In a Gallup poll from last January, around one-fifth of Americans reported being satisfied with how things are going in the country. Just four percent were very satisfied.
It’s not a surprising finding for anyone who goes outside and talks to people. This Christmas, I attended a community potluck, a place where you might expect to find an unusually sociable and well-adjusted crowd. Snow was falling, the fire was crackling, children were frolicking, and still, the conversation turned intractably toward all that’s going wrong in the world (the main culprits at this New England gathering were identified as “a lack of empathy” and “artificial intelligence”).
That same poll, however, found that over 80 percent of Americans were satisfied with their own lives. Obviously, those results are in contradiction; a country cannot be doing that poorly if a supermajority of its citizens are having an excellent time. That contradiction is also a highly replicated psychological finding. Across developed countries, people are consistently pessimistic about the state of society in general, yet optimistic about their own lives.
Part of the gap is thanks to the media. News outlets compete for our attention by writing increasingly negative headlines, which are more likely to be clicked and shared on social media. Some is also due to human nature. The media is not conspiring against us, but simply indulging our innate preference for negative news and susceptibility to anecdotes over statistics, which tend to be more optimistic.
That last point is the reason for the list below, which contains 1,084 good news stories we collected in 2025. More precisely, it exists so that when people at your local potluck ask “how can you be so optimistic? Don’t you read the news?”, you can refer them to a barrage of anecdotal evidence that the world is not, in fact, falling apart. I also urge you to scroll through it yourself; it will leave you calmer, more cheerful, and better informed.
Agriculture
Farming AI, robots, and drones
- Here’s How AI Is Helping Make Your Wine
- Malawi’s New Farmhand: AI That Speaks the Local Language
- Agricultural Drones Are Saving Farmers Time and Money Globally
Food abundance
- Egg Prices Have Dropped, Though You May Not Have Noticed
- Global Food Prices Ease amid Improved Supply and Trade
- Progress Against Under-nourishment Since the Pandemic
- Rice Prices Plunge to Eight-Year Low After Record Harvests
- The World Is on Track for Record Harvests This Year
- How Grain Has Gone from Famine to Feast
- Thanksgiving Abundance in 2025
- These Farmers Are Producing Record Crops Despite Droughts
Genetic engineering
- Heritable Agriculture Is Bringing AI to Crop Breeding
- Artificial Insemination Is Creating Better Cattle
- Less-Thirsty Rice Offers Hope in Drought-Stricken Chile
- A Gene Could Be Key to Growing Rice and Feeding Billions
- England Poised to Green-Light Precision Breeding
- A Hidden Gene Could Triple Wheat Yields
- Why Nigeria Accepted GMOs
- Scientists Show How to Grow Better Rice Using Less Fertilizer
- CRISPR Wheat That Makes Its Own Fertilizer
- Heat-Resistant Seeds Offer Restoration Lifeline in Brazil
- EU Eases Rules for Plants Created Through Gene Editing
Pest control and livestock health
- South America Nears Eradication of Foot-and-Mouth Disease
- PIC Receives US Approval for Gene-Edited PRRS-Resistant Pigs
- InnerPlant’s Real-Time Detection of Fungal Infection in Soybeans
- Forget Cowbells. Cows Wear High-Tech Collars Now
- Scientists Create Pigs Resistant to Classical Swine Fever
Lab-grown produce
- “World’s First” Lab-Grown Meat for Pets Launches in the UK
- Team Grows Lab-Made Nugget-Sized Chicken Chunk
- Lab-Grown Salmon Gets FDA Approval
- Mission Barns Approved by USDA to Cultivate Pork Fat
- Opalia Lands First Sale of Cell-Based Milk Ahead of $4M Fundraise
Pollination
- Robot Insect Paves the Way for the Rise of Robot Pollinators
- Robotic Hives and AI Lower the Risk of Bee Colony Collapse
- Scientists Found the Missing Nutrients Bees Need
Conservation & Biodiversity
Birds
- Endangered Seabirds Return to Pacific Island After 100-Year Absence
- Near-Extinct Siberian Crane Is Recovering
- Tuz Lake’s New Water System Averts Mass Flamingo Deaths
- Prairie Falcon Abundance in Idaho Has Increased Significantly
- Oystercatcher Recovery Offers Shorebird Conservation Success
- Record-High Number of Sandhill Cranes Flock to Nebraska
- Stoat Cull Credited with Rise in Orkney Curlew Numbers
- New Forest Woodlark Survey Reveals Record Numbers
- The Unlikely Comeback of One of Brazil’s Rarest Parrots
- Number of Rare Diving Duck Soars
- Cape Vulture Conservation Offers Hope
- A Simple Fix to an Illinois Building That Was a Bird Killer
- Harpy Eagle Confirmed in Mexico for First Time in over a Decade
- Golden Eagles Soaring South Back to English Skies
- Mexico Conservation Efforts Spur Dramatic Seabird Recoveries
- A Roadrunner in Your Area? It’s a Growing Possibility.
