20 ways to protect your mental health, according to modern science
Just like we at The Optimist Daily are striving every day to lead a healthy, positive lifestyle, we want our readers to be able to do the same. Modern brain science has a lot to say about what helps protect us given the risk factors of today. With that in mind, here are 20 strategies to practice Read More...
Scientists could soon use hydrogel to replace busted knee cartilage
Scientists have created a new experimental gel that can match the strength and durability of knee cartilage. The material may look like a distant cousin of Jell-O—which it is—but it’s incredibly strong. It’s 60% water, but a single quarter-sized disc can bear the weight of a 100-pound Read More...
Engineers create UV-light machine that decontaminates 600 N95 masks an hour
During the coronavirus pandemic, the Optimist Daily has been dedicated to sharing solutions and the stories of human ingenuity behind them. Most recently, we wrote about an all-girl robotics team in Afghanistan that is working quickly to make ventilators using old car parts. Today, we bring you a Read More...
Why group testing helps us make the most of limited COVID-19 tests
When it comes to coronavirus testing, the problem is simple: there are too many people to test, and too few kits to test them with. That’s why researchers across the world are having to improvise. One promising technique is group testing, in which multiple people are testing at once. Group Read More...
Study finds plasma from coronavirus survivors can help severely ill patients
Good news in the battle against coronavirus. In a recent story published in The Guardian, it was reported that doctors have found tentative evidence that seriously ill coronavirus patients can benefit from infusions of blood plasma collected from people who have recovered from the disease. Two Read More...
MIT to publish free plans online for a cheap emergency ventilator
Imagine a class project from over a decade ago ended up holding the solution to a global issue? Well that's the case for a class of students from MIT, who are drawing from an old project to solve one of the most pressing shortages facing hospitals today: the lack of ventilators. These machines can Read More...
Blood plasma from coronavirus survivors could be used to save lives
We’re as concerned as you are when it comes to coronavirus, and that’s exactly why our eyes are laser-focused on possible solutions for this infection. That takes us to Takeda, a Japanese pharmaceutical company that is using the blood plasma of people who’ve already fully recovered from Read More...
Yale researchers say it could soon be possible to regenerate organs
Serious lung disease has a high rate of mortality, and the only curative treatment is a lung transplant. This is a complicated procedure that has other adverse health effects and oftentimes simply doesn't work, so for scientists in this field, organ regeneration—that is, growing an organ from Read More...
This new prosthesis that will help amputees feel again
This week a team of researchers from Switzerland announced it has designed a lower leg prosthesis that incorporates advanced neural stimulation, allowing patients to recreate the sensation of touch after an amputation. The prosthesis allows for the patient to feel movement and pressure on their Read More...