Anthropocene Magazine

Anthropocene is a magazine available in digital, print, and live formats that brings together some of the most imaginative writers, designers, scientists, and entrepreneurs. They delve into ideas on how we can build a sustainable future that we all aspire to inhabit.

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Not all AI prompts are equal. Some emit 50x more carbon

3 days ago | anthropocenemagazine.org | Sarah DeWeerdt

Some AI prompts result in 50 times more carbon emissions than others, according to a new study. The findings suggest that large language models (LLMs)—the technology behind advanced chatbots and ChatGPT—face a tradeoff between sustainability and accuracy when answering questions or responding to prompts from human users. Generative AI models, a category that includes LLMs, consume an estimated 29.3 terawatt hours of electricity every year, roughly equivalent to Ireland’s annual energy consumption.
From crop waste to clothing: new research takes a first step

1 week ago | anthropocenemagazine.org | Emma Bryce

One group of researchers have chanced upon a creative solution for agricultural waste: turning it into fabric. In a new study, they explain that agricultural waste streams can produce a promising pulp that can be transformed into clothes, whilst simultaneously reducing dependence on water-intensive cotton, and wood fiber, which is in high demand for other uses. The new study was based in Sweden, where almost one-third of the agricultural area is devoted to cereal crops like oats and wheat.
This paint sweats to cool off buildings. No energy required.

1 week ago | anthropocenemagazine.org | Emma Bryce |Warren Cornwall

Ultra-bright white paints are the go-to when it comes to cooling buildings. Those paints work by reflecting as much of the sun as they can. An international team of researchers have now made a cement-based cooling paint that bests those white cooling paints. The new paint reflects sunrays and emits heat as infrared radiation, which passes through the atmosphere straight into space in a phenomenon called passive radiative cooling.
Do solar farms make good neighbors? New study challenges NIMBY assumptions.

1 week ago | anthropocenemagazine.org | Sarah DeWeerdt

The majority of people living near large solar plants wouldn’t mind if another one were built nearby, an analysis of U.S. survey data suggests. The findings challenge conventional wisdom that renewable energy inspires NIMBY-ism (that is, people think it’s a good idea in theory, but don’t want to live near wind or solar farms themselves).
Where marine biodiversity thrives, less fish feeds more people

2 weeks ago | anthropocenemagazine.org | Emma Bryce

Protecting fish biodiversity is a win-win solution for human nutrition and sustainable fisheries, finds a new study. The research, published in Nature Sustainability, unearthed some interesting findings including that biodiverse fisheries tend to contain smaller, more nutrient-dense fish that are also more resilient to fishing pressures and climate change.
Affordable CO2 capture: How common clay could revolutionize the industry

2 weeks ago | anthropocenemagazine.org | Sarah DeWeerdt |Emma Bryce

Large-scale facilities that capture carbon dioxide from the air are already operating around the world. But the high-tech materials they use are expensive. Researchers have now found that clay, one of the most abundant materials on Earth, could be a much simpler, cheaper way to for direct air capture of carbon dioxide. The results appear in The Journal of Physical Chemistry C.
The rise of the Anthropocene can be tracked in hummingbirds' beaks

2 weeks ago | anthropocenemagazine.org | Warren Cornwall

Discoveries about evolution have long been intertwined with bird beaks. The huge variety of beak shapes among finches in the Galapagos Islands became emblematic of Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection. The beaks had evolved over time to better suit the food available on particular islands. In the same way, the beak of Anna’s hummingbird – Calypte anna – might become a symbol of evolution during the Anthropocene.
Survival of the greenest: Older companies are surprisingly more sustainable than younger ones

2 weeks ago | anthropocenemagazine.org | Sarah DeWeerdt

Older companies are more environmentally sustainable than younger ones, according to a new analysis. The findings upend popular assumptions of old organizations as hidebound and incapable of change, and younger ones as having a “greenness” native to their era of environmental concern. “Lasting organizations have learned to adapt, again and again, across changing environments, including those in the natural world.
Scientists challenge the idea that we should leave forests untouched to maximize climate benefits

3 weeks ago | anthropocenemagazine.org | Emma Bryce

It might seem counterintuitive, but farming directly in forests can deliver wins for biodiversity, people, and climate change. That is the argument researchers make in a new comment piece about agroforestry methods, published in Nature Climate Change. Agroforestry is a broad term that describes the practice of integrating crops with trees, and it falls into two main categories. In one case, trees are planted in open agricultural fields.
AI just found the best ingredients for green concrete

3 weeks ago | anthropocenemagazine.org | Sarah DeWeerdt |Emma Bryce |Warren Cornwall

We use around 30 billion tonnes of concrete every year. That gigantic number bears an equally gigantic carbon footprint. Producing cement, the glue that holds concrete together, is responsible for more than 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions. So a team of engineers at MIT put artificial intelligence to the task of finding cement alternatives in order to reduce the cost and emissions of concrete.