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Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. 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 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: Hints and answers for April 20 Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

SEE ALSO: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for April 20, 2025 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

To repair.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no recurring letters.

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter P.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. The Wordle answer today is...

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today's Wordle is...

PATCH.

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle 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.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for April 20

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

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 Wordle.

By OpenAI's own testing, its newest reasoning models, o3 and o4-mini, hallucinate significantly higher than o1.

First reported by TechCrunch, OpenAI's system card detailed the PersonQA evaluation results, designed to test for hallucinations. From the results of this evaluation, o3's hallucination rate is 33 percent, and o4-mini's hallucination rate is 48 percent — almost half of the time. By comparison, o1's hallucination rate is 16 percent, meaning o3 hallucinated about twice as often.

SEE ALSO: All the AI news of the week: ChatGPT debuts o3 and o4-mini, Gemini talks to dolphins

The system card noted how o3 "tends to make more claims overall, leading to more accurate claims as well as more inaccurate/hallucinated claims." But OpenAI doesn't know the underlying cause, simply saying, "More research is needed to understand the cause of this result."

OpenAI's reasoning models are billed as more accurate than its non-reasoning models like GPT-4o and GPT-4.5 because they use more computation to "spend more time thinking before they respond," as described in the o1 announcement. Rather than largely relying on stochastic methods to provide an answer, the o-series models are trained to "refine their thinking process, try different strategies, and recognize their mistakes."

However, the system card for GPT-4.5, which was released in February, shows a 19 percent hallucination rate on the PersonQA evaluation. The same card also compares it to GPT-4o, which had a 30 percent hallucination rate.

Evaluation benchmarks are tricky. They can be subjective, especially if developed in-house, and research has found flaws in their datasets and even how they evaluate models.

Plus, some rely on different benchmarks and methods to test accuracy and hallucinations. HuggingFace's hallucination benchmark evaluates models on the "occurrence of hallucinations in generated summaries" from around 1,000 public documents and found much lower hallucination rates across the board for major models on the market than OpenAI's evaluations. GPT-4o scored 1.5 percent, GPT-4.5 preview 1.2 percent, and o3-mini-high with reasoning scored 0.8 percent. It's worth noting o3 and o4-mini weren't included in the current leaderboard.

That's all to say; even industry standard benchmarks make it difficult to assess hallucination rates.

Then there's the added complexity that models tend to be more accurate when tapping into web search to source their answers. But in order to use ChatGPT search, OpenAI shares data with third-party search providers, and Enterprise customers using OpenAI models internally might not be willing to expose their prompts to that.

Regardless, if OpenAI is saying their brand-new o3 and o4-mini models hallucinate higher than their non-reasoning models, that might be a problem for its users. Mashable reached out to OpenAI and will update this story with a response.

His LeapPad tablets, which helped children read, found their way into tens of millions of homes beginning in 1999.

Over the weekend, humans running as fast as they could were chased by robots through the streets of Beijing, China.

To be more specific, it was a half-marathon race, and the robots lagged far behind the humans.

On Saturday, China held what it's calling the world's first humanoid half-marathon. Over 20 two-legged humanoid robots competed alongside real human runners, according to state-run news outlet Beijing Daily, via CNN World. The teams were from Chinese universities and companies publicizing their humanoid robotics advancements, which China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has dubbed a critical area for competing with the U.S.

Tiangong Ultra was the robot winner with a time of two hours and 40 minutes. Credit: Kevin Frayer / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images

As CNN reports, local governments in major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen have invested an estimated $10 billion in developing humanoid robotics to compete with humanoids from U.S. rivals like Boston Dynamics, Figure AI, and Elon Musk's Tesla.

China may be closing the gap on developing humanoid robotics, but the robots competing in the half-marathon couldn't keep up with the human racers. The first humanoid, Tiangong Ultra from the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, crossed the finish line in two hours and 40 minutes. That was far behind the human winner in the men's category, who completed the half-marathon in one hour and two minutes, the outlet reported.

Some robots wore sun hats and running shoes. Credit: Pedro Pardo / AFP / Getty Images

Robotics teams could re-up their humanoids with new battery packs and swap in replacement robots for a 10-minute penalty. Tiangong Ultra needed three battery changes and required handlers to run alongside it in case it fell along the zig-zagging route with mild elevations of less than nine degrees, said Beijing Daily.

Other robot competitors needed the same kind of human supervision, with some relying on leashes or remote controls. As evidenced in press photos from the event, some robots took a tumble. Others wore running shoes, sun hats, pinnies, and windbreakers. One humanoid robot sported a slightly terrifying human-looking head and face, with a chic bob, eyelashes, and makeup.

This humanoid has an unsettlingly human face. Credit: Pedro Pardo / AFP / Getty Images

The robots didn't win the race this time, but China is looking to prove it's a serious competitor in humanoid robotics. Its eyes are on the prize for the future.

The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times' revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.

With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.

So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player's flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Saturday, April 19, 2025:

AcrossSubject of a song that ends "Next time won't you sing with me?"

• The answer is ABCs.

Play at a loud volume

• The answer is Blare.

Totally convinced of

• The answer is Sold on.

It wrote this clue: "Virtual assistant with the gift of gab (4, 3). Let me know if you'd like any tweaks!"

• The answer is ChatGPT.

Mascara targets

• The answer is Lashes.

Place to make a lifelong promise

• The answer is Altar.

Best coast for sunsets

• The answer is West.

DownThe whole package, so to speak

• The answer is All That.

Honey ___, animal that "don't care" in a meme

• The answer is Badger.

Makes smaller, as a photo

• The answer is Crops.

Like emails you can't take back

• The answer is Sent.

Acts like a braggart

• The answer is Boasts.

Rock that easily fractures

• The answer is Shale.

Grabber of stuffed animals in an arcade

• The answer is Claw.

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

Featured Video For You The Wordle Strategy used by the New York Times' Head of Games

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

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to the latest Mini Crossword.

A team of scientists is doubling down on its claims that a world 124 light-years away in space is likely covered in oceans and full of aquatic life, with new data to support the findings. 

The research, led by astronomers at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, kicked off a fervent debate in 2023 when it suggested K2-18b, an exoplanet in the constellation Leo, gave a chemical signal for dimethyl sulfide gas. On Earth, that molecule is only known to be made by living things — primarily phytoplankton, a type of microscopic algae.

The initial report was based on observations from the powerful James Webb Space Telescope, a collaboration of NASA and its European and Canadian counterparts. But the results created a lot of hubbub among habitable world experts. Skeptics criticized the weakness of the signal and other aspects of the study, such as the belief that the planet, about nine times heavier than Earth and 2.5 times wider, is indeed a water world. 

Other scientists continue to feel frustrated with the way the work is being described to the public, with news headlines that suggest the group is closer to discovering life beyond Earth than it really is.

