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This startup wants to use the Earth as a massive battery

In traditional pumped hydro storage facilities, electric pumps move water uphill, into a natural or manmade body of water. Then, when electricity is needed, that water is released and flows downhill past a turbine, generating electricity. Quidnet’s approach instead pumps water down into impermeable rock formations and keeps it under pressure so it flows up when released. “It’s like pumped hydro, upside down,” says CEO Joe Zhou. Quidnet started a six-month test of its technology in late 2024, pr

Shallow water is dangerous too

Julia and I know drowning is the biggest risk to US kids 1-4, and we try to take this seriously. But yesterday our 4yo came very close to drowning in a fountain. (She's fine now.) This week we were on vacation with my extended family: nine kids, eight parents, and ten grandparents/uncles/aunts. For the last few years we've been in a series of rental houses, and this time on arrival we found a fountain in the backyard: I immediately checked the depth with a stick and found that it would be just

Shallow Water Is Dangerous Too

Julia and I know drowning is the biggest risk to US kids 1-4, and we try to take this seriously. But yesterday our 4yo came very close to drowning in a fountain. (She's fine now.) This week we were on vacation with my extended family: nine kids, eight parents, and ten grandparents/uncles/aunts. For the last few years we've been in a series of rental houses, and this time on arrival we found a fountain in the backyard: I immediately checked the depth with a stick and found that it would be just

This aerogel and some sun could make saltwater drinkable

Earth is about 71 percent water. An overwhelming 97 percent of that water is found in the oceans, leaving us with only 3 percent in the form of freshwater—and much of that is frozen in the form of glaciers. That leaves just 0.3 percent of that freshwater on the surface in lakes, swamps, springs, and our main sources of drinking water, rivers and streams. Despite our planet’s famously blue appearance from space, thirsty aliens would be disappointed. Drinkable water is actually pretty scarce. As

Mistral’s new “environmental audit” shows how much AI is hurting the planet

Despite concerns over the environmental impacts of AI models, it's surprisingly hard to find precise, reliable data on the CO 2 emissions and water use for many major large language models. French model-maker Mistral is seeking to fix that this week, releasing details from what it calls a first-of-its-kind environmental audit "to quantify the environmental impacts of our LLMs." The results, which are broadly in line with estimates from previous scholarly work, suggest the environmental harm of

7 Best Coffee Makers (2025): Drip Is Drippin'

How We Tested and Chose the Best Drip Coffee Machines AccordionItemContainerButton LargeChevron I've been a drip coffee fan—some might say fanatic—for quite some time, and so much of my machine selection comes from personal experience and decade-long history as a coffee writer and reporter. To broaden my selection, I listened to some of the best minds in coffee, including internet bean personalities like James Hoffmann and Lance Hedrick, trusted baristas and roasters, my friend Joel, and countle

Best Indoor Garden Systems (2025), Tested and Reviewed

FAQ What Are Hydroponics? In the simplest terms, hydroponic gardening means to grow plants without roots in soil. Sometimes the plants are suspended in water, like in the Rise or Gardyn; sometimes they're in pods attached to a wick, like in the Click & Grow; and sometimes they have water sprayed or misted on their roots, like in the Lettuce Grow and Plantaform. Usually this is in concert with an artificial light source, either indoors or in an outdoor enclosure. What Are the Benefits of Hydro

Waterfield Magnetic Case review: The most lavish way to carry your Switch 2 around

Engadget has been testing and reviewing consumer tech since 2004. Our stories may include affiliate links; if you buy something through a link, we may earn a commission. Read more about how we evaluate products . Gamers aren't usually known for their sartorial elegance. But that doesn't mean we don't deserve nice things. So after checking out a very utilitarian carrying case for the Switch 2, I wanted to explore the other side of things with a more lavish travel bag. And while Waterfield's Magn

Is Your Iced Coffee Making You Dehydrated in the Summer Heat? I Asked the Experts

As the summer sun beats down, we should all stay hydrated, as dehydration can increase our risk of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. However, when I saw the National Weather Service in Las Vegas advising residents across parts of California, Nevada and Arizona to stop drinking caffeine in extreme heat to prevent dehydration, I wondered if that was taking things too far. To find out whether caffeine actually causes dehydration to the point where you need to put your iced coffee down, I consulted

How the rise of green tech is feeding another environmental crisis

How the rise of green tech is feeding another environmental crisis 2 days ago Share Save Ione Wells • @ionewells Foreign correspondent Reporting from Chile Share Save BBC Raquel Celina Rodriguez watches her step as she walks across the Vega de Tilopozo in Chile's Atacama salt flats. It's a wetland, known for its groundwater springs, but the plain is now dry and cracked with holes she explains were once pools. "Before, the Vega was all green," she says. "You couldn't see the animals through th

