Entertainment
Scuba Gear Lizard Can Breathe Underwater
Lizards residing in the Costa Rican Rainforest, known as diving anoles, can store oxygen as they dive and breathe underwater, just like scuba divers. These scuba lizards trap a little air bubble on their heads that covers their nostrils, allowing them to breathe while hiding from predators underwater. The lizards can stay submerged for several minutes, giving them a survival edge and making them unique in the world of biology.
What’s really fascinating about these scuba diving lizards is that multiple species in the Anolius genus exhibit the behavior. All of the lizards that exhibit the diving behavior are from the same area, and they’re all aquatic, living their lives on land as well as water.
The only other animals that exhibit underwater breathing behavior like this are arachnids and insects, but scuba lizards are the only vertebrates to exhibit this ability.
Since anole lizards aren’t very fast, their main defense against predators is their camouflaging ability. When that fails them, hiding underwater is the scuba lizard’s best defense. This strategy of waiting out their would-be predators is a mysterious behavior that researchers are endeavoring to find the origins of.
Hiding underwater is the scuba lizard’s best defense.
To get a better look at the scuba lizards’ bubble-breathing, Dr. Lindsey Swierk, a researcher from Binghamton University in New York, captured several A aquaticus anoles. Working at the Costa Rica Las Cruces Biological Station, she placed the scuba lizards in a clear tank to observe their bubble breathing. One group of lizards was dabbed with an emollient to prevent them from keeping air bubbles on their snouts, and the other was left as they arrived.
The lizards in the control group, who weren’t treated with emollient, all had large air bubbles they used to breathe underwater while the ones who were dabbed produced smaller air bubbles or none at all.
The scuba lizards who had emollient on their snouts couldn’t get their bubbles to stick, so they couldn’t perform their regular scuba behavior. All of the lizards used their throat muscles to pump oxygen into their lungs.
On average, the scuba lizards could stay submerged for three and a half minutes
The bubbleless lizards had to resurface a little more than a minute sooner than the scuba lizards did. On average, the scuba lizards could stay submerged for three and a half minutes, and the non-bubble lizards could stay under for just short of two and a half minutes.
This bubble breathing technique is an advantage as the diving anoles can evade predators for a longer period of time.
The downside of diving for lizards is that it can cause their body temperature to drop. The chilly water the scuba lizards are hiding in can cool the animals down faster than if they were on the surface. This chilling effect can make lizards slower when they emerge from the water and less able to run from predators.
Exactly how the lizards are able to hold onto their air bubbles and how this ability developed across multiple species is still not clear. Researchers are hoping to put together a better explanation for the unique behavior of the scuba lizards by studying video and statistics from their recent experiments.
They have posited that oxygen could potentially diffuse through the bubble, allowing the lizards to breathe for longer through the bubble than was previously assumed.
Entertainment
NYT Strands hints, answers for April 19, 2026
Today’s NYT Strands hints are easy if you’re constantly changing.
Strands, the New York Times‘ elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There’s always a theme linking every solution, along with the “spangram,” a special, word or phrase that sums up that day’s theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.
By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.
If you’re feeling stuck or just don’t have 10 or more minutes to figure out today’s puzzle, we’ve got all the NYT Strands hints for today’s puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.
NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Small change
The words are related to changes.
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Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained
These words describe fine-tuning.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?
Today’s NYT Strands spangram is vertical.
NYT Strands spangram answer today
Today’s spangram is There I Fixed It.
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NYT Strands word list for April 19
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There I Fixed It
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Adjust
-
Modify
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Alter
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Improve
-
Tweak
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Refine
Looking for other daily online games? Mashable’s Games page has more hints, and 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 yesterday’s Strands.
Entertainment
Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 19, 2026
Today’s Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you can never sit down.
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.
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.
Here’s a subtle hint for today’s Wordle answer:
To rise.
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Does today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?
There are no recurring letters.
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Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…
Today’s Wordle starts with the letter T.
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…
STAND
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.
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 yesterday’s Wordle.
Entertainment
Hurdle hints and answers for April 19, 2026
If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.
There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it’ll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.
An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.
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If you find yourself stuck at any step of today’s Hurdle, don’t worry! We have you covered.
Hurdle Word 1 hint
The edge.
Hurdle Word 1 answer
BRINK
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Hurdle Word 2 hint
Moody.
Hurdle Word 2 Answer
POUTY
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Hurdle Word 3 hint
America’s bird.
Hurdle Word 3 answer
EAGLE
Hurdle Word 4 hint
A platform.
Hurdle Word 4 answer
FORUM
Final Hurdle hint
Cheapskate.
Hurdle Word 5 answer
MISER
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
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