- UK’s Biggest Bird Returns After Being Hunted to Near-Extinction
- Denmark Records Highest Number of White Stork Nestlings in Decades
- Sarus Cranes Population Jumps 20 Percent in Cambodia
- Little Bustard Breeding Population Soars in Kyrgyzstan
- Flamingos Are Making a Home in Florida Again After 100 Years
- AI Deployed to Help Save Orkney’s Birds
- Endangered Palau Ground Doves Swiftly Recovering After Conservation Effort
- Puffins Return to Isle of Muck for First Time in at Least 25 Years
Cats
- Snow Leopard Population in Kazakhstan Doubles
- Return of the Lynx to the French Alps
- Study Finds India Doubled Its Tiger Population in a Decade
- Lynx in the Iberian Peninsula Increased by 19 Percent in 2024
- Lion Population in Gujarat Goes up from 674 to 891 in 5 Years
- Thailand’s “Extraordinary” Tiger Recovery
- Texas Puma Genes Rescue Florida Panthers from Extinction
- Amur Leopards Are Making a Comeback in Far East Asia
- Wildlife Scientists Reintroduced Bobcats to New Jersey
- Mexico’s Jaguar Numbers up 30 Percent in Conservation Drive
- Wild Jaguar Cub Spotted in Gran Chaco for First Time in Decades
- Himachal Snow Leopards Increase 62 Percent in 4 Years
- A New Jaguar Spotted in Arizona Points to Recovery Progress
Other large carnivores
- Europe’s Big Carnivores Are on the Rise
- Wolves Make a Rapid Recovery in Europe
- More Mexican Gray Wolves Are Roaming the Southwestern US
- Wolves Comeback with Three New Packs Confirmed in NorCal
- American Crocodiles Are Spreading North in Florida
- Large Carnivores Have Been Recovering in North America
- Crocodiles Boom in Florida, Thanks to a Nuclear Power Plant
- Polar Bears May Be Adapting to Survive Warmer Climates
- Greece’s Largest Predator Has Made a Remarkable Comeback
Insects
- Monarch Butterflies Wintering in Mexico Rebound This Year
- Rare Virginia Grasshopper Spotted for First Time in 79 Years
- European Orchard Bee is Now a Valuable Pollinator in UK Thanks to Climate Change
- “White-Knuckled Wolf Spider” Thought Lost Is Rediscovered
Turtles
- Signs of Endangered Sea Turtle Recovery in Most of the World
- Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtles Have Record-Breaking Season
- Former Poachers Guard Cabo Verde’s Endangered Sea Turtles
- Resurrecting the Lost Giants of the Galapagos
- Eastern Pacific Green Turtle Population Has Grown in Michoacán
- Largest Turtle Nest in the World Revealed in Drone Study
- Global Green Turtle Population Rebounds
- Tonga Marks Seabird and Turtle Conservation Victory
- A Bright Spot for Turtles: Olive Ridleys Are Recovering in India
Whales
- Scientists Harness AI to Help Protect Whales
- No, Blue Whales Aren’t Going Silent off California
- Bumper Whale Calving Season a “Sign of Hope” for South Australia’s Oceans
- Eastern Australian Hump-back Whales Now Well Above Pre-Whaling Levels
- One of the World’s Rarest Whales Grows in Population
Reefs
- Corals Recover Faster on Artificial Structures than on Natural Reefs
- Hope for the Future of Coral Reefs: Heat-Resistant Corals
- Scientists Create Gel to Attract Coral Babies to Restore Reefs
- Maldives Coral Reef Restoration Takes Pioneering Step Forwards
- Research Offers Hope for Corals Adjusting to Ocean Acidification
- Coral Reef and Fish Recovery from Cyclones Offers Hope
Other aquatic life
- The North Sea Is Bouncing Back
- World’s Smallest Otter Makes Comeback After 185 Years
- CA Coho Salmon’s Great Spawn Season on Mendocino Coast
- Native Lake Trout Success Story in Lake Champlain
- More than 500 Years Later, the Beaver Is Back in Portugal
- Baltic Ringed Seal Numbers Increase Five Fold Since the 1970s
