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.
Composing a smellscape: how your brain interprets scents
Scent is the sense most commonly associated with memory. We all have a great, or a gross, smell that brings us right back to childhood and all the feelings that come with it. How does that happen, though? How does the brain interpret smells and link them to good, bad, or nuanced feelings? A Read More...
This test predicts blood cancer relapses in 10 seconds
It's a good thing that the field of cancer research has so many minds hard at work, inventing ingenious methods of diagnosis, prevention, and treatment, such as non-invasive MINIMA therapy using MRI scanners, or mRNA vaccines that can carry out targeted cancer therapy. Researchers from Read More...
Simple UV-LED lights could be used to kill coronavirus and HIV
The Optimist Daily has reported on a number of inventions that use ultraviolet (UV) microorganisms' radiation as a sanitation tool, like this door handle or this mask decontamination machine. It seems lighting may be the future solution to quickly and safely zap away harmful microorganisms. A Read More...
How do you fix seasonal allergies? These 8 foods are a good start
Just like allergies keep coming back every year, The Optimist Daily comes back to write more on how you can handle them. There are a lot of tricks to getting ahead of your allergies or remedies for a stuffy nose, and you can even fight allergies as easily as settling in and cooking a good Read More...
The chemical compound of love: oxytocin turns lions into kittens
Love’s effect can sometimes be mystifying. A tender embrace from a friend or the adoring eyes of a pet can bring us back from anger or sadness at almost any time. Affection soothes the beast inside all of us, and it can even be tracked scientifically. What we feel when we experience love is Read More...
Is this the age of "digital drugs?"
A lot of us love a change in perspective. Whether that’s an adrenaline surge from risky behavior or someone taking a trip with magic mushrooms to explore their deeper selves, people are always coming up with new ways to shift their state of mind. The latest trend in mind-shifting isn't in taking Read More...
For the first time ever, scientists sequence entire human genome
Sequencing the entirety of the human genome is an enormous undertaking that would drastically improve our understanding of ourselves, especially regarding disease and evolution. More than two decades ago, the Human Genome Project began to unravel the mysteries of the human genome, publishing its Read More...
Archaeologists examine ancient Egyptian tomb by smells
If you were asked to smell inside a sarcophagus, do you think you’d be excited? After a recent discovery in Egypt, though, more archaeologists certainly are excited and turning to smell as a viable tool to learn more about the past from what survived into the present. Tomb of the architect and Read More...
Hubble Telescope spots farthest star ever recorded
We've set a new benchmark in the world of stars: the farthest individual star ever seen to date. This one has a predicted mass at least 50 times that of our Sun and is millions of times brighter, plus, was created within the first billion years of the Big Bang. This may seem like a long time after Read More...
"Invisible" UV bull's-eye is vital in attracting pollinators to flowers
Here at The Optimist Daily, we hold a special tenderness in our hearts for our planet's pollinators. Mini-beasts, like bees and butterflies, have the integral role of spreading pollen from plant-to-plant facilitating their reproduction. In return, the plants provide the insects with the delicious Read More...