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Human fascination in the unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and alien paranormal phenomenon is rich in history, explored widely in popular culture and many personal beliefs exist across society. The tourism industry offers a range of places where consumers can encounter such a phenomenon. Reports continue to highlight the growth in consumers participating at UFO and alien tourism attractions and locations. Significantly, the purpose of this paper is to shine a light on the relationship between UFOs, aliens and the tourism industry.

This paper takes a pragmatic philosophical approach by embracing a multi-disciplinary analysis. This study examines a range of secondary data information, statistics, reports and research studies.

By identifying the current impotence of the UFO and alien tourism markets and the growing consumer participation in it, this paper presents a theoretical starting point in the form of a model, which maps the current landscape of the industry from supply and demand perspectives. This study should be seen as a stepping stone towards further research into the UFO and alien tourism industry and provide researchers with a theoretical platform and novel ideas through which to explore the subject.

The phenomenon includes an established eclectic mix of attractions and likewise tourist motivations for visiting are wide and diverse. However, the subject lacks academic consideration. Thus, this paper presents original research and timely discussions on the topic.

This paper aims to create a new searchable 3D city model to help managers improve their decision-making.

This paper identifies data management basics and the key elements used in the new model design; it further analyzes five-city models, presents its findings and proposes analytical trends for the new model. It discusses the concepts underlying existing models, explains the benefit brought by the proposed model and demonstrates its robustness.

City systems can be interconnected, thanks to data digitization and the integration of new technologies into different management processes. Although there are several 3D city models available, none of those identified in this research can be queried for several sectors.

This model design can only be successfully realized in the presence of a public mandate. Potential limitations include information security risks and political non-acceptance.

The present work proposes a searchable and high performance model having the distinctive capacity to bring together city systems and perform real-time data analysis in order to extract important information needed to guide the city, and in the context of a global vision.

Human or machine, which one is more intelligent and powerful for performing computing and processing tasks? Over the years, researchers and scientists have spent significant amounts of money and effort to answer this question. Nonetheless, despite some outstanding achievements, replacing humans in the intellectual tasks is not yet a reality. Instead, to compensate for the weakness of machines in some (mostly cognitive) tasks, the idea of putting human in the loop has been introduced and widely accepted. In this paper, the notion of collective hybrid intelligence as a new computing framework and comprehensive.

According to the extensive acceptance and efficiency of crowdsourcing, hybrid intelligence and distributed computing concepts, the authors have come up with the (complementary) idea of collective hybrid intelligence. In this regard, besides providing a brief review of the efforts made in the related contexts, conceptual foundations and building blocks of the proposed framework are delineated. Moreover, some discussion on architectural and realization issues are presented.

The paper describes the conceptual architecture, workflow and schematic representation of a new hybrid computing concept. Moreover, by introducing three sample scenarios, its benefits, requirements, practical roadmap and architectural notes are explained.

The major contribution of this work is introducing the conceptual foundations to combine and integrate collective intelligence of humans and machines to achieve higher efficiency and (computing) performance. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this the first study in which such a blessing integration is considered. Therefore, it is believed that the proposed computing concept could inspire researchers toward realizing such unprecedented possibilities in practical and theoretical contexts.

This study aims to investigate the intricate relationships between a community energy system, water resources and biodiversity conservation, with a specific focus on augmenting community energy resilience in Bondo. The primary objective is to gain an in-depth understanding of how community members perceive and experience the challenges related to balancing the often-conflicting demands of energy, water and biodiversity conservation within this context.

The research uses a qualitative approach to unravel the multifaceted dynamics of community energy systems, water resources and biodiversity conservation in Bondo. Data were collected through focus groups and direct observations, enabling a nuanced exploration of community perspectives and lived experiences. The subsequent analysis of this qualitative data follows established thematic analysis procedures.

The study's findings shed light on the formidable barriers that impede rural communities in Malawi from accessing electricity effectively. Even in communities fortunate enough to have electricity connections, the lack of knowledge regarding productive electricity use results in community energy systems operating at significantly reduced load factors. Furthermore, the intricate challenge of managing a biodiversity hotspot persists, exacerbated by the densely populated peripheral communities' continued reliance on forest, land and water resources. These activities, in turn, contribute to ecosystem degradation.

In a context where government-led management of forest reserves and game reserves has not yielded the expected results due to a multitude of factors, there arises a compelling need for innovative approaches. One such innovation involves fostering partnerships between the government and experienced trusts as lead organisations, providing a fresh perspective on addressing the complex interplay between community energy systems, water resources and biodiversity conservation. This novel approach opens doors to explore alternative pathways for achieving the delicate balance between human energy needs and the preservation of vital ecosystems.

With the UK’s accelerating plans to transition to electric mobility, this paper aims to highlight the need for policies to prepare for appropriate management of electric vehicle (EV) lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) as they reach the end of their life.

This is a regulatory review based on projections of EV LIBs coming off the market and associated problems of waste management together with the development of a servitisation model.

Circular economy in EV LIBs is unlikely to shape itself because LIB recycling is challenging and still in development. LIB volumes are insufficient for recycling to be currently profitable, and a circular economy here will need to be driven by regulatory intervention. Ignoring the problem carries potentially high environmental and health costs. This paper offers potential solutions through new EV ownership models to facilitate a circular economy.

The authors suggest a new EV ownership model. However, despite environmental benefits, re-shaping the fundamentals of market economies can have disruptive effects on current markets. Therefore, further exploration of this topic is needed. Also, the data presented is based on future projections of EV markets, battery lifespan, etc., which are uncertain at present. These are to be taken as estimates only.

The paper proposes regulatory interventions or incentives to fundamentally change consumer ideas of property ownership for EVs, so that EV automotive batteries remain the property of the manufacturer even when the consumer owns the car.