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.
Germany successfully turns intermittent renewable power into a reliable flow
As the cost of solar panels keeps dropping and the market picks up, supported in some places by government mandates such as the Renewable Portfolio Standards in 29 states, incorporating intermittent power flow from renewables emerges as a major issue for grid operators. Until batteries come online Read More...
Is the aluminum-ion battery the long-awaited technology breakthrough?
Battery technology has long been lagging behind electronics and hardware. Now, can you imagine charging your phone in one minute? And knowing that not only the battery’s life expectancy will outlast your phone’s, but that it poses no fire hazard (unlike lithium-ion batteries) and no threat to Read More...
Ireland’s energy storage plant to boost grid's reliance on wind and solar up to 75%
Wind and solar energy has a main flaw: it is unpredictable. It is controlled by the sun and the wind—which have little consideration for the fluctuations of power demand based on predictable human activity. The promise of energy storage has been all the rage of late, including Tesla’s much Read More...
Trend towards consumers’ energy self-sufficiency is about to disrupt the utility model
Technology advances and declining costs for both rooftop solar and energy storage are the conditions for the perfect storm that will soon make utilities obsolete, according to the new report by the Rocky Mountain Institute, an influential energy policy think tank. “New customers will find Read More...
Growing a heart is becoming a possibility after medical research breakthrough
Salamanders and zebrafish have something humans can only wish for: the ability of their heart muscle cells to regenerate on demand. While those animals can regrow their injured body parts, sufferers of heart attack are left to make do with a damaged organ. Scientists in Israel and Australia Read More...
AT&T New York calls on developers to create apps for people with disabilities
This July 26, on the 25th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act, people living with disabilities in New York City will most likely have something tangible to celebrate: innovative applications created by developers at the urging of AT&T in a partnership with NYU's Assistive Read More...
Germany’s Solar Village produces four times the energy it consumes
Global investment in solar energy has been soaring while the cost of solar has been tumbling, yet we barely have scratched the surface of what’s possible. A German development of 52 homes and some commercial buildings that was built over the past decade near Freiburg, currently generated four Read More...
Attention innovators: the era of graphene is here
Graphene is the thinnest and strongest material known to man. The pure carbon substance is 200 times stronger than steel, harder than diamond and thin enough that an ounce could cover twenty-eight football fields. It's also transparent, more conductive than silicon, flexible like rubber and cheap Read More...
Global investment in renewable energy grew 17% last year
Developing countries led the trend with a 36% surge at $131.3 billion, followed by China with $83.3 billion, according to a new study by the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance. Solar and wind still dominate the field, although geothermal enjoyed Read More...
Electricity-generating speed bumps can power traffic lights on India's streets
Turning heavy traffic in Indian cities into a renewable source of energy to power traffic lights and street lights: that's what eight engineering students in the state of Ahmedabad have done. They came up with small speed bumps that can generate electricity through electro-spinning wheels. They Read More...