The eSports world is coming to grips with a resurgent COVID-19 threat. As The Vergenotes, Riot Games has moved the last two matches of the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) from Newark, New Jersey's Prudential Center to the LCS Arena in Los Angeles. The US spread of the new coronavirus' Delta variant has made it impractical to hold the large in-person event "in good conscience" even with vaccines in use, Riot said.

The LCS Arena is a "safer" location that will protect the health of Worlds representatives before they go to China, Riot said. While it wasn't surprised that other events would carry on, the Series didn't need to put people at risk just to offer its "core competitive product." LoL teams have played against each other in person at LCS Arena over the summer, but even those were derailed in favor of virtual competition after people associated with two teams tested positive for COVID-19.

The developer promised events at Prudential Center in the future, and said it would offer full refunds. More details would be coming soon, Riot added.

Other eSports leagues, such as the Call of Duty League, have pressed forward with in-person events in spite of the virus surge. However, Riot's decision suggests that at least some organizers are having a change of heart. We wouldn't be surprised if others followed suit, at least until vaccine use climbs and cases (hopefully) drop again.

Even an online medical community can't completely avoid COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. Gizmodoreports that CNBChas found a deluge of bogus anti-vaccine claims on Doximity, an industry networking tool for doctors. While shared stories are from well-established news outlets and scientific publications, the comments are apparently rife with misinformation on vaccine safety, mask effectiveness and natural immunity, among other issues.

The commenters are using their real names and have verified medical credentials.

Doximity told CNBC it had rules barring material that contradicts public health guidelines, including anti-vaccine material. It added that it had a "rigorous" comment review process where physicians screened content. The company didn't explain the glut of anti-vaccine comments, however, or say when it might remove them.

The findings highlight the problems with content moderation. Many social sites and internet giants have rules barring anti-vax content, but enforcement has been an ongoing problem due to either a lack of resources or users circumventing the rules. Doximity's problem is just a more egregious violation — this is a small, closed group full of people who are supposed to go through a tougher screening process. It's clear there's a while to go before Doximity and other sites can truly keep users sharing accurate information.

Now is a prime opportunity to get an Apple Watch Series 6 at a good price, provided you're not picky about the color. Woot is offering the 40mm Product Red edition with GPS (that is, no cellular) for just $300, or a clean $100 below the usual price. This isn't the absolute lowest price we've seen, but it's still a solid deal that delivers a high-end smartwatch at a reasonable price.

Buy Apple Watch Series 6 at Woot - $300

Series 6 is still a very capable smartwatch months after launch. It's ultimately a refinement of Series 5 with a blood oxygen monitor and slight boosts to performance and battery life, but that still leaves you with a great always-on display, useful health features and a rich app ecosystem. WatchOS 8 will expand that functionality, too, with improvements to everything from mindfulness to messages.

As before, the catch is simply the timing. Series 7 is likely close at hand, and might include a new design with updated performance and wireless technology. If you're more interested in having the latest hardware than saving money, you may want to wait a few weeks. You'll likely pay much less for Series 6, though, and it's a much better value at this price than the Apple Watch SE.

Just be aware that Woot's return policy is stricter than Amazon's. You have to return products within 30 days, and Woot reduces the refund amount by the cost of shipping. This Apple Watch is likely a safe bet, but you'll want to quickly determine whether or not you intend to keep it.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

NASA's Perseverance rover just had a rare misstep. The space agency has revealed that the robotic vehicle failed to collect Mars rock samples during its first attempt. While the percussive drill, coring bit and sample tube processing worked "as intended," a probe indicated that the tube was empty — not exactly what scientists were expecting when everything else checked out.

Scientists are still investigating what happened and may not have an answer for a few days. Perseverance project manager Jennifer Trosper said the team suspected the rock might have reacted in an unexpected way during the coring process. The equipment is likely fine, in other words.

The Martian surface has created problems more than once. The Phoenix Lander had trouble gathering "sticky" soil in 2008, for instance, while Curiosity and InSight have also had trouble cracking into rocks and the surface itself.

This initial setback won't necessarily jeopardize Perseverance's mission. However, NASA will want to keep incidents like this to a minimum. The rover was sent to Mars in no small part to collect samples that would eventually return to Earth and help scientists look for signs of past life. The fewer samples NASA gets, the fewer chances it will have to explore Mars' history.

Twitter is scrambling to reassure India and reclaim its liability protections for user-made content. Bloombergreports that Twitter has told an Indian court it appointed grievance and nodal officers to honor new rules demanding local full-time staff to handle handle issues like compliance and law enforcement matters. The court previously claimed Twitter was in "total noncompliance" and had stripped the protections, leaving Twitter legally vulnerable if users posed illegal material.

Police have filed cases against Twitter multiple times based on user actions, including child pornography violations or posting controversial political maps.

The social media giant isn't safe yet. The government will have to determine whether or not the executives put India in compliance with the rules. Another hearing is due on August 10th. Companies like Facebook, Google and Telegram have already complied the requirements.

Twitter has had a fractious relationship with the Indian government. The social media giant refused to block critics of the Indian government after officials threatened to arrest employees in early February. Accordingly, India ordered Twitter to pull criticism of its pandemic response after COVID-19 cases surged in April. The alleged rule violations just represented an escalation of already-high tensions in that regard. Not that Twitter has much choice but to comply — leaving the Indian market would deliver a serious blow to its business while having little impact on censorship in the country.

