Health
Finding good health news amidst a pandemic can be quite daunting. That’s not the case with The Optimist Daily, where positive news is in high supply. Our Health section covers the latest good news from the health sector, featuring solutions ranging from mental and physical health to immunity, nutrition, and cutting edge medical research.
4 ways we can drown out the toxicity of diet culture
Following the MET gala, there’s been a lot of buzz around celebrities behaving in ways that promote unhealthy and toxic messages about body image and diet culture. The glamorization of extreme weight loss is a pervasive problem, especially considering how much sway social media has on our Read More...
MIT system uses machine-learning to reduce traffic and car emissions
As if idling in a line of cars at a red light forever wasn’t bothersome enough, vehicles emit greenhouse gasses while they’re stopped in traffic. Not only that, exposure to excess vehicle emissions while idling in traffic can be a major health risk. What if drivers could time their trips Read More...
How scientists are bringing human eye cells back from the dead
Scientists from Switzerland and the US were able to achieve something miraculous—some might even say Biblical: bringing dead human cells back to life! The team published a study that opens by defining death as the irreversible cessation of circulatory, respiratory, or brain activity. The paper Read More...
How to support a loved one with bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition defined by extreme mood swings which include emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression). From individual to individual, the intensity of the condition varies, with some people experiencing extreme highs and lows multiple times a year or Read More...
Wetlands, the super carbon sink, and rewilding the Illinois River
After forests, wetlands are the greatest terrestrial carbon sink. These boggy and busy pools of life used to be thought of as a nuisance for people and communities, drained of their water or dug up for peat fuel. Now, we understand the quiet service that wetlands provide us and the Read More...
Greece bans harmful conversion therapy
Joining France, New Zealand, and Canada, Greece announced last Wednesday that it is officially banning conversion therapy, the harmful practice of attempting to suppress the sexual orientation of gay, lesbian, bisexual, or trans community members. Parliament approved the bill, which states Read More...
Simple desk meditation exercises to help you de-stress at work
Stress manifests itself differently in all of us. Some of us have stomach pains, others headaches. Or maybe your shoulders tense up when you’re under pressure. An office is a place of peak stress for many people, but simple mindfulness techniques can help you take stock of your stress levels and Read More...
Five easy steps to start composting
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, about eight percent of all carbon emissions come from food waste, and about half of that comes from “the consumption stage,” which means waste from households and food services. This means that we can control about four percent of carbon Read More...
What to do at a personal or professional fork in the road
Whether it’s in our home life, academic life, or career, we all eventually come to an inflection point. This can be a fork in the road where we have a personal-professional dilemma of choosing between home and work. It can be the culmination of our frustration with a current job and a decision to 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...