Hydropower has long been heralded as “clean,” “green” energy. Yet living in Akwesasne, just a few kilometers away from the Moses-Saunders Power Dam, it seems that almost every one of its approximately 13,000 residents is either sick or has a family member that is sick. And every indication suggests a link to the power dam. How…
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RCS group to co-host Indigenous Computing event April 28th, 1:30 – 4:30 pm, Gates Hall + Zoom! This series of talks explores the intersections of Indigenous world-views and computational technologies. We reflect on ways in which AI systems, quantitative analysis and computing philosophies have and can become culturally supportive instruments embedded in practices of Native…
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Editorial Note: Post originally written April 26, 2022. On June 30th, 2022, NYS DEC made the decision to deny Greenidge’s Title V Air Permit. Greenidge has 30 days to request an “administrative adjudicatory hearing” about the application denial. We are sitting at a six month decision delay. New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation still has…
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Greenidge Generation LLC is one example of a decommissioned industrial plant that has been revitalized into one of the largest cryptocurrency mines in the country. Bitcoin mining facilities devote huge quantities of computational power to solving cryptographic problems, resulting in insane energy grid demands. Old power plants in industrial regions (like those found in New…
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The Foul Play of Political Geometry in Texas Over the past year, I have been working alongside Texans Against Gerrymandering to understand how data science tools could help streamline their efforts in generating public awareness for fair redistricting and political mapping practices in the state of Texas. This blog is essentially a contextual dump of…
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