Now the team has put forward a follow-up study, using a different instrument on Webb, that offers a fresh view of the planet and more evidence for either dimethyl sulfide or a similar life-related compound, dimethyl disulfide, in its atmosphere. 

"The signal came through, strong and clear," said Nikku Madhusudhan, lead author of the new paper, published this week in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

SEE ALSO: Scientists haven't found a rocky exoplanet with air. But now they have a plan. Further studies of exoplanet K2-18b, which orbits a cool dwarf star in its so-called "habitable zone," continue to incite controversy over whether it hosts life. Credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Joseph Olmsted (STScI) illustration

K2-18b orbits a red dwarf star, cooler than the sun, in its so-called "habitable zone," the region around a host star where it's not too hot or cold for liquid water to exist on the surface of a planet. In our solar system, that sweet spot encompasses Venus, Earth, and Mars.

Based on the new analysis, the scientists seem more confident that K2-18b is a Hycean world, a type of planet predicted to exist in the galaxy, combining the words "hydrogen" and "ocean." These theorized exoplanets, a subset of worlds that can't be found in our own solar system, are called mini Neptunes: smaller than Neptune but larger than Earth. 

Such planets could be covered in water and surrounded by thick atmospheres full of hydrogen gas, unlike Earth's nitrogen-based atmosphere. If they exist, Hycean worlds are expected to be easier to see and study with telescopes than Earth-like rocky worlds, because they’re bigger and have puffier atmospheres.

"Given everything we know about this planet, a Hycean world with an ocean that is teeming with life is the scenario that best fits the data we have," Madhusudhan said in a statement. He did not respond to questions from Mashable earlier this week. 

Meanwhile, other scientists are offering counter arguments to explain the planet, such as the possibility that K2-18b is a big rock wrapped in a magma ocean, with little likelihood of being habitable. Some also have attempted to apply different computer models to the 2023 data and could not pick out dimethyl sulfide, or DMS for short, from other signals. 

The latest Webb data focused on mid-infrared light, a different part of the light spectrum, where DMS and dimethyl disulfide, or DMDS, leave stronger chemical fingerprints. 

The way they analyzed the planet's atmosphere is called transmission spectroscopy. When planets cross in front of their host star, starlight shines through their atmospheres. Molecules within the atmosphere absorb certain light wavelengths, or colors, so by splitting the star’s light into its basic parts — a rainbow — astronomers can look for which light segments are missing to figure out the makeup of an atmosphere.

While Earth has relatively tiny amounts of DMS and DMDS, K2-18b appears to have much more — perhaps thousands of times more, according to the paper, fitting with theories for Hycean planets. The observations reached "three-sigma" significance, the team said, meaning there's only a 0.3 percent chance the results happened by accident. Their findings could qualify as a formal scientific discovery with just 16 to 24 more hours of Webb telescope observations, they said.

Regardless of the way the Cambridge team has talked about its next steps, there doesn't appear to be consensus among scientists on the right time to claim a detection of extraterrestrial life. That may be one reason why their work is raising hackles, said Michaela Leung, a planetary scientist at the University of California in Riverside. 

Despite the James Webb Space Telescope's power, scientists question whether it's capable of definitively identifying specific life-produced gases in exoplanet atmospheres. Credit: NASA GSFC / CIL / Adriana Manrique Gutierrez illustration

She recently wrote a paper on other molecules researchers could look for with Webb that are linked to biology on Earth. 

"Look for another gas," Leung told Mashable. "A strong claim of life detection here is going to report more than one potential biosignature. Even if what is in that atmosphere is DMS, which I think is not clear at this time, I think we would also have to robustly eliminate all abiotic possibilities."

The Cambridge team considered how the two gases might form without organisms, such as through starlight or from comets, giant snowballs hurtling through space. Still, they believe a biological explanation is the more likely scenario.  

No matter how much more time they spend measuring the chemical composition of K2-18b's atmosphere, that data alone won't be enough to convince some scientists, said Sarah Hörst, a professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, who specializes in planetary atmospheres.

"We have many examples in our own solar system of molecules that could be considered to be signs of life but have eventually been shown to have other explanations," Hörst told Mashable. "The search for life is quite challenging and will require extraordinary evidence."

The U.S. still has its sights on winning the global AI race. First stop: Commandeering AI manufacturing.

Announced just last week, a $500 billion infrastructure investment from artificial intelligence giant Nvidia will bring domestic AI manufacturing to the U.S. — that's half a trillion dollars going toward mass production of the the country's own AI supercomputers as well as NVIDIA's Blackwell chips.

The AI supercomputers will take over a million square feet of manufacturing space in Texas, while factories and manufacturing partners across Arizona — operated by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which landed a similar deal in March — will be tasked with building and testing chips. Proponents say it's a welcome investment in the country's growing AI economy, potentially boosting jobs and aiding in the development of an AI workforce. In the words of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang: "The engines of the world’s AI infrastructure are being built in the United States for the first time."

But while the investment may bode well for the country's position in the AI race, a recent report from Greenpeace suggests an additional worry for such hardware manufacturing chains and AI data centers, at large: Their voracious consumption of electricity.

AI manufacturing eats away at power supply

According to research from Greenpeace East Asia, electricity consumption linked to AI hardware manufacturing increased by more than 350 percent between 2023 and 2024 — It's expected to increase another 170-fold in the next five years, according to Greenpeace, exceeding the total amount of power consumed by the population of Ireland.

Global hubs for AI manufacturing in East Asia, including Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan, are the largest consumers of electricity and are increasingly reliant on climate destructive fossil fuels, the report finds. Unlike other similarly foreboding reports, these figures apply to the early lifecycle of an AI-powered product, including the creation and testing of chips, and not just the processing power used by AI supercomputers like those built by Nvidia.

"While fabless hardware companies like Nvidia and AMD are reaping billions from the AI boom, they are neglecting the climate impact of their supply chains in East Asia," said Katrin Wu, Greenpeace East Asia supply chain project lead. "AI chipmaking is being leveraged to justify new fossil fuel capacity in Taiwan and South Korea – demand that could, and should, be met by renewable energy sources. Across East Asia, there are many opportunities for companies to invest directly in wind and solar energy, yet chipmakers have failed to do so on a meaningful scale."

The need for more and more energy sources

As enthusiasm for AI has exploded over the last several years, so too has its demands on the globe's already strained energy sources. In the words of experts, AI is an energy hog.

According to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), "the U.S. economy is set to consume more electricity in 2030 for processing data than for manufacturing all energy-intensive goods combined, including aluminium, steel, cement, and chemicals."

