Justine Calma

How an ‘icepocalypse’ raises more questions about Meta’s biggest data center project “We can’t imagine the changes that are coming.”

Louisiana has built back time and again from storm after storm, but now community members and advocates want assurances that Meta's data center won’t add to the costs
www.theverge.com/science/8765...

In 'El Apagón,' Bad Bunny Tackles Gentrification and Power Outages The Puerto Rican musician balances the pride and anger of Puerto Ricans in his new album, Un Verano Sin Ti .

Those power lines signified a lot in bad bunny’s halftime show, gonna cite the official bad bunny x climate correspondent @angelymercado.bsky.social gizmodo.com/bad-bunny-el...

🚨 CPJ strongly condemns the arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort for their reporting on a protest in Minnesota, arrests which mark a serious escalation of attacks on the press in the United States.

Read more: cpj.org/2026/01/cpj-...

Verge headline: Parenting in ICE-occupied Minneapolis by Scott Meslow Photo illustration depicts a pink silhoutte of a parent holding a child's hand, set against a backdrop of ICE and Border Patrol agents

"School bus drivers should not need special training on what they should do if ICE shows up at a stop. Parents should not need to explain the routine presence of masked agents wearing military fatigues and carrying guns."

Read more from @scottmeslow.bsky.social: www.theverge.com/policy/87072...

It’s a new heyday for gas thanks to data centers The US is now developing more gas power than China. 

It’s a new heyday for gas thanks to data centers

Thanks for sharing!

It’s too early to say how data centers affected power grids during #Fern, with impacts varying by region.

Still - this week’s cold snap is a key stress test as U.S. grids face a shifting energy landscape and a changing climate.

(via @justcalma.bsky.social / @theverge.com)

The winter storm tested power grids straining to accommodate AI data centers Electricity costs spiked.

The winter storm tested power grids straining to accommodate AI data centers

^from @andyjayhawk.bsky.social

The great e-bike crackdown has begun New Jersey just approved a wildly out-of-step new law that restricts all e-bikes, regardless of speed or power capabilities. Will other states follow?

"Forcing someone who owns an e-bike without a throttle that can’t go faster than 20mph to register their bike with the DMV, acquire a license, and buy insurance ... will absolutely harm efforts to encourage more sustainable transportation" -@andyjayhawk.bsky.social
www.theverge.com/column/86621...

I grew up with Alex Pretti The kind-hearted ICU nurse shot by ICE agents was my childhood best friend.

I wrote about my childhood friend Alexi Pretti. Please read it and share it and remember him as a human being. @theverge.com

Verge headline: I grew up with Alex Pretti by Kristen Radtke Photo: An old picture of a boy and a girl at a birthday party

"I didn’t realize, in the hours before his name was released to the public, that the man millions of people had seen lying facedown on the pavement from multiple angles of eyewitness video was my childhood best friend."

Read more from @kristenradtke.bsky.social: www.theverge.com/policy/86856...

Excellent reporting and another reason why I subscribe to @theverge.com

‘Shattered’: US scientists speak out about how Trump policies disrupted their careers Researchers lay bare the human toll of lay-offs, funding cuts and attacks on science one year after the president’s return to the White House.

“The speed, the scope and the severity of the attacks on science are beyond anything we’ve ever seen,” says @gretchentg.bsky.social.

My @nature.com story on the human toll of the 2nd Trump presidency.

Thx to @dochfroehlich.bsky.social, @briannosek.bsky.social, @katharinehayhoe.com & others.

Today, Friday, January 16, 2026, the Vox Media Union received news from management about more layoffs at the company: three in-unit workers from PopSugar, two from The Verge, and three from Eater — not including a number of out-of-unit employees — some of whom were on parental and other types of company-approved leave. Beyond this, the company announced that it will no longer have a centralized Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI+) team, redistributing that work across the People team and leadership, and keeping Employee Resource Groups as simply Slack spaces without formal lead roles or any standalone budgets. There is almost no further room to be shocked at these developments, as the company has laid off workers at an average of once per quarter in the last year, but we continue to be disgusted by the fact that leadership seems to have developed no real learning or commitment to workforce sustainability and retention. Those at the top remain safe in their positions while mercilessly cutting off those who work day in and day out (and then some) to make sure that essential, business-critical work is done. Our indispensable colleagues are now in extra vulnerable positions, having to navigate workplace bureaucracy alongside a volatile job market and relentless threats to the integrity of journalism as a whole. This union is proud to have rallied in multiple rounds of contract bargaining to ensure more equitable worker rights and protections in the face of management incompetence. As always, we, along with our Guild reps, will continue to demand that members are treated fairly in the aftermath of layoffs. Details on how you can support laid-off workers at Vox Media will be forthcoming. Please follow the Vox Media Union on Instagram (@voxmediaunion) and Bluesky (@voxunion.bsky.social). Solidarity forever. The Vox Media Union Committees Writers Guild of America East, AFL-CIO

