Science
From mathematics and AI to medicine and psychology, The Optimist Daily features the latest news on discoveries, technological advances, and breakthroughs in the world of science. Our Science section is here to engage and enlighten you.
Your Neanderthal genes may be building your muscles
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM People who carry a Neanderthal version of the growth hormone receptor have, on average, 271 additional grams of muscle compared with those who don’t. People who inherited the variant from both parents tend to have more still. The finding comes from a study Read More...
The sun’s surface has whirlpools. Here’s why they may be the engine behind space weather.
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM There’s something slightly odd about the fact that we’ve had solar telescopes for more than a century and still couldn’t quite see the sun’s surface. We're already aware of the big stuff: plasma bubbling in convective cells, sunspots forming where Read More...
Bioengineered gum could expand treatment options for oral cancer patients
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM A bioengineered chewing gum cut HPV levels by 93 percent in oral samples from head and neck cancer patients, in new research from the University of Pennsylvania. The same formulation, when loaded with an antimicrobial peptide called protegrin, brought two Read More...
Europe’s electric flight era could begin within four years
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Electric aircraft startups have been promising a lot for a long time. Two of them are now close enough to matter. Battery-electric and hybrid planes with a range of up to 500 kilometers (310 miles) would cover a quarter of Europe’s existing flight Read More...
Bullfrog protein could be antidote to shellfish poisoning
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Paralytic shellfish poisoning, a severe and potentially fatal foodborne illness, has no specific antidote. The neurotoxin responsible, saxitoxin, is classified as a chemical weapon under international law. It causes nausea, tingling, and in bad cases the Read More...
New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $942m over child harms
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM New Mexico just became the first state to hold Meta financially liable for harms to children’s mental health. The total bill is now $942m. The new ruling, handed down last week on Thursday, added $567m to the $375m penalty imposed in March, when a jury Read More...
Learning a new skill triggers both temporary cell swelling and lasting brain growth
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Did you know that every time the brain learns something, it changes physically? A study in PLoS Biology is the first to track exactly what those changes are, and found two separate processes happening at different speeds and in different locations, and that Read More...
The robots kids build to preserve Native American languages
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM The U.S. Indian boarding school system spent decades trying to remove Native American languages from Native children. Kids were separated from their families and punished, sometimes violently, for speaking their mother tongues. Many never passed those Read More...
3D-printed bone implants that release drugs as they heal
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Czech researchers at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague are building titanium joint implants with a porous internal structure designed to hold medication and release it gradually after surgery. The project is a collaboration with surgeons at Read More...
How inherited genetics shape the way cancer forms and evolves
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM A study published in Nature provides the first experimental evidence that inherited genetics shape not just whether cancer starts, but how it evolves once it does. Researchers led by Duncan Odom at the CRUK Cambridge Institute exposed four genetically Read More...