Half of the growth in U.S. electricity demand between now and 2030, which is expected to at least double, will be due to AI — currently, around 40 percent of data centers in the U.S. are supplied by gas power plants. Renewable energy sources, like wind and solar, won't be able to match the need, says the IEA, necessitating a further reliance on large scale fossil fuels like gas and coal and potentially bottlenecking states' emissions goals.

The issue doesn't just pertain to AI's immense processing power. "The rapidly rising energy costs of AI data centers have captured global headlines, yet the environmental implications of other parts of the hardware lifecycle are often overlooked," said Greenpeace report author Alex de Vries.

On April 14, President Donald Trump announced a plan to revitalize the U.S. coal industry, including protecting coal-fired power plants and expediting leases for domestic coal mining that would also supply hungry AI data centers. But while coal power is remarkably cleaner than it was in generations past, it's not a viable path toward reducing carbon emissions.

Similar to other manufacturing sectors, such power demands are inequitably shared among global regions, as well. "The manufacturing process of AI hardware is energy intensive and carries a significant environmental footprint, especially considering the concentration of this manufacturing in East Asia, where power grids still rely heavily on fossil fuels, and chipmakers have taken few steps to procure renewable energy," de Vries warns.

Consumer demand also exacerbates energy costs. Some researchers have said just a single AI chatbot query consumes the same amount of electricity as what's required to light a bulb for 20 minutes, while others point to the growing water footprint created by cooling systems for AI servers. According to researchers at the University of California, Riverside, a user asking between 10-50 ChatGPT queries per day uses up about two liters of water.

How AI proponents are tackling sustainability

Even so, AI has the potential to revitalize the need for renewable energy. According to the IEA, the continued AI boom could spur investment in diverse energy sources and cement the importance of renewables and natural gas sources. AI could also accelerate "innovation in energy technologies," the IEA contends.

For example, some AI manufacturers have sought nuclear power options in response to growing grid demands. Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have announced plans to secure nuclear energy deals to power their in-house AI products, including reopening the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania. Bipartisan lawmakers are seeking exemptions on nuclear power to support a cleaner energy option, too. The relationship is reciprocal: Nuclear power facilities help supply energy to AI processing demands, while AI-powered technology may offer a solution to the complicated maintenance of nuclear reactors.

Other companies, including controversial claims by Chinese-owned OpenAI competitor DeepSeek, are finding ways to reduce the amount of processing power needed to feed their models.

But such energy alternatives need continued investment from AI's major players, from the companies selling AI products to the manufacturers and politicians aiding in their creation. And as the Trump administration and other U.S. political leadership have struck down its commitments to climate and environmental stewardship, and slashed at the country's climate science infrastructure, concern over the technology's environmental strain remains.

SAVE 50%: As of April 19, you can get a six-pack magnetic cord organizer kit for just $7.89, down from $15.89, at Amazon. That's a 50% discount, saving you $8.

Opens in a new window Credit: Rocoren Rocoren magnetic cable clips cord organizer (6-pack) $7.89 at Amazon
$15.89 Save $8 Get Deal

Cables snaking up the wall or sprawling across the floor are neither aesthetic or functional. They're just annoying, and the bane of robot vacuums everywhere.

If you’re looking for an affordable way to get the mess under control without sacrificing desk space, a cord organizer might be the way to go. Right now, you can get the Rocoren six-pack magnetic cable organizer kit for just $7.89, down from $15.89, at Amazon. 

SEE ALSO: I added these AI rope lights to my wall for $45, and my office looks like a streaming setup

This set includes six individual clips that feature an innovative magnetic spring-locking mechanism (for easy one-handed cable insertion/removal and a secure hold). They also have an upgraded acrylic adhesive (which Rocoren says is much stronger than standard tape). They stick firmly to flat surfaces like wood desks, wood laminate, and glass without leaving behind residue, and the 7.5mm slot fits most common cable types (USB, charger, and HDMI).

These clips work even better when paired with a multi-port USB-C charging dock or hub, like the Rocoren 10-port USB dock, which is also on sale. By consolidating your bulky power adapters into one charging station, you can use these inexpensive clips to manage the few remaining cables. It keeps everything accessible and prevents your cords from ending up in a tangled mess behind the desk.

Opens in a new window Credit: Rocoren Rocoren 10-port USB Dock $55.91 at Amazon
$69.89 Save $13.98 Get Deal

SAVE 38%: As of April 18, you can get the Renpho Eyeris 2 eye massager for just $49.99, down from $79.99, at Amazon. That's a 38% discount and $30 in savings. It's also just one cent away from its all-time low price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Renpho Renpho Eyeris 2 $49.99 at Amazon
$79.99 Save $30.00 Get Deal

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or sleep-deprived and need a quick fix, a heated eye massager is an affordable solution that you can enjoy in the comfort of your own home.

While Therabody’s SmartGoggles ($200 MSRP) may look tempting when you see them on TikTok or Instagram, but there are a few budget-friendly options that’ll give you comparable results for much less. The Renpho Eyeris 2, for example, is currently on sale for $49.99 at Amazon — that's 38% off its usual price. Plus, it saves you about $150 compared to the Therabody device.

And just like Therabody's trendy eye mask, it offers heat therapy, massage, and compression.

Credit: Renpho SEE ALSO: Does the Renpho Eyeris face massager pass the hype test?

The Renpho Eyeris 2 is designed to reduce eye fatigue, relieve eye strain, and improve sleep quality by combining heat, vibration, and kneading massage. This model features two adjustable compression intensity settings and can reach a temperature of up to 113℉. There’s also a built-in Bluetooth speaker, so you can listen to your favorite music, podcasts, or audiobooks while you relax.

Although the Renpho Eyeris 2 doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of the Therabody SmartGoggles, it's a great option for anyone looking for a basic eye massager on a budget. It has a 4.3-star rating on Amazon, with over 2,000 reviews.

You can also opt for the slightly pricier, Mashable-tested Renpho Eyeris 3 ($75.99), which has similar features but a more futuristic-looking design.

Opens in a new window Credit: Renpho Renpho Eyeris 3 $75.99 at Amazon
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SAVE 10%: Just in time for allergy season, you can get the GoveeLife smart air quality monitor for $41.39, down from $45.99, at Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: GoveeLife GoveeLife Smart Air Quality Monitor $41.39 at Amazon
$45.99 Save $4.60 Get Deal

If you live in an area that’s prone to pollen, smoke, or smog, then you might want to consider investing in an air quality monitor. Better yet, get a smart monitor that sends air quality alerts right to your phone.

These little gadgets can help you understand what's really going on in your home by tracking particulate matter (PM2.5), temperature, and humidity.

SEE ALSO: How to use Google Maps to check the air quality where you live

If you're not familiar with the Govee brand yet, it's become popular among Amazon shoppers in recent years for its smart lights and home appliances. And right now, you can get the GoveeLife smart air quality monitor for $41.39, down from $45.99, at Amazon. It’s not a crazy discount, but 10% off is better than nothing. It’s also a far better price than you’ll see for competing air quality monitors from Amazon ($69.99), Ecobee ($249.99), and Airthings ($184.99).