- Roanoke Logperch Removed from Endangered Species List
- Salmon Breed in River Don for First Time in 200 Years
- Bay Scallops Surge on the Eastern Shore
- America’s Fisheries Rebounded from Collapse and Overregulation
- Otters’ Revival in Britain: A Conservation Success Story
Other comebacks
- Endangered Bonobo Population Stable in Congo
- Bison Are Increasingly Thriving Across Europe
- Cambodian Elephant Population More Robust than Thought
- Exciting Black Rhino Recovery Potential for the Future
- Conservation Efforts Bring Some Species Back from the Brink
- Prize-Winning Project Brings Saiga Antelope Back from the Brink
- Conservation Wins: Three Utah Species on the Rebound
- Quolls and Possums Thrive in National Park After Reintroduction
- Scientists Rediscover a Mexican Rabbit Not Seen in 120 Years
- Diminutive Colorado Cactus Removed from Endangered List
- A Leap Forward: Endangered Frogs Hit Survival Milestone
- Wolverine Returns to Southern Finland
- A Microendemic Frog Comes back on a Patagonian Plateau
- Threadsnake Rediscovered 20 Years After Last Sighting
- “A Win for This Imperiled Species,” International Rhino Foundation Says
- Tiny Australian Predator Recovers from Near-Extinction
- They Rescued Eggs to Save a Species in Mississippi
- The Battle to Save China’s Rare Snub-Nosed Monkey
- The “Blue Dragon” Is Back from The Brink
- Bats Recover After Decimation by White-Nose Syndrome
- Extinction Rates Slow Across Many Plant and Animal Groups
- The Nine-Banded Armadillo Has Expanded Its Range in the US
- More than 100 Million Red Crabs Migrate on Christmas Island
- Rare Orchid Brought Back from Brink of Extinction
Forests
- Earth Saw Record-High Greening in 2020
- China Plants 7.67 Million Hectares of Forest in 2024
- New Data Shows Where Tree Cover Is Coming Back in Latin America
- Brazil Sees Nationwide Slowdown in Deforestation
- English Tree Planting Rates Hit Highest Level in over 20 Years
- Return of Wolves to Yellowstone Leads to Surge in Aspen Trees
- Big Trees in Amazon More Climate-Resistant than Previously Believed
- Decade of Slowing Deforestation Offers Hope for Forests
- Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon Has Fallen Again in 2025
- China Planted So Many Trees It’s Changed the Water Distribution
Surveillance and discovery
- Robot Gets Up Close to the Seabed Without Disturbing It
- AI Robot Helps Scientists Identify New Deep-Sea Species
- Rare Plains-Wanderers Spotted with Help of AI
- We’re Decoding the Secrets of DNA Lurking in the Environment
- A New Species Discovered in Big Bend National Park
- Google Releases an AI Model Designed to Identify Wildlife
- A Colossal Squid Is Filmed in Its Natural Habitat for the First Time
- DNA from the Air Could Track Wildlife, Invasive Species—and Humans
- Scientists Finally Identify Killer Microbe Behind Sea Star Disease
- A Huge Stick Insect Has Been Discovered in Australia
- Scientists Find a Coral Species They Thought Had Gone Extinct
- An Array of Life Is Newly Documented from the Deep Sea
- The First New Subsea Habitat in 40 Years Is About to Launch
- We Can Now Track Individual Monarch Butterflies
- Breath Samples Hold Clues to North Atlantic Right Whale Health
- DNA Methods Help Uncover Endangered African Elephants
Rewilding and conservation
- Bridges and Tunnels in Colorado Are Helping Animals Commute
- Marine Rewilding Project Sees “Remarkable” Results
- Hundreds of Giant Rodents Have Adapted to Life in This Town
- Cook Islands’ Atoll Officially Rat Free
- Vampire Bats’ Grooming Helps Spread Innovative Rabies Vaccine
