COMPUTING & GAMING

Your WIRED  daily briefing. Today, Facebook has closed a number of accounts that may have been intended to influence forthcoming US elections, a court has blocked the release of 3D-printed gun plans, a Waymo self-driving taxi trial will test last-mile public transport integration and more. 1. Facebook closes 32 more accounts over suspected political meddling Facebook has shut down 32 pages and accounts that it says were involved in "coordinated inauthentic behaviour" intended to mislead users and influence the results of the forthcoming United States midterm elections ( The Guardian ). The most popular pages removed by Facebook were Aztlan Warriors, Black Elevation, Mindful Being, and Resisters, which appeared to have been created to target users with an interest in subjects including indigenous and black civil rights and feminism. Facebook says that one of the pages was briefly linked to an account run by the Russia-based Internet Research Agency, previously...

Excerpts: Nintendo has sold nearly 20 million Switch consoles Nintendo has released its earnings for the first three months of the current fiscal year alongside update...

Your WIRED  daily briefing. Today, an internal Nasa report throws doubt on a White House proposal to sell off the International Space Station, Amazon advises a 99 per cent facial recognition confidence threshold for law enforcement, North Korea doesn't appear to have given up building missiles and more. 1. Nasa could face trouble privatising the ISS An internal report from Nasa's inspector general Paul Martin has found that the space agency may have trouble privatising the International Space Station, as proposed by the White House in January ( Ars Technica ). The plan would see Nasa withdraw from the ISS by 2025, reducing by half its total human exploration budget – a saving of up to $4bn a year. However, discussing the White House's proposal that Nasa find a private company to run the station and become a "tenant" of the ISS, Martin writes that "we question whether a sufficient business case exists under which private companies will be abl...

Excerpts: Cult RPG Shin Megami Tensei is surprisingly great on mobile When a beloved video game series makes the shift to a free-to-play mobile experience, it's no...

Your WIRED  daily briefing. Today, a Commons Select Committee report into 'fake news' has warned of the impact of online disinformation, scientists say that Europe's heatwave risk has been doubled by ongoing climate change, Ecuador reportedly plans to expel Julian Assange from its London embassy, and more. 1. MPs: Online disinformation is a threat to UK democracy The Commons Select Committee interim report into disinformation and 'fake news' warns that online disinformation, misinformation and propaganda represents a threat to democracy in the UK ( BBC News ). It which was leaked on Friday by former Vote Leave campaign strategist Dominic Cummings, who described it as "fake news", also warned the government against using that term as it "has taken on a variety of meanings, including a description of any statement that is not liked or agreed with by the reader." The report highlights the impact of propaganda and disinformation sha...

      The wheels are falling off the alt-right’s version of the internet Bereft of users and blockaded by the outside world, the alt-right's internet is a ghost town. But with our biggest social platforms so full of hate, who needs the alt-internet anyway?   How China's most expensive film became its biggest box office flop Battling demi-gods, big-budget special effects and a star-studded cast – Asura had it all. The only problem? Hardly anyone wanted to watch it.    Everything you thought you knew about dinosaur colours is wrong The new science of paleocolour is shining a light into what dinosaurs looked like and how they lived.     Micromechanics is creating a new breed of impossibly thin watches Piaget and Bulgar keep making thinner watches. There's no end in sight.   Smart home tech is being turned into a tool for domestic abuse Smart doorbells and thermostats are an emer...

Excerpts: Destiny's excellent lore is being collected into a physical anthology book series Between all the discussions of whether Bungie's Destiny 2 can recl...