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.
All Dutch electric trains to run on renewable energy
Exactly a year after the COP21 climate conference in Paris, Netherlands Railways (NS) has announced that all electric trains on the Dutch network will operate exclusively using power from renewable sources with effect from January 1 2017, a year earlier than originally envisaged. The move affects Read More...
Electric cars could save $13 billion in health costs by 2030 in 10 U.S. states
It’s hard to get a handle on the ugly, smoggy implications of this nation’s dependence on fossil fuel-burning cars. Deaths from pollution and climate change tend to pile up slowly, in asthma attacks, flood fatalities, and respiratory illnesses. But you, me, the kids, the Read More...
Uber won't build flying cars but they sure as hell want someone else to
Uber’s eyes are on a new prize: flying cars. Outlined in a white paper published this week, the company’s chief product officer, Jeff Holden, describes a network of small, electric aircraft that can take-off and land vertically (VTOL, or vertical take-off and landing, aircraft) to Read More...
Hydrogen economy hits high gear with new water splitting initiative
When it comes to the sparkling green hydrogen economy of the future, the U.S. isn’t letting any grass grow under its feet. The Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory now plans to lead a collaborative effort to accelerate the development of renewable hydrogen. A Read More...
Danish energy giant plans to sell its oil assets to invest more in clean power
In a telling sign of the times, four decades after it was set up to manage Denmark’s North Sea oilfields, Dong Energy Group is considering selling its oil and gas business. The Danish company, which is the largest operator of wind farms in the U.K, says it would use the money they earn from Read More...
Audi quits Le Mans to focus on electric car racing
BERLIN Audi will end its involvement in the prestigious Le Mans sports car race next year after almost two decades to focus on racing electric cars, symbolizing a shift in strategy as parent company Volkswagen battles to recover from an emissions scandal. Audi, which is seeking to boost the share Read More...
L.A. could remove 100,000 cars over five years . . . By adding more cars?
A new raft of plans to get 100,000 cars off the roads in the next five years contains one amazing, only-in-L.A. proposal: adding almost 10,000 cars. A new report from the nonprofit Shared-Use Mobility Center envisions, among many other sensible ideas, adding 8,400 cars to the city’s car-share Read More...
Improved water splitting advances renewable energy conversion
Washington State University researchers have found a way to more efficiently create hydrogen from water -- an important key in making renewable energy production and storage viable. The researchers, led by professors Yuehe Lin and Scott Beckman in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Read More...
The world installs 500,000 solar panels a day; China two wind turbines per hour
This is how fast it goes, according to new data of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in a new report on renewable energy. Many future energy scenarios include dark forecasts about the increase of pollution in China through more and more coal-fired power plants. But all that coal may never get Read More...
Uber’s self-driving truck makes its first delivery: 50,000 Budweisers
Walt Martin is kneeling, legs folded behind him, butt resting on his heels. “I’ve got to practice my yoga,” he says, clearly joking. Never mind that we’re in the cab of an 18-wheeler cruising through Colorado at 55 mph and Martin was, until a moment ago, the Read More...