Microsoft is betting that a little Spotify streaming could help sharpen your mind. The Vergereports that product chief Panos Panay has previewed a Focus Sessions feature in Windows 11 that uses Spotify to help you concentrate. Based on the Pomodoro Technique that divides tasks into timed segments with breaks, the new Clock app mode asks you to choose a task (from Microsoft To Do, at least for now), set a timer and choose a Spotify playlist if you need a soundtrack. When the timer is done, your music will stop and let you know it's time for a brief pause.

Focus Sessions aren't yet available in public Insider Previews, but there's a real chance they'll be available in the finished version of Windows 11 arriving late this year. Microsoft has integrated Spotify with Xbox consoles before, but this appears to be the first major effort in Windows.

The concept of a Pomodoro app isn't new, but this will be built into Windows — and Microsoft is clearly hoping the Spotify tie-in will make a difference. It could be an important competitive advantage, too. Windows 11's focus elements could help it compete against macOS Monterey's Focus modes, not to mention parallel similar features in Android and iOS.

Paramount+ is finally expanding into Europe — with a little help. ViacomCBS has struck a deal with Sky to launch Paramount+ in the UK, Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Switzerland sometime in 2022. The pact will make the streaming TV service available on Sky platforms in return for Sky extending carriage of ViacomCBS pay TV channels like Comedy Central.

You'll have the option of both a direct subscription to Paramount+ as well as bundles. Sky Cinema subscribers will get Paramount+ at no extra charge, while other Sky customers will have to add it to their accounts.

ViacomCBS didn't provide pricing or local content differences, although it's notable that the broadcaster already has deals with rivals to carry streaming shows in the area. Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have rights to carry Star Trek: Discovery, Picard and Lower Decks in the UK, for instance.

Paramount+ is already available in the Americas, Australia, Hungary, Russia and the Middle East. This could be the most significant expansion to date, though. Europe is a major market for streaming, and Sky's influence in the region could put the service in front of people who wouldn't otherwise have considered it. This won't bring Paramount+ to the level of heavyweights like Netflix or Prime Video, but it could help competition against narrowly focused rivals like HBO Max.

President Biden is throwing more of his weight behind electric cars. Biden is signing an Executive Order that sets a target for half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 to have some form of zero-emissions driving, whether it's a pure EV, plug-in hybrid or hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. The move is meant to not only promote clean transportation and limit climate change, but help the US "outcompete" a Chinese car industry that's quickly shifting toward electrified vehicles.

In sync with the order, the EPA and NHTSA will outline how they plan to undo the Trump administration's rollbacks of emissions and fuel efficiency standards. The two agencies will collaborate using standards built on the "momentum" from an agreement between California and automakers BMW, Ford, Honda, Volvo and VW. The EPA's proposed rules would take effect in the 2023 model year, while the NHTSA's would arrive in the 2024 model year. The team-up would have the standards mesh until model year 2026.

The Biden administration has rallied support from domestic brands for the effort. Ford, GM and Stellantis have declared a "shared aspiration" to meet the 2030 target and otherwise support Biden's vehicle electrification policies.

It's a significant goal. EVs have represented about 2 percent of US car sales for the past three years, according to the International Energy Agency and Pew Research. While the pandemic might have played a role in limiting 2020 sales, meeting the 2030 target would fundamentally transform the US car market, not to mention the charging infrastructure needed to support it.

However, it might drag behind some states, not to mention car makers. California and Massachusetts will ban all sales of new gas-based cars by 2035. GM also plans to exclusively sell EVs by that year, while Ford will go completely electric in Europe by 2030. Brands like Volvo and Stellantis' Fiat badge have also committed to full electrification by 2030. However ambitious the Biden plan might be, it could seem relatively modest in some respects.

Lucille Ball sadly passed away long before podcasts became a reality, but that isn't stopping her from joining the modern phenomenon. The LA Timesreports that SiriusXM is turning Ball's Let's Talk to Lucy radio show into a 'pop-up' satellite radio station for three weeks. Once that stint is over, all 240 episodes of the 1960s-era show will be available as podcasts through both SiriusXM's app, Stitcher and other common platforms.

Notably, this isn't just mining nostalgia. This is the first time Let's Talk to Lucy has been heard since airing on the radio 50-plus years ago — there are conversations with legends like Bob Hope and Carol Burnett that haven't surfaced for decades.

SiriusXM is clearly hoping to boost its satellite and podcast offerings. At the same time, this also illustrates the usefulness of podcasting as a historical tool. In theory, the podcasts will both preserve Ball's interviews and make them accessible to a wider audience that might not listen to radio in the first place.

Scientists have just spotted one of the fastest-moving stars known to date, and it might provide valuable answers about the cosmos. Martha Stewart (yes, really) reports that Boston University researchers have studied a star fragment from a supernova, LP 40-365, speeding out of the Milky Way galaxy at close to 2 million MPH. While that it in itself is relatively rare, the researchers have also noticed that it's spinning unusually slowly for a supernova remnant at 8.9 hours for a full rotation.

The team determined that the repeated, rapid changes in brightness were likely due to the surface rotating into view. All stars spin, but that process is accelerated for any star pieces surviving a violent explosion like this.

The observation has provided clues as to the likely origins of the fragment. LP 40-365 was likely part of a white dwarf star 'feeding' on the mass of a partner in a binary system. As the two stars were spinning so closely and quickly, both of them were likely flung outward when LP 40-365's star exploded.

The composition of the star could also provide insights. Intact stars are normally made from hydrogen and helium, but this leftover is mostly composed of metal. The reactions from the supernova produced more complex elements, researchers said.

The shard represents a rare opportunity to study a phenomenon that science was only ready to consider a few years ago. It also provides a more complete picture of how supernovas behave — they've never been tidy, but it's now clearer just how messy they can be.