Today’s Solutions: December 28, 2024

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.

Spain on track to be the first

Spain on track to be the first net carbon zero G-20 nation

Spain has been investing heavily in wind farms and, more controversially, nuclear, with stark results: last month it generated 69 percent of its electricity from plants that did not emit carbon dioxide. It has realistic prospects to reach 87 percent next year through planned investments in wind and Read More...

Germany successfully turns int

Germany successfully turns intermittent renewable power into a reliable flow

As the cost of solar panels keeps dropping and the market picks up, supported in some places by government mandates such as the Renewable Portfolio Standards in 29 states, incorporating intermittent power flow from renewables emerges as a major issue for grid operators. Until batteries come online Read More...

Is the aluminum-ion battery th

Is the aluminum-ion battery the long-awaited technology breakthrough?

Battery technology has long been lagging behind electronics and hardware. Now, can you imagine charging your phone in one minute? And knowing that not only the battery’s life expectancy will outlast your phone’s, but that it poses no fire hazard (unlike lithium-ion batteries) and no threat to Read More...

Ireland’s energy storage pla

Ireland’s energy storage plant to boost grid's reliance on wind and solar up to 75%

Wind and solar energy has a main flaw: it is unpredictable. It is controlled by the sun and the wind—which have little consideration for the fluctuations of power demand based on predictable human activity. The promise of energy storage has been all the rage of late, including Tesla’s much Read More...

Trend towards consumers’ ene

Trend towards consumers’ energy self-sufficiency is about to disrupt the utility model

Technology advances and declining costs for both rooftop solar and energy storage are the conditions for the perfect storm that will soon make utilities obsolete, according to the new report by the Rocky Mountain Institute, an influential energy policy think tank. “New customers will find Read More...

Growing a heart is becoming a

Growing a heart is becoming a possibility after medical research breakthrough

Salamanders and zebrafish have something humans can only wish for: the ability of their heart muscle cells to regenerate on demand. While those animals can regrow their injured body parts, sufferers of heart attack are left to make do with a damaged organ. Scientists in Israel and Australia Read More...

AT&T New York calls on de

AT&T New York calls on developers to create apps for people with disabilities

This July 26, on the 25th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act, people living with disabilities in New York City will most likely have something tangible to celebrate: innovative applications created by developers at the urging of AT&T in a partnership with NYU's Assistive Read More...

Germany’s Solar Village prod

Germany’s Solar Village produces four times the energy it consumes

Global investment in solar energy has been soaring while the cost of solar has been tumbling, yet we barely have scratched the surface of what’s possible. A German development of 52 homes and some commercial buildings that was built over the past decade near Freiburg, currently generated four Read More...

Attention innovators: the era

Attention innovators: the era of graphene is here

Graphene is the thinnest and strongest material known to man. The pure carbon substance is 200 times stronger than steel, harder than diamond and thin enough that an ounce could cover twenty-eight football fields. It's also transparent, more conductive than silicon, flexible like rubber and cheap Read More...

Global investment in renewable

Global investment in renewable energy grew 17% last year

Developing countries led the trend with a 36% surge at $131.3 billion, followed by China with $83.3 billion, according to a new study by the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance. Solar and wind still dominate the field, although geothermal enjoyed Read More...