Today’s Solutions: January 12, 2025

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.

Smiling happy woman sitting on medical couch while doctor showing options for implants

New 3D-printing technologies could revolutionize breast reconstruction

Though some opt to get breast implants for purely aesthetic concerns, breast implants are also part of the healing process for many breast cancer survivors and individuals in transition.  Right now the two main kinds of breast reconstruction are silicone implants and flap surgery. Flap surgery Read More...

Skin conditions

This app can save time and lives by diagnosing skin conditions

After a concerning brush with melanoma, where a lengthy test dangerously delayed her treatment, Susan Conover began her studies in skin diseases and dermatology. She explored technological solutions to skin problems in the MIT System Design and Management graduate program and then founded Piction Read More...

Crocdile with scaly skin and round green eye and teeth protruding from its mouth.

Could crocodiles help defeat hearing loss?

Around 1.5 billion people worldwide live with impaired hearing, this can create significant problems for these individuals and often reduce the perceived quality of life. The most common cause of these impairments is damage to non-regenerative receptors called hair cells. Many innovations are being Read More...

Hummingbird

Hummingbirds have the widest color range of all birds

Among the different species of birds, hummingbirds are among the most iconic and distinct in the skies. These unique creatures hover unlike most birds, they feed on sugary nectar, and they have incredible metabolisms. They also have the most wide-ranging colors in their plumage of all other Read More...

Clone mice

Scientists clone first mice from freeze-dried skin cells

Even before Jurassic Park, many have fantasized about cloning endangered animals. Science fiction made this seem too simple, easily copying a complex creature from recovered DNA. Now, that fantastical process is not so far off.  Researchers have cloned the world’s first mice from freeze-dried Read More...

Close up of dentures and tooth brush.

Shapeshifting robots could automate teeth brushing and flossing

Teeth cleaning is something we all should do daily and thoroughly, however, is something most of us do not do properly. The design of the toothbrush has remained relatively unchanged for hundreds of years, so to revolutionize how we look after our mouths, a team from the University of Pennsylvania Read More...

Whole avocado fruit and two halves in a row isolated on yellow background.

The results from the longest study on avocados are in

While always being front and center in Mexican, Ethiopian, and Brazilian cuisine, an avocado obsession has swept across the rest of the world over the past 10 years. It’s pretty much a given that every hip cafe will include an ‘avocado smash’ on their menu, and you’ll be able to spot this Read More...

Seletar airport

Singapore’s Seletar airport considers plans for electric flying taxis

Seletar Airport is the city-state of Singapore’s lesser known second airport. It’s a small airfield normally frequented only by private jets, but soon it could be known for the future of sky travel. Singapore has recently signed agreements that would make Seletar into a vertiport, where Read More...

Sand piles next to industrial machinery

"Sand batteries" could solve the energy storage challenge

We’ve previously written about how water batteries could help address the energy storage challenge facing the green energy transition. In Finland, however, some scientists are working on a much dryer power storage facility — a ‘sand battery’. Solving the energy storage Read More...

Hair loss

Newly discovered molecule bodes well for alopecia treatment

Alopecia can be extremely disheartening and drastically alter someone’s confidence and self-image. The condition affects men and women, and scientists are looking into different treatments and possible cures for the different forms of alopecia.  Researchers have identified a molecule that Read More...