Chinese Scientists Invent System for Extracting Oxygen, Water and Rocket Fuel From Moon Dust

Chinese researchers say they've devised a new way to extract water from lunar soil and convert it into fuel. As detailed in a new paper published today in the journal Joule, the team found that their proposed "photothermal strategy" — essentially converting light into heat — could effectively convert carbon dioxide from extracted water into carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and oxygen gas, a "potential route for sustaining human life on the Moon and enabling long-term extraterrestrial exploration." "

Larq Bottle PureVis 2 Review: Drinking Water as a Video Game Isn’t as Dumb as It Sounds

There’s something I learned about hydration that I can never forget: if you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated. It’s a rule of thumb that can come in handy if you are out on a long hike or on the beach in the middle of summer when the risk of becoming dehydrated is pretty high. But day-to-day, I rarely pay attention to how much water I drink or how dehydrated my body could be. Despite the ever-growing popularity of mega-sized water bottles and counting the number of glasses people should d

Southwestern drought likely to continue through 2100, research finds

This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy, and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. The drought in the Southwestern US is likely to last for the rest of the 21st century and potentially beyond as global warming shifts the distribution of heat in the Pacific Ocean, according to a study published last week led by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin. Using sediment cores collected in

AI Data Centers Accused of Creating Major Problems for Local Water Systems

After Meta started building an enormous data center less than 400 yards away from their house, a couple living in Newton County, Georgia, says their water started to dry up. That began in 2018; years later, two of their bathroom taps still don't work. What water remains has turned into a gritty sludge, littered with sediments. So far, Beverly Morris and her husband Jeff have spent $5,000 on their water problems, they told the New York Times in a new interview, and can't afford to replace their

Apple TV+ shares Stillwater season 4 trailer ahead of August 1 premiere

Just weeks after announcing its return date, Apple has released the trailer for the new season of Stillwater, the mindfulness-themed animated series based on Jon J Muth’s bestselling Zen book collection. Watch the trailer below. Stillwater returns to Apple TV+ on August 1 Stillwater is one of the highest-rated kids’ shows on Apple TV+, and it has snatched quite a few awards since it premiered in 2020. After a two-year hiatus, the show is set to return in two weeks, and Apple TV+ has just rele

Soundcore Boom 3i Review: A Seaworthy Bluetooth Speaker That Dunks on the Competition

2025 I love when gadgets have a schtick. Like Lenovo’s Tab Plus with an ungodly amount of JBL speakers, or Nothing’s Android phones with lights on the back. Schticks are great, and schticks that are practical and actually work are even better. For Soundcore’s $130 Boom 3i Bluetooth speaker, the schtick is all about throwing a speaker into water, which is unnatural for anyone familiar with how batteries work, but for the right person, might be kind of awesome. See Soundcore Boom 3i at Amazon L

ChatGPT may soon watermark your AI-generated images, but there could be a way out (APK teardown)

Calvin Wankhede / Android Authority TL;DR OpenAI could be exploring image watermarking for ChatGPT-generated images. Previous leak suggests the watermark might primarily affect free users, with a “save without watermark” option for some. This feature is not yet official and may be subject to change before public release. OpenAI is working on a lot of new features for ChatGPT. We’ve spotted features like Study Together, Image Styles, and even a yearly plan in the works. Continuing the spree,

On doing hard things

On Doing Hard Things 10 Jul, 2025 I've never been known for my coordination, balance, or cardiovascular enthusiasm. In team sports, I was invariably the last one picked – probably only because "not picking" wasn't an option. Physical exertion was not among my natural strengths. So naturally, last summer, I climbed into a boat that was both longer than my room (thanks KRH) and about as wide as myself, and tried to make it move in a straight line. The first few sessions went about how you’d ex

Topics: boat did like team water

Doing Hard Things

On Doing Hard Things 10 Jul, 2025 I've never been known for my coordination, balance, or cardiovascular enthusiasm. In team sports, I was invariably the last one picked – probably only because "not picking" wasn't an option. Physical exertion was not among my natural strengths. So naturally, last summer, I climbed into a boat that was both longer than my room (thanks KRH) and about as wide as myself, and tried to make it move in a straight line. The first few sessions went about how you’d ex

Topics: boat did like team water

My Family and the Flood

Rosemary, the four-year-old, woke up first. She told my brother-in-law, Lance, that there was something on the roof. Seven of us were at my family’s river house on the Guadalupe, between Ingram and Hunt, for the Fourth. Our little stretch of river is wide, green, cool, deep, and slow. It is some of the best swimming anywhere and one of the most beautiful spots in Texas, as far as I’m concerned. I’ve spent many peaceful afternoons there, floating and staring up at the cypress trees that tower ov