Another year, another round of layoffs at Vox Media. In solidarity with our laid-off colleagues, here is our full statement:

Verge headline: How to fireproof a city by Justine Calma Photo shows an aerial view of two neighboring towns divided by a road. The right side has houses full of green grass and trees, the left side is more stripped down, full of dirt yards as part of fireproofing

Wildfires are becoming too big a threat for any single homeowner, neighborhood, or even firefighting squad to just play defense. The fight is now collective and starts from the ground up, when homes are built.

Read more from @justcalma.bsky.social: www.theverge.com/features/861...

RFK Jr.’s new food pyramid could be a disaster for the environment — if Americans actually pay any attention to it Beef tallow is making a comeback, along with carbon emissions.

RFK Jr.’s new food pyramid could be a disaster for the environment — if Americans actually pay any attention to it

America’s new era of energy imperialism is about more than oil “Make the resources in your country available to us on our terms or you are subject to invasion.”

"Trump wants Venezuela’s oil, Greenland’s minerals, and above all — control." Uprooter @justcalma.bsky.social for @theverge.com

www.theverge.com/report/85797...

America’s new era of energy imperialism is about more than oil “Make the resources in your country available to us on our terms or you are subject to invasion.”

even if you’re not directly in Trump’s crosshairs, people around the world will grapple with the political and environmental ripple effects of whatever global game of chicken he plays next.
www.theverge.com/report/85797...

NASA’s Largest Library Is Closing Amid Staff and Lab Cuts

Gift link 🧪🔭

Verge headline: The women who made America's microchips and the children who paid for it by Justine Calma Photo depicts a darkened doorway leading into a partial view of a man sitting on a bed

The US wants to bring back domestic chipmaking. But America’s first generation of Silicon Valley factory workers endured unsafe manufacturing conditions and never got answers about kids born with birth defects.

Read more from @justcalma.bsky.social: www.theverge.com/features/611...

Verge Headline: Communities are rising up against data centers -- and winning by Justine Calma 2025 Year in Review Photo illustration of a series of servers

Grassroots groups, voters, and local lawmakers have managed to block or stall tens of billions of dollars’ worth of potential investment in proposed data centers. And they’re not letting up.

This report from @justcalma.bsky.social is free to read for today only: www.theverge.com/science/8411...

Don’t expect Trump Media’s nuclear fusion power plant to generate electricity soon Scientists have been chasing the ‘Holy Grail’ of clean energy for decades.

One more unexpected story for a ridiculous year
www.theverge.com/report/84820...

Communities are rising up against data centers — and winning Opposition against data centers came to a head in 2025.

Communities are rising up against data centers — and winning

Next-generation nuclear reactors could get a boost from the National Defense Authorization Act   Congress passed energy provisions in the annual defense bill that could help spur the development of advanced nuclear reactors.

Next-generation nuclear reactors could get a boost from the National Defense Authorization Act

AI’s water and electricity use soars in 2025 It’s guzzling up even more water than expected.

looks like AI could already be using more water than researchers expected it to in 2027 www.theverge.com/news/845831/...

Democratic lawmakers are investigating data centers’ impact on electricity costs  They expect answers by January.

Democratic lawmakers are investigating data centers’ impact on electricity costs

Billionaires want data centers everywhere, including space Guess what scientists think?

What could go wrong www.theverge.com/ai-artificia... via @elissawelle.bsky.social

Racks of AI chips are too damn heavy Too great a weight.

Why can't we just upgrade old data centers instead of building new ones? The latest AI tech is getting too damn heavy www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

The ‘mad rush’ to install solar panels before tax credits run out There will be winners and losers.

Killer @justcalma.bsky.social piece on the mad scramble solar installers are facing to get systems installed before the end of the year… and the deep uncertainty about what comes next. (Inside baseball: got this story idea from the installers at my house last week!) www.theverge.com/science/8448...