Thermodynamics makes building data centers in space to cool equipment impractical

Data centers require interconnected server- and building-level cooling systems

Computer equipment can be cooled by circulating cold air or water through the equipment racks, siphoning the heated fluid into a heat exchanger. This exchanger transfers thermal energy to building cooling systems, which can dispose of the heat by evaporative cooling—the way humans cool off by sweating—or via air conditioning.

Since 2022, two-thirds of data centers have been built in water-stressed areas

In residential evaporative cooling systems, 10% of consumed water is lost to evaporation compared to 80% in data centers. Although some companies have pledged to become water-positive—replenishing more freshwater than they consume—by 2030 through a transition to air cooling, only 10% of data center operators track water use across all their facilities.

Underwater data centers may provide an alternative to energy-intensive air cooling

By submerging electronic hardware into a non-conductive fluid, such as an oil with strong thermal transfer properties, significant thermal energy can be quickly drawn away from a chip and brought to the surface as warm materials rise. Thermal energy can then be removed from the fluid with a heat exchanger before it is recirculated.

Watch a time-lapse of the construction of a data center

After the external structure of a data center is built, cooling systems are installed, followed by interior offices and other rooms. Before installing racks of servers and other equipment, floors are raised beneath where they will be installed to create space for cold fluid to be pumped into the hardware and to facilitate cable management.

Some materials can absorb low-energy light and emit high-energy radiation

Through anti-Stokes cooling, incoming energy is combined with vibrations in a material's crystal lattice to produce a net reduction in its temperature. Using this effect, lasers can be directed at microchip hot spots to help keep data centers cool.

Research suggests AI data centers may be creating microclimate heat islands

An analysis of satellite data from 2004 to 2024 showed that land surface temperatures in the areas surrounding AI data centers typically increase by an average of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) after they begin running. Across the 6,000 global data centers analyzed by the study, temperatures increased by as much as 9.1 degrees Celsius (16.4 degrees Fahrenheit).

Carbon-neutral data centers may be possible if built within wind turbines

Wind turbine towers are typically hollow, housing only cables and a ladder for maintenance access. The excess electricity a wind turbine collects could power a stack of server racks more than 100 meters (328 feet) high within its tower.

Understanding why the thermosphere feels cold, despite exceeding 2,000 degrees Celsius

High-energy solar radiation can raise temperatures above 2,000 degrees Celsius (3,632 degrees Fahrenheit), but the air density in this layer is so low that there would be insufficient collisions between energized molecules and a person's skin to cause them to experience this warmth. Variations in the level of solar radiation reaching the layer cause it to swell and shrink.

Cryptocurrency and data center growth are expected to increase greenhouse gas emissions

An analysis from the Open Energy Outlook Initiative estimates a 30% increase in emissions through 2030, as growing energy demands in regions where data centers are being built (20%-30%) far exceed the traditional growth rate of utilities in those areas (1%-2%). The emissions spike is expected to equal France's annual carbon output.

Noise from data centers may disrupt wildlife and local residents

Individuals living where local ordinances have allowed data centers to be built next to residential areas have reported that the constant humming and vibrations from cooling systems have prevented them from sleeping and exposed them to chronic noise, which the American Public Health Association says can lead to cardiovascular disease and increased stress.

Everything with a temperature above absolute zero emits light at nearly all wavelengths

Thermal radiation results from random motions of particles that make up an object, which only theoretically cease at 0 Kelvin, or -273.15 degrees Celsius. The greatest intensity of thermal radiation, also known as blackbody radiation, is emitted at a characteristic wavelength corresponding to the object's surface temperature.

IBM Quantum’s dilution refrigerators keep quantum processors colder than space

In IBM’s quantum lab, quantum processors are kept at a temperature of 15 millikelvin using dilution refrigerators. These refrigerators use nested thermal layers, cryogens like liquid nitrogen and helium, and powerful compressors to maintain the ultra-cold temperatures required for qubit stability and performance.

Temperatures colder than Pluto can allow electricity to flow resistance-free

Since its discovery in 1911, applications of superconductivity have made MRI machines and maglev trains possible due to quantum effects at extreme temperatures. These effects are modeled as electrons cooperating in pairs and flowing more efficiently.

Scientists have proposed using lasers to push space trash into Earth's atmosphere

Such projects would allow most debris to burn up and no longer pose a risk to active satellites, telescopes, and astronauts on space stations. Enacting these plans would require substantial investments from private and governmental space agencies and overcoming international laws that prevent the removal of another country's space equipment.

Geothermal power plants can provide large-scale energy storage for other systems

These facilities can store excess energy from solar and wind power as hot water or steam, which can be used to run turbines to generate electricity when other renewable energy sources are unavailable. Simulations have found efficiencies of 90% during a storage-use cycle, making it comparable to lithium-ion batteries.

