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.
Now opening: The neighborhood for testing driverless cars
Mcity is a cool lab to test self-driving cars in a neighborhood all their own. It’s a 32-acre simulated town with streets, intersections, traffic signs, buildings, and sidewalks, opened yesterday at the University of Michigan. Mcity also has robotic human dummies, designed to anticipate all Read More...
Australian energy giants say going off-grid is viable, sometimes even preferable
While Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott is raising eyebrows all over the world by insisting that coal is "good for humanity," a report from down under shows a different picture. A recent study has confirmed that "off-grid" distributed energy supply is a viable option for some regional and Read More...
The zero carbon house that couldn't
And here's another one where technology beats politics. In the UK, the Minister of Finance had infamously said homes need not be "zero carbon" as they were deemed too expensive. However, designers at the Cardiff University in Wales have now built a house that exports more power to the grid than it Read More...
Get ready for the ultimate slow space tourism experience
Space travel doesn't need to involve a rocket. All you need is a balloon. Get ready for the first tourist operators offering to take you to the stratosphere, sooner than you think. Just like the first photos from the Earth, taken from outer space, created a consciousness to take care of our planet, Read More...
Yeloha: Go solar on someone else’s roof
If you can turn your home into a hotel through renting it (Airbnb), you should be able to rent your energy generation capacity as well. What if you want to power your home with solar energy but your house catches mostly shade? You might work out a relationship with someone else who has solar, using Read More...
Why Japanese golf courses are turned into solar energy farms
Japan is known for its expensive, upper-crust golf clubs. But golf participation is down more than 40 percent from its high in the early 1990s. Now, the country is facing a severe over-development of golf courses. One solution: turning them into solar power plants. And so the multinational Kyocera Read More...
Self-driving cars won’t violate traffic rules; that’s a problem for cities
We have written before that the self-driven electric car will deeply transform transportation as we know it. But there are interesting side-effects that will not be good for everyone. Think about cities and states that depend on traffic fines for their revenue. Once the car is in charge, it’s a Read More...
Solar powered family car generates more energy than it uses
Now this is a car. It’s powered by solar energy only and still manages to seat four people while generating more energy over the course of a year than it uses to drive. Top speed: 125 km/h (77 mph). Range in its cloudy country of origin, the Netherlands: 1,000 km (621 miles). In sunny places: Read More...
Wind power generates 140% of Denmark's demand
It is sometimes said that wind energy can't produce all the energy required. But late last week, on an unusually windy evening, Denmark produced 116% of its national electricity needs from wind turbines alone. By 3 amonFriday, when electricity demand dropped, that figure had risen to 140%. The Read More...
Facebook's newest data center to run on wind energy
Your social media use has a carbon footprint, too. Numerous servers in a steadily growing number of gigantic buildings called data centers require electricity to keep us all connected with others and, ideally, liked by them. So it's good news that Facebook's newest data center, in Fort Worth, Read More...