This device uses the dark of night to generate clean energy
The common problem with renewable energies, such as solar power, is that they cannot produce energy all the time. When the sun goes down, the solar panels stop generating energy. Energy-storing batteries are one way to get around the problem, but what if we could also produce energy at night using Read More...
What forests’ natural fire cycles can teach us about wildfire prevention
For residents in California, Greece, and Portugal, destructive wildfires have become the new normal. Exacerbated by climate change, these fires claimed more than 135 lives in California alone in 2017 and 2018. But we can learn a thing or two from these fires. In fact, looking back to nature’s own Read More...
Can iceberg-producing submarines change how we think about climate solutions?
In the mission against climate change, innovative futuristic designs are surfacing from some of the world’s brightest minds. One of these ideas was shared with us this week by an Optimist reader and appeared at an international design competition: iceberg producing submarines. The project, Read More...
Brussels is encouraging its commuters to hitchhike to work
Being one of the smallest truly global cities in Europe, it’s no surprise that Brussels is also one of the continent’s most congested ones. To help clear up traffic jams and the air pollution linked to it, the local government has recently taken on an ambitious commitment to encourage its Read More...
Bison in the Great Northern Plains are reveling in a 20,000-acre habitat expansion
Once numbering in the tens of millions, bison populations in North America dwindled to only 325 by 1884. Fortunately, forward-thinking conservationists managed to protect those remaining animals and bring them back up to the 20,000 we see roaming today. And the best thing is that number is expected Read More...
How to discover the best campsites online
Whether you want to glamp on a cliff above the ocean or sleep in a tent deep in the forest, camping helps you get away from it all. But one of the hardest parts of camping—wherever you like to be—is finding that perfect campground. The most popular campsites near metro areas or in Read More...
Why more cities are replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Chances are you went to work or school yesterday like any other Monday. In past years that wouldn't have been the case, but fewer and fewer states and cities are celebrating Columbus Day nowadays. And in many cities, Columbus Day is being replaced with Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Columbus Day, Read More...
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed just won the Nobel Peace Prize. Let’s get to know him
In 2017, Abiy Ahmed was largely an unknown figure in Ethiopia. Fast forward two years later, and Ahmed has won the Nobel Peace Prize for the peaceful political reforms he has brought on as the Prime Minister of Ethiopia. Ahmed took the reigns when the nation was in political disarray, but since Read More...
The sale of fur products will be illegal in California in 2023
California just became the first state in American to institute a statewide ban on animal fur products. Effective January 2023, the new law, which was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday, prohibits the sale and manufacture of new fur products. The ban will not apply to used fur products, fur Read More...
Nutritional research contradicts itself a lot. Here’s how to avoid confusion
You’ve been hearing for decades that it’s a good idea to cut back on red meat. But a controversial study, released last week in Annals of Internal Medicine, turned that long-standing advice on its head and started a contentious debate. It found no statistical evidence that eating less red or Read More...