Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
Donald Trump heads to Las Vegas. After the deadliest shooting in US history, the president will pay his respects to the 58 people killed and more than 500 wounded. Politico reports that he will attempt to avoid any discussion of gun control.
Nissan’s back in action. It halted sales in Japan when a government probe found uncertified workers doing safety inspections. The automaker has now performed new inspections and will reopen for business.
Google hypes its latest smartphone. The Pixel 2 will be announced, along with smart speakers, a new laptop, a VR headset, and other gadgets.
While you were sleeping
Trump extended the blame game in Puerto Rico. He told residents of the hurricane-ravaged island that they’re responsible for putting the federal budget “out of whack.” He added that Hurricane Maria wasn’t a “real disaster” compared with Hurricane Katrina.
Catalan protesters blocked major highways around Barcelona. All but five of the roads have since been cleared, but pro-independence trade unions are calling for an extended, region-wide strike after this weekend’s contested vote.
The US expelled 15 Cuban diplomats. The move restores staffing parity between Washington and Havana after the US recalled staffers in the wake of mysterious attacks that left more than a dozen with traumatic brain injuries and hearing loss.
Three US physicists won the Nobel Prize for proving Einstein was right. Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish, and Kip Thorne were honored for “decisive contributions” to a device that detected gravitational waves, almost exactly 100 years after Albert Einstein predicted their existence.
Warren Buffett bet against self-driving trucks. Berkshire Hathaway bought a 36.8% stake in Pilot Flying J, a truck stop chain with annual revenues of about $20 billion, with plans to acquire a majority stake within six years. Contrary to many predictions, Buffett believes there will be human drivers on highways for years to come.
Quartz obsession interlude
Annaliese Griffin on the stuffed animals that reveal a heartbreaking need in our psyche: “People are certainly drawn to tactile stimulation, as our modern obsession with toys featuring slime, Orbeez, and kinetic sand clearly show. Squishies not only offer satisfaction with each squeeze, they’re also socially acceptable.” Read more here.
Markets haiku
Tesla production / Misses the mark by a mile / Markets: Buy that stock!
Matters of debate
There are too many college majors. Specialized degrees seem like a good thing, but they’re highly restrictive in the labor market.
Google and Facebook need to stop hiding behind their algorithms. When fake news spreads during a crisis, their excuses get old.
Nobel prizes don’t really celebrate science. Rather than honoring the hard work of basic research, they “distort its nature, rewrite its history, and overlook many of its important contributors.”
Surprising discoveries
A Danish oil company is renaming itself after the father of electromagnetism. “Ørsted” is a nod to Dong Energy’s transformation into the world’s largest offshore wind firm.
Nature sometimes creates perfectly spherical boulders. “Concretion” turns sediment into spheres over millions or billions of years.
Germany’s far-right party has an ad agency in Texas. The AfD party won a small victory thanks to a divisive social media campaign.
The Louvre pulled an abstract sculpture for being too sexy. The 40 foot (12 meter) “Domestikator” artwork was scheduled to be displayed near a playground (paywall).
Eating peanuts while breastfeeding can prevent childhood allergies. Exposure can help young immune systems develop a tolerance for certain foods.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, sexy sculptures, and spherical boulders to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day or download our apps for iPhone and Android.