NEW FRONTIERS
AMAZON RECALL American multinational Amazon came under scrutiny after the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) ruled the tech giant had to recall over 400,000 hazardous products sold by third party vendors on its platform.
These defective items – including flammable children’s pyjamas, faulty carbon monoxide detectors and hair dryers that are prone to electrocution – posed severe risks to consumers. Despite being aware of these dangers, Amazon failed to issue proper recall notices and opted instead for vague safety warnings that downplayed the severity of the hazards.
CPSC’s decision underscores Amazon’s legal responsibility for the safety of products sold on its site; it rejects the argument that Amazon is merely a logistics provider. And the ruling requires Amazon to establish a comprehensive recall plan to ensure that all affected customers are properly notified and compensated.
The US agency criticised the organisation’s lackadaisical efforts in removing dangerous products from the market and tracking their destruction, and emphasised the ongoing risk to public safety.
Although Amazon plans to appeal the ruling, CPSC’s actions highlight the importance of accountability in the e-commerce giant’s operations.
BRILLIANT BEAMS Vehicle lighting has transcended its traditional role by becoming a key player in branding and innovation. Advances in technologies such as LED and OLED have empowered carmakers – for example, Audi, Cadillac and Lucid – to create unique headlight designs that define their vehicles’ identities.
This trend is particularly evident in electric vehicles (EVs) where the absence of traditional engine cooling requirements makes room for more creative and streamlined front end designs. EVs pushed the envelope further by using lighting as a symbol of modernity and luxury.
And the adaptability of LED technology has enabled designers to craft sleeker and more intricate headlight signatures that set their cars apart in a crowded market.
But the future of vehicle lighting goes beyond aesthetics. Carmakers are pioneering ways for lights to communicate with other motorists by providing real-time information about hazards and road conditions.
This potential for lights to convey critical safety information represents a major leap forward, and positions vehicle lighting as a central component in the future of autonomous and connected cars. As regulators begin to engage with these innovations, the industry is on the cusp of a new era where lighting will play a pivotal role in design and road safety.
‘CRISPR’ GREENS Last year, food and agriculture startup Pairwise introduced mustard greens with a milder flavour, making it the first American food manufactured using clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeat (CRISPR) technology.
Since distribution was limited to a few cities and able to reach only select restaurants, cafeterias and a single grocery store in New York City, German biotech giant Bayer licensed these greens and plans to distribute them to grocery stores across the US.
Pairwise developed the mustard greens to make salads more appealing and nutritious. Mustard greens are rich in nutrients similar to kale but usually avoided in raw form due to their strong and bitter taste. It used CRISPR to edit out specific genes that are responsible for this pungency, and created a milder version that retains fibre, antioxidants and other health benefits.
Bayer’s strategy focusses on making gene edited food more consumer friendly by emphasising taste, nutrition and affordability. It aims to avoid negative perceptions that genetically modified food faces by highlighting benefits that appeal directly to consumers.
As gene editing becomes more prevalent in the food sector, Bayer hopes to set a precedent for how these products can successfully enter the mainstream market by meeting consumer demands for healthier cost-effective options.
TECH LANDSCAPE US multinational corporation Qualcomm Technologies is revolutionising computing with its Snapdragon X Elite processor, which is merging high performance with efficiency and transforming the PC landscape.
This advanced platform boasts a four nanometre ‘system-on-a-chip’ architecture and a 12 core Qualcomm Oryon CPU that delivers enhanced performance and battery life with up to 45 trillion operations per second (TOPS) through its integrated Hexagon network processing unit (NPU).
Qualcomm’s move into the PC sector began in 2017, by building on its expertise in mobile processors. The Snapdragon X Elite continues this trend by offering superior 5G and WiFi 7 connectivity along with robust security features supported by Microsoft’s Pluton architecture.
This processor’s standout capability is its ‘on device’ AI, which enables real-time processing of large language models with over 13 billion parameters and optimising user experience with reduced latency.
As businesses increasingly adopt AI, Snapdragon X Elite provides a compelling solution for edge based computing, which promises lower operational costs and reduced environmental impact compared to traditional cloud based models.
By focussing on performance and efficiency, it is poised to set a new standard for next generation computing.