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Happy Sunday − and welcome to the best of The Conversation U.S. Here are a few of our recently published stories:
I’m a relative newbie to ChatGPT and recently used it to create some drawings of what a deck might look like in my backyard. I thought it was pretty cool, and what’s more, free! But it may have cost the Earth about a bottle of water – or more, depending on the system used.
I learned that little fact from Leo S. Lo, a librarian at the University of Virginia who works with artificial intelligence. When I write an email or use a search engine, I usually don’t think about how much water it uses – but it’s increasingly adding up.
In one of last week’s most popular stories, Lo takes us through AI’s hidden water footprint, from a data center’s on-site cooling systems to the power plants keeping all its servers humming. He also offers a simple formula you can use to calculate the water footprint of your AI conversations – and how that stacks up against other common uses of water.
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Leo S. Lo, University of Virginia
AI systems’ water usage can vary widely, depending on where and when the computer answering the query is running.
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Shari Edelson, Penn State; B. Derrick Taff, Penn State
Most people want to properly dispose of their waste, but they’re typically not prepared. Land managers can help users meet the moment.
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Adam Nemeroff, Quinnipiac University
AI slop refers to low- to mid-quality content created with AI tools, often with little regard for accuracy or quality.
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Nadir Jeevanjee, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
From rising global temperatures to the fast-warming Arctic, early climate models predicted the changes half a century ago.
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Meredith Oyen, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Japan surrendered to the Chinese nationalist army in September 1945. But since then, Beijing has played up the role of communist fighters.
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Deborah Fuller, University of Washington
Chaos at the CDC and the sharp move away from mRNA vaccines has public health experts alarmed.
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Paul J. Becker, University of Dayton
Several white nationalist groups such as Return to the Land have attempted to establish all-white communities across the country.
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Jeffrey Sklansky, University of Illinois Chicago
Both holidays arose at the same time, nearly 150 years ago, in the midst of an explosive labor uprising.
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Paul Mwebaze, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Small farms will have the hardest time meeting the rules, giving big producers an edge. One potential solution: agroforestry, growing coffee plants among the trees.
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Jack Barkenbus, Vanderbilt University
China is already producing a wide range of EVs, including several options that cost less than $25,000.
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News Quiz 🧠
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Fritz Holznagel, The Conversation
Test your knowledge with a weekly quiz drawn from some of our favorite stories. Questions this week on China, wag bags and Maroons.
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