Author: nick

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Public backlash to data centers is growing. About 70 percent of Americans would not want a new data center built near their homes, according to a new poll from Heatmap News. A majority, 55 percent, said they would “strongly oppose” it. The same poll asked respondents why they thought electricity prices were rising, and 53 percent—up from 28 percent last August—blamed “the construction of new data centers.” Fear over data centers’ energy use, and to a lesser extent water use, is driving a broad backlash to their buildout. While it’s simply untrue that any big data center anywhere is consuming…

A new modeling study by researchers at North Carolina State University and Carnegie Mellon University projects that the rapid expansion of data centers supporting artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency mining could raise wholesale electricity costs by as much as 57% in some U.S. regions by 2030. The study, published in Environmental Research Letters, also estimates that power-sector carbon dioxide emissions could be up to 28% higher compared to a future without new data center growth. The findings highlight localized pressure points, particularly in Northern Virginia, where a concentration of data centers already strains the grid. Data Center Electricity Demand Projected to…

Gene-editing human embryos—the sci-fi scenario that many have feared and many others have cheered—may now be a reality. Columbia University scientists say they have found an “efficient and precise” way to edit human embryos. Unlike earlier methods using CRISPR alone, this method works without introducing chromosomal abnormalities into the embryo or deleting large sequences of DNA. You are reading Sex & Tech, from Elizabeth Nolan Brown. Get more of Elizabeth’s sex, tech, bodily autonomy, law, and online culture coverage. In their study, the scientists used a technique called base editing to repair “DNA nicks and mismatches” in human embryos, according…

Amid unsubstantiated claims of a rigged California primary, amplified by President Donald Trump, social media users shared an image of a blue-haired person in an all-black outfit, holding multiple pieces of folded paper in front of a ballot box. “Do you still not believe California is using people to ballot harvest?” read a June 5 X post featuring the image. The same day, another X post said the image was taken at a ballot box in Glendale, California; and posts on  Facebook and Threads with the image said it showed a “California voter” who “identifies” as many “different people.”  The…

Yesterday’s lead story in the NY Times is headlined: Trump Keeps Immunity from I.R.S., a Victory in a Long-Running Feud Subhead: “Even as they rebelled against a $1.8 billion fund for President Trump’s allies, Republicans looked the other way as his administration granted him potentially lucrative tax protections.” The article notes that plans for the Trump-Blanche $1.776 billion Slush Fund were abandoned due to “Republican anger,” but: “Not so for the sweeping protections from I.R.S. audits that Mr. Blanche also ordered up for Mr. Trump and his family. On that front, Republican reaction has been much more muted, and Mr.…

Bloomberg Law published an unusual Op-Ed by retired Judge Diane Wood of the Seventh Circuit. Judge Wood discusses the Judge Ross situation, but leaves much out. I think what Wood did not say is far more important than what she did say. First, here is how Judge Wood describes the facts: The misconduct was of a personal nature: Judge Ross was engaged in a sexual relationship with a law-enforcement officer whose department regularly appeared before that judge. If a student at the University of Chicago offered that summary of the case, she would be failed. Judge Ross’s sexual activity was…

The White House is preparing to make Iranian assets available to Gulf Arab states to help the countries recover after the conflict caused significant damage throughout the region.  CBS News reported speaking with a source who said that Washington will make Iranian assets accessible for rebuilding US Gulf allies related to any future damage inflicted by Iran. The Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, is seeking a way to use Iranian assets to pay for existing damage in the Gulf states.  It’s unclear what Iranian assets the Treasury Department plans to use to rebuild Gulf countries. The US has seized several Iranian…

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake off the southern Philippines on June 8 local time has killed at least 35 people, injured hundreds and destroyed buildings. Online, people shared real footage of the destruction, but one video was captioned misleadingly. “7.8 earthquake hits the Philippines today!!” a June 7 X post read, containing a video that showed people fleeing and screaming while debris fell from the building’s ceiling. It gained more than 488,000 views within 16 hours of being posted.  The footage was not taken during the June earthquake; it captured a different earthquake that shook the Philippines two years ago. Reverse-image…

It has been said that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel—but we might need harsher terms to describe how some prominent figures in the Trump administration are appealing to Congress to extend a warrantless surveillance program that is routinely used to spy on Americans. Lawmakers who refuse to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) are advancing “marxism” and reversing “patriotic reform,” argued Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, in a post on Twitter. “A libertarian demand to make SecWar get approval from liberal DC judges (the ones who targeted Trump) is…