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.
Norway pulls the plug on plans to drill massive oil reserve
Western Europe’s biggest petroleum producer is falling out of love with oil. To the dismay of the nation’s powerful oil industry and its worker unions, the opposition Labour Party over the weekend decided to withdraw its support for oil exploration offshore the sensitive Lofoten islands in Read More...
Anti-freeze salts cause roads to crack. Mixing concrete with bacteria might help
Spreading salt onto sidewalks or roads when the temperature goes below zero is an effective way to stop roads from getting too icy, but the problem is salty “de-icers” cause roadways to crack. Adding bacteria, however, may keep that from happening. In search of concrete that doesn’t crack, Read More...
Paris just made the biggest purchase of electric buses Europe has ever seen
Paris has taken a huge step forward in achieving its goal of cleaning up its entire bus fleet by 2025 in a grand effort to curb air pollution. The current bus fleet is mostly made up of old diesel buses, but that’ll change soon after Paris’ public transport operator announced it has ordered up Read More...
Report: Clean energy now accounts for one-third of global power capacity
When the Optimist Daily was just getting started, powering the world via renewable energy was still somewhat of a pipe dream. In the last few years, we’ve witnessed rapid progress when it comes to renewables for a number of reasons. First, the cost of producing solar panels and wind turbines, as Read More...
This Dutchman drove his electric car from Amsterdam to Sydney
In an attempt to prove to the world that electric cars are perfectly feasible transportation, Dutchman Wiebe Wakker set out on a three-year, 59,000-mile journey from Amsterdam to Sydney, Australia back in 2016. This past week, the “world’s largest electric car trip” came to a close after Read More...
Researchers come up with carbon-neutral way to store excess energy as methane
One of the major drawbacks to renewable energy sources like wind and solar is that we don't have an effective way to store excess energy. When the wind blows, we might have more than enough energy to feed the grid, but we can't store the surplus. Then, on breezeless days, we're left powerless. As Read More...
A Swiss startup claims to have made a battery with more than 600 miles of range
City dwellers tend to make up the great proportion of electric car buyers, but if the range of EVs were to improve, those of us living in more rural areas would be more tempted to buy one. The good news is a Swiss startup by the name of Innolith says it has developed new high-density lithium-ion Read More...
Scientists are gene-hacking bacteria to produce bullet-proof spider silk
Pound for pound, spider silk is much stronger than steel, and can be used in a variety of applications from bullet-proof clothing and biodegradable bottles to surgical thread and artificial tendons. The only problem is when you put enough spiders together to farm silk, they tend to eat each other. Read More...
Toyota is offering royalty-free access to 24,000 patents related to EVs
In a move rarely seen by major corporations, Toyota has announced it will allow royalty-free access to its nearly 24,000 patents for hybrid and other vehicles using electrification technology in a bid to expand competition in the market as the industry adopts stricter emissions regulations. Read More...
Scientists developed a solvent that extracts precious metals from old batteries
Considering the tendency of people to buy a new phone every couple of years, it’s no wonder there are so many leftover batteries from old cellphones. These batteries are toxic when they end up in landfills, and typically require harsh processes to recycle. Scientists at Rice University have been Read More...