The GoveeLife smart air quality monitor measures PM2.5, temperature, and humidity. It features an LED display with night and day modes and is compatible with the GoveeLife app, where you can view a 13-day data graph and receive alerts. At $41.39, it's an affordable tool to help you breathe a little easier this spring.

In a typical TikTok video, Jenna Libman extols the virtues of a $30 Halara exercise dress, praising how easy it makes going to the bathroom, from her living room studio. Creators like her could be collateral damage in Trump's escalating trade war with China, with huge implications for the entire TikTok Shop creator economy, but she isn't scared.

Precarity is the name of the game when building a business that hinges entirely upon an algorithm you can’t control. And that's how TikTok Shop has felt over the past year, with ban rumors, an actual ban, and a resurrection. Now, the trade war is reaching new heights in the U.S. — including the TikTok Shop. The de minimis exemption — a once-little-known rule that allows packages worth less than $800 to enter the U.S. tax-free — was pulled, and the President has implemented new global tariffs. Chinese goods could face tariffs as high as 245 percent, placing platforms like Shein, Temu, and TikTok Shop front and center.

SEE ALSO: People are rushing to Temu and Shein to beat Trump's tariffs

So, can an economy built on impulse buys survive higher prices? The creators we talked to don't seem very pressed. 

Scroll through TikTok and you might find some commenters complaining about higher prices. You'll also find sellers in China trying to convince viewers that they're selling Lululemon leggings for $7. But the creators actually making money from TikTok Shop commissions are pretty quiet.

Libman, a creator who has been producing user-generated content (UGC) for five years, told Mashable that the tariffs, de minimis exemption, and the general economic chaos of 2025 don't worry her too much. She says none of these changes feel long-term.

"I think this is so temporary and it's not the time to pivot or freak out yet," she told Mashable. "In this business, if you're not prepared for ups and downs, you're in the wrong business. And at the same time, it is what it is. Things will ebb and flow naturally, so I just don't feel like they need to make a change right now." 

She wasn't ever personally worried about the TikTok ban and says this, too, shall pass. "And if it even happens, like let's say even if they actually do ban it. There's going to be a workaround in some way or the market will just pivot to something else. And so then we just stand by and wait for the next pivot."

What is the de minimis exemption?

President Donald Trump slashed the de minimis exception for shipments from China starting May 2 — meaning sellers on TikTok Shop will have to face steep tariffs of 120 percent (or a $100 "per postal item" charge, which increases to $200 on June 1). According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 4 million shipments come into the U.S. every day that rely on the de minimis exemption. President Trump has argued that Chinese-based shippers use the de minimis exemption to ship illicit substances like fentanyl in low-value packages. 

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, like Connecticut Democratic Representative Rosa DeLauro, agree that a reform on the de minimis provision could slow the spread of drug trafficking in the U.S. But drug traffickers aren't the only people being affected by the elimination of the exemption — it will likely make goods more expensive for everyday Americans. According to trade analyst research reported by The New York Times, "eliminating the provision entirely would cost Americans between $11 billion and $13 billion, and those higher costs would disproportionately hurt lower-income and minority households."

According to Reuters, 90 percent of all packages that enter the U.S. fall under the de minimis exception, and more than 60 percent of those packages come from China.

The stakes for TikTok Shop

On April 7, TikTok Shop sent an email to its retailers — everyone from folks who sell DIY t-shirts on the site to big businesses who sell makeup online. The email detailed what the de minimis exemption is, what changed, what it means for them, and what happens now. 

"When the de minimis exemption is removed for a country's goods, duties will be applicable to all impacted shipments regardless of value, and additional supporting documentation may be required to import, previously exempt, goods into the US," TikTok shop said in its email to retailers. "Sellers should continue to ensure they are familiar with all requirements for importing goods into the US. We are actively monitoring these developments and will work to keep you informed."

TikTok Shop relies on ultra-low-cost imports to power viral impulse buying — and if those imports are no longer ultra-low, it's easy to see how that might impact its business model. Still, there were well over 500,000 sellers on TikTok Shop in 2024, according to Sprout Social. Moreover, 37 percent of Americans under 60 years old have purchased something on TikTok Shop, and 36 percent of direct purchases on social media were on TikTok, in comparison to Instagram or Facebook.

We don't know exactly how many of those businesses rely on Chinese imports, but news reports from the time TikTok Shop started found that it was full of counterfeit items from other countries, including China.

But even as prices increase, the elimination of the de minimis exemption is unlikely to kill TikTok Shop completely. As Kimber Maderazzo, Pepperdine Graziadio Business School professor and former Proactiv executive, told Glossy, "consumers love shopping" on places like TikTok Shop so much that it has changed their shopping behavior to the core.

How the de minimis exemption could affect UGC creators and influencers 

Beyond people and businesses who actually sell their products on TikTok Shop, there's another industry that relies on its success: UGC creators. 

"Tariffs on platforms like TikTok Shop don’t just impact product pricing, they ripple through the entire creator economy," Captiv8 Co-Founder and CEO Krishna Subramanian told Mashable. "Many influencers aren’t just promoting products; they are the small businesses, often relying on affordable overseas manufacturing to run lean DTC brands. If tariffs drive up costs, some creators may need to rethink pricing or product strategy, but creators are uniquely agile. They’ve built loyal communities, and that direct connection gives them room to adapt faster than traditional retailers."

SEE ALSO: The trade war’s surprising targets: content creators

In general, Subramanian said that these tariffs will introduce "some short-term complexity," but also have the opportunity to "reinforce the long-term value of the influencer ecosystem." Subramanian added, "It’s decentralized, adaptive, and built on real human connection, which is exactly what brands need when market conditions are in flux."

If you have 1,000 followers on TikTok, you can make money from TikTok Shop. All you have to do is promote or generally talk about an item in a video, link to it through TikTok Shop, and, there you go, you get a commission for each sale. Take Brandy Leigh, a 50-year-old mother of six in Indiana, who told End Of World that she started making UGC content for TikTok when she had 1,000 followers but quickly earned more than 30,000 followers and $95,000 in commissions. It's an attractive option for folks who want to make passive income from their homes. 

The de minimis exemption could mean fewer purchases on TikTok Shop. Ash, a UGC creator on TikTok at @shleystagram, told Mashable over DM that she is "not too worried about" the effect the tariffs might have on her job stability, because "TikTok Shop isn't the main contributor to my income at this point in time." And that's true for many influencers and content creators — it's a side hustle, not the main show.

"I think it just brings a lot of uncertainty," she said. "I never want to put all of my eggs in one basket because there’s a lot of unknowns right now."

