Looking for a compact keyboard with a unique twist? The Keychron Q1 HE (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is currently marked down over $35 on Amazon, and comes with Hall Effect switches, a rare offering that adds a ton of functionality to your keyboard.

Think of a keyboard switch like light switches. They have a fixed point where they activate, and all they can report is whether they’re in one of two states. Hall effect switches are more like light dimmer knobs. They know exactly where they currently are and can report that information back to the computer, which has a number of advantages over traditional keyboard switches.

For starters, you don’t have to settle for a fixed actuation point like you do on most keyboards. You can use the software to set the keys to be super sensitive, or require them to be almost all the way down, or even set keys to send different button presses depending on how hard they’re pressed. If you like to play video games, you can set keys to act like an analog joystick or trigger, letting you easily steer in racing games or walk in RPGs without picking up a controller.

The software has a lot of options, but is well thought out and easy to use, although you do need to plug it in to make changes. It’s QMK-based, but Keychron provides their own web-based launcher to make things even easier, particularly if you’re not well versed in that customization software.

It’s a premium mechanical keyboard throughout. The switches themselves are made by Gateron, and our reviewer noted that they’re exceptionally smooth, thanks to the pre-lubed rails and magnetic sensor. The gasket mount design and full aluminum body work together to provide a soft, deep, typing experience. Unless you’re already using linear switches, you might miss some of the crispness and feedback you get from a tactile or clicky mechanical switch.

While the larger Keychron Q6 HE currently sits at the top of our list of favorite mechanical keyboards, if you don’t need the num pad, you might appreciate the extra desk space you can reclaim with the Q1 HE. They’re otherwise extremely similar boards, and you’ll save $50 in the process.

Manisha Krishnan: So I think it’s kind of important to contextualize this because this is happening at a time where we’re seeing age verification being applied to a range of industries from porn to video games, and companies are going about it in different ways. And while I think there obviously is a lot to be concerned about with young people having unfettered access to ChatGPT, I think these efforts always raise a lot of questions like how is age going to be verified? Where’s that data going to be stored? Even the idea of something inappropriate flagging someone’s parents or the authorities, what is appropriate?

Zoë Schiffer: Right.

Manisha Krishnan: I can definitely see why suicide would be something that you’d want to flag, but maybe there’s other things that the authorities or someone’s parents may not be helpful in every situation. And I guess I’m thinking more about when we go into young people’s exploration of their sexual orientation, just as one example as the culture war topic that’s big right now. So maybe I’m getting too ahead of myself, but those are some of the questions that come to mind.

Zoë Schiffer: That was immediately what came to mind for me, especially because you specifically report on the adult content industry, and I feel like this issue always comes up there where it’s what’s the trade-off between privacy and keeping people safe? But when it comes to young people, it really feels like the privacy conversation goes out the window and regulators are much more inclined to be like, safety comes first, and we might not necessarily care if we’re degrading privacy in some kind of fundamental way.

Manisha Krishnan: Yeah, with the whole porn conversation too, Pornhub obviously has a litany of controversy, but at this point, because they’ve been in trouble so much, they’ve buttoned up a lot of their regulations. And now, in response to the age verification stuff, they’ve removed themselves. So you’re also like, “Am I opening up a vacuum to other maybe more nefarious or irresponsible sites?” There’s always something that will crop up in replacement of something else.

Zoë Schiffer: Well, we’ll wait to see how OpenAI continues to handle this. Staying on the topic of AI for one moment, our next story is about how US tech giants are investing billions of dollars in AI infrastructure in the UK. Our colleague, Natasha Bernal, reported that Microsoft and NVIDIA announced that they’ll be investing up to $45 billion in the form of data centers and AI research. This comes on the heels of another joint venture from NVIDIA, Nscale and OpenAI that’s also aimed at boosting AI infrastructure in the country. Earlier this week, OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, and NVIDIA CEO, Jensen Huang, traveled with President Trump to the UK during his state visit and then we got a whole bunch of announcements about all of these billion-dollar investments.

Manisha Krishnan: Honestly, one of my first reactions was is this just another form of American tech imperialism spreading and how do the Brits feel about this and what is the underlying motivation for these tech companies to make all these announcements? Do they actually want to invest that much in the UK? That would make sense, but also is it to appease Trump?

Engineers in Australia have developed a new building material with about one quarter of concrete’s carbon footprint, while reducing waste going to landfill. The research is published in the journal Structures.

This innovative material, called cardboard-confined rammed earth, is composed entirely of cardboard, water and soil—making it reusable and recyclable.

In Australia alone, more than 2.2 million tons of cardboard and paper are sent to landfill each year. Meanwhile, cement and concrete production account for about 8% of annual global emissions.

Cardboard has previously been used in temporary structures and disaster shelters, such as Shigeru Ban’s iconic Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Inspired by such designs, the RMIT University team has, for the first time, combined the durability of rammed earth with the versatility of cardboard.

Lead author Dr. Jiaming Ma from RMIT said the development of cardboard-confined rammed earth marked a significant advancement toward a more sustainable construction industry.

“Modern rammed earth construction compacts soil with added cement for strength. Cement use is excessive given the natural thickness of rammed earth walls,” he said.

But cardboard-confined rammed earth, developed at RMIT University, eliminates the need for cement and boasts one quarter of the carbon footprint at under one third of the cost, compared to concrete.

“By simply using cardboard, soil and water, we can make walls robust enough to support low-rise buildings,” Ma said.

“This innovation could revolutionize building design and construction, using locally sourced materials that are easier to recycle.

“It also reflects the global revival of earth-based construction fueled by net zero goals and interest in local sustainable materials.”

Practical benefits

The cardboard-confined rammed earth can be made on the construction site by compacting the soil and water mixture inside the cardboard formwork, either manually or with machines.

Study corresponding author and leading expert in the field of structural optimization, Emeritus Professor Yi Min “Mike’ Xie, said this advancement can spearhead a leaner, greener approach to construction.

“Instead of hauling in tons of bricks, steel and concrete, builders would only need to bring lightweight cardboard, as nearly all material can be obtained on site,” Xie said.

“This would significantly cut transport costs, simplify logistics and reduce upfront material demands.”

Ma said cardboard-confined rammed earth could be an effective solution for construction in remote areas, such as regional Australia, where red soils—ideal for rammed earth construction—are plentiful.

“Rammed earth buildings are ideal in hot climates because their high thermal mass naturally regulates indoor temperatures and humidity, reducing the need for mechanical cooling and cutting carbon emissions,” he said.

The mechanical strength of the novel material varies based on the thickness of the cardboard tubes.

Ma said the team has developed the formula for this strength design.

“We’ve created a way to figure out how the thickness of the cardboard affects the strength of the rammed earth, allowing us to measure strength based on cardboard thickness,” Ma said.

In a separate study led by Ma and published in Composite Structures, carbon fiber was combined with rammed earth, proving it had a comparable strength to high-performance concrete.

Ma and the team are ready to partner with various industries to further develop this new material so it can be used widely.