If anyone is wondering how google is doing, it is giving incorrect answers to the query “How old is the Universe?”

Instead of serving up scientific consensus (just shy of 14 billion years) it is latching onto recent media coverage of a questionable study (tired light, time-dependent coupling constants) claiming a much larger figure.

Notably, it gives me the right answer from an incognito window. But elevating popularity metrics over scientific consensus is a real problem!

@mcnees @lisamelton For comparison, DDG is giving me a "recent news" section at the top with 3 thumbnail-links to popular science articles about the new paper, but otherwise the main results list is all links to credible sites showing the [currently-accepted] correct answer in the quoted snippet. There is no simple answer given directly on the page.

that "recent news" section can also be turned off, though I haven’t.