Ancient humans wandered Ethiopia long before previously predicted
Out of Africa One of the most prevalent questions in the human psyche is “where did we come from?”. People have different evolutionary theories about the exact movements and locations of early Homo sapiens, though it is widely accepted that Africa was our species' birthplace. Numerous Read More...
Study: laughter is common among more than 65 species of animals
While laughter may seem like a trait exclusive to human behavior, nothing could be further from the truth. That’s at least according to a recent study which has found that the phenomenon of laughter is actually quite common in the animal kingdom too. Can animals laugh? Conducted by scientists Read More...
Key ingredient in cat litter could help reduce methane emissions
In recent years, carbon capture technologies have started playing an increasingly important role in our global quest to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere. Now, researchers at MIT have started working on solving another problem — removing methane, a greenhouse gas that’s 80 Read More...
How to use your procrastination tendencies to make an effective to-do list
There are many ways to beat procrastination, but the easiest way to get things done is to make a to-do list that works with your natural tendencies. Don’t know where to start? Here are 5 ideas to consider. Cut the to-do list down For starters, figure out what to eliminate or automate. If Read More...
NHS app helps UK families curb the record rise in childhood obesity
Since the beginning of the pandemic, surveys show that parents in the UK have been allowing their children to snack on more unhealthy food, which likely contributes to the record rise in obesity among 10- to 11-year-olds across the nation. Other factors include lockdowns, school closures, and Read More...
Empowered activism is cultivating a marketable skill - A dispatch from Colombia
“Part of doing something is listening. We are listening. To the sun. To the stars. To the wind.” – Madeleine L’Engle By Jackie Gilbert We all catch ourselves making remarks like “I’m starving” or “we’re dying of hunger”, but fortunately for most of us in my middle-class Read More...
China’s “artificial sun” fusion reactor breaks yet another record
The Chinese Academy of Sciences has exciting news about its fusion reactor that it recently shared in a release. The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) fusion reactor successfully sustained a plasma temperature of 120 million degrees Celsius for 1,056 seconds, effectively Read More...
Ocean Battery could help solve the renewable energy storage problem
The lack of adequate energy storage systems is one of the biggest problems associated with the rise of renewables such as wind and solar in recent years. In an effort to provide a solution, a Dutch startup has invented the Ocean Battery — an energy storage system that operates by the same Read More...
Book Excerpt: ‘The Sleep Fix: Practical, Proven, and Surprising Solutions for Insomnia, Snoring, Shift Work, and More’
“Sometimes finding just one place to start, one thread to pull on, can shift the momentum in the other direction—sleep improvement leads to more sleep improvement.” -Diane Macedo In today’s Optimist View, we’re delighted to share an excerpt from ‘The Sleep Fix,’ the newest book from Read More...
Mapping out the Milky Way’s snacks gives clues into dark matter
In our galaxy’s galactic halo, there are 12 streams of stars orbiting. These burning balls of gas are actually being torn apart and their energy is absorbed into the Milky Way. In other words, they are the galaxy’s food source. Using the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT), a team has finally got Read More...