- Mount Everest’s Trash-Covered Slopes Get Cleaned by Drones
- Kazakhstan to Donate 1,500 Wild Saiga to China After 75 Years of Local Extinction
- Rewilding Project Aims to Restore Resilience to Spain via Wildlife
- China Tackling Water Pollution and Restoring Ecosystems
- Vaccine to Curb Chlamydia Devastating Koalas Approved
- In Yellowstone, Restored Bison Replenish Grasslands
- Scientists Begin Testing Bird Flu Vaccine in Seals
- Islands Restored to Former Paradise After Rats Removed
- “Landmark” for Elephants After Vaccine Breakthrough
- What a Wetland’s Resurrection Revealed About Conservation
- Migratory Birds and Rice Farmers Are Helping Each Other Soar
- Over 7,000 “Glow-in-the-Dark” Snails Return to Island Homes
De-extinction and genetic engineering
- Kangaroo Embryo Produced Through IVF for the First Time
- Scientists Aiming to Bring Back Mammoth Create Woolly Mice
- Animal Poo Can Be Used to Save Endangered Species from Extinction
- The Return of the Dire Wolf
- Singapore Biobank Offers Backup Plan for Pangolins
- Scientists Sequence Genome of Corroboree Frog to Save It
- Genome of Northern White Rhino Offers Hope of Revival
- Colossal Biosciences to De-extinct Giant Flightless Bird
- Team Breeds Rare Beetle for First Time
- “Pivotal Step” Achieved in Effort to Bring Back the Dodo
- Biotechnology Is a Powerful Tool for Conservation
- World’s Oldest RNA Extracted from Woolly Mammoth
Culture & Tolerance
Charity & Aid
- Remittances to Poor Countries Reached $685 Billion in 2024
- Acts of Kindness 10 Percent Higher than Before 2020
- Charitable Giving in 2024 Was Up, According to New Report
- 1.1 Million Mexicans Lifted Out of Poverty Thanks to Remittances
Gender equality
- Kuwait Raises Minimum Legal Age for Marriage to 18 Years Old
- The Stunning Decline of the Preference for Having Boys
- Gender Gap Closes at Fastest Rate Since Pandemic
- Kazakhstan Bans Bride Kidnappings, Forced Marriages
- Number of Women with Financial Accounts Is Increasing
General wellbeing
- Young Americans Are Getting Happier
- Only About 40 Percent of Today’s Marriages Will End in Divorce
- The World Has Become Surprisingly Less Grumpy
Tolerance
- Liechtenstein Marriage Equality Law Takes Effect
- Same-Sex Couples Wed as Thailand’s Marriage Bill Takes Effect
- Homophobia Has Fallen in Western Europe and the US
- Same-Sex Marriage Legality Is Increasing Globally
- Same-Sex Partnership Systems Now Cover 90 Percent of Japan’s Population
- EU Nations Must Now Mutually Recognize Same-Sex Marriages
Treatment of animals
- White and Brown Egg Sexing Now Available in US
- Three Moon Bears Rescued in First Closure of Laos Bile Farm
- China Removes Pangolin Medicine from 2025 Pharmacopoeia
- Sweden Ensures Egg-Laying Chickens Are Cage-Free — Without Law
- FDA Approves 12-Month Flea Treatment for Dogs
- Traffic Stops for Whales on Australia’s Humpback Highway
- The Biggest Animal Welfare Victory of the 21st Century
- Rhino Horns Made Radioactive to Foil Traffickers in South Africa
- A Shift from Animal Testing
- Europe’s First Captive Elephant Sanctuary to Open in Alentejo
- Could Weight Loss Drugs Turn Fat Cats Into Svelte Ozempets?
Energy & Natural Resources
Fission
- Molten Salt Nuclear Reactor in Wyoming Hits Key Milestone
- Closed Iowa Nuclear Plant Could Come Back Online by 2028
- French Power at Record Discount to Germany on Cheap Nuclear
- Japan to Increase Reliance on Nuclear Energy
- World Bank May Drop Ban on Funding Nuclear Power
- Small Modular Nuclear Reactors Could Come to Michigan in 2030
- Nuclear Power Is Back. And Now, AI Can Help Manage the Reactors.
