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.
Vienna Tourist Board thwarts social media with unusual platform
The events of the past year or so have made us wonder: how much power should social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have over what we see, and what we are presented with? Due to the pandemic, many of us are perceiving the world through our screens, and it’s only been too easy to Read More...
These seaweed-inspired sensors use underwater currents to power themselves
Ocean protection increasingly relies on the internet of things (IoT) to gather essential data with the help of a variety of marine distributed sensors underwater. Most of these devices, however, have always been highly dependent on batteries, which need to be regularly changed or recharged. Read More...
Newest NASA mission will provide insights into the conception of our Solar System
On October 16, NASA’s Lucy mission lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The spacecraft is on its way to visit a previously-unexplored region of our outer Solar System: the Trojans. The Trojans are a set of asteroids orbiting the Sun near Jupiter. Lucy will spend the next 12 years Read More...
This sustainable pigment is made from sewage sludge
While it may be comforting to think that everything we send down the drain somehow magically disappears without leaving an ecological footprint behind, that is far from what actually happens. In reality, the process involves cleaning the waste at a treatment plant, where water is cleaned and Read More...
Algae wrapped in droplets improves efficiency of artificial photosynthesis
In our quest for the most sustainable, most renewable sources of energy, humanity continues to look to nature for inspiration. One of nature’s most efficient energy systems is photosynthesis, which is how plants convert sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into chemical energy to fuel themselves. Read More...
This crisis alert app provides crucial information to residents of Kabul
As conditions in Kabul continue to worsen due to the Taliban takeover, residents of the Afghan capital have been struggling to get accurate real-time information about what’s happening in the city. Three and a half years ago, for instance, Sara Wahedi had a near-miss experience when a bomb Read More...
Study: Algae can resurrect tadpole brain cells
Essential organisms such as plants, microalgae, and certain types of bacteria carry out photosynthesis. This key process releases oxygen into the atmosphere for the rest of us dependent species to feed off and carry out respiration. Every cell in every living thing on earth respires and is the Read More...
World record broken for coldest temperature ever recorded
With our current knowledge of how temperature works there is no upper limit, this means materials can keep getting hotter and hotter to no end. This is not the case for lower temperatures, with the coldest being termed absolute zero, at -459.67 degrees Fahrenheit or -273.15 Celsius, but scientists Read More...
Mimicking cancer therapy has potential application in treating malaria
Parasites are organisms that feed off a host and can sometimes be dangerous to humans by causing disease. One of the most impactful to human health is the strain of Plasmodium, the culprit of malaria. This disease is spread through mosquitoes carrying the parasite which brings about a number of Read More...
Hummingbird-like moth has the longest tongue of any insect in the world
When Charles Darwin came across the long-necked Angraecum sesquipedale orchid species (also known as Darwin’s orchid) on the island of Madagascar, he had a curious thought: There must be an insect on the island with a tongue long enough to feed itself on the plant. “Good heavens,” he Read More...