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.
A startup is stacking concrete blocks with cranes in order to store energy
Electrical grids only function when electricity is being generated in the same amounts as it is consumed. About 96 percent of the world’s energy-storage capacity comes in the form of one technology: pumped hydro, which uses water and dams to generate energy on demand. A startup from Switzerland Read More...
Stop driving, start cycling: Why biking is the healthiest way to get around
By making your bike your main mode of transportation in the city, you can benefit yourself and your city greatly. Other than the fact that avoiding the usage of the car reduces emissions, a new study suggests that cycling is also the healthiest way to get around cities. Another study recently found Read More...
How to effectively get people to embrace change
Researchers commonly thought that the best way to get people to embrace change was making that envisioned change seem more appealing than the present situation. But according to new research, successfully convincing someone to embrace change means emphasizing what will remain the same. By placing Read More...
A natural reactor in Africa may show us the way to safe nuclear waste disposal
To put it mildly, nuclear waste is extremely difficult to dispose of naturally. Considering that some argue that nuclear energy may serve as a bridge between fossil fuels and renewable energy, finding safe ways to dispose of nuclear waste is absolutely necessary. The key, researchers believe, may Read More...
NASA is shooting a spaceship at the sun to solve this decades-old mystery
For decades, solar physicists have been trying to figure out why the sun’s atmosphere is so much hotter than its surface. Soon we will finally get an answer as NASA prepares to launch a spaceship that will travel within 4 million miles of the sun’s surface—much closer than any spacecraft that Read More...
Monsanto found guilty in Roundup weedkiller cancer trial
Once it was scientifically-proven that glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto’s weedkiller Roundup, causes cancer, a school groundskeeper from California took Monsanto to court. Lee Johnson was diagnosed with cancer in 2014, following years of mixing and using the weedkiller at his job site Read More...
Renewables are set to leapfrog natural gas faster than anyone predicted
Natural gas was meant to be the bridge that helps the energy sector shift from coal to renewables. But now, just years into gas’s rise to power, renewables are already getting set to cross the bridge and become the dominant source of energy. While the price of natural gas is inherently volatile, Read More...
It typically takes doctors 7 years to diagnose fibromyalgia, it takes AI minutes
Diagnosis for patients with fibromyalgia is difficult. Not only do patients typically see upwards of 10 specialists before they’re diagnosed, but many within the medical community do not even think the disease is real as it is rooted in the brain, not the body. Fibromyalgia, a chronic disorder Read More...
The lithium-metal battery may solve our energy storage woes
While lithium-ion batteries are currently our most effective batteries, they’re still not powerful enough to full displace gasoline-powered cars or cheap enough to solve the big energy-storage problem of solar and wind power. A Massachusetts-based startup believes they have the solution: a Read More...
Why it’s time the U.S. creates a national energy grid
If there is one thing almost every clean energy analyst agrees on, it’s that, when it comes to grids, bigger is better. Sharing energy over a wider geographic area improves efficiency, smooths out peaks and troughs in demands, reduces the use of duplicative backup sources, allows for the Read More...