The Optimism of Easter
"Spring is nature's way of saying 'Let's party!'" -Robin Williams BY Summers McKay For as long as I can remember, Easter has been my favorite celebration. Growing up Catholic, the holiday offered a meaningful and poignant ritual imbued with reflection, the excitement of rebirth, and a Read More...
Nocturnal solar panels: not an oxymoron
While trying to do the impossible might seem like magical thinking, in many cases, it is simply science that hasn’t broken through yet. In the case of solar panels, it might seem counterintuitive to try to use them at night. This too, though, has been proven possible. An engineering team Read More...
Paleontologists find dinosaur fossil from the day of the asteroid
Thanks to carbon dating and a number of other scientific detecting techniques, we can sometimes see moments in time and deduce exactly what happened. It’s a little like solving a crime from 66 million years ago, and, in this case, the crime was the asteroid that killed the Read More...
In New York, 500 new moms will soon get monthly stipends
Everyone needs a helping hand every now and then. We’ve all been able to live and prosper because we live and cooperate as a community, and this means giving and getting help when necessary. We go farther together. In New York City, where the cost of living is expensive, new and expecting Read More...
Germany accelerates schedule to become carbon neutral
People are more animated than ever before for green energy and calling on their governments to aim bigger. And it seems like they're listening. With increasing gas prices from the war in Ukraine and scientists' warnings about climate change, governments realize the need for a speedier change to Read More...
5 health reasons to use cold-pressed olive oil
Olive oil is one of the oldest staples of cooking, having been used for thousands of years, especially in Mediterranean diets. It’s a delicious and versatile tool to use in making our meals or in just quickly dressing a salad, and it is wonderfully healthy. Olives are very rich in nutrients. Read More...
Virtual reality therapy helps those with agoraphobia
We’ve all spent a little too long inside before, especially with the pandemic restrictions of the last couple of years, and maybe we were a little nervous to rejoin public spaces. For those with agoraphobia — an anxiety disorder where someone can feel particularly fearful in public spaces — Read More...
This chemical treatment makes plastic waste absorb CO2
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM A huge focus of research in scientific fields is to make things more efficient. This can mean simplifying designs and reducing energy consumption, or it can mean doing two things at once. In the case of researchers from Rice University, they are doing two Read More...
Locked-in individuals type quicker with this new system
For those living with locked-in syndrome, cerebral palsy, and other conditions that cause motor impairment, technology and software that enable communication have come a long way. Empowering those who can’t talk to communicate with computer interfaces has changed lives for the better, but some of Read More...
5 easy solutions from our optimist CEO
The Optimist Daily is all about solutions — those that make big impacts in the world as well as those that enhance our daily lives. As solution-seekers, news readers, and good-for-the-world-and-soul product searchers, we often have things that have made our lives better. This week, we’ll review Read More...