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Plug-in solar systems are small, pre-configured solar panels with microinverters that plug directly into standard household outlets to reduce electricity bills. They are easy to install on balconies, roof decks, or backyard fences and are not permanently attached. They are popular in Europe but not widely available or even legalized in most of the United States. In fact, Utah was the first state to legalize the systems in March 2025.

Modern data centers have been around since the 1990s, but they were largely unknown to most of us over their first 20 years. From about 2010 until just a few years ago, cloud computing and various mobile and software services became commonplace. The number of data centers grew from hundreds to a couple of thousand. The current third era of data centers, running AI training and inference, has exploded the number of centers and, especially, the amount of power they consume. In 2005, data centers consumed 20 GW of power. Last year, that number exceeded 114 GW with an annual growth rate of over 17%.

Playlist as aired on April 25th, 2026

(Airs 04/30/26 @ 3 p.m.) WAMC’s David Guistina in conversation with NY 1 Investigative Journalist Courtney Gross about her series Behind the Walls: Investigating New York’s Prison System.

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education, and research.According to a recent analysis, hundreds of private colleges and universities across the United States are at risk of closing in the next 10 years.On this episode, we speak with Jon Marcus, a journalist with the Hechinger Report, who recently reported on the impending closure of Sterling College, a tiny school in rural Vermont.

The Trump administration has some well-known enemies: wind turbines, electric cars, and climate scientists, among others. Now the iconic American buffalo has joined their ranks.

For the past year, the Trump administration has repeatedly issued orders for five aging coal plants in four states to remain open past their scheduled closures, citing an unspecified “energy emergency” that supposedly threatens the reliability of the U.S. electricity supply.

Playlist as aired on Saturday, June 6th, 2026

You've already seen it. We can’t help it. In the west after sunset, two brilliant "stars" grab attention because they're the brightest things in the whole sky. Venus and Jupiter. Each evening they're closer together. Now the meeting finally happens. The best conjunction of the year.

The geographic range of a plant species is the area where it can survive and grow. That range is shaped by climatic factors such as temperature, precipitation, soil moisture, humidity, and wind. When those conditions change, plants must either adapt, shift their range, or risk decline.