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.
South Korea says it’s building the world’s largest test site for self-driving cars
Now that we have self-driving cars, the next big challenge is figuring out where to test them. Most experts agree that the best places to do that are giant, government-run, fenced-off fake cities that mimic all the real conditions of the road. To that end, South Korea’s government is building Read More...
The sunshine state prepares to embrace solar
Last week the Florida Senate passed a bill to implement wide-ranging changes that many expect will allow solar to, finally, take off in the state. Florida shifting to clean energy is a big deal. It’s the third most populous state and has some of the best solar resources in the Read More...
Solar power in India now cheaper than electricity from fossil fuels
India is committed to solar power. The country unveiled the world’s biggest solar farm earlier this year and has quadrupled its solar capacity in the last three years. On top of that, the price of solar power has dropped 40 percent in just one year, undercutting the price of fossil fuel-generated Read More...
Tesla's solar roof tiles are now available online
Last fall, Tesla announced that it had developed solar roof tiles that can generate enough energy to fully power an entire household. Tesla’s tiles work similarly to traditional solar power cells, but are designed to blend in within traditional roofing aesthetics. Now the solar roof tiles are up Read More...
Mapped: The top 263 companies racing toward self-driving cars
Forget dot coms and social networks. The hotspot for research and investment in Silicon Valley right now is the future of transport. Convince the valley you have a new way to create a brain for a self-driving car, help people find parking, detect a drowsy driver, or build a personal electric Read More...
Power plants could cut a third of their emissions by using solar energy
Led by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, the COMBO-CFB project has developed a new innovative concept to increase solar energy production in the energy system. According to this research, the concept can reduce fuel consumption and emissions stressing the climate by more than 33 percent. Read More...
Biofuels: could agave, hemp and saltbush be the fuels of the future?
Biofuels have long been touted as a carbon-neutral alternative to fossil fuels, doing for the world’s planes, ships and automobiles what windfarms and solar panels are doing for its electricity grids. With the transport sector accounting for almost one fifth of Australia’s total carbon Read More...
Study: By 2030, self-driving cars could cut car ownership by 80 percent
Stop us if you've heard this one before: someone's published a study on self-driving cars and the effect they'll have on transportation. In the past year alone, we've seen plenty of those studies. Some show that people are afraid of self-driving vehicles (even though they're totally onboard with Read More...
New technology recycles wastewater into hydrogen for use in fuel production
"Electrical" bacteria are the key ingredient in a new process developed by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory that recycles wastewater from biofuel production to generate hydrogen. The hydrogen can then be used to convert bio-oil into higher grade liquid fuels such as gasoline Read More...
Possibility: Drones for peace
From The Intelligent Optimist Summer 2016 Imagine for a moment that a child is critically ill in a small village weeks away from any hospital. With no quick means of transportation, the child’s worried doctor picks up the phone or sends a text and, in a matter of hours, the much-needed medical Read More...