Day of Fur Gale, 52nd of Midsommar, 526 M.E. (Helios): After missing my alternating day walks twice in a row, I finally got in a 7.6-mile Jackson according to my phone, or an 8-mile Van Buren according to the mileposts. It was 84° and quite humid, but sometimes it's good to sweat it out a little.

While I walked, I listened to a podcast about the CIA's MK Ultra experiments of the 1950s. Sick fucking bastards.

According to a survey published today by the global advisory firm Milltown Partners, only 8% of Americans who say they oppose data centers actually live near one. Tech companies will probably spin that survey to suggest that the other 92% don't really have "legitimate" concerns, that only those who live adjacent to a planned data center should be able to express their concerns about construction proposals. 

But data centers can drive up the cost of energy for everyone served by the host utility, and consume ungodly amounts of cooling water. However, Nvidia claims their latest chips recirculate a mixture of water and propylene glycol, similar to antifreeze, and therefore use less water. They reportedly can run at temperatures up to 113°.

Nvidia claims that with their new chip, the data-center water consumption problem is now largely solved. That remains to be seen, with questions of cost and reliability yet to be addressed. Also, I've done environmental restoration projects at enough former Air Force bases to know the potential for ethylene and propylene glycol contamination of groundwater. We may be merely substituting problems of water scarcity for problems of water pollution. 

Millions of chips all across America containing propylene glycol - what could possibly go wrong?

Finally, speaking of AI, since I have no idea what a "fur gale" is, my prompt for the picture above was "Queen of the North."