Deep Space Network sites enable nonstop communication with distant spacecraft

Each DSN complex has multiple large, sensitive antennas that can receive weak radio signals from far-off spacecraft and send commands back to them. Their amplifiers are cooled to just above absolute zero to reduce electronic noise.

The greenhouse effect was discovered by analyzing Earth's temperature

Using mathematical techniques developed to analyze heat transfer, Jean-Baptiste Joseph Fourier showed that Earth should be significantly cooler if solar radiation were the only contributor to its surface temperature. By considering that the atmosphere could amplify the sun's warming effect, he formulated what became known as the greenhouse effect.

The Bomb-proof, Cold War-era New York data center inspiring spy movies

At 33 Thomas Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, a 45-story concrete tower with no windows stands imperiously over the city. Inside, 18 floors of telecommunications technology have hummed for decades. The building's purpose—to protect US comms from nuclear fallout—and its design have played into spy movie plotlines. Dive into the building's curious role in pop culture with this long read.

Astronomical models suggest dark matter must be 'cold,' or slow-moving

Theories for what constitutes dark matter have ranged from slow, planet-sized objects to light subatomic particles that travel at high speeds. However, fast-moving candidates would quickly spread across the universe, preventing the gradual gathering of visible matter into the galaxies and galaxy clusters seen today through gravity.

Explore a gallery of Bill Nye's energy-efficient home

The Southern California home is painted pale yellow and features double-pane, low-emissivity glass windows to help keep temperatures low. Solar panels are used for electricity and hot water, while Solatube domes and ducts illuminate rooms from above throughout the day, even when the sun is low in the sky.

The cloud relies on hardware infrastructure with real-world limits

While unlimited storage providers exist, this does not mean online storage is limitless, as it relies on servers, cables, power, and physical space, all of which are finite. However, the cloud seems infinite because the number of servers and data centers built outpaces demand. Storage solutions are also routinely replaced with more efficient options.

Antimatter engines would have the greatest energy output of all machines

These devices would annihilate matter with antimatter, converting mass into pure energy. A teacup of fuel would release energy equivalent to that of a hydrogen bomb, but stabilizing and storing that much antimatter remains a challenging task. Alternatively, hybrid systems would utilize small amounts of antimatter to initiate nuclear reactions.

Tardigrades have not been shown to survive all space conditions at once

A 2007 mission launched several species into low-Earth orbit, exposing them to microgravity in temperature-controlled modules. Survivability rates were high for microgravity exposure alone, but plummeted when combined with exposure to the full UV spectrum and the vacuum of space.

Tidally locked exoplanets experience extreme atmospheric temperatures

On worlds like WASP 76b, which orbits its host star approximately 3% the Earth-sun distance, temperatures on its day side can vaporize iron. Winds more than 14 times the speed of sound blow this material to its night side, where it condenses and falls as liquid metal.

Hubble's average used power is less than half the power generated by its solar arrays

The space telescope's components use about 2,100 watts, or about as much power as five refrigerators. When exposed to sunlight, the solar arrays can generate over 5,200 watts for the observatory, which was engineered by a team that included Judith Love Cohen, mother of actor Jack Black.

Radioactive elements can introduce software errors because the ionizing radiation they produce can detach electrons from atoms, and computer code relies on the distribution of electrons.

The boiling temperature of water decreases with increasing elevation because the molecules need less energy to overcome the lower atmospheric pressure associated with thinner air.

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

How fusion—which releases energy when two lighter atoms combine to form a heavier atom—differs from fission

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

Planeterrellas create artificial auroras that mimic the atmospheric displays of light by setting up an electric field between two metal balls in a jar filled with a small amount of air.

Hurricanes, which rely on air consistently spinning in the same direction, cannot cross the equator because air curves in opposite directions north and south of it.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

Astronauts have repaired genetic damage in space using CRISPR—a molecular tool that can make precise changes to DNA and is used in single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses.

Dirty lightning is a thunderstorm created from friction between rising and falling flows of ash and smoke during volcanic eruptions.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

Pure water does not conduct electricity because this flow of energy requires the movement of charged particles, and water is a neutral molecule.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Explore what it's like inside a patient isolation unit, used in situations such as treating a patient or suspected patient with Ebola.

Before writing 'Walden,' transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown with a campfire that grew out of control.

Stanford built a Google Maps for the Roman Empire, revealing how much it cost to travel in the ancient world

Studies suggest when you sleep is as important as how much you get, and syncing with your circadian rhythms may lead to less fatigue and improved long-term health outcomes

One disco producer saw 'Star Wars' four times on its opening weekend and was so inspired that he recorded the album 'Star Wars and Other Intergalactic Funk,' which produced a chart-topping single.

Despite being favored by 87% of Americans, Congress does not have term limits.