Amazon, Vision Pro, and an Ancient Tree

Lots of things happened this week, here's what we’ll be covering:

• Apple Vision Pro

• Surprising Discovery of a Fossilized Tree

• Amazon Shopping A.I Tool

• Antarctic Bird Flu

• Youth Safety Hearing

• Why Are Tech Companies Laying off Workers?

Apple Vision Pro
This week, Apple released its brand new “spatial computing” device called the Apple Vision Pro. The Vision Pro is described as a game-changing device that will allow users to blur the line between the digital universe and reality. According to CNN Business, with this being Apple’s first new product-line launch in about seven years, and how ambitious this all is, many have their doubts about the Vision Pro. Read more about the Vision Pro by clicking here.

Apple Vision Pro @Igor Omilaev

Surprising Discovery of a Fossilized Tree

Have you seen the movie/book about cotton-like trees that were used by the main character to create “thneeds.” Thats right! I’m talking about The Lorax. And recently, an ancient fossil of a tree that looks a lot like the trees from The Lorax has been uncovered. According to an article from The New York Times, a recent discovery of a fossilized tree named the Sanfordiacaulis densifolia has been uncovered, which brings more insight into a mysterious gap between the earth’s evolution. According to the same article, “[...] the tree had a six-inch diameter with a nearly 10-foot-tall trunk composed not of wood, but of vascular plant material, like ferns. Its crown had more than 200 finely striated, compound leaves emanating from spiral-patterned branches that radiated 2½ feet outward.” So why is this all so important? Well, according to Patricia Gensel, a professor of biology at UNC-Chapel Hill, “We typically get bits and pieces of plants, or mineralized tree trunks, from Romer’s Gap. We don’t have many whole plants we can reconstruct. This one we can.” - Quote from The New York Times.

A person holding a phone in front of an Amazongo store. @Simon Bak

Amazon Shopping A.I Tool

You’ve seen it. Almost every corporation in the tech industry is getting onto the A.I craze, either with new A.I tools such as Google’s new circle-to-search, or Chatbots such as Microsoft’s Copilot. And now, Amazon is getting into the scene. According to an article from The New York Times, Amazon has just recently launched itself into the A.I scene by announcing a new A.I personal shopping companion/assistant. The A.I assistant called Rufus, named after a dog from the early days of Amazon, is designed to help customers across their website. According to the same article, Amazon users will be able to ask Rufus about product questions and product recommendations with a conversational tone, as if Rufus was talking to you as a helpful Amazon employee.

Antarctic Bird Flu

According to Emily Anthes from The New York Times, “[a] highly lethal form of bird flu has been detected in Antarctic penguins for the first time.” This bird flu, according to the article is a virus known as H5N1 and was discovered by scientists examining two dead penguins in the British territory of Sea Lion Island. According to the article, it has been reported that many more penguins have been dead or dying. Why does this matter? Well according to Emily, it matters because the populations of penguins are already being strained by other environmental factors, and this virus may hold the power to wipe out many more penguins if it is spread further into their populations.

Mark Zuckerberg in front of the audience at the online youth safety hearing. @Yahoo! News

Youth Safety Hearing

It's been popping up throughout social media. Clips, and videos of a youth safety hearing with the CEOs of top tech companies. So what's happening? Well according to CNN Business, this Wednesday, an online youth safety hearing was held with some of the world’s leading tech company CEOs such as Mark Zuckerburg, Evan Spiegel, and Jason Citron. The hearing consisted of families who held pictures of children who were harmed or killed online. The hearing prompted CEOs Mark Zuckerberg and Evan Spiegel to apologize to the affected families, and popular social media platforms, X and Discord, arranged plans to meet with affected families. According to the same article, several parents criticized the apologies from the companies as insufficient. Now, legislators, influenced by these families, are aiming to pass bills, including the Kids Online Safety Act, to make social media safer for young users.