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  • Urbana-Champaign team seeks new data center cooling solution underground

    Jul 6, 2026 4:00 pm
    An operational schematic of an aquifer thermal energy storage system illustrating operations in the summer, left, and winter, right. Credit: Graphic courtesy Upasana Pandey.

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    • An operational schematic of an aquifer thermal energy storage system illustrating operations in the summer, left, and winter, right. Credit: Graphic courtesy Upasana Pandey.

    Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign say underground aquifers could offer an unexpected solution to one of artificial intelligence’s fastest-growing environmental challenges: cooling the massive data centers that power the technology.