<![CDATA[I had incredibly dark dreams and did not sleep well, so many people I know have cancer, a fucking AI data center just got approved right near me, and one of the baby goat litters is not doing well.]]>I had incredibly dark dreams and did not sleep well, so many people I know have cancer, a fucking AI data center just got approved right near me, and one of the baby goat litters is not doing well. Today is hard.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/topic/bb909050-ba14-4de4-889e-8e54a3e7f87d/i-had-incredibly-dark-dreams-and-did-not-sleep-well-so-many-people-i-know-have-cancer-a-fucking-ai-data-center-just-got-approved-right-near-me-and-one-of-the-baby-goat-litters-is-not-doing-well.RSS for NodeThu, 14 May 2026 01:47:07 GMTFri, 24 Apr 2026 15:02:29 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to I had incredibly dark dreams and did not sleep well, so many people I know have cancer, a fucking AI data center just got approved right near me, and one of the baby goat litters is not doing well. on Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:20:48 GMT]]>@sundogplanets Here in Oregon: "Google built its first data center in The Dalles in 2006. In 2012, the tech giant used 12% of The Dalles water supply. By 2024, a third of The Dalles’ water went to Google’s three local data center sites."

More context and data here: https://www.opb.org/article/2026/01/15/as-googles-water-demands-grow-the-dalles-aims-to-pull-more-from-mount-hood-forest/

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sunny.garden/users/handmade_ghost/statuses/116460358734189453https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sunny.garden/users/handmade_ghost/statuses/116460358734189453Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:20:48 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I had incredibly dark dreams and did not sleep well, so many people I know have cancer, a fucking AI data center just got approved right near me, and one of the baby goat litters is not doing well. on Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:16:23 GMT]]>@sundogplanets Rhetorically it’s interesting to start with the ground-based issues, as on-orbit proponents would presumably argue that they solve many of those problems (power, CO2, water).

Of course, they’re disastrous for other reasons…

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://cosocial.ca/ap/users/116274777763908831/statuses/116460341434456035https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://cosocial.ca/ap/users/116274777763908831/statuses/116460341434456035Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:16:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I had incredibly dark dreams and did not sleep well, so many people I know have cancer, a fucking AI data center just got approved right near me, and one of the baby goat litters is not doing well. on Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:16:01 GMT]]>@mayintoronto @sundogplanets Not to mention that hardware gets outdated, machines get entirely replaced fairly regularly.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.coop/users/cwebber/statuses/116460339977215137https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.coop/users/cwebber/statuses/116460339977215137Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:16:01 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I had incredibly dark dreams and did not sleep well, so many people I know have cancer, a fucking AI data center just got approved right near me, and one of the baby goat litters is not doing well. on Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:15:04 GMT]]>@mayintoronto @sundogplanets They also make a constant humming/whirring noise https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/communities-are-raising-noise-pollution-concernsabout-data-centers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JflFFqbZ1X8

And there's a lot more you can find about the hardware side. I started my career by working in the first megadatacenters. I can tell you also that investment in hardware is not one-time. We don't think of it this way, but computers wear down the same way cars or anything else do, and these machines are being pushed to their limits, and the amount of e-waste for churning through parts is huge.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.coop/users/cwebber/statuses/116460336206239131https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.coop/users/cwebber/statuses/116460336206239131Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:15:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I had incredibly dark dreams and did not sleep well, so many people I know have cancer, a fucking AI data center just got approved right near me, and one of the baby goat litters is not doing well. on Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:13:33 GMT]]>@sundogplanets https://restofworld.org/2026/global-ewaste-crisis/

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://waag.social/users/marleenstikker/statuses/116460330258656391https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://waag.social/users/marleenstikker/statuses/116460330258656391Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:13:33 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I had incredibly dark dreams and did not sleep well, so many people I know have cancer, a fucking AI data center just got approved right near me, and one of the baby goat litters is not doing well. on Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:11:03 GMT]]>@sundogplanets AI data centres create localized heat islands, with temperatures going up by several degrees.
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2603.20897

News article: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/ai-data-centers-significantly-heat-121626690.html

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://beige.party/users/mayintoronto/statuses/116460320444441865https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://beige.party/users/mayintoronto/statuses/116460320444441865Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:11:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I had incredibly dark dreams and did not sleep well, so many people I know have cancer, a fucking AI data center just got approved right near me, and one of the baby goat litters is not doing well. on Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:10:57 GMT]]>@sundogplanets ERCOT is (politely and wonkishly) ringing alarm bells in Texas. https://www.ercot.com/news/release/04152026-ercot-releases-preliminary

This graph is ludicrous. It shows the requests for power to all providers in ERCOT - the growth in the right bars is driven almost entirely by datacenters (particularly in DFW).

Yes, they're requesting Texas *triple* its power generation over the next six years.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/users/grajohnt/statuses/116460320025928556https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/users/grajohnt/statuses/116460320025928556Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:10:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I had incredibly dark dreams and did not sleep well, so many people I know have cancer, a fucking AI data center just got approved right near me, and one of the baby goat litters is not doing well. on Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:07:56 GMT]]>@sundogplanets

Oh god I'm sorry.

You work so hard and do so much. The world could cut you some fucking slack already.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mas.to/users/stevegis_ssg/statuses/116460308181356508https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mas.to/users/stevegis_ssg/statuses/116460308181356508Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:07:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I had incredibly dark dreams and did not sleep well, so many people I know have cancer, a fucking AI data center just got approved right near me, and one of the baby goat litters is not doing well. on Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:07:37 GMT]]>@sundogplanets hope things improve!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/john380/statuses/116460306941785064https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/john380/statuses/116460306941785064Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:07:37 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I had incredibly dark dreams and did not sleep well, so many people I know have cancer, a fucking AI data center just got approved right near me, and one of the baby goat litters is not doing well. on Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:05:36 GMT]]>@sundogplanets I started off hoping you were describing your dreams, but then I realized you had bad dreams AND all those other things are happening. I'm sorry.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://partychickens.net/users/mason/statuses/116460298995755053https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://partychickens.net/users/mason/statuses/116460298995755053Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:05:36 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I had incredibly dark dreams and did not sleep well, so many people I know have cancer, a fucking AI data center just got approved right near me, and one of the baby goat litters is not doing well. on Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:04:32 GMT]]>A couple of these things I can do nothing about. Some I can.

One I need help with from you: in a few days I'm giving a talk on the environmental consequences of AI data centres (with a focus on orbit, but starting with ground-based).

So, fediverse! Please send me your favourite statistic (with citation please) on exactly how bad AI data centres are for the environment. I'm looking for: comparisons on CO2 emissions per centre, water usage per slop-video made, stuff like that.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/sundogplanets/statuses/116460294820687486https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/sundogplanets/statuses/116460294820687486Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:04:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I had incredibly dark dreams and did not sleep well, so many people I know have cancer, a fucking AI data center just got approved right near me, and one of the baby goat litters is not doing well. on Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:04:11 GMT]]>@sundogplanets Sending you good thoughts and energy. 💚

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sueden.social/users/dgrammlich/statuses/116460293429208753https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sueden.social/users/dgrammlich/statuses/116460293429208753Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:04:11 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I had incredibly dark dreams and did not sleep well, so many people I know have cancer, a fucking AI data center just got approved right near me, and one of the baby goat litters is not doing well. on Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:03:31 GMT]]>@sundogplanets I hear you, I hear you

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://23.social/users/Tom_ofB/statuses/116460290808992690https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://23.social/users/Tom_ofB/statuses/116460290808992690Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:03:31 GMT