The weekend is here! Pour yourself a Danish blend, take a seat by the fire, and get ready for our long weekend:

• Can we really be friends with octopuses? When octopuses are social, do they reach out or just respond? Biologists now recognize that at least some octopus species appear to be more social than previously thought. Researchers have published reports of octopuses congregating on the seafloor in groups, sharing nests, using color and gestures to communicate, and forming cooperative hunting parties with fish. At the same time, divers, professional aquarists and cephalopod lovers are increasingly sharing stories of intense mutual curiosity, surprising interactions, and even what some call the friendship between humans and octopuses. (Hakai)

• The true cost of Amazon’s low prices Critics say the “everything store” is doing too much. Is 2022 the year antitrust hawks attack Amazon? (sound)

• Debt king Ron Perelman seems to have it all.until the bill comesPerhaps the most surprising thing about Ronald O. Perelman is that he’s a billionaire who hasn’t gotten richer during the pandemic. (New York Times)

• Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard wraps an industry in one deal The deal, announced Tuesday and expected to close in 2023, touches on every hot topic in the gaming industry, from consolidation to workplace overhauls to Netflix-style libraries to speculation surrounding the “metaverse” (ring)

• What happens when the world’s most populous country starts shrinking? Chinese officials hoped for a baby boom, but what China experienced was just a baby boom. This could pose significant challenges for the government. (grid)

• The Forgotten Medieval Habit of ‘Twice Sleep’: For thousands of years, people have slept in two shifts—one in the evening and one in the morning. but why? How did this habit go away? (BBC)

• They push everything, but Miata keeps them smiling Auto industry insiders have a soft spot for Mazda’s small (and affordable) sports cars. (New York Times)

• how to kill god: The myth of Captain Cook shows how the hero of the Empire would fall in the 18th century, the naval explorer was enshrined as a god. Now his statues are defaced in the lands he has visited. (protector)

• Introduce clones: Instagram users are genetically copying their pets Cloning cats and dogs is expensive and controversial. But the people behind the petfluencer account say it’s worth it. (enter)

• How Shohei Ohtani made baseball fun again One of baseball’s greatest hitters has not been one of its best pitchers since the days of Babe Ruth. Now, for the first time, the reigning MVP has opened up about his unique place in modern baseball. (GQ)

Be sure to check out our Master of Business interview Portfolio Manager this weekend with Tina Vandersteel, Head of GMO’s Emerging Countries Debt Team GMOsforeign currency and local currency debt portfolio. Before joining GMO in 2004, she worked in fixed income research at JP Morgan, developing quantitative arbitrage strategies for emerging debt and high yield bonds.

Solar to account for nearly half of new U.S. electricity generation in 2022

source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

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To understand how these readings are assembled on a daily basis, please see this.