To work together effectively to address climate change, we ought to change the way we discuss it. Almost every week, a new infographic circulates on Instagram Stories, often featuring bold text and a somber image, highlighting the worst impacts of climate change. Infographics and other communication efforts like these seem to be widespread on social media, news outlets, and in group chats. Although well-intentioned, this negative, emotion-based communication may be counterpro

A high-speed train in Taiwan that is similar to the fleet of vehicles planned for California’s high-speed rail. For years, progressives and environmentalists have understandably promoted California’s massive $40 billion high-speed rail proposal as the most transformative transportation development in America and a long-overdue project that will help to reduce the disparity between the United States and other developed countries in terms of miles of high-speed track. While Cal

A wind energy farm in Haiyan, Jiaxing, China. As nationalist sentiment and political tensions continue to permeate across the planet, multinational cooperation in the fight against climate change has clearly become  less of a priority for most major powers. The 2026 World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Risks Report ranked  “geoeconomic confrontation” as the number one short-term threat, trumping “extreme weather events” and “pollution,” which fell from second to fourth and sixth

Data center infrastructure in the United States. In Lansing, New York, a town of roughly 12,000 just north of Ithaca, New York, hundreds of residents packed  into a middle school auditorium last fall. They were there to confront representatives of a company most of them had never even heard of. TeraWulf, a digital infrastructure company, had signed an 80-year contract on 183 acres at the old Cayuga coal plant site to build  a data center—a facility housing the servers that po

Two federal law enforcement officers during a field operation in New York and Texas. TikTok has inundated users with videos of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents ripping people out of their homes before promptly putting a phone to their faces, seemingly to capture their facial profiles and input information into a system. ICE recorded  Alex Feinberg after he took a video of ICE agents at a Portland, Oregon, gas station. This occurrence with ICE is

The starry night sky with a view of our Milky Way. Have you ever gazed at the night sky and marveled at the Milky Way stretching across the darkness? For most of the world today, that simple pleasure is disappearing. Over 80% of people can’t see  a clear night sky, and one-third can’t spot the Milky Way due to light pollution. The culprit works beyond city lights: satellites and other space instruments streak across the skies, reflecting sunlight back to Earth. Without strong

What once was a familiar sign of opportunity is now just another piece of marketing. Generation Z is entering  one of the most difficult entry-level job markets in modern American history. The unemployment rate for recent graduates is  approximately 5.6%, and the widening inequality gap between upper- and lower-class Americans is worsening  living conditions for new-grad hires. Research from the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research shows  that students who graduate

Two Black technologists collaborate on a program together. One day, Allison Bland, a media specialist from Princeton University, was driving  through Brooklyn when Google Maps told her to “turn right on Malcolm Ten Boulevard.” It was  a clear error on behalf of the technology, which erroneously interpreted the “X” in the street name as the Roman numeral for ten instead of the street’s actual reference to the African-American revolutionary, Malcolm X. It is a mundane error tha

The McGraw Clocktower at Cornell University . In the dining hall, most Cornellians are not concerned about where their food comes from, let alone if it is safe to eat. However, over the past few years, studies have shown that microplastics, PFAS, heavy metals, and even radioactive compounds have the potential to threaten our food supply. As these contaminants continue to infiltrate American agriculture, it’s clear that federal research funding and policy have not kept pace wi

Traffic congestion continues to plague major cities, including Seattle, as shown above. For years, policymakers have sold  electric vehicles (EVs) as a keystone solution in the battle to combat climate change. EV sales have surged  globally—today, one in every four vehicles sold worldwide is electric. Yet, while EVs are helping  cut tailpipe emissions substantially, they are quietly eroding a key pillar of transportation finance: the gas tax. Numerous states fund  their roads

A photo of a server room inside a data center. Artificial intelligence (AI) companies promise that they are driving us into a new age, but their impact may not be what you think. AI data centers are pushing everyday Americans to the brink and contributing to the ongoing, extreme rise in the cost of living. According to recent polling, 63% of Americans report  that utility bills are adding to their financial stress. For Americans earning  under $50,000, that number jumps up to

An AI-driven robot at a computer, offering a preview of the future workplace. It’s September at Cornell, and that means a few things. Classes are in full swing. Freshmen are crowding the front rows after every club information session. Libe Cafe and Zeus are packed wall-to-wall with students “coffee chatting” in hopes of breaking into their dream clubs. And, most importantly, it’s the season when consulting and finance recruiters descend on Ithaca: hosting events, talking to

A wind turbine farm located in Klickitat County, Washington. Since retaking office in 2025, President Donald Trump has actively worked to...

Plastic straws break  down into smaller plastic particles. Since 1950, global plastic production has increased  by 200 times, resulting...

Urban residents rely on air conditioning units to regulate temperatures. Because of the Urban Heat Island effect (UHI), temperatures in...

Agricultural animal health inspection worker on poultry farm. Bird flu has wiped out  148 million of the U.S. poultry supply since 2022 —...

AI policy in 2025 stands at a crossroads under a Republican administration, balancing innovation and national security with the risks of...

The Canadian and American  Flags In October 2024, the U.S. produced  13.46 million barrels of oil per day—the most in American history....

Imagine a world where airport security was as simple as taking a selfie. As you pass through the checkpoint, a camera quickly snaps a...

When you hear “nuclear,” what image does it invoke? For many, it conjures fears of catastrophic accidents or radioactive waste — but,...