🌎 Isn't it ironic, Google?

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Here’s what you need to know

Google reversed its work-from-home policy. It’s an ironic move coming from one of the companies behind the tools that make remote work possible.

Mark Zuckerberg isn’t worried about Apple’s Vision Pro. Meta’s CEO took a jab at Apple’s VR headset demo that featured users on the couch all by their lonesome.

Retail jobs in New York City have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. The sector’s slugging recovery worsens   the prospects of New Yorkers without college degrees.

A Canadian province took a page out of the US anti-trans policy playbook. New Brunswick premier Blaine Higgs is forcing pupils under 16 to get parental consent to change names and preferred pronouns at school.

China is reportedly planning to build a US-focused spy center in Cuba. The US denied a Wall Street Journal scoop detailing the potential outpost for electronic eavesdropping, but the report highlights the failures of successive US presidents to win Cuba over.

Messi, Miami, and money

$585 million: Value of Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami team before Lionel Messi signed on

$1 billion: Potential value with the contract

Read more about why it took a soccer star as big as David Beckham—who is an Inter Miami owner—to beat out Saudi Arabia’s massive offer for Messi.

Dyson Zone finally has its market

When Dyson launched headphones that doubled as an air purifier last year, the accessories that look like they should be a prop on a sci-fi film were roundly mocked.

But with the air quality along much of the US East Coast currently the worst in the world, the jokes have gone flat. In a way, the headwear have become walking symbols of how wealthy Westerners can afford to retreat into their own, clean bubbles, away from the toxic changes in climate that they’ve precipitated.

What an honest ad from an oil and gas company would look like

British advertisement regulators this week banned ads from three fossil fuel companies—UK’s Shell, Spain’s Repsol, Malaysia’s Petronas—for making misleading claims about their environmental efforts.

We wrote some modest proposals for truthful ads from oil and gas companies that fully inform consumers:

🛢️ We make the majority of our profits from fossil fuels, not renewable energy.

💰 We invest far more in oil and gas than renewables.

🏭 Our annual CO2 emissions are higher than those of entire countries.

We’ve got three other suggestions, let us know what else you’d include!

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Surprising discoveries

London has a new giant tunnel. It’ll all go to poo, but before it does, a cellist had to test out the acoustics.

A 6,000-year-old piece of wood was found. The discoverer almost turned it into bowls.

Long-lasting brain changes are linked to space travel. The shifts are affected by length and frequencies of missions.

The idea that global morality is on the decline isn’t accurate. But the social and political repercussions of that illusion are stark.

Reducing geographical distance also reduces psychological distance. “Construal level theory” should mean that the air quality crisis in the northeastern US will make the region as climate conscious as the West Coast, but it doesn’t always work out that way.

Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, tunnel symphonies, and ancient bowls to [email protected]. Reader support makes Quartz available to all—become a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Sofia Lotto Persio, Morgan Haefner, Susan Howson, and Tim Fernholz.