The Weekender: fighting fires, finding romance, and funding the government

Welcome to The Verge: Weekender edition. Every Saturday, we'll bring you some of the best and most important reads of the past seven days, from original reports, to in-depth features, to reviews and interviews. Think of it as a collection of some of our favorite pieces that you may have missed — or that you may just want to read again. You can follow along below, or keep up to date on Flipboard.

• Report

  Goodbye, government: shutdown affects science, the environment, and health

  

  Much of the US government shut down earlier this week and will remain that way until Congress passes a budget. Here’s what’ll happen to NASA, the Environmental Protection Agency, and Health and Human Services as they’re left without funding.

• Detours

  A city in flames: inside Detroit's war on arson

  

  There aren't very many firefighters in Highland Park, Michigan, but they still answer an average of 1,000 calls a year. More than a few of those calls bring them to what are supposed to be vacant properties, but with residents looking for shelter, seemingly unoccupied homes aren't always empty.

• Review

  'Gravity' review: try not to scream

  

  Director Alfonso Cuarón is probably best known for Children of Men, but that’s about change: Gravity isn’t just his best sci-fi film yet — it may also be the next sci-fi masterpiece.

• Interview

  Jonathan Lethem on the subversive power of comics and science fiction

  

  Jonathan Lethem's latest book, Dissident Gardens, hit store shelves last month. We caught up with him to chat about how genre-bending books are discussed, and what that means for his own work.

• Report

  Soccer and slavery: World Cup dogged by reports of labor abuse in Qatar

  

  More than 40 migrant workers died in Quatar over a two month span this summer as the country prepares for a World Cup nearly a decade from now. Quatar's citizens may be open to a change in labor practices, but a long-used system that chains employees to employers could keep slave-like working conditions around.

• Review

  Samsung Galaxy Gear review

  

  Samsung is one of the first tech giants to jump into the modern smartwatch race, but its haste may be bad news. Is the Galaxy Gear worth strapping to your wrist?

• Report

  Feeling lonely? Boot up this romance sim and meet your next five boyfriends

  

  The next big crazy may be a surprising genre of choose-your-own adventure apps: romance. Apps that let you be wooed by hulking, handsome men are booming in Japan, and they’re headed stateside next.

• Review

  Amazon Kindle Fire HDX review (7-inch)

  

  The Kindle Fire is better than ever. It has a slick new design, a gorgeous display, and all of the Amazon content you could ever want. But does living with Amazon's app store still make it all too limiting?

• Report

  Silk Road may be gone, but Topix is still a haven for drug dealers

  

  Websites can avoid being held liable for what their users post, and some take that privilege to its extreme. With how simple it is to implement filtering software nowadays, should websites be held liable for not fighting back against drug trafficking?

• Review

  Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Note 10.1 reviews

  

  Samsung released its latest two Note devices this week, the Galaxy Note 3 smartphone and the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet. Both are better than their predecessors, but are either really any good? Here's our review of the Note 3 and our review of the Note 10.1.