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.
The high-stakes race to reinvent the battery is heating up
There’s a new kind of space race happening in our world right now, but unlike the flashiness that accompanied the actual race to get to outer space, this race is about something far less exciting: The battery. We know that the future will be powered by the battery, but current batteries don’t Read More...
The autowende is here: electric cars are the next trillion dollar industry
In the next 60 months the automotive industry will see more change than in the last 60 years. European car manufacturers should commit to electric cars now or Europe will be in economic trouble. Once in a while a new technology comes along that profoundly changes the way humans relate to energy and Read More...
Liquid hydrogen may be way forward for sustainable air travel
Transport makes up around 20 percent of our energy use around the world--and that figure is set to grow, according to the International Energy Agency. With sustainable solutions in mind, a new study published by eminent physicist Jo Hermans in MRS Energy and Sustainability--A Review Journal (MRS Read More...
Royal Dutch Shell places bet on hydrogen cars going mainstream
With the constant din of traffic noise from London’s M25 orbital motorway and the smell of diesel wafting in the air, Cobham service station in Surrey does not feel like a frontier in the clean energy revolution. Yet, it is here that Britain will get its first public filling station for Read More...
US, Japan, Germany hop aboard hydrogen fuel cell train
The dream of a zero-emission hydrogen economy amounted to little more than pixie dust just a few years ago. But that was then and this is now. In the first part of February alone, three big stories about hydrogen fuel cells in the U.S., Japan and Germany demonstrate that the hydrogen economy is Read More...
New record: Wind briefly generates majority of electricity in southwest U.S.
On Sunday last week wind power provided 52.1 percent of the electricity for a 14-state grid in the southwest of the U.S. It was the first time that wind generated a majority of power for any U.S. grid. The new record underlines that renewables like wind energy can play a key role in an affordable, Read More...
Why new coal? Solar towers + storage beats it on all counts
The US-based developers of the world’s leading solar tower and storage technologies has expressed surprise that Australia’s federal government is pursuing “new coal” plants, saying that solar towers with storage beats coal on just about all fronts. Tom Georgis, the head of Read More...
Can a mouse meditate? Why these researchers want to find out
Can a mouse meditate? A new study suggests the answer is ... kind of. Researchers from the University of Oregon in Eugene have replicated some of the same brain patterns exhibited by human meditators in the brains of mice — no tiny meditation cushions or squeaky “oms” required. Still, Read More...
India is set for solar success in 2017
2017 looks like it might be the best year ever for solar adoption. Initiatives are set to pick up speed around the world, including in China. Of all the nations with big plans, though, India just might have the biggest. India expects to commission 7.7 gigawatts of utility-scale solar projects this Read More...
From a hybrid microgrid in Tasmania to neighborhood batteries in Denver
A model hybrid microgrid in Tasmania is scheduled to begin operating this quarter, according to Electro Power Systems, which developed the project with Toshiba for Hydro Tasmania. The 3-MW, solar plus storage microgrid is part of the ‘Flinders Island Hybrid Energy Hub,’ designed to wean Read More...