Hasta La Gadget!

A probe of U.S. Navy sailors accused of distributing and using LSD is expanding. At least two men who worked in the nuclear reactor department on the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier are reportedly facing a court-martial, and at least 12 others are said to be under investigation over the psychedelic drug.

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SteelSeries is no stranger when it comes to gaming peripherals, and their latest foray does not lie so much in high tech hardware but something that often goes unappreciated or unnoticed: the humble mousepad. No matter how sensitive a particular gaming mouse’s sensor is, it’s performance can be helped through the proper mousepad. SteelSeries has just the thing in mind by expanding its iconic QcK mousepad range that comprises of the new QcK Edge, QcK Prism Cloth, and QcK Hard.

The QcK Prism will feature a cloth surface alongside dynamic two-zone RGB lighting, which will be powered by SteelSeries Engine for a personalized RGB lighting experience. You will be able to enjoy the extra large desktop size, and with the SteelSeries Engine via the PrismSync app, you will be able to customize multi-color lighting effects between all of your SteelSeries Prism-enabled gear easily. The cable is cleverly positioned out of the way on the left side, ensuring that your mouse’s cable will not get in the way of performance. Expect the QcK Prism Cloth to retail for $39.99 and $59.99 for medium and XL sizes, respectively.

As for the QcK Edge, this particular model will rely on the similar cloth surface as the rest of the legendary QcK mousepads, although it will now boast of a stitched edge that ensures there is no fraying or peeling. The line sports the iconic minimalism SteelSeries mousepads design, and it has a high thread count and smooth surface that optimizes mouse tracking accuracy regardless of whether you are rocking to optical or laser sensors. On the underside lies a durable, non-slip rubber base, specially designed to prevent movement. Expect the QcK Edge to arrive in medium, large and XL sizes for $11.99, $14.99 and $23.99, respectively.

Last but not least, the QcK Hard offers professional-level speed courtesy of a hard polyethylene surface that has been optimized for both low and high DPI tracking. It also has a multi-layer construction and solid polymer core that further increases durability, ensuring a consistent surface texture for the most dedicated gamer. There is only one size for the QcK Hard, measuring 320mm x 270mm x 3mm with an asking price of $29.99 apiece.

Press Release
[ SteelSeries expands QcK mousepad family with new models copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

On “Red Table Talk,” the actresses gave their versions of the events that led up to their falling out.

Few things in the world of technology can really ever be said to be “done,” and certainly exoskeletons are not among their number. They exist, but they are all works in progress, expensive, heavy, and limited. So it’s great to see this team working continuously on their TWIICE robotic wearable, improving it immensely with the guidance of motivated users.

TWIICE made its debut in 2016, and like all exoskeletons it was more promise made than promise kept. It’s a lower-half exoskeleton that supports and moves the legs of someone with limited mobility, while they support themselves on crutches. It’s far from ideal, and the rigidity and weight of systems like this make them too risky to deploy at scale for now.

But two years of refinement have made a world of difference. The exoskeleton weighs the same (which doesn’t matter since it carries its own weight), but supports heavier users while imparting more force with its motors, which have been integrated into the body itself to make it far less bulky.

Perhaps most importantly, however, the whole apparatus can now be donned and activated by the user all by herself, as Swiss former acrobat and now handcycling champion Silke Pan demonstrated in a video. She levers herself from her wheelchair into the sitting exoskeleton, attaches the fasteners on her legs and trunk, then activates the device and stands right up.

She then proceeds to climb more stairs than I’d rather attempt. She is an athlete, after all.

That kind of independence is often crucially important for the physically disabled for a multitude of reasons, and clearly achieving the capability has been a focus for the TWIICE team.

Although the exoskeleton has been worked on as a research project within the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), the plan is to spin off a startup to commercialize the tech as it approaches viability. The more they make and the more people use these devices — despite their limitations — the better future versions will be.

While Alzheimer’s disease affects tens of millions of people worldwide, it remains difficult to detect early on. But researchers exploring whether AI can play a role in detecting Alzheimer’s in patients are finding that it may be a valuable tool for…