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.
Artificial photosynthesis
Daniel Nocera, the rock-star of artificial photosynthesis, and his colleagues at Harvard published a paper in June that shows a viable route to long-term energy storage. The Science article demonstrates how surplus power from solar PV can be converted into liquid fuels. The Read More...
Global non-hydro renewable electricity up 70% from 2010–2015
A study commissioned by the Financial Times shows that the planet’s 20 largest national economies generated 8% of their electricity from renewable energy — solar, wind, and other green power sources — in 2015, up from 4.6% in 2010. (This does not include hydropower.) There are Read More...
6 ways to personally divest from fossil fuels
A couple years ago, I began to discuss the idea that the end of the internal combustion era finally was in sight, along with the overall rapid decline of a fossil fuel-driven world. I think some folks felt it was a premature pronouncement — yet in more recent days, the prediction has begun to Read More...
Vestas uses mathematics to figure out how to use the most powerful wind turbines
The placement of offshore wind turbines isn’t done all willy-nilly, but rather with data that determines exactly where each wind turbine should be placed. In one instance, a project to install hundreds of wind turbines that had been deemed unfeasible was rescued by Vestas wind company company and Read More...
Solar energy from discarded car batteries
MIT researchers have developed a simple procedure for making a promising type of solar cell using lead recovered from discarded lead-acid car batteries — a practice that could benefit both the environment and human health. As new lead-free car batteries come into use, old batteries would be Read More...
Blockchain grid to let neighbours trade solar power in Australia
The blockchain is coming to Australia’s electricity grid. On 25 August, a group of neighbours will test a system to trade excess energy from solar panels between themselves using a blockchain to record the transactions. Run by local start-up PowerLedger, the trial at a retirement village in the Read More...
Uber 'to introduce self-driving cars within weeks'
The ride-sharing firm Uber will, for the first time, allow users to hail self-driving cars later this month, it has been reported. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Uber's chief executive Travis Kalanick said the launch would take place in Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania. At first, the vehicles will Read More...
Electric cars: Fierce competition between Detroit and Silicon Valley
Competition is a key feature of the market economy. It doesn’t always lead to the greatest and most beneficial results for society, but here’s a good example. Detroit has been the center for America’s automotive technology for a century. Now the car companies of Detroit are competing against Read More...
Heavy duty trucks face cleaner standards under new U.S. rule
Medium- to heavy-duty trucks make up only four percent of road traffic in the U.S, but they gulp 22 percent of oil transport demand. That’s why the Obama administration has implemented a new rule that will require U.S trucks to produce ten percent less carbon dioxide and consume ten percent less Read More...
No rooftop, no problem as solar gardens pop up in communities
Not all homes are fit for solar panels, but that isn’t stopping communities from producing their own solar energy. More and more consumers are buying into community solar farms that allow renters and apartment dwellers to access renewable energy from small plots, modestly referred to as “solar Read More...