Environment
Need some good news about the environment? The Optimist Daily is your go-to herald of positive environmental news, highlighting eco-friendly solutions and scientific progress around climate action, circularity, conservation, and more. Learn about everything eco in our Environment section.
This Chicago project raises the bar for sustainable urban development
With city populations expected to increase dramatically in the coming decades, it is essential that we take up a model for low-carbon development that promotes a thriving and sustainable future for urban communities. A recent development proposal in downtown Chicago is the embodiment of such a Read More...
This unusual greenhouse in France is growing insects instead of vegetables
Though it may look like a normal hothouse that grows vegetables, the Savéol experimental greenhouse in Brittany boasts a very different kind of crop — insects. The goal? To breed plant-friendly invertebrates that can enable farmers to produce pesticide-free tomatoes. From bumblebees to wasps Read More...
Placing turbines behind hills may help improve wind power efficiency
Finding ways to increase the efficiency of windmills has been on scientists’ innovation agenda for some time. While some innovators are working on radically different designs to achieve that goal, a recent study yields a rather unexpected finding — placing wind turbines behind hills could Read More...
AI system is spotting California wildfires as soon as they start
With a historic drought deepening across the Western United States, many residents, officials, and first responders are nervously awaiting an inevitable severe wildfire season. When it comes to wildfire, quick detection is key and even a few minutes can make the difference between homes saved and Read More...
Researchers identify lightning as huge source of air-purifying chemicals
Lightning is an incredible display of the power of nature, but a new study shows this natural phenomenon has more benefits for our world than previously thought. Researchers from Penn State University analyzed atmospheric measurements from a NASA jet and found that lightning appears to be an 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...
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...
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...