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Breastfed babies perform better later in life
People who had been breastfed are more intelligent, spent longer at school, and earn more than those who had not been. The longer they were breastfed as a baby, the better they were doing. Those are the results of a major study from Brazil, studying participants over three decades. The study, of Read More...
Landmark ruling in Connecticut could erase marijuana possession convictions
In the U.S., a conviction for possession of marijuana can follow you for a lifetime. This may change. Earlier this week, Connecticut’s supreme court ruled in favor of 31-year-old Nicholas Menditto who argued that his two marijuana possession convictions should be erased now that less than a Read More...
13 tips to keeping it simple
“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated,” Confucius said. So let’s find ways to avoid the energy-draining complexity of daily life. Clear your workspace. Write shorter emails. Show up early for appointments. Breathe. There’re 9 more Read More...
3-D printing in science fiction way works up to 100X faster
Current 3-D printing is, in fact, 2-D printing repeated until a three-dimensional object emerges. As clever as it is, it’s a long and cumbersome process that takes hours. Yesterday at TED 2015 Joseph DeSimone, professor at the University of North Caroline Chapel Hill, and cofounder of Carbon3D, Read More...
Signs of the end of coal in China
We’ve reported before on China’s unexpected reduction of coal in both production and consumption. For a report from the Sierra Club and CoalSwarm, it has now been calculated that since 2010 there have been two coal plants decommissioned or canceled for each coal plant that has been built. Does Read More...
Understanding consciousness through the science of near-death experiences
Near-death experience (NDE) used to be a topic for new age conversations. But that’s rapidly changing. In the past years, several books by mainstream doctors have taken NDE to the realm of science. The Intelligent Optimist has covered the issue at length for years. Now The Atlantic in a long and Read More...
Older brains perform better than you think
In our youth-obsessed culture, it sometimes seems that aging has become synonymous with mental decline. A new paper is challenging the idea that getting older means a slower, weaker brain. It appears that elements of social judgment and short-term memory—long viewed as abilities that peak in our Read More...
Don’t worry about taking a long shower—just eat less meat
California’s water crisis dominates the news. So taking a long shower seems the worst thing to do, right? Wrong. Yes, it may be “drop wise” but it’s also “bucket foolish.” If you do the math, you’ll learn that eating less meat is the best thing you can do to save water. After all, Read More...
Al Gore, the optimist, shows promising energy statistics
When he presented An Inconvenient Truth in 2006, Al Gore became a prophet doom. With his dire vision for the effects of climate change and the future of the planet he left audiences desperate and feeling helpless. But a new Al Gore is emerging. Over the past year, he has become more of a prophet of Read More...
Solar energy capacity California exceeds demand up to five times
To confirm Al Gore’s new optimism: If California only uses existing infrastructure to add solar power generating capacity, the amount of energy produced would exceed the state’s demand by up to five times. That’s the outcome of a new study. "Integrating solar facilities into the urban and Read More...