Design
New York City makes plans to become “spongier”
Cities evolve. They expand to accommodate growing populations. They alter their infrastructure for new technologies, such as automobiles and trolleys. Today, we even see cities like London, Paris, and Berlin moving traffic away from their city centers, and some are making changes to become sponge Read More...
Researchers use new AI to advance solar cell manufacturing
Solar energy is becoming more affordable and easier to produce every day. As the market grows, so too is the field of research. Solar scientists have been working with perovskites, a family of mineral and ceramic materials that are a top contender to replace silicon as the next level up in Read More...
This MIT team designed a desert shelter for humans and animals
We have often written about animal agencies at The Optimist Daily and sharing our space on the planet with our furry or winged neighbors. It’s important to recognize the rights of nature and cohabitate with animals as peacefully as possible, but a design team from MIT just took it to the next Read More...
The James Dyson Award: a call to young inventors
The Optimist Daily has written about many winners of the James Dyson Award. This is an international design award that celebrates, encourages, and inspires the next generation of design engineers. It is open to current and recent design engineering students and is run by the James Dyson Foundation, Read More...
These Lego Rebels are taking a stance against the climate crisis
We’ve previously written about Lego’s efforts to lead the toy-making industry towards sustainability. But the toy company is not only making play-time for kids — and adults — more eco-friendly with plant-based building blocks. It turns out its toy bricks are also helping raise awareness Read More...
How biochar can mitigate carbon from farmlands to urban centers
Biochar has long been hailed in the environmental community as a potent solution for mitigating certain aspects of climate change, from fixing soil erosion to upping water absorption and pulling carbon out of the atmosphere. Now, there is a growing list of industries that might improve their Read More...
Architecture’s top award has its first Black winner
At The Optimist Daily we like to highlight milestones in the movement for equality, like when Maya Angelou became the first Black woman to be featured on a US coin or when St.Louis elected Tishaura Jones their first black female mayor. The latest triumph comes from the world of architecture, Read More...
This fabric can “hear” for you
Hearing loss is something many of us have to accept, with the fine and sensitive tools in our ears inevitably wearing down with age. What if you could remedy this by putting on a shirt that could hear for you? Engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and designers from the Rhode Read More...
The air in your home is dirtier than you think. Clean it up with these 4 plants
While it’s tempting to think that the air inside your house or office is clean, the truth is quite the opposite. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the air inside the average home is up to five times more polluted than the air outside. That’s an alarming fact, especially Read More...
Using berries and pears to create the world’s first ‘vegan violin’
An Irish master violin luthier has unveiled a set of violins that are made from 100 percent plant-based products. The animal-free violins are the first in the world to be registered with The Vegan Society’s Vegan Trademark. What makes traditional violins non-vegan? Currently, most violins Read More...