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.
3 record-setting projects that prove how powerful solar energy really is
When the right technology is used, solar energy can do far more than make your dashboard toy nod its head. It can power homes, businesses and, as these 3 record-setting examples illustrate, help us make our way around the globe. Click on the solar-powered innovations below to find out just how Read More...
UNEP: Export of solar energy could earn Ghana $38 million yearly
This is not a big news story. Yet, behind the story is an important emerging trend. Renewable energy can shake up the balance of power in the world. Many developing countries have plenty of sun which they can harvest and export energy to rich countries. Ten days ago we wrote in The Optimist Daily Read More...
Google partners with Fiat Chrysler to develop self-driving cars
For the first time, Google is working together directly with an automaker to integrate its self-driving system, including its sensors and software, into a passenger vehicle. Google and Fiat Chrysler announced that they will build a fleet of 100 self-driving minivans in the most advanced Read More...
The Self-Driving Car of the Future Comes With … a Bookshelf
One of the most exciting things about the coming age of autonomous driving is all the ways it will free designers from constraints like forward-facing seats, a steering wheel, and the need to pay attention. Connected car company Harman and automotive design firm Rinspeed explore this new freedom in Read More...
Want a brain that's 7 years younger? Science says do this
If you want to feel younger, there's no substitute for healthy living and hitting the gym (though a flattering haircut and a fun night out can't hurt). But what if you want to think younger? Our brains are remarkably resilient, even growing new brain cells deep into adulthood, but even this Read More...
Ditch the bus: Self-driving electric golf carts are ferrying students on university campuses
Google guesses it will be 30 years or more before truly autonomous vehicles can drive anywhere on public roads. Shortening that timeline means improving the technology, or simplifying the environment. Auro Robotics is choosing the latter. The three-year-old startup is starting to deploy autonomous Read More...
Smart grid uses blockchain to record transactions in its sustainable energy network
Rapid change happens when new technologies “marry”. When the telephone and the computer wedded, the Internet was born. Now, an interesting marriage emerges between microgrids, providing sustainable, renewable energy and the blockchain, the bitcoin technology to record transactions. Read More...
Ford plans long-range electric car to compete with Tesla, GM
Ford Motor Co. plans to introduce a long-range electric vehicle to compete with battery-powered models coming from Tesla Motors Inc. and General Motors Co. that would go 200 miles or more on a charge. “Our approach, very simply, is we want to make sure that we’re either among the Read More...
The transcendental revelations of astronauts
Astronaut Kjell Lindgren spent close to five months on the International Space Station last year serving as a NASA flight engineer and mission specialist. He still remembers the first time he saw the Earth from space. "I saw this really bright white light coming through the small windows of the Read More...
Natural gas increasingly becoming an unnecessary bridge to nowhere
Setting a new lopsided quarterly record, renewable sources (i.e., wind, solar, biomass and hydropower) outpaced—in fact, swamped—natural gas by a factor of more than 70:1 for new electrical generating capacity placed in-service during the first three months of calendar year 2016. Read More...