Environment
Need some good news about the environment? The Optimist Daily is your go-to herald of positive environmental news, highlighting eco-friendly solutions and scientific progress around climate action, circularity, conservation, and more. Learn about everything eco in our Environment section.
Algae powered a basic computer for over six months
Sometimes it can be pretty difficult to imagine our highly technological society coexisting with the natural world. We seem to live most of our lives entirely online, not just separated from nature, but also from physical space itself. However, scientists from the University of Cambridge have Read More...
Positive parasites, how deer and ruminant pests help the overall ecosystem
Some pests and critters annoy us, but everything in nature has its purpose and its place. Wolves are the villains of fairy tales, but they are in fact keystone predators that control the overpopulation of their prey. Beavers chew on powerline poles, but they also help preserve wetlands. As it turns Read More...
Breakthrough method that rescues lithium from wastewater
Electric vehicles are the future of transport. Electric vehicle sales increase year after year and, in 2019, accounted for 2.6 percent of global car sales. Electric vehicles are an essential change to be made for reducing the number of greenhouse gases and non-renewable resources used by humans, Read More...
A species of East African jumping spider targets recently fed mosquitoes
The enemy of my enemy is my friend, so the saying goes. As it turns out, this applies to humans and the natural world as well. Mosquitoes are the prime movers of malaria around the world, and scientists have worked hard to eliminate mosquitoes’ spread of this deadly disease. Yet, another species Read More...
Europe may launch plan requiring solar panels on all public buildings by 2025
Countries are speeding up efforts to transition to 100 percent renewable energy sources, not just for the sake of the climate, but also to build independence from Russian petroleum. Germany accelerated its own schedule to become 100 percent renewable, seeing the danger to its energy sector that Read More...
Volunteer scuba divers recover 25,000 pounds of trash from Lake Tahoe
While few other lakes in the United States can compete with Lake Tahoe’s clear waters, the country’s second deepest lake does have a trash problem. To address this, California nonprofit Clean Up the Lake has recently organized a team of scuba divers to remove debris from the lake’s whole Read More...
Orbex rocket prototype makes debut at Scottish Highlands spaceport
While humans are naturally earthbound creatures, we need space travel. Our society, as it is, needs the myriad functions and services our satellites provide, and so far, there’s only one way to get them up there. To that end, space scientists and engineers are constantly innovating ways to make Read More...
How do massive flocks of starlings fly in perfect unison?
Have you ever watched a flock of birds fly, turn, and dive in what seems like perfect unison? You might look at this and assume that a lead bird is determining the directions of the flock, or that they are collectively responding to small changes in the wind. All of those are good guesses, but Read More...
Regulators propose long-overdue changes to Community Reinvestment Act
Technology and commerce, unfortunately, always seem to move too fast for the law to keep up. Social media had already become a staple of modern culture before its functions and money-making operations could be evaluated by elected representatives. The same thing happened with the Community Read More...
Every United Airlines flight out of Amsterdam will use sustainable aviation fuel
A little more than two percent of human-caused, global carbon dioxide emissions come from the aviation industry. Like most other modes of transportation, airlines will have to adapt to the emissions-free future, and infrastructure is developing to accommodate the change. European biorefineries are Read More...