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Student Makers, a deeper dive: bringing free STEM to students on three continents
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM This article kicks off The Optimist Daily's Local Changemakers 2026 series, spotlighting changemakers 30 and under. It was winter break, and Dilan Mehta had time on his hands. His dad was packing for a mission trip to Kenya, where he'd been volunteering Read More...
Meet Vivian Ho: the 17-year-old who built a supply network around dignity, not charity
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM This article is part of The Optimist Daily's Local Changemakers 2026 series, spotlighting changemakers 30 and under. Most social programs ask you to declare yourself before they'll give you anything. You fill out a form, check a box, explain your Read More...
New Jersey Transit is turning commuter stations into art galleries
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Most people moving through a train station aren't really paying attention. They're somewhere between where they left and where they're going, phone out, eyes on the platform. Putting art there is an interesting bet; you're trying to get someone to stop and Read More...
5 research-backed ways to banish aches and feel better at your desk
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center wanted to answer a specific question: what is the least amount of movement needed to offset the effects of prolonged sitting? In 2023, they tested a range of options and found that walking for five minutes Read More...
NYC food pantries are now stocking pet food for struggling households
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM If you've ever moved a bit of food off your own plate just so your dog could eat, too, then you know the feeling this program is trying to address. It's a pretty common one in New York City right now. And most people who surrender a pet to a shelter aren't Read More...
Age-by-age Halloween tips from a board-certified pediatrician
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Halloween might be the one night a year when the whole family ends up outside together, moving through the neighborhood in the dark. Whether that ends in magic or meltdown depends almost entirely on whether the experience matches the kid you brought with Read More...
Podcast Transcript October 23rd, 2026— Hungary repeals anti-LGBTQ law, world’s tallest wind turbine, and why fall makes you reach for reruns
Episode Description: Germany just finished building the world’s tallest wind turbine: 1,197 feet tall, and built without a crane. They had to invent an entirely new construction method, because cranes don’t go that high. Also this week: the Hungarian law that fell in the most unexpected Read More...
New research identifies the exact spot where Alzheimer's protein tangles lock in
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Researchers at Northwestern University and UC Santa Barbara identified a specific contact point on tau proteins where the misfolding that drives Alzheimer's disease begins. The finding, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Read More...
The Giving Grove: how Kansas City's free community orchards became a national model
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM It is harvest time in Kansas City, and at Kansas City Academy, students are stepping outside during lunch to pick jujubes straight off the trees. "I feel like a fairy tale princess every lunch," said Nova Henry, a senior, "because I get to go out and just Read More...
How kites and ancient design are replacing fuel in Antarctic exploration
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM The last time a team completed a comparable crossing of Antarctica's interior, they burned through roughly 170,000 liters (about 45,000 gallons) of fuel to do it. The Wind Sled expedition that left Spain on October 18 plans to use none. Spanish polar Read More...