed sensitive customer information. 

The company initially acknowledged a breach without detailing what was compromised, legal notices that were required in several states are starting to show the scope of the hack.

SEE ALSO: Data breach revealed, potentially impacting several banks

In filings submitted to the Texas attorney general — echoed in notifications to officials in California, Massachusetts, and Montana — Petco disclosed that exposed data included customers’ names, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, dates of birth, and financial information such as account and card numbers.

In two states, Petco reported only a handful of affected residents, but California’s disclosure threshold (which only kicks in when 500 customers or more are affected) suggests the actual number of victims there is significantly higher.

As first spotted by TechCrunch, Petco declined to answer detailed questions about how many customers were impacted, whether any unauthorized parties accessed or stole the exposed files, or which application was responsible for the issue.

The company has previously reported serving more than 24 million customers in 2022, giving a sense of the potential scale of the hack.

A sample notification, published by California’s attorney general, indicates the breach stemmed from a misconfigured setting in one of Petco’s software applications, which inadvertently made a number of files accessible online.

Petco says it has corrected the setting, removed the exposed files, and implemented additional security measures.

The company is offering free credit and identity monitoring services to affected individuals in states where such support is required by law when highly sensitive data — like SSNs or driver’s license numbers — is compromised.

Still to be determined: whether Texas residents will receive the same level of protection.