Instead of ignoring sea level rise, this Brooklyn development embraces it
If you walk down Metropolitan Avenue, a street that stretches across North Brooklyn, you’ll eventually reach a dead end: a chain-link fence blocks off access to the waterfront on the East River. But vacant land behind the fence could soon be transformed into a new park that brings green space to Read More...
How to maintain friendships when you’re awfully busy
When work or life, in general, have you bogged down, it can feel really difficult to find time to hang out with your friends. But that doesn’t mean you should let your friendships fall to the wayside. Even if you’re busy, there are ways to preserve your friendships so that you can enjoy them Read More...
NASA has created a map that shows where ‘water ice’ is located on Mars
When there are so many problems that need to be taken care of on planet Earth, it can seem like a waste of resources to be searching for life beyond our planet. Regardless, the search continues, and we at the Optimist Daily feel a bit obliged to give the positive updates that come from this Read More...
This rare Brazilian bird has returned to the Amazon after 3 decade absence
For an environmentalist, few things are as satisfying as when carefully planned conservation works out as intended. In Brazil, a special bird called the Alagoas curassow is now back in the jungle after three decades of being preserved in a scientific-breeding facility in the state of Rio de Read More...
The Ocean Cleanup device has returned with its first load of plastic
After months of research, failures, and reconfigurations, and weeks spent at sea traveling to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and back, The Ocean Cleanup’s device—a 2,000 foot-long floating tube that skims the surface of the water to catch plastic trash—has returned to shore. And with it, Read More...
The ocean is taking center stage at this year’s UN climate summit
On the opening day of this year’s United Nations climate summit or COP25, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres delivered a gut punch: “We are knowingly destroying the very support systems keeping us alive.” One of those vital systems is the world’s oceans, which generate at least 50% Read More...
Why you should teach your kids to cook this holiday season
Whether you find cooking to be a beautiful art or a messy ordeal, you have every reason to teach your kids how to cook if you’re a parent. With the holidays coming and kids getting time off from school, now is the perfect time to teach your little one(s) how to be a chef. It’s been said that Read More...
The earliest known cave art by modern humans has been found in Indonesia
It’s profound how one historical discovery can completely change our view of the past. Recently in Indonesia, archaeologists made a discovery that did just that. What the archaeologists discovered was cave art depicting human-animal hybrid figures hunting warty pigs and dwarf buffaloes. Read More...
Plant-based food brands agree on labeling standards to fend off meat industry
What do you call a burger that isn’t made of meat? If it were up to meat industry groups, the name would not have a mention of “meat” anywhere in it. In Missouri and Arkansas, legislators have actually fought the term “plant-based meat” by passing laws that prohibit them from being Read More...
Wow: Traffic jam sculpture on Miami Beach provokes thoughts on climate change
When facts and figures can’t deliver the urgent climate change message, art can serve as a vital vehicle to get the message across. Speaking of vehicles, Argentinian conceptual artist Leandro Erlich unveiled a provocative art installation featuring more than 60 “vehicles” made of sand that Read More...