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.
These are best places in the world to go stargazing
For many city people, a clear night sky is a mythical beast. We’ve heard the legends inspired by the constellations, and we know sailors used the stars to guide their way home, but urban light pollution means we can’t quite see the heavens ourselves. Enter the International Dark-Sky Read More...
Toronto’s garbage trucks will run on biofuel made from the city’s food scraps
Garbage trucks in Toronto are becoming cleaner - that is, environmentally speaking - as the city has recently launched an initiative to power the vehicles using biogas produced from the very trash they collect. Starting in March 2020, the city’s fleet of garbage trucks will collect all of the Read More...
These billionaires just made the biggest climate change research donation ever
Lynda and Stewart Resnick are the owners of Wonderful Company, the largest single producers of almonds and pistachios in the world. That means that if anyone is worried about the consequences of what the climate crisis can be for agriculture, it’s them. After all, their business depends on a Read More...
California wildfires prove there’s never been a better time for microgrids
Motivating people to switch to new technologies can be nearly impossible if old technologies work just fine. It’s much easier if people can see for themselves that those new technologies are a far better solution. This is certainly the case in California right now. For years the Optimist has Read More...
NASA to send a rover to the moon in 2022 to search for water
This year, the world celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 1969 moon landing. Now, NASA is planning to head back to the moon, this time to look for water. The journey, planned for 2022, will land a golf cart sized Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) on the southern end of the Read More...
Offshore wind power could singlehandedly meet world’s energy needs
Currently, offshore wind provides only 0.3% of global power generation. But a recent report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) claims that setting up wind turbines on the world’s best offshore sites could provide more than enough clean energy to outstrip global energy demand. In the Read More...
Moving beyond burgers: lab-cultured meat could bring us ethical steaks
Although plant-based meat startups, such as Impossible Foods, have been in the limelight lately, there are still startups that are working on ethical meat grown from animal cells, giving you a real burger without the cruelty and climate change issues. But, while it’s great to see a number of Read More...
A team of grandmas have uncovered a population of rare venomous sea snakes
What do you do with your time when you’re old and retired? For a group of French grandmothers, the answer is to swim and snorkel 3 kilometers five days a week off the coast of New Caledonia. It sounds like quite the leisurely lifestyle, but all the while their snorkel excursions are leading to Read More...
Why scientists and the Forest Service are setting a huge wildfire in Utah
A few weeks ago we published an article about how we can learn from natural wildfire cycles. Now, the U.S. Forest Service in Utah is attempting to do just that with an enormous prescribed burn on a mountain in Fishlake National Forest’s Monroe Mountain. As firefighters and manned helicopters Read More...
The Flair: this redesigned fan uses up to 85% less energy than conventional fans
AC systems and fans use up to 22 percent of the world’s electricity. This generates as many CO2 emissions as all the world’s cars. Strangely enough, however, the design of the fan hasn’t changed in 100 years. That’s why Jay Harman’s design firm, PAX Scientific, has designed a new, Read More...