Some TikTok Shop creators also earn revenue from brand deals. Of course, companies that are losing money on other fronts will likely spend less money on marketing. However, the marketing funds they do spend might lean more towards influencer partnerships than other forms of marketing. That means creators could see more revenue from brand deals if we enter a recession.

Layla Revis, the Vice President of Social, Content, and Brand at Sprout Social, told Mashable that influencers play an "invaluable role" as "trusted advocates" who are "on the front lines of the consumer experience." Because of this, "I suspect we will see brands lean into influencer partnerships during this time," Revis said.

I’ve decided going forward I want to limit my TikTok Shop posts because I never want to pressure anyone who sees my videos that they 'need' to buy something.

Beyond that, the de minimis exemption and the tariffs in general have caused economic distress across the world. In the U.S., farmers are struggling. All my favorite bathroom cabinet must-haves (toilet paper, eye makeup, cigars) might be hit with retaliatory tariffs from the European Union. The tariffs also have an outsize effect on tech — including the upcoming Switch 2. And a looming economic recession does pose a moral conundrum for some creators. Should they be hawking impulse buys on TikTok at a time like this?

"It absolutely is something I am taking into consideration when I think about what products I want to promote to my audience," Ash said. "If I wouldn’t spend my own money on the product, I will politely decline any offers from brands that reach out for TikTok Shop collaborations. But even going forward, the economy is rough right now, and so unpredictable. Prices are raising on basically everything and it’s something I stress about, and I’m sure others can relate to that! So much that I’ve decided going forward I want to limit my TikTok Shop posts because I never want to pressure anyone who sees my videos that they 'need' to buy something."

Despite the tariffs and de minimis exemption, ultra-cheap, fast e-commerce will still exist, and the creator economy will shift accordingly. You might just have to replace those viral $2 slippers with a pair that costs $8 instead.

Just like AI models, AI news never sleeps.

Every week, we're inundated with new models, products, industry rumors, legal and ethical crises, and viral trends. If that weren't enough, the rival AI hype/doom chatter online makes it hard to keep track of what's really important. But we've sifted through it all to round up the most notable AI news of the week from the heavyweights like OpenAI and Google, as well as the AI ecosystem at large.

As of this writing, the popular AI leaderboard LMArena ranks Gemini 2.5 Pro as the model to beat, followed by ChatGPT 4o, and Grok-3 Preview.

This week, OpenAI and Google continue to try and one-up each other with new model announcements, Nvidia is building supercomputers in the U.S., and LLMs can potentially help us communicate with dolphins.

OpenAI news: Meet GPT-4.1, o3, and o4-mini

OpenAI had a big week. On Wednesday, it launched o3 and o4-mini, the latest generations of its chain-of-thought reasoning models, which can tap into all the available tools in ChatGPT. The o3 model's agentic capabilities have also made it worryingly good at geoguessing locations based on images alone. Mashable tried it, and the privacy implications are frightening. 

Earlier in the week, OpenAI launched GPT-4.1 for its developer API, which it says outperforms GPT-4o and has improved coding and instruction following. To that end, OpenAI is phasing out GPT-4.5 from its API (yes, the one that just launched in February). GPT-4.5 will still be available in ChatGPT. Confused about all the different model names and what they do? CEO Sam Altman is aware, and he's previously said that the company is trying to do a better job of "simplifying our product offerings." 

As OpenAI keeps churning out new models, there are reports that the rapid-fire deployments have come at the expense of safety testing. Testers reportedly only have days to conduct evaluations, according to the Financial Times, and GPT-4.1 shipped without a safety report, as TechCrunch pointed out. 

Also, ChatGPT now has an image library, so you can store all of your AI-generated images of action figures, dogs portrayed as humans, and Studio Ghibli copycats in one place. 

Perhaps building on growing demand to generate and share ChatGPT creations, OpenAI might be working on a social media network or feed to compete with what X does with viral Grok responses, according to The Verge. 

Gemini news: Gemini 2.5 Flash and Google's dolphin communicator Credit: Andriy Onufriyenko / Getty Images

There's a recurring theme in AI news: when OpenAI launches a bunch of stuff, Google swiftly follows. So if it's a big week for OpenAI, it's usually a big week for Google, and this week was no different. On Tuesday, Google shared that its video generator Veo 2 is now available to paying Gemini Advanced users and in Whisk, the company's experimental image editing app. 

On Thursday (the day after OpenAI's o3 and o4-mini launch), Google brought a lightweight version its own reasoning model, Gemini 2.5 Flash, to the standalone Gemini app. Gemini 2.5 Pro, its most powerful model, is only available to Gemini Advanced users. Google also got dinged for lacking details about its safety evaluations with the Gemini 2.5 launch, per TechCrunch.

Google also announced that Gemini Live's screen sharing and camera vision tool is now free to all Android users with the Gemini app. 

And now, with the powers of AI, Google can play Dr. Doolittle. In collaboration with Georgia Tech researchers and the Wild Dolphin Project, Google developed a language model that they say can communicate with dolphins. The model, called DolphinGemma, trained on a database of dolphin vocalizations like whistles, squawks, and clicks in order to help researchers better understand dolphin-speak and eventually talk back to the majestic sea mammals.  

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. Nvidia, Anthropic, and Grok news

OpenAI and Google often dominate the news cycle, but Nvidia also had big — supercomputer big — news to share this week. On Monday, it announced plans to manufacture AI supercomputers in Texas and build and test its coveted Blackwell chips in Arizona. Over the next four years, the company plans to invest $500 billion in AI infrastructure in the U.S.

The move to develop AI hardware and infrastructure in the U.S. is undoubtedly the result of President Donald Trump's tariffs, particularly in Taiwan, where Nvidia's semiconductor manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company operates. Nvidia's U.S. manufacturing efforts will still involve TSMC, as well as chipmakers Foxconn and Wistron and semiconductor packagers Amkor and SPIL. 

After some whiplash tariff back-and-forth, the economic uncertainty and looming trade wars with China are likely Nvidia's main factor in "hardening supply chain resilience" by building in the U.S., as the press release describes. Either way, it's a win for President Trump, and for Texas.

In other news, Anthropic announced a Claude integration with Google Workspace, meaning the AI assistant can read your emails. Grok now has a memory and something called Grok Studio, which is a new interface for working on projects within the app. 

And last but not least, everyone's favorite benchmarking platform Chatbot Arena is becoming a real company, Bloomberg reports. In a blog post, the company's founders wrote, "We are starting a company to support LMArena! LMArena will stay neutral, open, and accessible to everyone. We will focus on improving our open community platform for testing and evaluating LLMs."

TL;DR: Upgrade your PC with Windows 11 Pro for only $14.97 (reg. $199) through April 27.

