Health
Finding good health news amidst a pandemic can be quite daunting. That’s not the case with The Optimist Daily, where positive news is in high supply. Our Health section covers the latest good news from the health sector, featuring solutions ranging from mental and physical health to immunity, nutrition, and cutting edge medical research.
Covid-19 detecting robot quickly scans wastewater for viral traces
Detecting Covid-19 outbreaks as soon as they emerge helps governments enact preventative spread measures and reduce the severity of the surge. Using wastewater as an early detection tool, a team of researchers from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) has developed a sewage-handling robot Read More...
Move for Hunger makes it easy to donate unwanted food when you move
Adam Lowy grew up working for his family’s moving company and noticed that a large amount of food, including nonperishables, gets left behind and thrown away during the process. Lowy saw this as an opportunity to boost moving efficiency while reducing food waste and in 2009, he launched Move for Read More...
Plants could soon communicate with farmers to improve food security
We recently wrote about how researchers at MIT were teaching spinach plants to send emails. Now, scientists from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore are developing technology that allows for further communication between plants and humans. When plants interact with their environment, Read More...
12 Mental health organizations working to support Asian American communities
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) have experienced a dramatic rise in hate crimes since the beginning of the pandemic. This harassment and violence against the Asian American community is alarming and has many allies looking for ways to contribute towards justice and safety for AAPI Read More...
Cooking terms can be confusing. Here are some helpful definitions
If you’re one of the many people who has taken on more ambitious culinary endeavors during the pandemic, you are probably familiar with the feeling of panic when you read a recipe and don’t recognize a term or ingredient. These recipes, often created by chefs, are not always written in terms Read More...
Lab-grown tear glands enable scientists to better understand how we cry
In a world-first, scientists in the Netherlands have managed to grow disembodied tear glands that can cry. That’s right, a team of researchers from the Hubrecht Institute and UMC Utrecht has successfully created a lab-grown version of the glands responsible for keeping your eyes lubricated. The Read More...
Use the “dirty dozen” and “clean 15” to make more conscious produce choices
Organic produce is healthier for local ecosystems and also eliminates the potential human health hazards of pesticide ingestion, many of which we don’t know the full extent of. However, buying organic is more expensive and not always available in remote areas. Learning about which fruits and Read More...
Woman passes on Covid-19 antibodies to her newborn
A woman in south Florida who was vaccinated with one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine while pregnant passed on her Covid antibodies to her baby who was born three weeks later. The mother, who is a healthcare worker on the frontlines, received her first dose of the Moderna vaccine in January when she Read More...
How to creatively use hydrogen peroxide in your home
Hydrogen peroxide is a common household disinfectant comprised of two parts hydrogen and two parts oxygen. A lot of people use it to cleanse scrapes and cuts because the high oxygenation of the substance creates foam when poured onto the wound, loosening bacteria, and cleansing porous Read More...
Maximize the health benefits of legumes and seeds by letting them sprout
Cooked, dried seeds like lentils can be tasty, but consuming them leaves us with only a fraction of their potential nutrients. This is because before seeds reach the sprouting phase, a growth inhibitor called phytic acid keeps vitamins, fiber, and other healthy nutrients locked within their shells, Read More...