English lawmakers want to require all new homes to install electric car chargers
How do you motivate people to start driving electric cars? According to English lawmakers, one way could be to install electric chargers in all new homes. New draft legislation has just been released in the UK that would require every new home to include a built-in electric car charging port. If Read More...
China is now building the world’s largest waste-to-energy plant
On the outskirts of the city of Shenzhen in China, a mammoth structure is being constructed. But this is not just another giant building in China. Instead, it’s set to be the largest waste-to-energy plant the world has ever seen. With a population of 20 million people, the city produces a lot Read More...
“To Infinity and Beyond” - The Power of Imagination
Science Fiction, Otherworldly Aspirations & Innovative Teamwork By Kristy Jansen July 20, 2019 was the 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s first small step on another world, and humanity’s symbolic “giant leap” into the future. In the intervening decades, we have learned how to Read More...
Holy cow! Rotterdam is now home to the world’s first floating dairy farm
In 2018, we wrote about a Dutch firm that was planning to create a floating dairy farm that sits on the Maas river in Rotterdam. Well, now it’s actually here: a floating dairy farm where sustainably-sourced milk and dairy products are produced for locals. While the ethics of hosting a bunch of Read More...
Low-income students to get free education at University of Texas-Austin in 2020
Beyond student debts, there’s a massive problem with charging university students up to $65,000 for a year’s worth of college education: by doing so, you exclude talented students from the lower end of the economic spectrum. And while the US is still a long, long distance away from matching the Read More...
Interpol just rescued thousands of animals following global sting operation
A sting operation like none other took place this week as global police and customs officials cracked down on the biggest wildlife trafficking ring the world has ever seen. The giant environmental crime operation involved 109 countries and resulted in nearly 2,000 seizures of protected wildlife, Read More...
Scientists have discovered a way to spot faulty bridges using satellites
On August 14, 2018, a section of the Morandi Bridge that linked the Sampierdarena and Cornigliano districts in Genoa, Italy, collapsed during a torrential rainstorm, sending about 35 cars and three trucks down into the Polcevera river. The cause of the collapse isn't entirely clear, but it appears Read More...
It’s not chicken. It’s a pea-based chicken alternative with an odd backstory
The development of plant-based meat has been quite fascinating to watch for those of us here at the Optimist Daily. Just a couple years ago meat alternatives such as Tofurkey were almost a joke and certainly not in the mainstream. These days it seems there’s a new plant-based meat alternative on Read More...
Elephant and rhino populations rebound in Tanzania after crackdown on poaching
Iconic African animals including elephants and rhinos have long been targeted by organized criminal networks that are feeding an insatiable demand for ivory and rhino horn in Asian countries. But strategic anti-poaching government action may just be key to tackling the problem. In Tanzania, for Read More...
Solar panels are helping Indian farmers irrigate their crops
Hundreds of millions of people in India depend on farming for their livelihoods, but widespread droughts in recent years mean they often struggle to find enough water for their fields. Right now, rural farmers have to rely on diesel pumps to access groundwater for irrigation, but many of them Read More...