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A single large data center can use as much electricity as 50,000 homes while consuming millions of gallons of water every day to keep its servers cool.

As AI continues to expand, so does the demand for massive data centers. The newest hyperscale facilities built by major technology companies rank among the most energy-intensive structures ever created. Many require their own power substations, new transmission lines, and dedicated access to local water supplies.

Water use is one of the biggest environmental challenges. Many data centers rely on evaporative cooling systems that can withdraw millions of gallons of water each day. In regions already facing water shortages, this can place additional pressure on aquifers and municipal supplies. Much of that water evaporates during the cooling process rather than returning to the local watershed.

The environmental footprint extends beyond water. Building these facilities often requires clearing large areas of land close to electrical infrastructure. Forests and wetlands may be replaced with concrete, reducing natural groundwater recharge while increasing stormwater runoff.

Many tech companies have committed to powering their operations with renewable energy, but experts continue to debate how those emissions are measured and accounted for. Meanwhile, the impacts on land and water remain far more difficult to offset.

None of this suggests that AI or data centers lack value. They power services used by billions of people every day. But their environmental costs are real and deserve attention alongside the benefits.

Behind every AI response is a physical infrastructure that depends on electricity, water, and land. Technology may shape the future—but it will always depend on the natural world to sustain it.

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“Into the Mystic” is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and featured on his 1970 album Moondance. It was also included on Morrison’s 1974 live album, It’s Too Late to Stop Now.

The lyrics are about a spiritual quest, typical of Morrison’s work. “Bass thrums like a boat in motion, and the song comes back to water as a means of magical transformation.”  “At the very end Van sings: too late to stop now, suggesting that the song also describes an act of love.” (This phrase would become a key point of many live concerts.)  Compared to “Yesterday” by The Beatles, it has been described as “another song where the music and the words seem to have been born together, at the same time, to make one perfectly formed, complete artistic element.

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“I Think We’re Alone Now” is a song written and composed by Ritchie Cordell that was first recorded by Tommy James and the Shondells. It was a major hit for the group, reaching number 4 on the US Hot 100 in April 1967. It finished at No. 12 on Billboard magazine’s year-end singles chart for 1967.

The song has been covered several times by other artists, most notably by Tiffany in 1987. The Tiffany recording reached number 1 on the charts of various countries including the US, UK, Canada, and New Zealand. Other cover versions have also charted, including those by the Rubinoos (number 45 US, 1977) and Girls Aloud (number 4 UK, 2006).

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June is National Candy Month. This sweet tooth filler dates back to cavemen who ate honey combs and honey. It can be traced as far back as 1500 BC to the ancient Egyptians who used honey and made candy by adding figs, nuts, dates and spices.

From 1492 to 1930 when more than 60 million Europeans migrated to the American continent, they brought with them their recipes for confections.

The earliest form of sweets was rather simple, often combining boiled sugar, molasses, and honey with added dried fruits. As our 13 original colonies grew and sugar became more accessible, small-scale confectioners began appearing. The first commercially sold candy, “the Gibralter,” was a hard candy sold on the steps of Salem, Massachusetts’s first church. The candy quickly became popular, paving the way for the addition of more commercially made candies.

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Workers dredging the Savannah River expected to find mud, but instead uncovered 19 massive cannons that had been hidden beneath the water since the American Revolutionary War.

Recovered between 2021 and 2022, the weapons each weighed more than 1,000 pounds and had rested on the riverbed for nearly 250 years. Some were still loaded, suggesting they sank with a British ship deliberately scuttled in 1779 to block the advancing French fleet during the Siege of Savannah.

After years of conservation at Texas A&M, 17 restored cannons will go on public display for the first time on July 2, 2026, offering one of the most remarkable Revolutionary War discoveries ever made in Georgia and preserving a forgotten chapter of American history.

Credit: Savannah District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

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The original version of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” was written and recorded by Bob Dylan. It was released in 1973 as part of the soundtrack for the film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

The song was written specifically for a poignant scene in the movie Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, where a mortally wounded frontier sheriff (played by Slim Pickens) lays dying by a river. Characterized by its haunting simplicity, it features just two short verses expressing the regret of a lawman wanting to lay down his badge and guns.

Despite being a relatively simple track, it became one of Dylan’s most celebrated global hits. Over the years, it has been heavily covered by artists like Guns N’ Roses, Eric Clapton, and Randy Crawford.

“Mama, take this badge off of me”  is a dying lawman’s plea to his wife. The “badge” represents his role, duty, and authority as a sheriff. By asking his wife to take it off, he means he is dying, giving up his life of violence, and surrendering his duty because he can no longer fight.

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“From a Distance” is a song by American singer-songwriter Julie Gold, initially penned in 1985.   Gold’s friend Christine Lavin introduced the song to Nanci Griffith, who first recorded it for her 1987 album Lone Star State of Mind. A successful cover version by Bette Midler was released in 1990. Kathy Mattea released a cover of it on her 1991 album Time Passes By.

Julie Gold has stated that she believes in an immanent and beneficent God, and also thinks that people have a right to interpret the song any way they want, as with all art.   She has stated that the song is about the difference between how things appear to be and how they really are.

“From a Distance” became an international commercial success after it was covered by American singer Bette Midler for her seventh studio album, Some People’s Lives (1990). World events at this time gave the song a resonance as an anthem during the Gulf War.  It reached number one on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and number two on both the Cash Box Top 100 and Billboard Hot 100 charts.   The song went on to win a Grammy for Song of the Year (for Julie Gold) in 1991 and a “3 Million Airs Award” from Broadcast Music Incorporated. The song also reached the top 10 in Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand. In the United Kingdom, the song peaked at number six following a re-release in 1991, having originally failed to make the top 40 when released concurrently with Cliff Richard‘s version.

Midler re-recorded a Christmas edition for her 2006 Christmas album, Cool Yule, with additional lyrics by Los Angeles native Jay Landers. Additional recordings of the original have been performed by Gold, Griffith, Simon Nicol (of Fairport Convention) and many others.

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“Mack the Knife” or “The Ballad of Mack the Knife” (German: “Die Moritat von Mackie Messer”) is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their 1928 music drama The Threepenny Opera (German: Die Dreigroschenoper). The song tells of a knife-wielding criminal of the London underworld named Macheath, the “Mack the Knife” of the title.

The song has become a popular standard recorded by many artists after it was recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1955 with translated lyrics by Marc Blitzstein. The most popular version of the song was by Bobby Darin in 1959, whose recording became a number one hit in the US and UK and earned him two Grammys at the 2nd Annual Grammy Awards. Ella Fitzgerald also received a Grammy for her performance of the song in 1961.

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“The Ballad of the Green Berets” is a 1966 patriotic song co-written and performed by Barry Sadler, in the style of a ballad about the United States Army Special Forces. It was one of the few popular songs of the Vietnam War years to cast the military in a positive light.

The song became a major hit in January 1966, reaching number one for five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, and was ranked number one of that chart’s most successful songs of 1966. It was also a crossover hit, reaching number one on Billboard‘s Easy Listening chart and number two on Billboard‘s Country survey. “The Ballad of the Green Berets” was the most commercially successful topical song of the Vietnam War era.