QLN 40 (156)-Rise of TEMU, Hottest Summer, Amazon's Bedrock, Floating Turbines, 23andme Hack & Semiconductors in Space

This newsletter has?6?cover stories,?29 articles,?9 videos &?1?quote

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SMALL TALK

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Chinese e-commerce App Temu is taking the world by storm

Temu is the latest Chinese shopping app that has garnered significant attention online, sparking discussions about its source, competition, and value. It made its debut in the US in 2022 and expanded to Canada earlier this year, followed by several European countries, Australia, and New Zealand in recent months. Temu has rapidly established itself as a market leader, consistently ranking at the top of app charts in multiple countries. According to online monitors, it has secured over half of the US market share, outperforming its closest competitor, the fast fashion giant Shein. The platform offers a wide range of everyday items, including cleaning products, smartwatches, novelty T-shirts, knock-off sneakers, and barbecue tools, all marked by their remarkably affordable prices.

NASA announces summer of 2023 as the hottest on record

In the summer of 2023, Earth experienced its highest temperatures on record since 1880, as reported by scientists from NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS) in New York. The months of June, July, and August collectively registered a temperature increase of 0.41 degrees Fahrenheit (0.23 degrees Celsius), surpassing any previous summer in NASA's records. This marks a substantial 2.1 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 degrees Celsius) rise compared to the average summer temperatures between 1951 and 1980.

August, in particular, stood out with a 2.2-degree Fahrenheit (1.2-degree Celsius) deviation from the norm. The period from June to August is recognized as meteorological summer in the Northern Hemisphere. This new record coincides with an exceptional global heatwave that affected many regions, leading to devastating wildfires in Canada and Hawaii, intense heatwaves in South America, Japan, Europe, and the U.S., and potentially contributing to heavy rainfall in Italy, Greece, and Central Europe.

Amazon adds Generative AI models to its AWS

Amazon Bedrock, which became available to the public on September 28, 2023, empowers customers to develop and expand generative AI-based applications through an API. This service grants access to Amazon Titan FMs' libraries, encompassing two extensive language models, in addition to other models from AI21 Labs, Anthropic, Cohere, Meta, Stability AI & Amazon. Amazon Bedrock is a cloud-based service designed to facilitate access to generative AI. It comprises a collection of foundational models, all endowed with content generation capabilities. Since AWS hosts Amazon Bedrock's models, existing clients can seamlessly access them through their usual channels without the burden of hosting extensive model data on their own infrastructure. Enterprise clients also have the flexibility to input their preferred data sets into these models.

Inside the global race to tap potent offshore wind

Inside a hangar at the University of Edinburgh, a triangular steel apparatus rests alongside a sizable water tank. Within the tank, a technician aboard a yellow dinghy fine-tunes the equipment, preparing the triangular structure for immersion in the water to assess its performance against simulated waves and currents. In the near future, a platform 50 times larger may find itself afloat in the deep expanse of the North Sea, supporting a massive wind turbine designed to harness the reliable and robust winds of the region. Approximately an hour's journey up the coastline, substantial 3,000-ton behemoths are already in operation in Aberdeen Bay, capturing enough wind energy to power nearly 35,000 Scottish households.

23andMe user data stolen in targeted attack

The genetic testing firm, 23andMe, has officially verified recently that the data of a subset of its users has been compromised. The company clarified that its systems remained uncompromised, and the data breach occurred when attackers guessed the login credentials of a specific group of users. They then proceeded to extract additional information from other users through a feature called DNA Relatives. Earlier this week, hackers shared an initial data sample on the BreachForums platform, stating that it exclusively contained 1 million data points related to Ashkenazi Jews. The leak also appears to have affected hundreds of thousands of users of Chinese descent.

A UK startup plans to make semiconductors in space

A UK-based startup is gearing up to launch a satellite into space with the capability to produce novel semiconductor materials for potential use in electronic devices on Earth. Space Forge, which experienced the loss of their initial experimental satellite during the unsuccessful launch of Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket in the UK's Cornwall in January, is now preparing to send their new satellite, named ForgeStar-1, to the U.S for a launch scheduled for the end of this year or early 2024. Space Forge has recently entered into a collaborative agreement with the American aerospace giant, Northrop Grumman, with the aim of providing space-manufactured semiconductor substrates that Northrop can further develop within their foundries.

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