The world’s biggest insect factory farm is under construction in France
In a bid to lower the carbon footprint of the agricultural sector, a French insect farming startup by the name of Ÿnsect is building the world’s largest insect farm in Amiens, a small city north of Paris. As reported by TechCrunch, the facility will focus on raising mealworm beetles — Read More...
Volunteers rescue at least 120 beached whales in Sri Lanka
A disaster was in the making on Monday when at least 120 short-finned pilot whales came ashore in Sri Lanka and wound up being stranded. It was the biggest mass stranding in the country’s history, but fortunately, Sri Lanka’s navy and local volunteers were able to save all but four of the pilot Read More...
4 ways to infuse more creativity into your daily life
From increased happiness and reduced stress to boosting your immune system and protecting against dementia, expressing your creativity has been found to have incredible benefits for your health. If you lead a busy life, you might find you have little room in your schedule for creative activities. Read More...
Feeling down? Here are 3 science-backed ways to feel better now
When we find ourselves in a bad mood, we can either simmer in those negative feelings or choose to do something about them. The Optimist Daily is a fan of the latter option, which is why we want to share with you a few methods for immediate mood management that scientists have proven to be Read More...
To stop biodiversity loss, we must return half of the planet to nature
This will be a hard pill for nature lovers to swallow, but a recent report from the United Nations revealed that the Earth has lost 68 percent of species since 1970. This a huge problem for both wildlife and humans. Without a diverse range of animals and the lands they inhabit, humanity is poised Read More...
Sarah McBride just became America’s first transgender state senator
History was made on Election Day after voters in Delaware elected the first transgender state senator in American history. On Tuesday, Democrat Sarah McBride defeated Republic Steve Washington to win a seat that became open following the retirement of the longest-serving legislator in Delaware Read More...
Cooking tip: How to remove toxins from rice but keep the nutrients
Rice is nice, but the problem with this widely-consumed food is that it’s very high in arsenic compared to most other foods. In fact, rice absorbs nearly 10 times as much toxic inorganic arsenic as other cereal crops. That’s because rice is grown in flooded rice fields, making it easy for the Read More...
Oregon becomes first state to legalize access to magic mushrooms
Back in July, we informed our readers that Oregon would officially vote on legalizing psychedelic psilocybin therapy. Fast forward to today, and the results of that vote are in: adults in Oregon can now legally access hallucinogenic mushrooms. This is a big deal. The Optimist Daily has long been Read More...
This girl juggled a soccer ball over a million times for essential workers
Back in April, we wrote about Captain Tom Moore and his quest to raise money for NHS charities in the UK by walking laps around his backyard. The 99-year old’s goal was to raise £1,000 ($1,300) by walking 100 laps before his 100th birthday at the end of the month but wound up raising over £32 Read More...
Scientists develop AI that detects Covid-19 by listening to your coughs
MIT scientists have developed AI that can detect Covid-19 by listening to a person force out a cough, even if that person is otherwise asymptomatic. To make this possible, the scientists developed neural networks that can distinguish subtle changes indicative of the novel coronavirus’ effects. Read More...