Opens in a new window Credit: Microsoft Microsoft Windows 11 Pro $14.97
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Need a new laptop but don't have the budget to buy one? We've found the next best thing: updating your operating system. 

If your PC could use an upgrade, Windows 11 Pro is now just $14.97, $175 off the usual price. But you'll want to act fast because this deal ends soon. 

Check out what Windows 11 Pro has to offer

Curious what Windows 11 Pro brings to the table? This operating system really focuses on user convenience, so first up is a seamless interface that helps boost your productivity. 

If you primarily use your PC for work, you'll enjoy helpful features like improved voice typing, a more powerful search experience, and tools like snap layouts and seamless redocking that allow you to work faster and more efficiently. 

Virtual desktops let you easily toggle between desktop setups for different functions — so you can swap from your 9-to-5 setup to your gaming or personal desktop and switch gears easily. 

If you plan on using your PC for gaming, you'll appreciate DirectX 12 Ultimate. It provides phenomenal graphics, while Auto HDR enhances the game's color and contrast. And you can enjoy all this while experiencing faster load times and smoother gameplay. 

Windows 11 Pro also includes Copilot, an AI assistant powered by OpenAI. It's essentially like having ChatGPT on your desktop, minus the annoying subscription fees. 

Everyone will appreciate the improved security features, like biometrics login capabilities, smart app control, encrypted authentication, and advanced antivirus defenses. 

Get Windows 11 Pro while it's on sale for $14.97. Sale ends at 11:59 p.m. PT on April 27. 

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Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Refurbished MacBook Air (1.8GHz i5, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) $199.97
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If your current laptop is feeling sluggish, bulky, or just plain outdated, it might be time for an upgrade. And right now, you don’t have to spend a fortune to score a powerful and portable model.

You can snag a 13.3-inch refurbished MacBook Air (1.8GHz i5, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) for only $199.97 (reg. $999) through April 27, while limited supplies last.

Light on weight, big on power

If you're looking for a laptop that's actually easy to tote around, look no further than the MacBook Air. This device weighs in at just 2.96 pounds, but don't be deceived by the design. It's still packed with the power you know and love from Apple. 

A 1.8GHz Intel Core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM provide plenty of power for daily tasks, lengthy to-do lists, and multitasking marathons. And you can tackle it all without hunting down an electrical outlet — this model has an impressive 12-hour battery life. 

Take advantage of a 13.3-inch widescreen display equipped with Intel HD Graphics 6000 to enjoy crystal clear visuals and a smooth streaming experience. 

There's an impressive 128GB of storage on this MacBook Air, so you can save content right to the device. And it's ready with WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities to enjoy easy connectivity. 

Curious how you can get this model for such a steal? It's a quality refurbished item, which means it will arrive in near-mint condition or with possible light scuffing or scratches.

Secure a MacBook Air for just $199.97 (reg. $999) now through April 27, while supplies last. 

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Perfect for smartphones, laptops, and tablets alike, this 1-TB flash drive offers USB-C and USB-A compatibility, making it easier than ever to transfer files quickly. And right now, through April 27, you can score it for just $69.97 (reg. $109.99). 

Free up space on your devices with this 1TB flash drive

Say goodbye to chunky external hard drives and hello to storage in 2025. This compact, high-speed flash drive offers an impressive 1TB of storage in a sleek, portable design. It fits comfortably in your pocket and weighs just 3.84 ounces, so it's easy to take along anywhere. 

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A dual USB interface makes this 1TB flash drive compatible with PCs, Macs, smartphones, and even gaming consoles.

If you want to stop spending a fortune on cloud storage, this flash drive offers a physical place to keep your content constantly accessible. And the lightning-fast 20-30MB/S read and write speed makes transferring even large files a breeze. 

Snag this 1TB high-speed flash drive with dual USB-C and USB-A capabilities for just $69.97 (reg. $109.99) now through April 27. 

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Browse the web safer and ad-free with this decentralized VPN

Think of the Deeper Connect Mini as the next generation of cybersecurity. You can enjoy all the privacy and internet perks that come with a VPN, sans the monthly subscription costs. It protects not only your computers but also your Internet of Things devices, from smartphones to smart refrigerators.

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There's also the opportunity to earn some passive income with blockchain mining. You can be paid to share your extra internet bandwidth and let a network use your internet connection. 

Protect your devices and data with the Deeper Connect Mini Decentralized VPN and Firewall Hardware for just $179.99 (reg. $229) now through April 27. 

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A camera affixed to the International Space Station recently spotted some curious symbols amid a barren desert landscape.

"This caught our attention," Charles Black, the founder of the Earth and space livestreaming company Sen, told Mashable.

Sen has three cameras hosted on the space station, one of which peers straight down at our planet and covers a scene approximately 250 by 150 kilometers (155 by 93 miles) in size. (You can watch this view, live-streamed in high-resolution 4K video, online. 4K refers to a horizontal display of some 4,000 pixels, and is also known as Ultra High Definition or Ultra HD.) The recent footage shows what appears to be huge "mysterious writing etched into the sand," the company explained.

SEE ALSO: Aliens haven't contacted us. Scientists found a compelling reason why.

The symbols are an example of the type of phenomena — both natural and human-created — revealed by the camera as the space station, located some 250 miles above Earth, zooms over us at 17,000 mph.

These letter-like patterns are in fact from agriculture activity, vividly contrasted by the barren desert plains in Tunisia, Black explained. But Sen doesn't always reveal exactly what its cameras observed. Are these farming areas irrigated into tracts from an aquifer? Or livestock grounds? What do you think?

"You never know what you might see."

"We want the audience to be engaged," Black said. "It's promoting debate, discussion, and interest. We'll label the location, but we want the viewers to decide, discuss, and make comments."

The recent 4K video footage below, showing the writing-like symbols, is from April 15, 2025.

A screenshot of Sen's 4K footage from the International Space Station (from the video above this image) showing writing-like patterns in the middle of the remote Tunisian desert. Credit: Sen / Screenshot

Anyone with an internet connection can tune into Sen's footage. And they'll regularly see new sights. The space station orbits Earth about 16 times a day, and during each orbit the floating laboratory shifts a little to the west. "Whenever you log on, you can see something different," Black said. "You never know what you might see."

Getting such cameras aboard the station is no simple feat. Sen's system had to pass Electromagnetic Interference, or EMI, testing, to ensure their camera activity wouldn't interfere with the station's communications and radio frequencies. The system had to pass three NASA safety reviews. And Sen had to find a host aboard the multinational, football field-length station. The cameras are hosted on a European Space Agency module aboard an Airbus platform, which provides both power and a share of a NASA downlink.

The space station, however, won't orbit Earth forever. It's slated to be carefully deorbited, via a SpaceX craft, into the atmosphere around 2030, where it will break apart and largely vaporize (the remaining pieces will plunge into the Pacific Ocean). So Sen is planning for future live-streamed cameras aboard other craft, including those further from our planet, allowing Earthlings a real-time global view of our humble, cosmic home.

