Aaron Siegle

Writing in a time of robots

Information is power. Who gets to distribute information and how has shaped the course of history. After Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1439, he was sued by one of his investors over unpaid loans. The lawsuit broke Gutenberg’s monopoly on the machine, allowing the printing press to spread across Europe and gave rise to improved literacy rates and the scientific revolution. 

Pelleted by pollution: Why wood biomass is a false solution to the climate crisis

Despite the hype around biomass as a "nature-based solution" to climate change, the biomass industry is defined by its rising emissions and the pollution it adds to disadvantaged communities.

The tragedy of the tragedy

A good share of my classes this semester has begun the same way — with what is now known by the students in my program as "the graph of death." The graph is deathly for both its implications and the outrageous number of times it has appeared before my eyes from lectures and guest speakers. 

Our computing conundrum

Around the clock, we are constantly generating data. From smart watches tracking our sleep to the social media algorithms tailoring our digital experience, almost every action we take creates new electronic data, whether we realize it or not.

The things we can’t electrify

By integrating electrification with broader energy-efficiency efforts and tailoring decarbonization for a diversity of scenarios, only then can we achieve our climate goals.

Embracing polyhedronism

But instead of appreciating the humanity of those around us, we too often act like the devices that we are always on — computers.

Failure is the only option

If failure is both cataclysmic and ubiquitous, then how can any gains ever be realized?

The tyranny of time

Real change occurs over timescales that are beyond our attention span.

Ordering destruction

Let’s remind Duke that the best form of waste diversion is avoiding single-use disposables altogether.

The quiet crisis is upon us

While responding to climate change should still be of utmost concern, a net-zero future is not enough to restore ecological balance to our planet.

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