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Researchers hope a team of robots can efficiently clean up nuclear waste sites
We’ve shared updates from Boston Dynamics’ robotics lab before, and now the famous robots are back, but this time they’re not dancing, they’re cleaning up nuclear waste! A team of researchers from the University of Bristol hopes that robots could help keep humans safer in the Read More...
This paper is partly made from grass to reduce its environmental footprint
Following an increasing number of people turning away from single-use plastic packaging, the market for paper packaging has seen a boom in recent years. More demand for paper, however, means more logging, some of which still happens in old-growth forests, which are major absorbers of CO2 and Read More...
Mathematical visitation law can predict urban movement anywhere in the world
The hustle and bustle of city streets may seem like a random and chaotic movement of people, but researchers have discovered that this movement can in fact be predicted with a mathematical equation─a discovery that could hold implications for the study of disease and city planning. The model Read More...
Austria announces new carbon tax to curb emissions
In order to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the Austrian government has introduced a new carbon tax that is set to be fully implemented by July next year. This means that Austrians will have 30 euros (around $35 USD) added to their consumer bills per ton of CO2. This cost will rise to 55 euros Read More...
Mysterious plant finally named 50 years after discovery
New plants are given scientific names based on which family they fit into, or which plants they share physical characteristics in. Generally Latin-based, these plant names are used internationally to identify flora, but sometimes this naming process isn’t so simple. A new plant with bright orange Read More...
3 Strategies for building a more equitable home from sociologists
Among different-sex parents who work full time, mothers log an average of five more hours of paid and unpaid labor than fathers, which is obviously a great obstacle in our efforts to achieve marriage equality. Despite the gender equity progress we’ve made, the idea that women are “better” Read More...
Here's how to overcome social anxiety and get that conversation going
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM So, you’ve been invited to a social gathering with strangers for the first time in a long time. You want to attend but feel that knot of anxiety in the back of your throat. One way to ease this feeling is to prepare in advance by thinking about potential Read More...
Largest library system in US eradicates late fees for good
The New York Public Library system has joined the Boston Public Library System, Philadelphia Public Library System, and the Burbank Public Library System in nixing late fees, effective immediately. This includes erasing all the fines that library cardholders have accrued in the past for overdue or Read More...
Indigenous Peoples’ Day: How you can honor and celebrate the holiday
To recognize the generations of genocide and oppression which followed Columbus’ arrival in the Americas, more and more cities and states are choosing to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Now, why should we celebrate this day? Well, because it recognizes the injustices Read More...
UN votes to make a clean and healthy environment a human right
The U.N. Human Rights Council has finally recognized access to a clean and healthy environment as a fundamental human right, adding it to others─like food, shelter, and freedom from slavery─laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The resolution was first discussed in the Read More...