The Weekly Theme
Each week, we feature a new theme of solutions for those passionate about learning in-depth on how we are building a better world!
Not your neurotypical consultant: demand for autistic tech experts surges
Autistic adults often experience difficulty in finding work, but IT consultancy and social enterprise Auticon reports a rise in demand for their skills. Launched in London last year, Auticon is a social enterprise that exclusively helps adults with autism find work in IT. It offers support from Read More...
Optimism Is More Than Positive Thinking
Psychologist Elaine Fox believes optimism isn’t a choice, but a habit. She has some advice on how to develop it—because it’s not just good for you, but for everyone else. By Marco Visscher From The Optimist Magazine Fall 2015 It’s the perfect day for a conversation about optimism. Read More...
How to transform your negative thoughts and become an optimist
Being an optimist can bring you an array of physical and mental health benefits (that's why you are a reader of The Optimist Daily). On the other hand, being chronically negative can foster feelings of depression and stress that are detrimental to your overall healthy. Fortunately, research shows Read More...
Vitamin D supplements may benefit children with Autism spectrum disorder
Vitamin D supplementation improved symptoms of autism in a recent trial. Studies have shown an association between the risk of autism spectrum disorder and vitamin D insufficiency. In this latest study, 109 children with autism spectrum disorder were randomized to receive four months of vitamin D3 Read More...
Mushrooms To The Rescue!
Eben Bayer grew up on a maple farm in Canada. To fire up the boiler they’d use woodchips, which is where Bayer first learned about mycelium or “nature’s glue”. Heaps of woodchips would – as you may imagine – start to grow mushrooms when left alone outside and when it was time to move Read More...
Drones deliver sterile insects to tackle disease in Ethiopia
In a region of Ethiopia where disease-ridden tsetse flies run rampant, drones are being administered to lower the fly population and ultimately save lives. The autonomous drones can fly for up to two hours at a cruise speed of 20 meters per second and have temperature controlled pods under each Read More...
Insects can contribute to food security
Insects are going to have a major contribution to food and feed security says Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan, senior fellow at Bengaluru based Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE). Insects comprise at least 85% of biodiversity and play the most important roles in the Read More...
Attaching bird houses to sign posts will make the city friendlier to birds
Birds have come to avoid cities. They crash into skyscrapers or get lost because of the bright lights at night. But there's something we can do to make them feel more at ease: put up bird houses to sign posts. Nest Project, based in London, aims to help out the birds while making urbanites aware Read More...
The art of prioritizing positivity
What happens if you would try to feel happiness… right now, at this very moment? It might work, but chances are high that it won’t. Studies have shown that deliberately trying to maximize your happiness in the moment may backfire. But we won’t leave you here with this conclusion. Because a Read More...
Planes help track—and save—endangered animals and insects
Tracking the migratory patterns of birds, butterflies and other small species has been notoriously difficult, until now. A partnership between the Smithsonian Institute and United Airlines, called The Partners in the Sky Initiative, affixes small radio antennae to the bottom of aircraft so they Read More...