August 5, 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. Kristy reminds us that coffee, fruit, and moving your body are keys to success so today Read More...
AI system knows when to make a medical diagnosis or defer to a human
While artificial intelligence can be used to detect many types of cancer, figuring out when to rely on experts versus the algorithms of AI is still tricky. It’s not simply a matter of who is “better” at making a diagnosis or prediction. Factors like how much time medical professionals have Read More...
Wildlife forensics: Inside the quest to save pangolins from poachers
Pangolins are thought to be the most trafficked animal in the world, and yet, we know relatively little about them. We know the pangolin, which is the only scaly mammal in the world, has a body covered with razor-sharp, overlapping keratin plates. When attacked, it rolls into an armored ball with Read More...
Eat these foods to boost your skin’s natural sun defense
When it comes to protecting your skin from the sun, diet plays a bigger role than you might think. Of course, minimizing your exposure to UV rays, a proven carcinogen, is a wise idea, especially considering that skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. Yet by chomping on plants, Read More...
Platform allows users get cheaper solar power by skipping the energy grid
One of the benefits of a decentralized energy system - where energy is provided by multiple, local suppliers - is that it can offer more competitive prices compared to the traditional, centralized grid. And in the case of solar power, people with solar panels on their rooftops can sell their excess Read More...
Group therapy helps people in prison part ways with cigarettes
People who are incarcerated in American prisons smoke cigarettes and use other tobacco products at disproportionately higher rates than the general adult population, which can be attributed to behavioral health conditions and mental health symptoms. Inmates likely use tobacco products to cope with Read More...
Deepak Chopra: This is how to set your intentions
Intentions have an incredible ability to shape the way we live our lives. In fact, according to ancient Indian wisdom, our destinies are ultimately shaped by our deepest intentions and desires. To better understand their role and how they are formed, Deepak Chopra makes the beautiful analogy Read More...
Pittsburgh launches ‘guaranteed income’ program with Jack Dorsey donation
Last week, we wrote about “guaranteed income” and the support it's getting from mayors across America, who formed a network called Mayors for a Guaranteed Income. That group was launched by Stockton, Calif. Mayor Michael Tubbs, who launched his own guaranteed income program in 2018. But Read More...
Befriend your inner critic with this visualization exercise
Although we all have an inner critic, it is our relationship with that inner critic that can either help or hinder confidence. As Psychotherapist Bryan Robinson writes, the Critic’s job is to point out your failures. You can’t get rid of the Critic, but you can develop a relationship with it. Read More...
America now has a stretch of highway paved with recycled plastic
A newly repaved stretch of highway in Oroville, California, looks like an ordinary road. But it’s the first highway in the country to be paved in part with recycled plastic—the equivalent of roughly 150,000 plastic bottles per mile of the three-lane road. The change in materials makes the Read More...