Technology

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.

Mitigating climate change requires reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Not emitting more of it is a key part of the effort but taking some out of the atmosphere will also be important. Direct air capture is the process by which this happens.

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%.

CO2 emissions come from a wide variety of sources. How to reduce them is obvious in some cases – such as by driving electric cars – but very difficult in others, such as the emissions from aircraft. Aviation accounts for 3.5 to 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In the European Union, it is about 4%.

Driverless ride-hailing vehicles – popularly known as robotaxis – are showing up in a growing number of cities. Several of the largest technology companies in the world are leading the charge using their deep pockets both to put vehicles on the streets and influence how they and sometimes their competitors are portrayed in the media.

According to the World Health Organization and UNICEF, 1 in 4 people globally – about 2.1 billion – lack access to safely managed drinking water. The definition of this is water from sources located on premises, free from contamination, and available when needed. Climate change, population growth, conflicts, and humanitarian crises are only putting increasing pressure on the world’s water resources.

Hudson Valley counties are adopting AI. Orange and Dutchess counties in the Hudson Valley are using AI in everyday operations, while Ulster County remains steadfastly against it.

Plastic pollution continues to wreak havoc on the planet. It can be found everywhere on Earth, from the highest mountain peaks to the deepest parts of the ocean. According to the National Resources Defense Council, nearly ten billion tons of plastic have been produced since the 1950s, with more than half created in just the past 25 years.

There are vibrations occurring in the ground nearly all the time. They happen when cars pass by, when machines are operating, and from natural forces in the earth’s crust. For the most part, we don’t notice these vibrations. But they are there, and they represent an untapped source of clean energy.

Few people may have seen St. Elmo’s Fire, the mythical glow that appears on structures and ships at sea during thunderstorms.But a team of researchers has discovered the fabled phenomenon is quite common. You just need the right equipment to see it.And we’ll discuss two recent landmark court decisions against social media companies that are part of the national discussion over the negative impacts of tech on young people.