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.
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...
A startup has a grand vision to make hydrogen trucks a reality by 2020
The hydrogen-powered-vehicle industry is still a nascent field that has yet to show real signs of going mainstream. Yet, major automakers are exploring the technology because it gives vehicles shorter re-fill times and longer ranges than plug-in electric vehicles. General Motors and Honda, for Read More...
Texas has become the unlikely champion of wind energy in America
The most Republican-dominated, oil-rich and fracking-friendly of the U.S. has found itself with the improbable status of being a national leader of wind energy. That’s right, Texas has by far the greatest wind generating capacity in the entire U.S., producing enough electricity to power 5.7 Read More...
Learning to market digital trust could be the economic boom Africa needs
In a world where information drives the global economy, powerful countries and companies have become so paranoid about protecting data that they are constantly in search of better ways to safeguard it. Some have chosen to move their data to different centers around the world, but even this can pose Read More...