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.
India has plans to construct hybrid solar-wind power plants across the country
In India, the government has released a draft policy for setting up wind-solar hybrid plants to strengthen the country’s booming renewable energy sector. One of the major drawbacks of both wind and solar farms today is that power is produced only during certain intervals—when the sun shines Read More...
This private company is bringing the first high-speed trains to Florida
For most Americans, commuting to work on a train is rare. That’s because the infrastructure for trains is poor, with many parts of the US not reachable via railways. This leads to a heavy dependence on cars, which leads to painstaking traffic jams in cities like Los Angeles and Miami. And since Read More...
Germany’s energy model lets utilities earn money even when power stations are at negative prices
On some days in Germany, there’s so much supply of electricity that it outstrips the nation’s demand. The result in the market is a price below zero, which means factories can then earn money for taking the surplus off the hands of producers. So, how do generators still make money if they have Read More...
Solar beats coal on U.S. jobs
For all the talk about coal-industry employment, solar energy accounted for more than twice as many jobs last year, about 350,000 workers, according to a report Wednesday from the Energy Futures Initiative, a Washington-based nonprofit headed by former U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. Solar Read More...
Europe’s new electric car charging network could propel EVs into the mainstream
For electric cars to become mainstream, infrastructure must be in place that allows electric car owners to leave the house confidently knowing they will find a charging station if needed. In Europe, some of the biggest automakers are making sure such infrastructure is in place by building a highway Read More...
Paul Krugman explains why there’s no future for the coal industry
In an exclusive interview, Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman explained to ThinkProgress why “coal is not coming back,” despite President Trump’s promises to the contrary. Krugman described Trump’s efforts to “desperately force clean energy to subsidize dirty energy” as “bad Read More...
The Dutch are rapidly adopting plug-in electric cars
Compared to April of last year, sales of plug-in electric cars in the Netherlands were up a whopping 170 percent last month. While it’s true that plug-in models make up only 3.2 percent of the new car market in 2018 so far, growth rates over 100 percent have a habit of fairly rapidly transforming Read More...
These extraordinary bricks reflect sunlight into dark streets
In 2013, French designer Nathanaël Abeille started working with material expert Carlos Muniagurria to develop a way to turn common, inexpensive bricks into highly reflective objects capable of illuminating streets, apartments, and buildings that don’t receive direct sunlight–especially in Read More...
Tata Power plans $5 billion push to boost renewable capacity
Tata Power Co., one of India’s largest private power utilities, is planning to invest as much as $5 billion to ramp up its renewable capacity fourfold, according to its top Read More...
A strait-laced writer explores psychedelics, leaves the door of perception ajar
Microdosing is hot. If you haven’t heard — but you probably have, from reports of its use at Silicon Valley workplaces, from Ayelet Waldman’s memoir “A Really Good Day,” from dozens of news stories — to microdose is to take small amounts of LSD, which generate “subperceptual” Read More...