If you tune into the current camera views, you'll spot sprawling cities like Las Vegas, snow-blanketed mountain ranges like the Rockies, the vivid aqua of Caribbean waters, and beyond.

"You see a beautiful planet and a borderless world," Black said.

Featured Video For You Watch Blue Origin's First All-Female Mission to Space

Other TV shows may break the fourth wall by talking directly to the audience. Doctor Who just blew it to smithereens — and it's been a long time coming.

In "Lux," episode 2 of Ncuti Gatwa's second season as the Doctor, our time-traveling hero is trapped, along with companion Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu), in a cinematic universe created by an evil god (Alan Cumming). After failing to break out of the frame in other directions, the pair literally break the fourth wall — smashing a TV screen — and step into a living room containing three fans who were just watching them on Doctor Who.

SEE ALSO: Ncuti Gatwa and Varada Sethu play 'Slash or Pass: Doctor Who Edition'

And what's the first reaction from the fans? Surprise, but not total surprise: "Oh my god, it happened," says one. Showrunner Russell T Davies, an old-school fan himself, nailed it: Doctor Who lovers have been primed to expect this sort of thing for 60 years.

So before you rush to the internet to vent your nerd rage using the hashtag favored by the more cynical fan — #RIPDoctorWho — let's take a quick trip through all the previous moments in the show's long history that suggest this mysterious Time Lord really knows his audience.

The first Doctor breaks the fourth wall

As stuffy as the BBC was in the 1960s, it could still let its hair down at Christmas. That's the reason for the seasonal chaos in the Doctor Who episode "The Feast of Steven," broadcast Dec. 25, 1966.

After capers that have little to do with the ongoing story ("The Daleks' Master Plan"), the Doctor (William Hartnell) pours drinks for his companions, then turns to toast the audience: "Incidentally, a very merry Christmas to you at home."

"Feast of Steven" is one of many lost Who episodes, so we can't see this seminal moment. But audiences may not have felt it was entirely out of character for the show; after all, in the earlier story "The Aztecs," an evil priest confides his plan to camera, Shakespeare villain-style.

As showrunner Davies put it in a 2024 interview, there has always been "something showy about Doctor Who, something proscenium arch about it. There's something arch about it, full stop."

Tom Baker, fourth-wall breaker The fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) was appropriately numbered. Credit: Anwar Hussein

Even the greatest fans of Tom Baker (the fourth Doctor, 1974-1981) find it hard to defend Baker's tendency to speak directly to viewers — IRL, the consequence of a new producer who couldn't rein in his overbearing star.

Baker did this for the first time in episode 1 of "The Face of Evil" (1977), when he was without a companion (and personally believed he didn't need one). Then he did it twice in "The Invasion of Time" (1978), along with a cringe-inducing ad-lib: "Even the sonic screwdriver can't save me this time."

It would never again be that obvious, but Baker's three successors in the role each had their sly winks. Peter Davison (1981-84) and Colin Baker (1984-86) both appeared to be talking to the audience while referencing their new faces post-regeneration. Sylvester McCoy (1987-89) seemed to tell viewers he'd "miscalculated" during "Remembrance of the Daleks."

That story, set in 1963, also had a scene with a TV set on which a BBC announcer is about to introduce the very first episode of "a new sci-fi series called Do—" before cutting away.

Even "Lux" couldn't get much more meta than that moment.

And the most fourth wall-breaking Doctor is ...

Given how much Davies (and fellow sometime showrunner Steven Moffat) loves getting meta, it's surprising that the show took as long as it did, after Davies brought it back in 2005, to turn its spotlight on the Doctor's relationship to viewers.

At the very end of his run, eleventh Doctor Matt Smith (2010-13) flicks his eyes to the camera while delivering the line, "I will always remember when the Doctor was me." But it was subtle enough, amidst the drama of a regeneration, to be missed at the time.

Everything changed with the arrival of Smith's successor, Peter Capaldi. "I'm nothing without an audience," Capaldi says in "Heaven Sent," with the cheekiest peek at us as he passes the camera. (That didn't stop "Heaven Sent" being voted the best Doctor Who story of all time by Doctor Who Magazine readers; perhaps it even helped.)

By that point, Capaldi had already delivered two Moffat-written monologues to camera. One explained the bootstrap paradox and told us to "Google it," in "Before the Flood." The other, in "Listen," asked "why we talk out loud when we know we're alone," before suggesting that it's "because we know we're not."

Both monologues were pre-title "cold opens", meaning they didn't cut into the action; plus, like the "Heaven Sent" moment, both could be explained in-universe as the Doctor needing to talk to himself.

Then came "The Church on Ruby Road," Gatwa's first story, and the still-mysterious Mrs. Flood (Anita Dobson): "Never seen a TARDIS before?" she says to camera in the closing seconds. She also closed Gatwa's first season by telling us the Doctor's story "ends in absolute terror."

SEE ALSO: 'Doctor Who' season premiere review: 'Robot Revolution' makes us reluctant companions

We don't yet know why or how she's doing this, but Mrs. Flood's brief appearance in "The Robot Revolution" continued the trend: "You ain't seen me," she warns the audience, ducking out of a scene before the Doctor arrives. Ironically, when she appears again at the close of "Lux," Mrs. Flood doesn't look at the camera while telling other characters the TARDIS is a "trick of the light."

And Davies had to work hard to get more meta in "Lux" than he did in last season's "Devil's Chord." A god named Maestro (Jinkx Monsoon) opens the story looking to camera, saying "let's begin," and playing the Doctor Who theme on her piano. Gatwa closes it by winking to camera — then we cut to him performing the intentionally meta song, "There's Always a Twist at the End."

Arguably, by putting its Doctor Who fans in a sequence that we are explicitly told is not real, "Lux" is not that important in solving the fourth-wall riddle posed by Mrs. Flood, Maestro, and the Doctor's wink.

But "Lux" does at least settle a longstanding fan debate prompted by all those decades of fourth-wall breaking: Does the Doctor know he's in a TV show? Answer: No, he definitely did not even imagine the possibility before. Now, however, he may increasingly suspect he's not alone even when he's alone.

Wink-wink.

Doctor Who Season 2 premiered Apr. 12 on Disney+ and BBC. New episodes air weekly on Saturdays at 3 a.m. ET.

In dark times, you can count on Doctor Who to bring the light.

That's what happened in the madcap and meta "Lux," episode 2 of Season 2 (also known as Season 15 since showrunner Russell T Davies' Who reboot, or season 41 if you're classic). Not only does "Lux" manage an upbeat tone in a grim setting — the segregated American South, 1952 — but the episode is also Davies' love letter to light in all strange and miraculous forms, including the movie projector, the animation studio, and the TV screens on which Doctor Who itself has lit up audiences for 61 years.

