One million UK smokers have kicked the habit during the pandemic
Earlier in May, we wrote about how COVID-19 has pushed 300,000 people in the UK to quit smoking over health concerns. Now, that number has more than tripled, with figures suggesting that 1 million people in Britain have given up the habit since the pandemic hit in March. The data comes from a Read More...
COVID-19: How Orthodox Jews became America’s biggest donors of blood plasma
One Saturday in mid-April, a group of Orthodox Jewish leaders held a conference call with a Minnesota doctor as they grappled with spiking coronavirus cases in their New York area communities. Dr. Michael Joyner of the Mayo Clinic is leading a nationwide study on the use of blood plasma to treat Read More...
MIT creates robot that uses UVC light to disinfect warehouses
We need to keep shared spaces free of coronavirus and other pathogens, but sending people into these spaces to clean exposes them to the possibility of getting sick. Researchers at MIT might just have the solution that can keep everyone safe: a UVC light-equipped robot. UVC light is capable of Read More...
COVID-19: Study finds lockdowns saved millions of lives in Europe
The coronavirus has taken hundreds of thousands of lives, but we can now see in hindsight that the death toll could have been a whole lot worse. According to a team of researchers at Imperial College London, lockdowns have saved more than three million lives from coronavirus. With that being Read More...
More than 200 business leaders urge UK government for a green recovery
From cities devoid of air pollution to flourishing wildlife, the pandemic has shown what the world can look like if we take timely action against the climate crisis. But if we are to achieve a meaningful impact in solving this urgent global challenge, it is paramount that we have the business world Read More...
Earth School aims to keep kids connected to nature while stuck at home
With 1.5 billion children out of school right now, due to the coronavirus pandemic, many parents are scrambling to figure out how to continue their education. Some schools have provided guidance, but it's nowhere near what children usually receive in classrooms. And the Internet is so full of Read More...
“The Garden City” is distributing free vegetable seedlings to those in need
Blessed with a mild Pacific coast weather, the city of Victoria, British Columbia, is known for its stunning flower gardens that are colored with magnificent blooms almost all year round; hence its nickname “The Garden City”, or the flower capital of Canada. This year, however, the city has Read More...
Architects design sustainable housing for changing lifestyles post COVID-19
Remote work may become a permanent way of life for many after the coronavirus crisis ends, with some companies already giving their employees the option to work from home forever. In response to how COVID-19 continues to reshape our lives, Paris-based architecture firm Studio BELEM has proposed Read More...
Engineers have designed a filter that could make N95 masks safe to reuse
Due to a worldwide shortage of medical masks, especially the N95 ones, healthcare workers around the world have been caring for COVID-19 patients without adequate supplies, and reusing masks that were designed to be disposable. In a bid to come up with a quick and viable solution to this problem, a Read More...
Engineers create UV-light machine that decontaminates 600 N95 masks an hour
During the coronavirus pandemic, the Optimist Daily has been dedicated to sharing solutions and the stories of human ingenuity behind them. Most recently, we wrote about an all-girl robotics team in Afghanistan that is working quickly to make ventilators using old car parts. Today, we bring you a Read More...