- US Loads Most Powerful Nuclear Fuel to Boost Electricity Output
- This Texas Chemical Plant Could Get Its Own Nuclear Reactors
- Nuclear Energy Support Near Record High in US
- World Bank’s Banga Intends to End Ban Loans for Nuclear Power
- A Thorium Reactor Has Rewritten the Rules of Nuclear Power
- Nuclear Fusion Project Yields World’s Most Powerful Magnet
- Ontario Modular Reactor to Be First in “Western World,” GE Predicts
- Draft Executive Orders to Speed Construction of Nuclear Plants
- New Way to Pull Uranium from Water Can Help China’s Nuclear Power Push
- Berlin, Paris Overcome Rift over Nuclear Energy, French Official Says
- Denmark to Consider Lifting Nuclear Ban
- Belgian Parliament Scraps Nuclear Phaseout Plan
- Italy Edges Back Into Nuclear: Lombardy Signs Historic Deal
- Diablo Canyon to Extend Nuclear Power Production for 20 Years
- Meta Turns to Nuclear Power for AI Needs
- Rolls-Royce to Build Britain’s First Small Modular Nuclear Reactors
- World Bank Ends Its Ban on Funding Nuclear Power Projects
- The First Major New US Nuclear Power Plant in over 15 Years
- Japan Utility to Survey First Nuclear Reactor Since Fukushima
- Advanced Nuclear Plant Planned for Tennessee Grid by 2030
- Record-Breaking Year for Nuclear Electricity Generation
- Point Beach Units Cleared for 80 Years of Operation
- Google and Nextera to Revive Major Iowa Nuclear Facility
- China Reaches Energy Milestone by “Breeding” Uranium from Thorium
- Valar Atomics: First Nuclear Startup to Achieve Criticality
- Oklo Announces US Approval for Nuclear Safety Design Agreement of Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility
- First Fuel Produced for Molten Salt Reactor Experiment
- India Approves Bill to Open Civil Nuclear Power to Private Firms
Fusion
- China’s “Artificial Sun” Shatters Nuclear Fusion Record
- France Runs Fusion Reactor for Record 22 Minutes
- Fusion Breakthrough Could Reduce Cost of Future Power Plant
- Fusion Energy Start-up Claims to Have Cracked Alchemy
Geothermal
- Fervo Energy’s New Well Pushes the Envelope for EGS Deployment
- US Geothermal Companies Are Spending Big on Federal Leases
- Geothermal’s Time Has Finally Come
- Mazama Energy Reports Record 629°F Geothermal System
- Geothermal Company Makes Big Discovery Using AI
Solar
- Turkey Doubles Solar Capacity
- India Adds Record 24.5 GW of Solar in 2024
- Australian Researchers Set World Record with Kesterite Solar Cell
- New Solar Energy Generation Records Set Across the US
- Pakistan Pulls off One of the World’s Fastest Solar Revolutions
- Distributed Energy Is Driving Latin America’s Energy Transition
- Solar Boom Counters Power Shortages in Niger
- India Installs 5.93 GW of Utility-Scale Solar in Q1
- The First Evidence of a Take-off in Solar in Africa
- Global Solar Installations Surge 64 Percent in First Half of 2025
- Solar Shines in the Rush for Power in Africa’s Largest Petrostate
- India Achieved Historic Milestone in Renewable Power Sector
- Solar Power Is a Bright Spot After Jamaica’s Disastrous Storm
Batteries
- The Rise of Nuclear-Powered Batteries
- BYD’s 5-Minute 400km EV Charging Breakthrough
- Major Advances in EV Batteries Are Announced by CATL
- US Data Center to Add Batteries Without Lithium Mined Overseas
- China Launches Grid-Forming Sodium-Ion Battery Storage Plant
- BYD’s Five-Minute Charging Puts China in the Lead for EVs
- World’s First Grid-Connected Iron-Air Battery Connected in Delft
- World’s First LFP Battery with 470+ Miles Range and 10-Minute Charging
Recycling and resource efficiency
- Engineered Bacteria Could Break Down Unrecyclable Nylon
- Piezoelectric Catalyst Destroys “Forever Chemicals”
- Amazon Expands Use of In-House AI Tools to Reduce Energy Use
- Better Software Efficiency Is Lowering Energy Cost of AI Prompts
- Neural Network Finds an Enzyme That Can Break Down Polyurethane
Resource abundance
- Gas Prices Recede and Could Continue Dropping in 2025
- Reserves of “Gold” Hydrogen May Be Lurking Beneath 30 US States
- Rare Earth Deposit Found in Yunnan
- Earth AI Found Critical Minerals in Places Everyone Else Ignored
- Largest Copper Find in 30 Years Revealed in Argentina
- Physicists Turn Lead Into Gold for a Fraction of a Second
- Startup Makes AI-Driven Minerals Find Down Under
- Rare-Earths Plants Are Popping Up Outside China
- Japan to Begin Test Mining Rare-Earth Mud in Early 2026
- Synthetic Diamonds 1/5 of Diamond Jewelry Sales, up from 1 Percent in 2016
- CEP Announces Largest Oil Discovery in Poland’s History
- New Process Produces Critical Battery Metals with No Waste
- BP Makes Its Largest Oil and Gas Discovery in 25 Years
- Norway Makes Huge North Sea Oil Discovery
- The Company Planning a Lithium Empire at the Great Salt Lake
- Oversupply of Oil Could Create Glut of 4M Barrels a Day
- Rocks in Earth’s Crust May Be Hiding Massive Helium Reservoirs
- Trove of Critical Minerals Uncovered in the Utah Desert
Water and desalination
- Scientists Discover Enormous Water Reservoir in Oregon Cascades
- New Tech to Prevent the World from Running Out of Clean Water
- Devices That Pull Water Out of Thin Air Poised to Take Off
- Fresh Water Under the Ocean Raises Hopes for a Thirsty World
- Nobel Prize Win Buoys Business Case for Creating Water from Air
- Israel Pumps Desalinated Water Into Depleted Sea of Galilee
Environment & Pollution
Climate change
- Critical Ocean Current Has Not Declined in the Last 60 Years
- Total Collapse of Vital Atlantic Currents Unlikely This Century
- The Ozone Hole Is Steadily Shrinking
- Continental US Had No Hurricane Landfalls for First Time in Decade
Emissions reduction, climate adaptation, and geoengineering
- The Machine Sending CO2 to the Ocean and Making Hydrogen
- High-Yield Rice Emits up to 70 Percent Less Methane
- Scientists Just Built a CO2-Eating Machine That Runs on Sunlight
- Did Shale Gas Green the US Economy?
