Why we need to eliminate natural gas from cities now
After a massive gas explosion destroyed homes in Baltimore, the city announced plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to make repairs on the city’s aging natural gas infrastructure. But perhaps making repairs is the wrong plan entirely. Instead, the city could use this as an opportunity Read More...
How to stop Covid-19 from spreading through the air indoors
Shelly Miller is a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. Much of her work is focused on how to control the transmission of airborne infectious diseases indoors, making her just the person to ask for advice when it comes to stopping the spread of Covid-19 Read More...
New technique allows scientists to track space junk in orbit
Millions of pieces of space junk — everything from decommissioned satellites to broken pieces of rockets — are zipping around in Earth's orbit right now. This debris is moving nearly 10 times faster than a bullet, and a collision with a piece as small as one centimeter could cause major Read More...
Looking for a new job? Here’s how to tell if it’s a good fit
The pandemic has disrupted the workplace for many of us. Whether you were let go from your job or just given the perspective to look for a new position, here are 4 tips to finding a job that’s the right fit for you. Look at the company’s values. The core values of any company will Read More...
Why you should take your new houseplant out of its plastic pot ASAP
When you purchase a new houseplant, chances are it will come in a plastic pot. Your first order of business should be to transfer the plant from its plastic home into a bigger, more decorative container. And while it’s alright to keep the plant in a plastic pot for a little while, the best thing Read More...
A wildlife reserve in Kenya is witnessing a baby elephant boom
Despite the tumultuous state of the world in the past seven months, it has been a good year so far for Kenya’s elephant population, which has been experiencing a celebratory baby boom in one of the country’s wildlife reserves. Since the start of the pandemic earlier this year, Amboseli Read More...
Thought Leader Series: Damon Gameau and the world in 2040
If it was up to you, what would our world look like in 2040? Would there be more trees? More sustainable development? Less meat-eating? This is the exact question Damon Gameau set out to answer in making his film 2040. Inspired by his young daughter, Velvet, he set out to scour the globe for Read More...
These solar-powered fridges are reducing food waste and hunger in Nigeria
Food waste is a huge problem all around the world, but the causes of spoilage are different depending on the region. In many developing countries like Nigeria, the primary cause of waste is not inefficient purchasing and cooking habits, but inadequate storage facilities to keep food fresh. When Read More...
Scientists have turned the humble brick into a battery
This may sound crazy, but scientists have actually managed to turn the humble brick into a battery that can store electricity. Now you might be asking yourself: how is this possible? Well, the new technology exploits the porous nature of fired red bricks by filling the pores with tiny nanofibers Read More...
August 13, 2020
The Optimist Daily Update with Summers McKay & Kristy Jansen - Your weekday update from The Optimist Daily featuring discussions of our top positive news solutions from independent, reader-funded, journalists. Need some closet clean out motivation and want to learn about a new tool for low-cost Read More...