Miscellaneous
Lego paleontologists
‘Boys as well as girls should be able to play with the same Legos’, that is one of the ten commandments of Lego (Yes, the company came up with that themselves). However, most Lego characters are still men, discovered the Dutch scientist Ellen Kooijman. Kooijman works in Stockholm as an isotope Read More...
Marriage of F1 technology and public transit make buses more efficient
A hybrid motor that made its debut on the F1 circuit will be used in London’s public buses to increase fuel efficiency. The technology called Gyrodrive is a high tech flywheel (a mechanism that stores energy as momentum) and harnesses power that is usually lost as heat. The way Gyrodrive works, Read More...
Electric car sales more than doubled in Europe
Sales of electric cars are surging in Europe. In 2013 nearly 50,000 electric vehicles were sold in European Union member countries, more than twice the number, 22,000, sold in 2012. The analysis of data collected by the Transport & Environment (T&E) campaign group points to three new Read More...
Man-made leaf could produce oxygen for deep space travel
One of the major barriers to humans embarking on deep space travel has been the challenge of taking enough oxygen for humans to survive—plants are extremely difficult to grow in zero gravity. A new leaf designed by Julian Melchior as part of the Royal College of Art’s Innovation Design Read More...
One happy man
Below is the the last winner of our Optimist of The Month contest. Know some one we should feature for the next issue? Send Optimist of The Month nominations to editor[at]theoptimist[dot]com. [caption id="attachment_306951" align="alignright" width="200"] HappyWe app creator Chiel van der Linden Read More...
Anger is healthy
Historically, many societies have viewed anger as “bad”—an emotion that must be suppressed or concealed, lest it do terrible damage when it’s unleashed. But it’s natural to feel anger in the course of our daily lives, whether it’s triggered by trivial annoyances (another driver cuts you Read More...
Internet brings elite education—and knowledge power—to developing world
Knowledge is power, it is said. Shared knowledge may lead to shared power, making the world a more just place. Online education decreases the traditional gap between the have’s and the have’s not. Developing nations now get access to elite education offered by top universities in the Western Read More...
Turn the television off, and your life on
Many of us are addicts, turning the television on in the evening out of boredom or to seek distraction from everyday life. Then, hours later, we find we are still bored. It’s like yawning: your body is actually screaming for oxygen, and you’re better off going for a run than crawling into bed. Read More...
Protection of wild life stops child labor and slavery
Environmentalists often talk about the tragic loss of animal and plant life because of the destruction of nature. A new study of UC Berkeley ecologists, led by Justin Brashares and published in Science, shows that the damage even leads to human tragedy. The study discovered a direct link between Read More...
Revolutionary solar panels mimic moth eyes
Moth eyes are incredibly efficient—reflecting almost no light, so they don’t draw attention from predators. Researchers from Switzerland are taking the absorption properties found in moth eyes and applying them to solar panel design. The new solar design covers the panels in a thin layer of Read More...