Exploring the environmental impacts of data storage centers. This story was originally published on Banana Leaf.

Think Back to the Future. Tomorrowland. Meet the Robinsons. When we picture an ideal future, or when we see it on screen, a couple of hallmarks are always the same. One, it’s crisp and clean; the roads are sparkling, cities are structured and organized, and the air is fresh and breathable. Two, cognizant technology is rampant, and primarily facilitating societies operations. You know, flying cars, closets that know what you want to wear, subway systems zipping through the sky, that whole shabang.

With the…

The accompanying R code can be viewed at https://github.com/malikamohan01/significant-police-factors-r/blob/main/codeappendix.

Over the past months, we have seen a significant racial justice reckoning happening across the country since the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in May 2020. This incident sparked a redirection of attention to similar lives that had been lost at the hands of officers, leading to calls for re-evaluation of the role and power that police hold. Activist groups, celebrities, politicians, and ordinary citizens alike have signed petitions, contacted local policymakers and started trending movements (#defundthepolice, #acab etc.) …

I rolled over, hit the alarm, picked up my phone from under the pillow and through barely-open eyes, navigated my way to the Instagram app. Instead of the colorful infographics and resource lists that had made up the majority of my feed over the last couple days, however, I was met with a sea of blackness.

As you’ve probably heard of by now, this sea’s name was #blackouttuesday.

The #blackouttuesday movement was initially started by Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang, two black women in the music industry. They started the hashtag #TheShowMustBePaused in order to “hold the industry at large…

To fellow students preparing themselves to graduate in the coming months,

I know this letter will not speak to everyone, and will not encapsulate all college seniors emotions towards the current situation. And trust me, I know and you know, that in the grand scheme of things having our college experience abruptly cut short pales in comparison to the larger consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

That being said, to those of us who are going through similar emotions, we are still entitled to feel sad. Upset. Frustrated. Powerless. These last few months of college were what many of us had…