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.
With Norway in lead, Europe set for surge in electric vehicles
On Europe’s northern margins, lightly populated Norway has been at the cutting edge of electromobility for years, even decades now. The capital of Oslo, like most of Norway’s cities and towns, boasts bus-lane access for electric vehicles (EVs), recharging stations aplenty, privileged Read More...
Building a better microbial fuel cell
The concept behind microbial fuel cells, which rely on bacteria to generate an electrical current, is more than a century old. But turning that concept into a usable tool has been a long process. Microbial fuel cells, or MFCs, are more promising today than ever, but before their adoption can become Read More...
US electric car sales up 59 percent in January 2017
US electric car sales continue to climb to new heights in 2017. Growing 59 percent year over year (YoY), approximately 12,000 electric cars were sold across the country in January, accounting for approximately 1 percent of US auto sales. The top five models accounted for approximately 40 percent of Read More...
Shell fuel stations in U.K., Netherlands to add electric-car charging
Electric cars are often touted as a way to avoid gas stations. But electric-car drivers in certain European countries will soon be going to them to charge. That's because a pair of European oil companies plan to add electric-car charging at certain fuel stations. Both Royal Dutch Shell and France's Read More...
U.S. utilities seek sun as Trump sides with coal, fossil fuels
The plunging cost of solar power is leading U.S. electric companies to capture more of the sun just when President Donald Trump is moving to boost coal and other fossil fuels. Solar power represents just about 1 percent of the electricity U.S. utilities generate today, but that could grow Read More...
Huge win for renewables in Maryland as lawmakers override governor's veto
Lawmakers in the Maryland Senate voted 32-13 Thursday to expand the state's renewable energy target restoring the Clean Energy Jobs Act and overriding Republican Gov. Larry Hogan's veto of the measure in May of last year. The bill is now in effect. The bill increases requirements to use energy Read More...
Scientists develop a "better way" to produce renewable hydrogen
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have developed a “better way” to make hydrogen using renewable energy according to a paper published this month in Nature Energy. Hydrogen has many potential applications and is already used Read More...
The largest coal-fired power plant in the West may close later this year
And to underline the message for the future of fossil fuels: The owners of Arizona’s Navajo Generating Station, the largest coal-fired plant in the west of the U.S. have announced that they consider closing the plant, because low natural gas prices and the rising costs of generating electricity Read More...
New report: Electric cars and cheap solar will halt fossil fuel growth by 2020
Solar power and clean cars are consistently underestimated by big energy, according to a new report by Imperial College and Carbon Tracker Initiative. The report projects that polluting fuels could lose ten percent of market share to solar power and clean cars within a decade. A ten percent loss of Read More...
LED lighting retrofits in Hawaiian homes: Faster paybacks than solar power
Visitors know the Hawaiian islands for many things: ample sunshine, beautiful beaches, and friendly people. Residents know these things as well, but also are all too aware of high electricity prices, an aging electrical grid dependent on foreign oil, choke traffic, and other problems associated Read More...