Published estimates of AI energy use per prompt (~0.3 watt-hours) appear reassuring small. But they are increasingly disconnected from how we actually use AI. Modern agentic tools use around 600 times more energy per prompt, as I discuss in my latest over at The Climate Brink www.theclimatebrink....

Not sure if everyone appreciates the difference. Rooftop solar hardwires into your main panel via a dedicated breaker, so it requires a permit, an installer, an electrician, and a utility agreement. Balcony solar just plugs into a wall outlet, sharing an existing circuit with no permits or rewiring.

A new deal on balcony solar just dropped in the US

Plug-in panels can lower your bills. To boost the American market for the tech, nonprofit Bright Saver is selling kits with no markup, starting at around…

canarymedia.com

Heads up, #Seattle...smoke from massive fires in Eastern Washington and Southern British Columbia will move into Western Washington starting early Monday, getting denser through Tuesday and Wednesday. Prepare for an extended period of degraded air quality. #wawx

Earth is now warming faster than at any point in recorded geological history - around 10 times faster than the extreme warming event 56 million years ago and 20 times faster than at the end of the last ice age. We are almost certainly in a new extinction event.

🚨 After 40 years of research, Brazilian scientist Dr. Mariangela Hungria wins the World Food Prize for pioneering a $2 nitrogen-fixing bacteria treatment that replaces costly fertilizers, saves farmers $25 billion annually, and cuts 230 million tons of CO₂ emissions.

Light echo "Greebo", part of Caissiopeia A light echo. #JWST NIRCam F444W program: www.stsci.edu/jwst-program...

I'm not sure folks have realized just how crazy the second half of 2026 and 2027 will be for global temperatures – on the back of a record-smashing El Niño event. Here is my latest estimate of where both years will end up compared to global temperatures since 1850.

The Southern Three-Banded Armadillo (Tolypeutes matacus) is one of the only armadillo species capable of rolling into a completely sealed sphere: #AGoodPlace Source: www.reddit.com/r/NatureIsFu...

Yes! Buttons, please!

China says enough with touchscreens, mandates physical buttons from 2027

Whether you love or hate it, the trend of ultra-minimalist interior design in cars from China is now numbered. This shift comes as the Chinese government

autobuzz.my

Second image of the Luna light echo (part of Cassipeia A supernova light echo). #JWST NIRCam F444W. Amazing how much it changes in just a few days. Also: Think of light echoes as something like CT scans of the interstellar medium. program: www.stsci.edu/jwst-program...

This makes my blood boil.

Jenny Cohn@jennycohn.bsky.social · last wk.

“AI Companies Are Still Buying Up Old Books by the Pallet – Then Shredding Them” 7/21/26

“AI Companies Are Still Buying Up Old Books by the Pallet – Then Shredding Them” 7/21/26

AI Companies Are Still Buying Up Old Books by the Pallet – Then Shredding Them

AI companies are bulk-buying used books, scanning them, then destroying the originals to build clean training datasets - and a court ruling made it legal.

yahoo.com

There's a lot to unpack in this article about ocean alkalinity enhancement. But the bottom line is that it is way too early to be selling credits for marine CO₂ removal (mCDR) when we don't have a trustworthy way to do carbon accounting for mCDR. 🌊🧪 carbon-pulse.com/530737/

it took like a year of nonsense and we had to get a concrete pad poured for it, but my hospital now has a Narcan free vending machine and I am its restocking goblin what a beautiful day, Alexa play Stayin’ Alive

This is why they’re going after Dr Fauci: he impeded grifters

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last wk.

Peter Navarro: "I had a million doses of hydroxychloroquine in warehouses as the defense policy coordinator that I was trying to distribute to hospitals. And Fauci got the FDA stop me from doing that."

2026 is on track to be the warmest (~35% chance) or second warmest (~63%) year on record, while 2027 is very likely (92% chance) to be the warmest on record on the back of a growing super El Niño event. For more, check out my new Carbon Brief State of the Climate Q2 update: www.carbonbrief.org/...

Another heat dome affecting a third of the country, brought to you by fossil fuels www.climatecentral.org/climate-shif...

The Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex at Robledo de Chavela municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain on fire. Burgohondo wildfire. 📷 via Infues Avila

Took a first jog down the beach at Joggins Fossil Cliffs this evening, and I was not disappointed with the quantity and quality of Carboniferous fossil plant material on display. ⚒️

Once you understand that this is a model of science written by non-scientists who hate universities but love venture capital and redirecting money to political allies, everything makes a lot more sense. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/u...

Trump’s Plan for Science: More Money for A.I., Less for Universities

Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s science adviser, proposed overhauling how the government funds research. Democrats said Mr. Trump’s actions had weakened science.

nytimes.com

One for the chemists… 😄

It's hard being a climate comedian's therapist... 🫠

🔥DR. @abdulelsayed.bsky.social : “ICE has nothing to do with immigration. ICE is about normalizing paramilitary force on our streets, weaponizing the idea of immigration against the Constitution. ICE cannot be reformed, retrained… ICE has to be ABOLISHED.” (And held accountable)

This is kind of an incredible website: Why your stuff stopped lasting, who profited, and what's still built right.

Worse on Purpose

The brands you trusted quietly gutted quality to protect margins. Investigative essays on corporate enshittification. Free newsletter.

worseonpurpose.com

Video showing up close the historic first Long March 10B booster recovery. With the booster returning under powered flight, before being caught by the Pathfinder recovery barge's cable capture system, ready for refurbishment and reuse.

"...neighbors argue that aggressively driving or distracted motorists simply cannot see them until it is too late." Aggressive and distracted drivers you say? Well there's your problem right there.

Harvey J. Miller@mobileharv.bsky.social · 2w ago

In other words they are doing their job

Ty Cobb, a former White House attorney under Trump 1, believes Trump’s speech is intended to justify declaring a national emergency around the midterm elections. Cobb suggests Trump aims to intimidate voters, seize voting machines, and prevent the peaceful transfer of power.

Trump setting stage to declare emergency around midterms, former White House attorney says

For perspective on what President Trump is trying to achieve with Thursday night's speech, the limits of his authority and the potential consequences for future elections, Geoff Bennett spoke with Ty ...

pbs.org

Preventing some Iranian villagers from getting drinking water does nothing to prevent the IRGC from firing missiles and drones. Water is a red line. I know those of you who hate the US military and US foreign policy won’t care about the difference, but it’s significant, with very bad implications.

Mark Chadbourn@chadbourn.bsky.social · 3w ago

More war crimes: In its fourth strike on water infrastructure, the US has destroyed two water tanks in Sirik, Iran, completely cutting off water distribution in all villages of the Bemani district and the city of Kohstak, the Hormozgan Water and Sanitation Authority says.

Furious that Chris Nolan would disregard historical accuracy in adapting The Odyssey by making a "movie" with "cameras" instead of memorizing the entire story and then going on a nationwide tour to sing it to us while tripping on ergotized barley

I am once again begging Hollywood to stop using the Greek alphabet for an Ancient World movie, if they can't afford to even throw a couple of quid at anyone with an inkling of the language. Unless they really think audiences are dying to see THS THDPSSSSPS