Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
CES ramps up in Las Vegas. The world’s largest consumer electronics trade show officially gets underway. Some 200,000 people will attend to view the new gadgets that will command our attention in the year ahead.
Are small US businesses feeling good? The NFIB small business optimism index comes out today. After hitting a high note in 2017, business owners are likely to stay upbeat on expectations of the US corporate tax cut.
Rescue efforts continue at the burning Iranian oil tanker. The ship, which collided with a Chinese freighter off the eastern coast of China on Saturday, is still on fire and at risk of exploding. One body has been recovered and 31 people are still missing.
While you were sleeping
North and South Korea held breakthrough talks. Delegates from the two countries met for the first time since December 2015 in the border village of Panmunjom. North Korea said it would send a delegation of senior officials and athletes to the upcoming Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, while South Korea proposed a reunion next month for families divided by the Korean War.
SpaceX may have botched the launch of a US spy satellite. The secret payload, code-named Zuma, was launched from Florida on board a Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday. The Wall Street Journal reported (paywall) that some industry and government officials believe the satellite is lost.
Intel’s CEO addressed chip-security problems at CES. Brian Krzanich started his keynote speech by thanking the industry for discovering the Spectre and Meltdown chip vulnerabilities and acting quickly. He said Intel will have patched 90% of its newest processors by the end of the week, and the remainder by the end of January.
Samsung fell short of predictions. The South Korean electronics giant said it expects to post a record profit for the final quarter of 2017, with sales up 64% from the same quarter last year—but that’s 5% shy of what analysts expected. Prices for memory chips, which have helped Samsung’s fortunes soar, are starting to fall as smartphone demand cools.
Germany showed off its latest stellar economic data. Trade figures comfortably beat expectations in November, and industrial output ramped up 3.4% month-on-month—its largest monthly surge since September 2009 (paywall). Exports grew more than 4% over the month, while imports were up over 2.3%, bringing Germany’s trade surplus to €22.3 billion ($26.6 billion).
Quartz obsession interlude
Elijah Wolfson, Akshat Rathi, and Chase Purdy on the science stories to watch this year. “It’s a fool’s errand to try to predict what the future holds for the scientific trends that dominate the headlines today. Instead, Quartz’s science team has compiled a list of science terms and concepts that can help you better understand social and political life in 2018.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
The Meltdown and Spectre bugs are good for the tech sector. They will accelerate the shift to cloud computing and spur more secure operating systems.
Language classes in the US are finally useful. American classrooms are starting to acknowledge the political and cultural importance of Asia and the Middle East.
LEDs are having a big impact on climate change. They reduced carbon emissions by 570 million tons in 2017—equivalent to closing more than 160 coal power plants.
Surprising discoveries
Trypophobia may not be a real phobia. Self-described trypophobes aren’t afraid of clusters of small holes, but rather just disgusted.
Weight Watchers’ stock price jumped more than 13% after Oprah’s Golden Globes speech. Its stock has increased nearly 700% since she revealed her stake in the company in 2015.
Bats fell out of trees in New South Wales during a heatwave. It was so hot in Australia on the weekend that baby bats were literally boiled alive.
US hotels are phasing out the “do not disturb” sign. Staff at Disney Resorts and other properties are checking on guests at least once every 24 hours, due in part to security concerns.
Thailand’s prime minister left a cardboard cutout of himself for journalists. “If anyone wants to ask any questions on politics or conflicts, ask this guy,” Prayuth Chan-ocha said.
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