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.
Blood tests with a smartphone in 15 minutes
Blood tests can take weeks to get results, and the equipment to conduct the tests costs upwards of $18,000—but that all will soon be changing. Scientists from Columbia University have invented a smart phone attachment that can be powered by any headphone jack and diagnoses HIV and syphilis in 15 Read More...
Dutch solar car wins top tech award
The winner for Best Technology Achievement at this year’s Tech Crunch Crunchies, a ceremony that awards the top tech breakthroughs that occurred over the past year, was given to a Dutch solar car called Stella. Stella is a four-seat solar car capable of travelling up to 500 miles on a single Read More...
Online community connects those in need to people with 3D printers
The implications and possibilities of 3D printers are just now being realized. Prosthetic devices are expensive, and often unavailable to those who need them most. E-Enable is a Google+ group that connects designers and engineers who have 3D printers to those who need prosthetic limbs the Read More...
Falling oil prices won’t hurt solar
Oil prices have hit rock bottom, and will continue to stay inexpensive for the foreseeable future. While many are crying foul that the fall in oil prices is the start of a doomsday clock for renewables, rest assured it isn’t. Though oil prices are tumbling, electricity prices are climbing, so Read More...
Austria bans all nuclear energy
As of the first of this year Austria is completely nuclear free. The country has no nuclear power plants and won’t source power into the country that was created at a nuclear power station. The Austrian government requires a proof of source for all energy sent into the country to guarantee it was Read More...
Virtual reality makes you more empathetic
Walking a mile in someone’s shoes is little more than a mental exercise. But what if you could literally see what someone else sees? Or hear what they hear the same way they heard it? Companies are honing in on virtual reality technology, and new form of journalism is sprouting from it. It’s Read More...
Bangladesh wants to be the first solar powered country
In Bangladesh, much like in India, houses connected to the national power grid face rolling, regular blackouts. That’s why solar power is such an appealing technology to those in developing nations—creating your own energy source eliminates national grid driven blackouts. Now the Bangladeshi Read More...
Researchers close to peanut-allergy cure
Scientists say they are one step closer to a cure for those who suffer from severe peanut allergies. A recent study took a group of 30 children and gave them a mixture of a peanut protein and a probiotic. After 18 months 80 percent of study participants reported being peanut allergy attack free. Read More...
App lets you lend your eyes to the blind
Blind people are as independent and able as any seeing person. But I could imagine there are times when it would be helpful to be able to “borrow” someone’s eyes. A new app called Be My Eyes lets you do that, not literally of course. The way it works is Be My Eyes connects blind people to Read More...
Looking for parking could be a thing of the past
Drivers waste around 70 million hours a year looking for parking. It’s not just a drag; it pollutes the environment, and wastes gas. To solve this problem Ford has come up with a way to use the sensors already embedded in many car’s bumpers, to help drivers parallel park, and use them to help Read More...