- The Next Big Thing in Carbon Capture? Trash.
- AI Is Starting to Cut Carbon Emissions
- Here’s How to Make Nickel Production Greener
- Clean Energy Just Put China’s CO2 Emissions Into Reverse
- Could This Invention Finally Clean up Cargo Fleets?
- Scientists Find Way to Reduce Cow Dung Methane Emissions
- Scientists Seek to Turbocharge a Natural Earth Cooling Process
- Global Carbon Emissions May Have Dropped Slightly This Year
- Global Economy Is Decoupling Emissions from Growth
Weather and disaster resilience
- How Japan Overhauled Its Architecture for Earthquakes
- La Nina Ocean Cooling Is Weak and May Cause Fewer Problems
- Startups Build Bigger, Better Drones to Fight Bigger Wildfires
- Grid-Hardening Tech Could Prevent Future LA Fires
- Study Finds Current US Wildfire Burn Rates Far Below Historical Average
- NASA Downgrades the Threat Level of Asteroid 2024 YR4
- Nvidia Unveils AI Weather Forecasting Advance
- Weather Forecasting Steps Forward with Europe’s New AI
- AI Breakthrough Is “Revolution” in Weather Forecasting
- Earth Fire Alliance Satellite for Detecting Wildfires Is Now in Orbit
- India Debuts New Weather Model to Help Farming, Flood Planning
- California’s First Wildfire-Resistant Neighborhood
- Natural Disaster Increase Partly Due to Improved Reporting
- AI Is Quietly Powering a Revolution in Weather Prediction
- Japan Wires the Ocean with an Earthquake-Sensing “Nervous System”
- Google Set Billions of Mobile Phones to Detect Quakes — And Send Alerts
- How Water Makes This Town Flood-Proof
- Adaptation to Heatwaves in Europe Outpaces Climate Change
- APS, Firefighters Deploy New AI Smoke-Detection Cameras
- NASA’s New AI Model Can Predict When a Solar Storm May Strike
- Declining Global Burned Area of Wildland Fires
- Google’s AI Hurricane Model Impresses with Hurricane Erin
- Brazil Records 65 Percent Drop in Amazon Area Burned by Fire
- Flood Impact Adaptation Highly Successful in Europe Since 1950
- How AI Is Shaking up the Study of Earthquakes
- How China Was Ready for Super Typhoon Ragasa
- Bangladesh Has Become Much More Resilient to Cyclones
- AI Could Dramatically Improve Weather Forecasting
- AI Model Predicts Hurricane Melissa’s Perilous Growth
- Massive Wildfire Liabilities Push Utilities to Use AI to Stop Blazes
- Seafloor Telecom Cable Turned Into Giant Earthquake Detector
Air pollution
- China Reduced SO2 Emissions by More than Two-Thirds in 15 Years
- The World Has Probably Passed “Peak Air Pollution”
- Air Pollution Is Improving in US Metro Areas
- China’s Year-to-Date Irradiance up 30 Percent as Aerosols Drop
- The Past Decade’s Huge Reduction in Anthropogenic Mercury Emissions
- European Union Reports Pollution Lower in 2023 than in 2005
- Universal Access to Clean Cooking in Africa
- Prescribed Fire Use Led to a Net Reduction of −14 Percent in Smoke Emissions in Western US
- The Air Pollution Benefits of Low Severity Fire
- Wildfire Heat Could Unexpectedly Lower Eastern US Air Pollution
- China Has Reduced Pollution, Improved Life Expectancy
- Age-Standardized Air Pollution Death Rate Down Significantly Since 2013
- An Escape from India’s Air Pollution for Those Who Can Afford It
Water pollution
- Yellow River Protection Efforts Making Progress
- DNA of Rare Mussels Raises Hopes Seine Clean-up Is Working
- New Plastic Dissolves in the Ocean Overnight
- Water Hyacinths May Be Effective at Removing Microplastics
- Plastic Pollution Along Australian Coast at Its Lowest in a Decade
- Marine Litter on the EU Coastline Down by Almost One-Third
- A 30-City Program to Cut Pollution from Rivers by One Third by 2030
- Paris Reopens Seine River After Century-Long Swimming Ban
- How Europe’s Dirtiest River Was Brought Back to Life
- In Chicago Once Heavily Polluted River, More Fish Now Swim
