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.
Solar surpasses wind, natural gas as leading source of new energy
Americans installed 2.5 gigawatts of solar panels in the first quarter of the year—a 13 percent increase from a year earlier, according to a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association. That made solar the leading source of new energy generation at 55 percent, dominating over wind and Read More...
Study shows plastic waste can be converted into energy and fuels
Plastic waste is flooding our landfills and leaking into the oceans, with potentially disastrous effects. In fact, the World Economic Forum predicts that if current production and waste management trends continue, by 2050 there could be more plastic than fishes in the Read More...
Tokyo to build eco-friendly 'solar roads' ahead of 2020 Olympics
The Tokyo metropolitan government plans to introduce "solar roads" that collect energy from the sun via solar panels installed beneath the surface of the roads. The effort is aimed at promoting Tokyo as an eco-friendly city, both domestically and abroad, ahead of the 2020 Olympics and Read More...
Placing data centers below the sea can save energy and money
Microsoft has drowned one of its data centers 100 ft below the surface of the North Sea. Why? To save energy. Oceans are uniformly cool below a certain depth, so keeping servers under the sea helps cut down the cooling costs that make up a large chunk of the operating budget of data centers. Plus, Read More...
You can pilot Larry Page's new flying car with just an hour of training
Kitty Hawk, the flying car company founded by Google’s Larry Page has a new personal car model coming to a sky near you. The Flyer, a single-seat vehicle operated by joystick is fully electric and has been described as a mix of a pontoon plane and a drone, though it’s not remotely Read More...
It may seem odd, but big oil companies are fueling the transition to renewables
Far from being a villain, big oil is perhaps one of the most important allies for renewable energy. The world's oil supermajors generate significant levels of cash flow, boost infrastructure networks that span the globe and have the most to lose from falling behind the technology curve. It's still Read More...
A new startup is showing how to make batteries cheaper—and safer
Christina Lampe-Önnerud has been called the “Queen of Batteries.” She’s a Swedish chemist and entrepreneur who built one battery company (called Boston Power), sold it, and then founded another, Cadenza Innovation. She is now focused on making batteries cheaper and Read More...
Tesla has installed a truly huge amount of energy storage
Tesla, it’s been said, is less a car company than a battery company that sells cars. Today, the company is announcing a new milestone: Since 2015, it has installed a worldwide total of a gigawatt-hour of energy storage–technology that is critical for using renewable energy at scale. For Read More...
How poop transplants can actually help cure bacterial infections
This may sound backwards, but researchers have found that poop transplants can be effective at curing severe cases of diarrhea. In a recent study, researchers discovered that fecal transplants can help cure a sometimes deadly infection called C.diff better than some antibiotics by spurring the Read More...
California and New York to invest over $1 billion towards EV charging stations
Energy regulators in California have just approved a portfolio of EV charging projects worth a whopping $738 million that will multiply the number of charging stations across the state. The program, which will build chargers for both passenger and commercial vehicles, is one of the largest uses of Read More...