A Chevron Texas Power Plant Seeks School District Tax Break
The move could save the oil company hundreds of millions, even as Texas lawmakers start looking at reining in incentives for data centers.
Mexico City Is Sinking. A Powerful NASA Satellite Just Exposed How Fast
A new NASA map shows how the sinking of Mexico City is uneven, with areas registering up to 2 centimeters per month.
The Iran War Is Impacting the Environment in Unseen Ways
From toxic smoke and oil spills to rising emissions, poisoned soil, and damaged ecosystems, war can reshape the environment long after the fighting stops.
Cocaine-Fueled Wild Salmon Swam Twice as Far as Sober Ones
After scientists exposed wild fish to cocaine and a cocaine metabolite, they observed that, as in the lab, fish on cocaine do not act like normal fish.
New Gas-Powered Data Centers Could Emit More Greenhouse Gases Than Entire Nations
A WIRED review of permits for data center projects using natural gas and linked to OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, and xAI shows they could emit more than 129 million tons of greenhouse gases per year.
6,000 Meters Under the Pacific, Japan Seeks Independence From China on Rare Earths
Tokyo is succeeding where the rest of the world has failed, reducing its reliance on Beijing for crucial rare earth elements—thanks to an enormous underwater deposit discovered on a remote island.
The US Government Will Ask Data Centers How Much Power They Use
In a letter obtained by WIRED, the Energy Information Administration tells two senators that it plans to develop a mandatory assessment of data centers' energy use.
Marine Animals in the Strait of Hormuz Don’t Get a Ceasefire
As ships return to the Strait of Hormuz, mines, sonar, and congestion continue to reshape the Gulf beneath the surface.
A Single Strike Won’t Shut Off the Gulf’s Desalination System
The Gulf’s water system is built with layers of backup, but it relies on continuous operation to hold.
A New Google-Funded Data Center Will Be Powered by a Massive Gas Plant
Documents show that one of Google’s new data centers would be powered by a natural gas plant that emits millions of tons of emissions each year—an increasingly common trend in the industry.