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.
Electricity-generating speed bumps can power traffic lights on India's streets
Turning heavy traffic in Indian cities into a renewable source of energy to power traffic lights and street lights: that's what eight engineering students in the state of Ahmedabad have done. They came up with small speed bumps that can generate electricity through electro-spinning wheels. They Read More...
Competitive rates lead Texas city to commit to 100% renewables
Georgetown, a community of about 50,000 people some 25 miles north of Austin, Texas, has created quite a shockwave with the announcement that it will soon be powered by 100% renewable energy. The city utility company, which acts as a local monopoly, finalized a deal with giant solar energy company Read More...
In San Diego, electric cars tested as power storage units to improve renewable energy's reliability
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) launched a 10-month program to test the integration of electrical vehicles (EV) in its power grid in order to improve efficiencies. With 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles forecast on the roads of California by 2025, according to the state’s Zero-Emission Read More...
California uses more solar than all other states combined
California now sources close to 30% of its power from renewables. Last year, solar alone jumped for 1.9% to 5% of the Golden State’s total generation. With just 23 megawatts short of cracking the 10 gigawatts barrier, California has more installed solar capacity than all other states Read More...
Sweden imports garbage for power, helps Europe dispose of its waste
The world-leading nation in garbage-fueled energy is now importing garbage to feed the network of district-power plants that provide electricity for more than half of Swedish households. Sweden has reduced its landfill-bound garbage to less than 1% of the waste it produces, after burning 52% of it Read More...
Fighting fire with sound in a thirsty world
Two students of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, have developed a handheld fire extinguisher that uses low-frequency sound waves. The technology is based on the ability of sound waves to displace oxygen through physical space. Starve flames of their favorite fuel and you can Read More...
The Internet of Things soon to create your local power grid from decentralized solar and wind
Imagine linking up solar panels, wind turbines and energy storage units of a local area so that they communicate and work together as a standalone microgrid. They can also communicate with the main centralized grid so as to harmonize with it. Imagine now a multitude of these microgrids, and you get Read More...
Solid state electrolyte batteries, a leap in the quest for long-lasting battery life
It has been a long quest, but the new battery technology that can outperform by 100% the typical ion lithium batteries in your laptop, tablet and smartphone, is here. Solid state electrolyte batteries have been developed by several labs including Sakti3, a start-up which recently received a Read More...
Beijing moves beyond coal to fight pollution
The fourth and last remaining major coal power plant fueling the Chinese capital's electric grid will be closed in 2016 and be replaced by a natural gas facility. The first one was closed last year, followed by two more last week. Analysts expect the move will mean cutting annual carbon emissions Read More...
Communicating with loved ones is the Internet #1 killer-app
For 86% of internet users in 32 developing and emerging countries, contacting friends and family is the main reason to go online, according to a new survey by Pew Research Center. Over half of the thousands of people polled for the survey mentioned seeking information and news as another important Read More...