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The most super of supercomputers. Chipmaker Arm, Japanese Research institute RIKEN, and IT firm Fujitsu combined forces to create the system that now holds the title of the world’s most powerful supercomputer. The Fugaku supercomputer ousted an IBM-powered machine in the US from the top spot.
EU leaders harangued China’s president and premier in a testy summit. The newly elected heads of the EU’s institutions chided president Xi Jinping and premier Li Keqiang over Hong Kong’s autonomy, accusations of pandemic disinformation, and restrictions on foreign investment. The meeting notably ended without a joint statement.
Justin Trudeau won’t be swapping prisoners with China. The Canadian prime minister announced that he is not considering exchanging Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who has been in custody since December 2018, for Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who were indicted in China last week on charges of espionage. UK and US officials have denounced Beijing’s decision to proceed with charges against the two men.
Delta will begin flying between the US and China this week. Starting Thursday, the carrier will become the first US-based airline to resume flights between the two countries since the US Transportation Department announced last week that each country agreed to allow four flights per week for the time being.
Apple unveiled a new computer operating system. MacOS Big Sur introduces a new look modeled after the design of iPhone software, and slight tweaks to apps including Mail, Photos, Notes.
The science of decision making
Q3 looms large. While workers and the stock market alike eagerly anticipate some return to business as usual, many companies have to redefine what that business looks like in the first place. We’re bringing together experts on the science of decision making for a workshop on crafting strategy amidst ambiguity.
Join speakers Paul Glimcher (co-director of the NYU Institute for the Study of Decision Making), Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic (chief talent scientist at Manpower Group) and Louie Pastor (executive vice president and general counsel at Xerox) for our latest Remote Control virtual workshop on Thursday, June 25 at 11am EDT.
As always, these workshops are free to attend! Simply register here and then start getting your questions ready.
Charting salary history bans
Women and people of color continue to earn lower wages than white men. One big reason is that many employers require job applicants to reveal their previous salary in order to set their new one. This strips workers of bargaining power, and can lock in lower compensation.
Since 2016, 20 US states, cities, and territories—including Massachusetts, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia—have passed salary history bans. These laws are working, especially for women and Black workers, a new study from Boston University’s School of Law found.
The researchers also discovered that workers who changed jobs in the private sector earned an average of 5% to 6% more annually. The gains were even greater for women and African Americans.
For Members: Oil’s in a barrel of trouble
The coronavirus crisis has broken the fossil fuel industry’s 150-year-old boom/bust cycle, and presented an existential crisis for the oil and gas industry.
Let’s briefly get into some history:
1859: Edwin Drake strikes the world’s first successful oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania, creating a generation of prospectors and kickstarting a cycle of rapid expansion and contraction.
1870: John D. Rockefeller founds Standard & Oil. By 1899, it controls the vast majority of the oil sold in the US, and has set its eyes overseas.
1900s: Foreign rivals proliferate, as demand soon eclipses even Standard Oil’s ability to supply or control it.
1945: Oil consumption begins to rise six-fold, powering post-World War II economic expansion.
1960: OPEC is created. Its five founding members—Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Kuwait, Iraq, and Iran—represented more than 80% of the world’s oil production.
2000s: Six supermajors emerge from a series of acquisitions and mergers. By 2013, they are spending at least $100 billion per year on exploration and production.
2013: Fracking helps the US reclaim the mantle of world’s top oil producer. But by late 2014, with US oil production still soaring, global oil supply began to exceed demand.
And this year, the world changed on a dime. Who can foretell the future of fossil fuels?
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You asked about treatment supply chains
I’ve been hearing a lot about dexamethasone as a possible treatment. How soon will that be available and who will it help?
Dexamethasone is a generic steroid that’s still being tested for the purpose, but so far seems to be an effective treatment for some Covid-19 sufferers in critical condition, and the most exciting thing about it is its supply chain. OK, maybe the second most exciting thing.
Shortages are a concern—and a justified one—for many other potential Covid-19 treatments. But less so for dexamethasone, says Michael Ganio, the senior director of pharmacy practice and quality at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. For one thing, it’s a common drug that has been on the market for nearly 60 years, and its generic status means that manufacturing plants all over the world make and ship the drug, which in pill form is a relatively simple medicine to produce.
Even if hospitals did run into shortages of dexamethasone, they could make substitutions pretty easily since steroids make up a huge class of drugs. Plus, the fact that it treats only a specific segment of Covid-19 patients means there would most likely be less hoarding.
Surprising discoveries
A Chinese phone sold out in India amid #BoycottChina. While some vandalized stores for selling Chinese goods, others bought every OnePlus 8 Pro on Amazon India within minutes.
The Stonehenge mystery deepens. A two kilometer (1.2 mile) wide circle of pits adds another layer to the puzzle of the ancient monument’s purpose.
Women are less likely to swipe right on a guy with a cat. Online survey respondents rated the same man less masculine and less datable when he was pictured with a feline friend.
Our galaxy might be lonelier than we thought. We could search for centuries before finding one of the estimated 36 (at least) advanced alien civilizations in the Milky Way.
A durian shipment forced a German post office to evacuate. The baffled workers didn’t know what to make of the pungent fruit. As a precaution, six went to the hospital for nausea.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, cat lovers, and the people who love them to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our app on iOS or Android and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Katherine Ellen Foley, Karen Ho, Susan Howson, and Nicolás Rivero.