- São Paulo’s Pinheiros River Clean-up
Growth & Development
Education
- From Chalkboards to Chatbots: Transforming Learning in Nigeria
- Sub-Saharan Africa Makes Strides in Female Education
- Nvidia Taps AI to Teach Sign Language
- ChatGPT’s Great Effect on Students’ Learning Performance
- Kenya’s Basic Education Institutions Surge in 2024
- Spaced Repetition Systems Have Gotten Way Better
- OpenAI and Microsoft Bankroll New AI Training for Teachers
Wealth
- Wage Inequality Declined in Most Countries Since Start of 21st Century
- Being a Millionaire Is Kind of Middle Class Now
- There Are Half a Billion Mobile Money Accounts in the World
- Mobile-Phone Technology Powers Saving Surge in Developing Economies
- Financial Account Ownership Increased by 5 Percent Since 2021
- One-Third of US Families Earn Over $150,000
- India’s Recent Durables Goods and Asset Ownership Progress
Poverty
- Poverty Down Sharply in India Since 2012
- Multidimensional Poverty Rate Drops to Below 1 Percent in Vietnam
- Poverty in Indonesia Drops by 1.84 Million People Since 2023
- Uzbekistan: The Poverty Rate Continues to Plunge
- Nepal Has Unparalleled Success in Eliminating Extreme Poverty
- Indonesia Reduces Extreme Poverty Rapidly
- Javier Milei’s Free Market Reforms Are Starting To Pay Off
- India Has Undermined a Popular Myth About Development
- Poverty in Latin America Fell Significantly Since 2008
- Poverty Has Declined for Almost All Indians
- India Has Significantly Reduced Poverty over the past Decade
- Uganda’s Poverty Rate Declines to 16.1 Percent
- Poverty Declines in Georgia as Income Inequality Decreases in 2024
- Poverty Declines Significantly in Bhutan from 2017 to 2022
- Morocco’s Multidimensional Poverty Halved Since 2014
- Jamaica’s Poverty Prevalence Has Declined Dramatically
- Global Extreme Poverty Rate Fell from 2022 to 2025
- Rwanda Sees Sharp Drop in “Multidimensional” Child Poverty
- The Declining Number of Poor Indonesians Since September 2024
- Argentina’s Poverty Falls to 7-Year Low as Inflation Eases
- Poverty Falls in Iraq
- Global Child Poverty Has Been on a Steady Decline Since 2014
- Tajikistan’s Remarkable Poverty Reduction over past Decade
- Latin American Poverty Drops by Nearly Half in 20 Years
- Child Severe Deprivation Has Fallen by a Third So Far This Century
- Southeast Asian Poverty Has Dropped Significantly Since 2016
- Latin America Reached Its Lowest Ever Poverty Rate in 2024
- Poverty in Argentina Dropped Significantly in Third Quarter
Productivity and economic growth
- Argentina Exited Recession as Milei Eyes Growth
- Vietnam Endorses Reforms to Spur Economic Growth
- Global Trade Hits Record $33 Trillion in 2024
- Sri Lanka’s Economy Outpaces Growth Projections
- Economic Growth Is Speeding up in Africa
- Developing Countries Have Seen Sustained Growth Since 1987
- Trade and Development Chart: Trade Growth Defies Expectations
- Inflation Plunges in Argentina
- Your Fridge Is Bigger and Cheaper Today
- Economic Growth in 2025 Has Defied the Gloomy Expectations
Housing, infrastructure, and urbanization
- In the Last 30 Years, Almost All of Bangladesh Gained Electricity
- 87 Percent of Population Now Has Clean Water in Cambodia
- Senegal Closing on Universal Electricity Access
- Austin Rents Tumble from Peak on Massive Home Building Spree
- Nigeria’s Power Generation Rises 30 Percent
- Almost 100 Million Africans Have Gained Electricity in Recent Years
- Vast Undersea Tunnel Will Change the Road and Rail Map of Europe
- India’s National Highways See 60 Percent Growth in a Decade
- 3D Printer Used to Construct Train Station Building in Japan
- Prefabricated Timber Tower Will Be Constructed in Just 90 Days
- Kenya Nears Universal Electricity Access by 2030, IEA Report Says
- In Tanzania, More Electricity Brings Education and Health
