The Conversation - AI's carbon footprint

+ How females from some species can reproduce without males͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

It’s convenient to have Alexa do your routine shopping and Siri answer your trivia questions, but training the artificial intelligences that power those services takes a lot of electricity – and most of that electricity still comes from fossil fuels.

Boston University computer scientist Kate Saenko explains why AI is more energy-intensive than “dumb” services like email, why the problem is getting worse and what can be done about it.

Also today:

Eric Smalley

Science and Technology Editor

Data centers like this Google facility in Iowa use copious amounts of electricity. Chad Davis/Flickr

It takes a lot of energy for machines to learn – here’s why AI is so power-hungry

Kate Saenko, Boston University

Training neural networks burns through a lot of energy. As the AI field grows, it's working to keep its carbon foot print from growing with it.

Health + Medicine

The coronavirus vaccine: A doctor answers 5 questions

Jason R. McKnight, Texas A&M University

As the coronavirus rages, a vaccine finally is available for certain groups of people and will soon be ready for other groups. But there are plenty of questions. A doctor answers five here.
Plastic pipes are polluting drinking water systems after wildfires – it’s a risk in urban fires, too

Andrew J. Whelton, Purdue University; Amisha Shah, Purdue University; Kristofer P. Isaacson, Purdue University

A new study shows how toxic chemicals like benzene are leaching into water systems after nearby fires. The pipes don't have to burn – they just have to heat up.
What vaccine distribution planners can learn from Amazon and Walmart

Tinglong Dai, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing; Christopher S. Tang, University of California, Los Angeles

COVID-19 vaccines have very specific storage requirements that make shipping a difficult task. Two ideas – fulfillment centers and cross-docking – could help overcome some distribution challenges.

Education
Racial stereotypes drive students of color away from STEM, but many still persist Ebony O. McGee, Vanderbilt University Coping with racial stereotypes that permeate STEM culture is like having another full-time job, argues a researcher who studies racism in these fields.

Economy + Business
COVID-19 further exposes inequalities in the global financial system Ramya Vijaya, Stockton University Global economic policy excludes low-income countries from the spending options that developed nations use to buffer their economies in times of crisis, and the pandemic has inflamed that inequality.

Science + Technology
Virgin births from parthenogenesis: How females from some species can reproduce without males Mercedes Burns, University of Maryland, Baltimore County Parthenogenesis, a form of reproduction in which an egg develops into an embryo without being fertilized by sperm, might be more common than you realized.

Politics/Election '20
Ancient Greek desire to resolve civil strife resonates today – but Athenian justice would be a ‘bitter pill’ in modern America Joel Christensen, Brandeis University Homer and Aeschylus turned to the divine to write their happy endings. But no gods are conspiring above the US, ready to swoop down and save humankind from itself.

Ethics + Religion
Armenians displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh fear their medieval churches will be destroyed Christina Maranci, Tufts University A peace deal brokered by Russia ended the war on Nov. 9, but the rich architectural heritage of the region is still at risk.

From our international editions

Tasmanian devils look set to conquer their own pandemic

Hamish McCallum, Griffith University; Austin H. Patton, University of California, Berkeley

Ten years ago, we feared Tasmanian devils would be wiped out by a bizarre infectious facial cancer transmitted by biting. But new genetic analysis shows they are evolving to live with the disease.
Exploring the Indian Ocean as a rich archive of history – above and below the water line

Isabel Hofmeyr, University of the Witwatersrand; Charne Lavery, University of Pretoria

The Indian Ocean provides a new way of looking at world history that has been dominated by European accounts.
Venus was once more Earth-like, but climate change made it uninhabitable

Richard Ernst, Carleton University

A severe climate change event on Venus may have transformed an Earth-like climate to the current uninhabitable-to-humans state.

The Conversation - AI's carbon footprint

It takes a lot of energy for machines to learn – here’s why AI is so power-hungry

Health + Medicine

The coronavirus vaccine: A doctor answers 5 questions

Plastic pipes are polluting drinking water systems after wildfires – it’s a risk in urban fires, too

What vaccine distribution planners can learn from Amazon and Walmart

Education

Racial stereotypes drive students of color away from STEM, but many still persist

Economy + Business

COVID-19 further exposes inequalities in the global financial system

Science + Technology

Virgin births from parthenogenesis: How females from some species can reproduce without males

Politics/Election '20

Ancient Greek desire to resolve civil strife resonates today – but Athenian justice would be a ‘bitter pill’ in modern America

Ethics + Religion

Armenians displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh fear their medieval churches will be destroyed

From our international editions

Tasmanian devils look set to conquer their own pandemic

Exploring the Indian Ocean as a rich archive of history – above and below the water line

Venus was once more Earth-like, but climate change made it uninhabitable

Older messages

COVID vaccines are here, what happens now?

5 years ago today, the world vowed to fight climate change

Cash for a COVID-19 vaccine?

Why Oregon decriminalized all drugs

When will kids get a COVID-19 vaccine?

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