BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM If you’ve been trying to eat more protein lately, you’re not alone. Research on its role in preserving muscle and brain health as people age has gotten a lot of attention, and most people who set a daily target quickly realize that one chicken breast at dinner isn’t going…
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Papua New Guinea announced on May 13 that it will protect roughly 214,000 square kilometers (about 82,600 square miles) of the Bismarck Sea from all fishing and extractive activity, an area approaching the size of the United Kingdom. The Western Manus Marine Protected Area would be the largest no-take…
PET is in water bottles, food packaging, and flexible electronics. It’s made from fossil fuels, breaks down into microplastics, and carries chemicals linked to inflammation and cell damage. Researchers have been trying to replace it for years. Most bio-based alternatives couldn’t handle heat or stretching at industrial scale. A team from the University of Connecticut…
There’s a short list of animals who, when placed in front of a mirror, eventually figure out they’re looking at themselves. Chimpanzees. Bottlenose dolphins. Asian elephants. A magpie or two. A small reef fish called the cleaner wrasse, which upended some assumptions about brain size when it passed the test in 2023. And now, belugas….
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Even though cruise ships may have a bad rap in the news lately, you may have planned or are still planning a trip on the sea. You’ve looked up the excursions, debated which restaurants to book, and maybe even perused the spa offerings. The health side of cruise prep…
Sir David Attenborough turned 100 on May 8, and people want to know how he did it. Fair enough. A century is rare. A century of active fieldwork, narration, and travel across every ecosystem on earth is something even rarer. When someone who has spent his working life watching the natural world reaches that milestone,…
Every remyelination drug candidate tested in multiple sclerosis research has failed. A doctoral thesis from the University of Helsinki, defended earlier this month, reports two that didn’t. Tapani Koppinen, working in Associate Professor Merja Voutilainen’s research group, identified two separate drug molecules that successfully triggered myelin regrowth in MS disease models. Both reduced neuroinflammation. Both…
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM For decades, a phone call home from prison could cost a family several dollars a minute. That wasn’t an oversight. It was the business model. A growing number of state prison systems and county jails have moved to make calls free, arguing that regular contact with family is one…
Episode Description: Stephanie McKenzie has been swimming since she was a child. She came to Swim Sista Swim as an instructor and, as you’ll hear in her voice, is a vibrant and confident woman on all counts. Yet she still feels a twinge of doubt every time she walks into a public pool alone, still…
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM You know that moment when you look up from your phone, realize it’s well past midnight, and think, “not again”? You meant to be in bed an hour ago. It just didn’t happen. For roughly one in three American adults, that’s not the occasional slip. It’s the pattern. And…
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Since May 1, Amsterdam’s billboards and tram shelters no longer carry ads for burgers, petrol cars, or cheap flights. The Dutch capital is now the first in the world to ban public advertising for both meat and fossil fuel products. Where chicken nuggets and SUVs once competed for wall…
