Lifestyle
Alongside taking care of other people and the planet, make sure you take good care of yourself. The Lifestyle section at the Optimist Daily has solutions for everyday wellbeing on topics like food, beauty, fashion, and the latest trends. Curious about caring for houseplants, eating plant-based, or parenting tips? It’s all in there.
Blockchain technology helps Brooklyn inhabitants use their neighbors' solar energy
TransActive Grid is a small community energy market in Brooklyn, NY, that's a test run for both the idea of a clean-energy local microgrid and the use of blockchain technology to enable its transactions. TransActive Grid is a new way to trade solar energy among neighbors. The project runs on a Read More...
Can these rooftop cabins solve urban apartment shortages?
Like in many other cities, it's getting harder to find an apartment in Berlin. Rents have gone up almost 60% over the last seven years, and vacancies are so scarce that the city decided to ban Airbnb rentals of full apartments in May. But the city has around 55,000 unused roofs. So two Berlin-based Read More...
Shake, rattle and charge: Harnessing the power of music
The British musician and drummer, Sudha Kheterpal, is proudly cradling her new creation. Called a Spark, it's the size and colour of a peeled mango and when shaken gently, it makes a noise a bit like a maraca. Sudha made her name bashing out trance-like rhythms with electronic band, Faithless, and Read More...
Research: “Deep” readers think and write better, have more empathy
A recent study shows that college students who read, write better. And it matters what you read. The research shows least benefits for the ones who only read web-based content. The real benefits come from what’s called “deep reading”. Deep reading occurs when the language is rich in details, Read More...
We get more violent when it gets hotter, we need to figure out why
Police departments across the world know that violence spikes in hotter months and is higher in hotter climates. There are several explanations that include the suggestion that people who live in warmer places spend more time outside, and therefore are offered more opportunity for other people to Read More...
Leading U.S. poultry producer raises animal welfare standards
Perdue, the fourth-largest poultry producer of the U.S. has announced that it will pay for its 2,000 growers’ animal welfare improvements. The company is footing the bill for the retrofitting of chicken houses to include such first-class amenities as windows, perches and more room for chickens to Read More...
A dating app for British Europhiles
It started as a British joke: the dating and social app for the 48 percent of the British voters who didn’t want their country to leave the European Union. But after receiving a huge number of sign-ups since the website went live last week, a real app is in the making. The website asks: Read More...
A soccer field flood lit by foot power
It requires energy to walk but your steps also produce energy. And innovative technology is able to harvest that energy. The soccer field in this picture is flood lit by the running of the players. The same technology can be used in busy streets, airport hallways, shopping centers or discotheques. Read More...
Vintage fashion from recycled cotton
Everyone has heard about the plastic waste ruining our planet by now. But who knows about the 13.1 million tons of textile waste (worth roughly USD 350 billion) the United States alone produce every year? And who knows that 11 million of that textile waste goes almost directly to landfills? Read More...
Colombia to offer tax breaks for development under peace deal
Colombia will offer tax incentives to companies that get involved in infrastructure and social service projects in areas left underdeveloped or scarred by the country's 50-year armed conflict, a government official said. The government and leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, Read More...