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.
Chile mines turn to renewable energy
The three industrial boilers at the state-owned Codelco mine high in the mountains here once consumed 67,000 barrels of diesel a year to turn out shiny copper sheets for export. Now, the job is powered by nearly 3,000 solar panels that take advantage of the Atacama Desert’s cloudless blue Read More...
Luxury car maker Fisker to build cars in Southern California
Fisker Automotive is back in business. The luxury car maker has signed a lease for a 550,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Moreno Valley. In this 2012 photo, reporters gather around a Fisker Karma during the Los Angeles Auto Show. Fisker Automotive is back in business. The luxury car maker Read More...
The boom in wind energy couldn’t be coming at a better time
The Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, released last week, requires the country to use a lot more renewable energy by the year 2030 — and a lot less coal. And right on time, two new reports published Monday by the Department of Energy find that one key renewable Read More...
Malawi's solar power revolution starts by bringing schoolchildren out of the dark
Young Kennedy is astonished. His face lights up in the single room in the straw-thatched house. So does the book he is reading with his friend, Nellie. The two excited nine-year-olds from the village of Gumbi in western Malawi have just done what about 600 million others in sub-Saharan Africa have Read More...
Report shows price of wind energy in US at all-time low, averaging under 2.5 cents/kWh
It's not so strange that large companies like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft recently turned to wind energy to power their enormous data centers. Rather, it's simple math: Wind energy is becoming surprisingly cheap. A new report released by the U.S. Department of Energy shows that the price of Read More...
Mind control is no longer science fiction
The technology underlying brain-to-brain communication has already been used effectively in a number of clinical settings “It was one of the weirdest sensations I have ever felt.” This is how Stephen Dunne, director of neuroscience research at Starlab in Barcelona, described his first Read More...
Japanese engineer develops world's first 'car in a bag'
Pocket-sized personal transporters could soon be seen on the streets of Tokyo. A Japanese engineer has developed a portable transporter small enough to be carried in a backpack that he says is the world's first 'car in a bag'. Twenty-six-year-old Kuniako Sato and his team at Cocoa Motors recently Read More...
Former F1 champion Villeneuve goes electric
Former Formula One world champion Jacques Villeneuve is coming out of retirement to compete in the Formula E championship next season. The 44-year-old became the only Canadian to land the F1 title in 1997. The winner of 11 grand prix he moved on to compete in the Le Mans 24 Hour and had a spell in Read More...
Nano-sized 'yolks' should lead to longer-lasting batteries
Those eggs you might have had for breakfast? They're not just food -- they may be the key to longer-running batteries in your devices. Scientists at MIT and Tsinghua University have developed a nanoparticle battery electrode whose egg-like design is built to last. Their invention, which houses a Read More...
Out with the coal, in with the geothermal: New Zealand shifts to clean energy
Historically, New Zealand has relied on coal as its main fuel for development. No more.The country's share of renewable electricity generation, already the fourth largest in the world, is now close to 80 percent. With the quick rise in geothermal generation, New Zeland is well on its way to Read More...