The two-year-long experiment suggests that the data centers of the future might be aquatic. Two years ago, Microsoft packed more than 800 computer servers into a tube the size of a shipping container — and then sank it to the bottom of the North Sea. The company’s goal? See whether an underwater data center could overcome the limitations of its terrestrial counterparts. Microsoft has now retrieved its sunken data —…
Croatia is preparing its first subsidy program for heat pumps that use seawater for heating and cooling. Professor Neven Duić says the technology could be used throughout the Adriatic coast and for buildings near rivers and lakes. The Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds will issue a public call by the end of the month for using sea temperature to provide heating and cooling, Jutarnji.hr reported. It is the…
The ferries that once shuttled tourists to and from the little islets in Iran's Lake Urmia sit rusty, unable to move, on what is rapidly becoming a salt plain. Just two decades ago, Urmia was the Middle East's biggest lake, its local economy a thriving tourist center of hotels and restaurants. "People would come here for swimming and would use the mud for therapeutic purposes. They would stay here at…
A material found in the wood of our plants is being trialled as a way to produce sustainable battery power. Finnish designers Stora Enso have built a new production facility costing €10 million that will create renewable bio-based carbon by turning trees into batteries. This will be achieved by the use of a wood-based material called lignin. The plant is based beside the company’s Sunila Mill in Kotka, southern Finland,…
A shutdown would have devastating global impacts and must not be allowed to happen, researchers say Climate scientists have detected warning signs of the collapse of the Gulf Stream, one of the planet’s main potential tipping points. The research found “an almost complete loss of stability over the last century” of the currents that researchers call the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). The currents are already at their slowest point…
A new study tracking the planet’s vital signs has found that many of the key indicators of the global climate crisis are getting worse and either approaching or exceeding, key tipping points as the earth heats up. Overall, the study found some 16 out of 31 tracked planetary vital signs, including greenhouse gas concentrations, ocean heat content and ice mass, set worrying new records. “There is growing evidence we are…
