“We can’t just be right, we need to be effective” is a mantra we encourage everyone to repeat to themselves in the mirror every morning. And when it comes to climate mitigation, that may mean that the most effective and politically viable policies are on the demand side (make clean energy cheaper) rather than the supply-side (stop producing fossil fuels) (The Climate Brink)

🌎 Data centers operate most efficiently in cool climates. Despite that, countries with hot (and getting hotter! In case you needed that reminder) climates all over the world are investing millions into building them. The good news is this is helping to drive innovation to make cooling data centers more efficient and use less water (Rest of World)

Though the federal government is taking whatever the opposite of climate action is, progress is still possible — and impactful — at other levels of government, proven by organizations like Climate Cabinet that support pro-climate candidates and have a staggering win rate (The Guardian)

🌎 Argentina has made huge progress on clean energy over the past decade, overcoming financial challenges that cause many countries to be considered uninvestable by big banks (Bloomberg)

Researchers have mapped US carbon pollution with unprecedented precision, helping direct solutions where they’re needed most. We love maps! We love data! (Gizmodo)

To put it mildly, health institutions need to catch up with the times. And that includes a new initiative called Project Stethoscope to modernize public health communication with a two-way system that rebuilds institutional trust rather than a top-down approach (Your Local Epidemiologist)

Speaking of modern health care, telehealth services are being cut, despite remaining essential for people with Long COVID and disabilities facing physical barriers to in person care (The Sick Times)

🌍 Fast-fashion brands like Shein and Temu have had toxic chemicals like phthalates, lead, and formaldehyde repeatedly found in their clothing at levels exceeding EU safety limits, but regulatory loopholes and weak enforcement allows these garments to continue to reach the market (anxiety.eco)

Vaccines for older adults have many “off-target” benefits beyond preventing their targeted diseases, including reduced dementia risk, cardiovascular events, and Long COVID (The New York Times)

A recent study has identified how an Epstein-Barr virus infection triggers lupus by affecting specific immune cells, raising hope for an EBV vaccine to prevent the autoimmune disease despite current anti-vaccine policies and sentiments (Undark)

San Francisco sued major food companies like Kraft Heinz, Nestle, and PepsiCo, alleging they copied Big Tobacco’s tactics by engineering addictive processed foods and concealing health risks (The Atlantic)

Though some claims about AI data centers’ water consumption have been exaggerated, water use is still a legitimate, location-dependent concern with facilities in drought-stressed regions posing real risks to local water supplies (Undark)

🌎 And these drought-stressed regions? They’re all over the place: Australia is looking at desalination (Bloomberg), agricultural giants in Arizona have agreed to pay residents whose wells are dry (LA Times), and in Uruguay a prolonged rainfall deficit is leading to a water crisis (Noticias Ambientales)

It’s 2026 and the US still hasn’t passed a Farm Bill, but lawmakers have introduced at least 10 “marker bills” covering priorities from farm credit access and PFAS contamination to organic agriculture and, as always, SNAP funding (Civil Eats)

Related, food insecurity among early childhood educators surged to 58% in 2024, as these low-paid child care workers struggle to afford groceries while they must also feed the children in their programs (The 19th)

We are now in an era of ChatGPT Health, which allows US users to connect medical records and wellness data for personalized health advice…but before you do that, consider AI hallucinations, privacy concerns, and potential mental health harms (Rest of World)

🌎 Governments worldwide are rapidly deploying AI chatbots in schools to “revolutionize education” despite concerns that the tools will diminish critical thinking, enable cheating, and erode learning (The New York Times)

Mongabay has found that allowing AI chatbots access to its content has actually increased engagement, and that chatbot users spend more time reading articles, suggesting that AI’s limitations in verification and accountability are making original journalism more valuable (Mongabay)

All the hype around generative AI is distracting from predictive AI’s more significant breakthroughs, like medical diagnosis, weather prediction, and safety systems that are more accurate, energy-efficient, and life-saving than flashy chatbots (MIT Technology Review)

High-income earners like programmers, engineers, and professionals in the 80th-90th percentiles face the greatest AI displacement risk, with AI already capable of performing half their work today, while low-income manual labor jobs remain safest (Distilled)