Miscellaneous
Man-made leaf could produce oxygen for deep space travel
One of the major barriers to humans embarking on deep space travel has been the challenge of taking enough oxygen for humans to survive—plants are extremely difficult to grow in zero gravity. A new leaf designed by Julian Melchior as part of the Royal College of Art’s Innovation Design Read More...
One happy man
Below is the the last winner of our Optimist of The Month contest. Know some one we should feature for the next issue? Send Optimist of The Month nominations to editor[at]theoptimist[dot]com. [caption id="attachment_306951" align="alignright" width="200"] HappyWe app creator Chiel van der Linden Read More...
Anger is healthy
Historically, many societies have viewed anger as “bad”—an emotion that must be suppressed or concealed, lest it do terrible damage when it’s unleashed. But it’s natural to feel anger in the course of our daily lives, whether it’s triggered by trivial annoyances (another driver cuts you Read More...
Internet brings elite education—and knowledge power—to developing world
Knowledge is power, it is said. Shared knowledge may lead to shared power, making the world a more just place. Online education decreases the traditional gap between the have’s and the have’s not. Developing nations now get access to elite education offered by top universities in the Western Read More...
Turn the television off, and your life on
Many of us are addicts, turning the television on in the evening out of boredom or to seek distraction from everyday life. Then, hours later, we find we are still bored. It’s like yawning: your body is actually screaming for oxygen, and you’re better off going for a run than crawling into bed. Read More...
Protection of wild life stops child labor and slavery
Environmentalists often talk about the tragic loss of animal and plant life because of the destruction of nature. A new study of UC Berkeley ecologists, led by Justin Brashares and published in Science, shows that the damage even leads to human tragedy. The study discovered a direct link between Read More...
Revolutionary solar panels mimic moth eyes
Moth eyes are incredibly efficient—reflecting almost no light, so they don’t draw attention from predators. Researchers from Switzerland are taking the absorption properties found in moth eyes and applying them to solar panel design. The new solar design covers the panels in a thin layer of Read More...
Britain raises speed limit for trucks to save lives
The relationship between speed and traffic accidents is clearly established. So it’s counterintuitive that Britain is raising the speed limit for trucks in an attempt to reduce the number of fatal car accidents. You know the situation: you’re on a two-lane highway and get stuck behind a slow Read More...
How do you learn to visualize?
Think of something you would like. For this exercise choose something simple, something you can easily imagine receiving. It can be something you want to have, an experience you would like, a situation you’d like to find yourself in, or a circumstance in your life you’d like to improve. Get Read More...
The power of positive thinking
The power of positive thinking is a ubiquitous notion in the American mind, but that was not always so. While its antecedents date back to Hermeticism, an ancient Greco-Egyptian philosophy for achieving esoteric powers, in today’s parlance “The Secret” had to be rediscovered after centuries Read More...