"Google uses anti-competitive practices to dominate the market for online advertising technology, a UK watchdog has provisionally found.

The potentially unlawful behaviour could be harming thousands of UK publishers and advertisers, an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has warned.

It accuses Google of preventing rivals from "competing on a level playing field" with its own tech for the billions of pounds spent by UK businesses on online advertising.

Google said the watchdog's findings were "flawed" and said it would respond.

According to the CMA, the vast majority of businesses use Google’s services when placing digital ads on websites.

Google maintains it has a strong business incentive to help UK firms thrive, and argues that advertisers choose to use Google because its products work well and help their businesses grow.

The watchdog will now consider representations from Google before deciding what action to take..."

"Police chiefs of America's largest cities have published the first guide about UAPs, which details chilling encounters and how officers can report such incidents.

The 11-page document warned that unidentified flying objects 'pose significant safety risks to law enforcement air support units,' urging teams to be vigilant when in helicopters.

The report also highlights stories from officers who claimed to confront UFOs, specifically one in 2023 where a law employee saw a 'triangle craft with green lights gliding through the sky' before a local resident said something 'ran' nearby.

The police executives created the reference because 'it's in the interest of law enforcement to be aware of trends and reporting on UAP due to the unknown threat they may pose.'

The organization, called the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA), includes nearly 80 executives from major US cities who work together to advance public safety through a range of initiatives, including community outreach, research and policy development and now, UFO investigations..."

"Key Takeaways

For as long as humans have been looking up, we’ve seen objects or phenomena that have defied our conventional explanations for what we’ve known is scientifically possible.

Many have attributed these sightings to extraterrestrial or even supernatural activity, although no conclusive proof or incontrovertible evidence supporting these claims has ever survived scrutiny.

What scientific steps could we take to evaluate the activity of an unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAP) or an unidentified flying object (UFO) to determine if they’re actually “beyond” present Earthly knowledge? Here’s how to do it..."

"Robert Smith is convinced the aliens have won. "The invasion has happened—it's all over," says the University of Alberta space historian who teaches a course on the history of extraterrestrials.

It's not so much that Smith believes in their literal existence, only that aliens have staked their claim in the human imagination..."

"Area 51 isn’t the only weird thing in the Nevada desert, as our writer discovered when he drove the Extraterrestrial Highway to see if the truth really is out there.

‘That’s where they probe you,” the shop assistant said when I asked her what really goes on at Area 51. She followed this up with a raising of the eyebrows and a waggle of her extended finger. I got the message.

I was at the Alien Center, my first stop on a 600-mile road trip in rural southern Nevada, making a loop around the huge slab of desert that’s home to a US air force base shrouded in mystery. Built in the Fifties, the base has become a beacon for conspiracy theorists who believe the government uses it to store broken-down spaceships and little green men (with their apparently invasive interrogation techniques). The official line is that Area 51 is a training facility for military aircraft … but they would say that, wouldn’t they.

The Alien Center is really just a petrol station with your standard diner, gift shop and brothel attached. But since I’d been on Route 95 for a couple of hours after leaving Las Vegas, it seemed a good place to take a breather..."

"A mass grave containing more than 300 bodies, including babies and children, has been uncovered.

An unmarked burial site at Royton Cemetery in Oldham contained 145 stillborn children, 128 babies and young children and 29 adults, local councillors said..."

"Human activities, mostly the burning of fossil fuels, are changing the climate faster than ever. As the world gets hotter, scientists and policymakers have agreed to try everything they can to limit warming to 2C above pre-industrial levels. But even 2C of warming will greatly impact life on Earth. Earth.Org looks at what will happen when we hit this warming milestone, what changes we can expect in extreme weather events, climate patterns, sea levels and temperatures, and what it means for ecosystems and human activities..."

"Days after Brazilians sweltered under scorching heat, panted through a parching drought and choked from wildfire smoke, scientists anticipate temperatures in Brazil to linger between 35º C and 40º C all week — equivalent to 95º F to 104º F.

The temperatures are expected to reach these blistering heights primarily in the Central West region, which includes large cities like Brasília, Manaus and Belo Horizonte. In addition to putting the residents of these areas at risk of heat stroke and other health problems, the escalating heat creates a risk of wildfires..."

"Summers in Phoenix are notoriously hot. But after two punishing summers of record-breaking heat, the latest milestone, set Tuesday, may be the most ominous yet.

At 11 a.m. local time, temperatures in Phoenix hit 100 degrees for the 100th day in a row. The longest previous 100-degree streak was 76 days in 1993. In other words, this year has seen an uninterrupted stretch of 100-degrees days at least 3½ weeks longer than in any other year since records began in 1896..."

"The idea that aliens may have visited the Earth is becoming increasingly popular. Around a fifth of UK citizens believe Earth has been visited by extraterrestrials, and an estimated 7% believe that they have seen a UFO.

The figures are even higher in the US – and rising. The number of people who believe UFO sightings offer likely proof of alien life increased from 20% in 1996 to 34% in 2022. Some 24% of Americans say they’ve seen a UFO.

This belief is slightly paradoxical as we have zero evidence that aliens even exist. What’s more, given the vast distances between star systems, it seems odd we’d only learn about them from a visit. Evidence for aliens is more likely to come from signals from faraway planets.

In a paper accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, I argue that the belief in alien visitors is no longer a quirk, but a widespread societal problem..."

"Climate change is going to have a big effect on the availability of water in this part of the country, said Doug Kluck, the central region’s climate services director for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He said swings between weather extremes will exacerbate man-made issues that are already in play, like increasing demand from growing communities.

“You're talking about longer periods of drought with more heavy rainfall events kind of stuck in between that don't help as much when it comes to needs,” Kluck said.

Pouring rain isn’t as helpful for recharging soil and groundwater in a drought as slow, steady rainfall. But Kluck said beneficial, orderly precipitation is already shown to be happening less over time.

“So, ‘when it rains, it pours,’ is becoming more the norm, as opposed to the exception,” Kluck said.

On top of drought, Kluck said climate change is messing with the timing and amount of snowmelt that feeds rivers like the Missouri in the middle of the country. The 2,300-mile Missouri River starts in the mountains of southwestern Montana and is fed at first by snow, before taking on water from tributaries that look like a vascular system throughout its basin on the way to St. Louis.

And some research has shown the line that marks the start of the arid west might already be moving east as the climate changes.

As humans increase the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, further warming the planet, these changes could intensify, which Kluck thinks could, unfortunately, make lawsuits over water more likely.

“Whiskey is for drinking, water's for fighting,” Kluck said. “It's an old term, and there's good reason people have said it for years and years and years”...