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 59 people killed and more than 500 wounded. He is likely to avoid any discussion of gun control.
The winner of the Nobel Prize in chemistry is announced. The winner is due to be revealed as this email went out. The contenders include researchers who developed lithium-ion batteries, who invented click chemistry, and those who kickstarted the field of biological chemistry. You can watch the announcement here.
Google hypes its latest smartphone. The Pixel 2 will be announced, along with smart speakers, a new laptop, a VR headset, and other gadgets.
Monsanto announces earnings. The agrochemical giant reports its fourth-quarter results as it awaits the completion of its $66 billion takeover by Germany’s Bayer, which is under intense scrutiny by the European Union’s antitrust body.
While you were sleeping
The Las Vegas gunman’s girlfriend returned to the US. The police met Marilou Danley (paywall) on arrival at LA International Airport on Tuesday night. Danley was found in the Philippines and will be questioned as part of the investigation into the motive of shooter Steven Paddock. Authorities in the Philippines said Paddock wired $100,000 to an account in the country the week before the shooting.
Uber approved SoftBank’s investment. The board decided to go ahead with an investment of at least $1 billion from the Japanese tech giant. Uber will also increase the number of board seats to 17, including seats for SoftBank representatives, while a new voting policy will curb founder and ex-CEO Travis Kalanick’s power.
Russia-linked election ads targeted Michigan and Wisconsin on Facebook. The ads, shown last year ahead of the presidential election, were highly sophisticated in their targeting of key demographic groups in pivotal states, and included anti-Muslim messages, CNN reported. Trump won by a margin of less than 1% in both states.
Things are looking up at Tesco. Britain’s biggest supermarket chain will pay a dividend for first time in over two years after posting a 27% leap in first-half profit. The retailer cut thousands of jobs this year, and its 2014 accounting scandal continues to haunt it. The Serious Fraud Office is currently prosecuting three former Tesco executives for “massaging” the group’s profits by £250 million ($332 million).
Tokyo Electric got the go-ahead to restart two nuclear reactors. The initial safety approval from Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority is step one in a years-long process that would see reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant (the world’s largest) restart for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
Quartz obsession interlude
Benjamin Smarr on the Nobel prize winners who researched circadian rhythms. “This re-examination of other scientific fields through the lens of circadian rhythms has heralded the construction of ‘chronotherapy’ in the medicine industry. If a drug is most toxic at a certain time of day, but most effective at another time of day, then timing the dose means you can use a smaller amount of the drug, get more bang for your buck, and have fewer side effects. This has made a big impact in cancer treatment and sleep therapy, for example, but its full potential is still in its early days.” Read more here.
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 help us know what makes fruit flies tick. Celebrating basic scientific research is crucial, particularly in today’s political climate.
Surprising discoveries
One in three unicorns are now born in China. So far this year, 12 of the 33 new billion companies created around the world come from China.
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 farm.
Nature creates perfectly spherical boulders. “Concretion” turns sediment into spheres over millions or billions of years.
Japanese alcohol companies want women to drink more. But efforts to sell pink-themed drinks to women haven’t had much success.
Eating peanuts while breastfeeding can prevent childhood allergies. Exposure can help young immune systems develop a tolerance for certain foods.
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