Let's unpack all the references you may have missed, via your most flammable burning questions.

Where have I seen that clothes scene before?

"This is the fun part, honey," the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) tells reluctant companion Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) on arrival, before whisking her off to an unseen TARDIS wardrobe. The camera pans up to reveal their 1950s threads.

Indeed, it is fun — so nice they filmed the scene twice. The Doctor and Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) had a very similar reveal for their 1963 outfits at the start of Season 1, episode 2, "The Devil's Chord." It has become traditional for the Doctor to go to the past in the second trip of a new season, after the far future; the wardrobe scene may now be part of that tradition.

The soundtrack behind the "Lux" version is a wee bit anachronistic for 1952. It's Chuck Berry singing "Roll Over Beethoven" and igniting the rock 'n' roll era... in 1956. But music slightly out of time in the TARDIS may be a new tradition too; the 1963 clothes scene was set to Marlena Shaw singing "California Soul" in 1969.

Are the segregation scenes accurate?

Not anachronistic, alas, is the racial segregation in 1952 Miami. This is two years before the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education kickstarted the Civil Rights movement and the slow process of desegregation across the South. You can still visit the city's formerly segregated movie houses and restaurants.

Doctor Who has already explored segregation in the deep South — specifically Montgomery, Alabama, in the well-received 2018 episode "Rosa" — as well as racism against Gatwa's incarnation in 2024's "Dot and Bubble." That may explain why this time around, Davies chooses to focus on characters who are happy to flout segregation laws.

The only actual racist encounter is fake, in a scene concocted by Mr. Ring-a-Ding. Call it cartoon racism.

Is Mr. Ring-a-Ding based on anything?

Before the god-infused, 3D version of Mr. Ring-a-Ding (Alan Cumming) is created via the accidental combination of moonlight, projector and cartoon, "Lux" opens with a fake newsreel that's very true to 1952. You can watch the actual 1952 newsreels online: British Pathé on that year's atomic bomb tests that the god later wants to replicate, as well as British Pathé on Queen Elizabeth II pre-coronation.

It wouldn't be unusual for a U.S. movie house to screen such reels from across the Atlantic in the early 1950s. British Pathé would find it increasingly hard to compete with TV by the end of the decade. A cartoon playing before the main feature, meanwhile, was a tradition that continued well into the 1970s. "Mr. Ring-a-Ding" may remind you of Looney Tunes or its sister series, Merrie Melodies. In 1952, both were in the midst of an Oscar–winning golden age.

The following year, 1953, saw Daffy Duck in "Duck Amuck," widely considered one of the best cartoon shorts of all time. It's also meta in the same way as "Lux." Daffy feuds with his animator and tries to escape the screen, playing with the frames of film itself — just like the Doctor and Belinda do in this episode.

As for the visual aesthetic of Mr. Ring-a-Ding, Davies says his influence was the late, great Fleischer Studios. Best known today for Betty Boop, plus the earliest Popeye and Superman cartoons, Fleischer was based in Miami — just like "Lux" — and tended towards the surreal.

Fleischer Studios' earliest black-and-white stars included the unintentionally creepy Koko the Clown and Betty's dog, Bimbo. Put those two together, add a splash of Looney Tunes color, and you've got something close to Mr. Ring-a-Ding.

But is there another, more modern audio influence? We're not talking about the voice of Cumming, who has appeared in Doctor Who once before as King James I in the Jodie Whittaker-era episode "The Witchfinders" (2018), that time using his native Scottish accent.

We're talking about Manchester's biggest superstars, Oasis, whose first hit "Supersonic" included the repeated couplet "You make me laugh / Give me your autograph." Did the Manchester-based Davies not know that when he wrote Ring-a-Ding's crucial repeated couplet, "Please don't make me laugh / Just take my autograph"?

As the god himself says, don't make me laugh ..

How do we know Mr. Ring-a-Ding is a god?

The laugh that clues the Doctor into his foe being a member of a mysterious Pantheon of gods is the same one featured in the 2023 special "The Giggle." That's when we meet the first god-like Pantheon member to have crossed over from another universe, the Toymaker (Neil Patrick Harris), who was also bound by the rules of his games. The giggle returned in "The Devil's Chord," courtesy of Maestro (Jinkx Monsoon) — preceded by a young harbinger known as Harry Arbinger. Then Sutekh, preceded by Harriet Arbinger, shows up in "The Legend of Ruby Sunday."

In investigating the haunted movie theater, the Doctor compares himself to Scooby Doo character Velma. (Let's hope he's not referring to Velma, the spin-off canceled after two seasons on Max.) But even Shaggy could have told you the movie theater was inhabited by a god... if he'd been a Doctor Who fan on X in 2024.

That's where set photos leaked, including the awning where a fake Rock Hudson movie title, The Harvest Bringer, loses enough letters to become "Harbinger." When one of the ersatz Doctor Who fans later says, "I knew this was going to happen because it leaked online," it's art imitating life.

Doctor Who fans are real. Or are they?

There's plenty of fourth-wall-breaking in Doctor Who history. Nothing beats the scene where the Doctor and Belinda step out of the TV into what appears to be a room of Doctor Who fans, but we can go one meta step further by being Doctor Who fans who drop a bunch of nerdy Easter egg explainers about this supremely nerdy scene.

Let's take the Doctor's lead and start with the clothes. The fans are wearing: a scarf from Tom Baker's fourth Doctor era, a T-shirt with a 1970s logo for UNIT (the Doctor's former employer), a Beep the Meep T-shirt from "The Star Beast," a Matt Smith-era fez, and a Cyberman T-shirt that just names the Cyberman home planet (well, one of them, long story!) Telos — perhaps because Belinda and the Doctor keep saying, "Tell us."

One nerdy step down: The fans all describe "Blink," penned by Davies pal and former showrunner Steven Moffat, as their favorite episode, but Belinda fails to get excited by the premise (probably because the fans fail to mention the Weeping Angels). This is the second episode in a row where Davies has poked gentle fun at "Blink," since that script is also the origin of the phrase "timey-wimey." When the Doctor uttered that in "The Robot Revolution," Belinda deadpanned, "Am I six?"

It would be even more nerdy to point out that "Blink" is no longer the fans' favorite; recent polls in Doctor Who Magazine placed it below three other Moffat stories ("Heaven Sent," "Day of the Doctor," and "World Enough and Time"). Maybe that should have been the tip-off that the fans were fake.

Or are they? If you didn't stick around, you won't have noticed the fans returning for a mid-credits sequence in which they discover they still exist (while giving the episode a 7 out of 10). What that means is something Whovians will be debating as long as the TV lights shine.

Doctor Who Season 2 is now streaming on Disney+ and BBC.