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.
Inside Airbus’s mad dash to get a robo air taxi off the ground
At a remote test facility in northeast Oregon. an improbable-looking plane takes flight. Its wings are perpendicular to the ground, with their propellers—a whopping eight of them—spinning like the rotors of a helicopter. There is no pilot. The oddball craft, called Vahana, ascends 16 feet above Read More...
Burlington and San Francisco are trailblazing the path to 100 percent renewable
If we are to effectively combat climate change, cities have to make bold moves that will shape the future. Take Burlington, Vermont and San Francisco, California for example. Burlington began its transition to a net-zero economy back in 1978 when it replaced its coal plant with a power station Read More...
The world added nearly 30 percent more solar energy capacity in 2017
The global solar market grew 29.3 percent last year, with nations installing 98.9 gigawatts of new capacity, according to data from the industry group SolarPower Europe. While more capacity was installed in 2017, the global growth rate slowed last year, down from 49 percent in Read More...
The biggest solar parks in the world are now being built in India
Weeds poke listlessly from the flat, rocky earth as the temperature climbs to the mid-90s. On a cloudless March afternoon, the blue horizon stretches out uninterrupted, as if even birds are too weary to fly. On this unforgiving patch of southern India, millions of silver-gray panels glimmer in the Read More...
This father-daughter team says it has a cheaper, safer way to bury nuclear waste
Startup Deep Isolation wants to use fracking tech to drill horizontal disposal tunnels a mile below the Earth’s Read More...
Rooftop solar cost competitive with the grid in much of the U.S.
Rooftop solar panels on have always been the province of well-to-do, eco-friendly folks willing to shell out extra bucks to be green, but that is all starting to change. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the cost of putting solar panels on a typical American house has Read More...
China’s latest energy megaproject shows that coal really is on the way out
The Chinese province of Anhui built a massive floating solar farm on top of an abandoned coal mine. An even larger floating solar plant will come online by May Read More...
German company powers Puerto Rico with Internet-connected batteries
A German startup is offering its energy storage systems without charge to about a dozen blacked-out schools, churches, health-care facilities, and community centers in Puerto Rico that is still dealing with large areas without power. The equipment links solar- and battery-powered buildings to Read More...
UK sets new wind power record as turbines deliver 37 percent of electricity
Wind power in the UK set a new record by generating 14 gigawatts for the first time – nearly 37 per cent of the the country’s electricity. The National Grid control room confirmed that 13.9 gigawatts was the highest ever metered wind Read More...
How cow poop can help us produce natural gas without fracking
There’s a limitless supply of natural gas on this planet, and we’re not talking about the gas stored beneath the Earth’s surface. We’re talking about cow manure, which can be refined into natural gas. Although burning natural gas does cause emissions, getting it from gas provides a big Read More...