Science
From mathematics and AI to medicine and psychology, The Optimist Daily features the latest news on discoveries, technological advances, and breakthroughs in the world of science. Our Science section is here to engage and enlighten you.
How one neighborhood used gamification to reduce traffic emissions
Green transportation methods like walking, biking, and taking public transportation reduces carbon emissions and improve air quality for residents, but encouraging people to choose these options over personal vehicles is a challenge. One neighborhood in London has finally cracked the code on green Read More...
Beekeepers and airports join forces to save pollinators
Back in 2012, Ben Shertzer, wildlife administrator at Pittsburgh International Airport, found himself dealing with a perplexing problem: swarming bees. The bees would land on the winglets of an aircraft, which interrupts refueling and baggage loading, or they would obscure lights on the taxiways, Read More...
Paris set to transform Champs-Élysées into huge garden
The Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets in the world. In its heyday, it was a premier shopping destination and even called “the world’s most beautiful avenue.” Many top companies still fight for retail space along the street and it still offers stunning views of the Arc de Read More...
New carbon capture facility will remove 1m tons of CO2 from the air yearly
We have previously written about emerging carbon capture technologies and their potential to help us tackle climate change. Now, we’re thrilled to share with you a real breakthrough in our efforts to cut the amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. Scotland is set to become home to Read More...
Technology reduces Chernobyl's radiation levels by 47%
Swiss company Exlterra (Excellence for Earth) in partnership with Ukrainian entity State Specialized Enterprise Ecocenter (SSE Ecocenter) has successfully reduced radiation in the soil and air in the Chernobyl exclusions zone thanks to a new technology called Nucleus Separation Passive System Read More...
NASA technology offers full picture of regenerative agriculture benefits
As you are probably well aware by now, most current agricultural practices have a hugely detrimental effect on the environment, leading to the degradation of swathes of land across the world which would otherwise serve as a tool against climate change. The good news though, is that farmers around Read More...
Scotland blows up its last coal plant as part of its green energy transition
In recent years, an increasing number of countries have moved away from coal in an effort to meet their climate targets. Scotland, for example, severed its ties with fossil fuel back in 2016, when it shut down its last remaining coal power plant. Last week, government officials blew up that same Read More...
Researchers spot Turkish fish for the first time since 1974
Ichthyologists recently came across a surprising discovery in two streams in southeast Turkey. The team was scouring the river when it came across a Batman River loach, a critically endangered fish last spotted in 1974. The hunt for the fish was part of the Search for Lost Fishes project from Read More...
Ancient comet solves puzzle of scattered glass in Chilean desert
Across a 75 kilometer stretch of the Atacama Desert in Chile, huge rocks of black and green glass can be found lying around. Researchers picked up on this unusual phenomenon around a decade ago, but they were stumped by this mystery with no reasonable explanation to be found, until now. A team Read More...
New battery biodegrades after a month in soil
E-waste is one of the most rapidly growing and toxic waste streams in the world today, but scientists at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore have come up with a partial solution by creating biodegradable batteries that can actually be buried in soil once they’ve reached the Read More...