journalist in sf / ex-Wired climate / find me in NYT, Quanta, MIT Tech Review etc. / teach at UC Berkeley / gregory_barber@proton.mehttps://bsky.app/profile/gregbarber.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/gregbarber.bsky.social/post/3mk3yvvtswc2lThanks to @umwallacehouse.bsky.social for naming my @technologyreview.com investigation into Big Tech's eucalyptus plantations a Livingston Award finalist. A few updates on the reporting: https://wallacehouse.umich.edu/livingston-awards/finalists/22 Apr 2026 17:18 +0000at://did:plc:sabxmugjgomk3luitrdty5ip/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk3yvvtswc2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/gregbarber.bsky.social/post/3lnl2htk7tc2rMore than a year ago, when Apple announced a “carbon neutral” Watch, I got interested in one aspect of their claim: eucalyptus. Here’s how the tree became the tool of choice for companies looking to scale up carbon removal fast—and what that looks like. https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/04/24/1115751/apple-carbon-neutral-eucalyptus-tree-farm-brazil/24 Apr 2025 15:45 +0000at://did:plc:sabxmugjgomk3luitrdty5ip/app.bsky.feed.post/3lnl2htk7tc2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/gregbarber.bsky.social/post/3lg5ofxnwnc23Sad to see Moss Landing’s big battery go up in flames yet again. Grid fires are rare (and getting rarer) but the science of how to put them out when they do happen is…not great! And there’s v little public data on HF and heavy metal emissions. Some (old) context: https://www.wired.com/story/big-grid-batteries-are-booming-so-are-fears-fire/20 Jan 2025 06:08 +0000at://did:plc:sabxmugjgomk3luitrdty5ip/app.bsky.feed.post/3lg5ofxnwnc23https://bsky.app/profile/gregbarber.bsky.social/post/3lbufafwu5k25Wrote about tying some cool shapes into some other cool shapes, for @quantamagazine.bsky.social https://www.quantamagazine.org/teen-mathematicians-tie-knots-through-a-mind-blowing-fractal-20241126/26 Nov 2024 15:49 +0000at://did:plc:sabxmugjgomk3luitrdty5ip/app.bsky.feed.post/3lbufafwu5k25https://bsky.app/profile/gregbarber.bsky.social/post/3kz7rxzqol62dWrote about the unique pleasures of the radio play-by-play in @nytimes.com. Will be out in this Sunday’s magazine. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/06/magazine/radio-baseball-mets.html08 Aug 2024 15:50 +0000at://did:plc:sabxmugjgomk3luitrdty5ip/app.bsky.feed.post/3kz7rxzqol62dhttps://bsky.app/profile/gregbarber.bsky.social/post/3kpper554ui23Asked myself the same question energy geeks have been asking for a more than a century: why isn’t Hawaii, a volcanic island chain, a geothermal powerhouse? Turns out state officials are asking the same thing—and trying to change it. [contains quote post or other embedded content]09 Apr 2024 14:24 +0000at://did:plc:sabxmugjgomk3luitrdty5ip/app.bsky.feed.post/3kpper554ui23