Artificial intelligence is now capable of writing entire books that are coherent, but it takes tremendous amounts of water and energy to make the billions of calculations even basic queries can require. Shaolei Ren, Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UC Riverside joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to discuss concerns about resource-intensive AI systems and possibilities for improvement.

Crows are social creatures that can gather by the thousands in night roosts. BirdNote®’s Ashley Ahearn reports that these gatherings may provide benefits like warmth, protection from predators, and a chance to find a mate.

California is suing ExxonMobil over the oil giant’s alleged “campaign of deception” to convince the public that recycling is a viable solution for plastic waste, when less than 10% of plastics are recycled. Pat Parenteau, emeritus professor at Vermont Law and Graduate School, joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to discuss the lawsuit and the plastic waste crisis.

For students and scientists who are transgender or gender nonconforming, field research can bring unique challenges and risks. Dr. Ezra Kottler, a conservation scientist and founder of the Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Field Alliance, joins Host Jenni Doering to describe how institutions can help ensure field research settings are safer and more inclusive of trans people.

To meet the energy needs of artificial intelligence Microsoft has inked a major power purchase deal with the owners of Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. A nuclear power reactor there underwent a partial meltdown in 1979. Its unaffected twin reactor operated until 2019 and would provide a carbon-free source of power. Evan Halper reports on the energy transition at the Washington Post and joins Host Jenni Doering to explain the hurdles of getting the shuttered nuclear power plant back online.

One of the smallest and most agile migrating birds is the tree swallow. Living on Earth’s Explorer in Residence Mark Seth Lender marvels at how these little fliers gather in huge airborne displays as they prepare for the fall migration.

The Brazilian flea toad is only about a quarter of an inch long, making it the smallest vertebrate known to Western science. Its feet are so small that they have just two toes as opposed to the usual five on larger frogs and toads, Living on Earth’s Don Lyman reports in this note on emerging science.