Meta announces new data centers, gobble up millions of gallons of water per day

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company plans on investing "hundreds of billions of dollars" to power AI. Meta is building several gigawatt-sized data centers to power AI, as reported by Bloomberg . CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the company will spend "hundreds of billions of dollars" to accomplish this feat, with an aim of creating "superintelligence." The term typically refers to artificial general intelligence (AGI), which describes AI systems that boast human-level intelligence across multiple dom

There’s a Strange New Hole in Yellowstone National Park

Last April, geologists conducting routine maintenance at temperature logging stations in Yellowstone National Park’s Norris Geyser Basin found something unexpected: a previously undocumented thermal pool of blue water. The newly identified pool, found in the Porcelain Basin subbasin, is about 13 feet (4 meters) wide, its idyllic blue water is around 109 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius), and the water’s surface sits about one foot (30 centimeters) below the rim of the pool, according to a

I Solved the Century-Old Mystery of a Miraculous Shipwreck Survivor

I t’s the morning of August 22, 2019, and I’m in a Zodiac bouncing along the waters of the St. Lawrence River. It can hold six divers and all their gear, but this morning, there are only six of us—no gear. Far from being divers, we are curiosity seekers from New York, Vancouver, London, and Montreal, all obsessed with the sinking of the Empress of Ireland, which claimed 1,014 lives in 1914. Until a few years ago, I had never heard of the Empress and its disastrous end. And that’s staggering, be

Meta announces huge new data centers, but they could gobble up millions of gallons of water per day

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company plans on investing "hundreds of billions of dollars" to power AI. Meta is building several gigawatt-sized data centers to power AI, as reported by Bloomberg . CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the company will spend "hundreds of billions of dollars" to accomplish this feat, with an aim of creating "superintelligence." The term typically refers to artificial general intelligence (AGI), which describes AI systems that boast human-level intelligence across multiple dom

The Structure of Ice in Space Is Neither Order nor Chaos—It’s Both

Ice is a key component in the universe. There are frozen water molecules on comets, moons, exoplanets, and in your drink as you cool off from the summer heat. However, under the microscope, not all ice is the same, even though it is made of the same components. The internal structure of Earth’s ice is a cosmological oddity. Its molecules are arranged in geometric structures, usually hexagons that repeat each other. Ice on Earth forms this way due to the temperature and pressure of the our plane

The underground cathedral protecting Tokyo from floods (2018)

When one of these rivers overflows, the water falls to one of five enormous 70-meter tall cylindrical tanks spread across the Channel’s length. Each of these tanks is big enough to accommodate a space shuttle or the Statue of Liberty and they are interconnected through a 6.3km long network of underground tunnels. As the water approaches the Edo River, the ‘floodwater cathedral’ Tortajada visited reduces its flow, so the pumps can push it to the river.

Topics: 3km big river tanks water

The underground cathedral protecting Tokyo from floods

When one of these rivers overflows, the water falls to one of five enormous 70-meter tall cylindrical tanks spread across the Channel’s length. Each of these tanks is big enough to accommodate a space shuttle or the Statue of Liberty and they are interconnected through a 6.3km long network of underground tunnels. As the water approaches the Edo River, the ‘floodwater cathedral’ Tortajada visited reduces its flow, so the pumps can push it to the river.

Topics: 3km big river tanks water

Human-Constructed Dams Have Shifted the Earth’s Poles, Scientists Say

Humans have built so many dams around the world that the Earth’s poles have wandered away from the planet’s rotational axis, new research suggests. Over the last 200 years, humans have constructed nearly 7,000 massive dams, impounding enough water to nudge the Earth’s poles by about three feet (one meter) and cause a 0.83-inch (21-millimeter) drop in global sea levels, according to a new study in Geophysical Research Letters. This drift is possible because Earth’s solid crust forms a hard shel

Should You Skip the Iced Coffee This Summer Because of Dehydration?

You know the drill -- it's important to stay hydrated always, but especially in the summer heat. However, that message was taken to another level when the National Weather Service in Las Vegas advised residents across parts of Nevada, Arizona and California to avoid caffeine during extreme heat. The logic is that caffeine may speed up dehydration, which increases your risk for heat exhaustion or even heat stroke. The NWS advisory soon made headlines. To see if we should actually put down our ice

Woman Says Zuckerberg's AI Data Center Filled Her Tap Water With Sediment

"I'm afraid to drink the water." Tainted Water A retiree in rural Georgia has accused Meta's new AI data center, which is situated around 1,200 feet from her home, of polluting her water. As the BBC reports, the resident, Beverly Morris, believes the construction of the tech giant's data center disrupted her private water well, causing a buildup of sediment. "I'm afraid to drink the water, but I still cook with it, and brush my teeth with it," Morris told the broadcaster. "Am I worried about

Topics: ai center data meta water