Today’s Solutions: April 18, 2024

Evergreen

Old apartment building in Germany retrofitted with Ecoworks

These prefab facades could make old buildings carbon negative

Retrofitting buildings so that they consume less energy is key to meeting current climate targets. A company in Germany is working to accelerate that process by building tailored facades with built-in insulation that can fit like a glove onto old buildings to reduce their energy use. Prefab Read More...

People with banners protest as part of a climate change march.

Globally, demonstrators gathered for the biggest scientist-led protest ever

Occasionally, drastic measures are essential to mobilize a population toward necessary progress. Civil disobedience is a proven method of affecting change, and when those disobeying are all experts in a field, we can bet that what they're saying is worth listening to. On Wednesday, April 6th, Read More...

Plastic recycling

This chemical treatment makes plastic waste absorb CO2

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 things at once in what they’re calling a Read More...

Landscape on Mars. Scenic desert scene on the red planet in a 3D space illustration.

The strange sounds of Mars have been recorded for the first time

If you’ve ever wondered what Mars sounds like, then NASA’s Perseverance rover has answers for you! The robot landed on the Red Planet in early 2021 where it has been conducting experiments and collecting samples for scientists here on Earth to analyze. We’ve previously reported on its Read More...

top view of man's torso holding plate of veggies and hummus

How healthy is hummus? Here's what the experts have to say

Hummus, a standard part of many Middle Eastern diets, is gaining popularity in the US and other countries. This is likely because many of us want to maintain a healthier diet, and hummus is seen as a healthier alternative for dips, spreads, or salad dressings.  However, before we make Read More...

young beautiful Black woman smiles and looks away against blue brick backdrop

Attract more positivity to your life with these 5 daily habits

When Tyler Beaty lost his job after nearly a decade, people often told him to “think positive.” He tried but found it did little to change his attitude. It wasn’t until Beaty took some time for deep self-evaluation and realized that many of his habits were feeding negativity into his life Read More...

Wine silos transformed into housing in Amsterdam

Architects transform old wine silos into apartments to minimize resources

Breathing new life into old things is one of the best ways we humans can reduce the number of resources extracted from the environment. A new development in Amsterdam did just that by creatively repurposing former industrial wine silos into residential buildings. Beyond reusing the obsolete silos, Read More...

the ocean cleanup vessel cleans plastic from a river

The Ocean Cleanup’s sunglasses fund even more cleanup missions

We at The Optimist Daily have been following The Ocean Cleanup project since its first plastic-capturing voyage back in 2019. From that point forward, we’ve enjoyed reporting its progress, from removing plastic debris from rivers to eventually becoming the largest trash-collecting system of our Read More...

young beautiful Black woman sits on bed with a cup of tea

This 3-day routine will give your gut a proper cleansing

In both ancient Ayurveda and modern medicine, the importance of gut health as a staple of our physical and mental health has never been clearer. If you want to give your gut a reboot so that it can work optimally for you, here is a routine you can follow that will give your gut a good cleanse. Read More...

Representation of drug discovery process in laboratories, pink and blue liquid on top of chemical structures next to petri dish of multi-colored pills.

Scientists create "game-changing" synthetic antibiotics

Antibiotic resistant bacteria have been looming over humans for decades, with a predicted 10 million deaths in 2050 if we don't find a solution. There are multiple methods being tested to fight drug resistant bacteria such as bacteriophage therapy and antivitamins. A pioneering approach  A new Read More...