June 18, 2021
Today we're commemorating the designation of Juneteenth as a federal holiday with some ideas on how you can celebrate the day. Listen to The Optimist Daily Update with Summers & Kristy - Making Solutions the Read More...
June 18, 2021
Today we're commemorating the designation of Juneteenth as a federal holiday with some ideas on how you can celebrate the day. Listen to The Optimist Daily Update with Summers & Kristy - Making Solutions the Read More...
Paris’ outdoor pandemic dining is here to stay
After over a year of dining outdoors, many people have come to love the experience of enjoying a meal in what would otherwise be a busy street or parking lane. Closed streets and dining terraces have made our cities more human-friendly and in the city of lights, the change is here to Read More...
WomBot is helping scientists explore wombat burrows in Australia
Wombat burrows in Australia can be 10 to 100 feet long and 11.5 feet deep. This makes it quite challenging for scientists to gain a full understanding of how a deadly disease affecting wombats spreads through these complex tunnels. To overcome this hurdle, robotics researchers at La Trobe Read More...
This 71-year-old Mexican man builds solar stoves made from reused materials
If you walk near Mexico City’s primary wholesale food market, Central Abasto de Ecatepec, you’re likely to run into 71-year-old Maximino Antonio Piedad, who’s often there demonstrating his homemade solar cooker built out of reused materials. His aim is to support people who have limited Read More...
How to shop for sustainable jewelry
Jewelry offers us an opportunity to express ourselves and makes a great gift for a loved one, but unfortunately, jewelry can have a negative impact on the planet and the people who produce it. So how can you ensure your jewelry is sustainable? Today we bring you a guide to help narrow in on jewelry Read More...
Ancient "mini-Pompeii" discovered beneath abandoned Italian cinema
During an excavation of a former cinema in the northern Italian city of Verona, the renovation team made a valuable and surprising discovery. Beneath the abandoned Astra Teatro, which is currently undergoing renovation after lying unused for more than two decades, was the hiding place of an Read More...
This innovative plant proves that polystyrene isn't impossible to recycle after all
Did you know that styrene naturally occurs in foods like strawberries and cinnamon? It’s only when it’s combined with other chemicals to create packaging and foam insulation to protect fragile items in transit does it become polystyrene — that white, staticky, and virtually Read More...
Somerset House welcomes trees into its courtyard for the first time
London’s acclaimed Somerset House was designed based on the principles of the Enlightenment and has maintained that aesthetic ever since — until now. Traditionally, trees and anything with leaves was forbidden in the Somerset House courtyard based on the building’s founding principles. Read More...
Juneteenth is now a federal holiday in the US
Story Update: Since this story was written, the bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday has been signed into law. Tomorrow is Juneteenth, the holiday commemorating the official end of slavery in the United States, and this year, the holiday is closer than ever to becoming a federal holiday. Read More...