- Electricity Access Reaches over 97 Percent in Nepal Municipalities
- Single-Stair Buildings to Reduce Colorado Housing Costs
- Austin to Allow Some Apartments to Have Only One Staircase
- NC Bill to Eliminate Parking Minimums Passes House
- California Ditches Environmental Law to Tackle Housing Crisis
- Energy Access Has Improved across the world
- Tap Water Coverage Crosses 81 Percent in Rural India
- A Quarter of the World Population Gained Safe Water Since 2000
- The Hassle-Free Future of Trash Pickup and Recycling
- Asia and the Pacific to Achieve Universal Electricity Access by 2030
- Austria and Italy Finish Digging World’s Longest Rail Tunnel
- New Hampshire Sparks a Revolution in Electricity Supply
- How America Cut Deadly City Fires in Half
- California Forever Clears First Hurdle in Suisun City Annexation
- What the Twin Cities Tell Us About Fixing the Housing Crisis
Labor and employment
- The American Worker Is Becoming More Productive
- 100 Million Fewer Children Are in Child Labor Today than in 2000
- AI Is Triaging Mothers’ Hidden Labor
- Thailand to Let Refugees Work to Counter Labor Shortages
- AI Is Creating More Work, Countering the Doomers for Now
Health
Cancer
- US Childhood Cancer Deaths Have Declined Six-Fold over Seventy Years
- Researchers Develop Cancer Blood Test Enabling Early Detection
- J&J’s Combination Lung Cancer Treatment Adds a Year to Patient Survival
- New AI Method Improves Early Breast Cancer Detection
- Particle Accelerator Reimagined to Blast Cancer in Under a Second
- Vaccine Keeps Advanced Kidney Cancer from Recurring
- Cheap Blood Test Detects Pancreatic Cancer Before It Spreads
- New Treatments Give Hope to Some Cancer Patients
- Rate of Cervical Precancers Plummeting in Young US Women
- AstraZeneca’s Breast Cancer Drug Shows Positive Results
- Scientists Unveil Tiny Robot to Help Detect and Treat Bowel Cancer
- Denmark Could Eradicate Cervical Cancer by 2040: Study
- Cancer Death Rates Decreased Significantly in the US from 2018 to 2022
- Breast Cancer Incidence-Based Mortality Declined Since 2010
- Advanced Cancers Returned to Prepandemic Levels
- New Medicine Spares Cancer Patients from Harsh Surgeries
- Weight-Loss Jabs Could Halve Risk of Obesity-Related Cancers
- Ph-Positive Leukemia: No Longer a Death Sentence?
- From No Hope to a Potential Cure for a Deadly Blood Cancer
- “Gift of Life”: Experts Hail Neck and Head Cancer Breakthrough
- CAR-T Cell Therapy Shows Promise in Deadly Brain Cancer
- Trodelvy, with Keytruda, Cuts Breast Cancer Risk by 35 Percent
- Amgen Drug Cuts Small Cell Lung Cancer Death Risk by 40 Percent
- AstraZeneca Pill Treatment Cuts Breast Cancer Progression Risk
- UK Cancer Survival Rate Doubles Since 1970s amid “Golden Age”
- Trial Helps Cancer Patients with Tumours Live 40 Percent Longer
- Childhood Leukemia: How a Deadly Cancer Became Treatable
- Immunization Effort to Avert over 605,000 Cervical Cancer Deaths
- Herpes Virus Could Soon Be Approved to Treat Skin Cancer
- The World Is Winning the War on Cancer
- A New Reality for Terminal Cancer: Longer Lives
- The Declining Burden of Childhood Leukemia from 1990 to 2021
- Denmark Close to Wiping Out Leading Cancer-Causing HPV Strains
- Cancer and Heart Disease Death Rates Have Declined in 150 Countries Since 2010
- To Treat Prostate Cancer, There Are More Options than Ever
- The US Rise in Early-Onset Cancer Is More Apparent than Real
- Exciting Results from Blood Test for 50 Cancers
- Bonus from COVID-19 Vaccines: Bolstering Cancer Treatment
- Radiation May Be Unnecessary for Many Breast Cancer Patients
- GLP-1 Drugs Linked to Lower Colon Cancer Death Rates
- Canadian Scientist Gives Glioblastoma Patients Hope
- Global Scourge of Cervical Cancer Ended Ahead of Schedule
- AACR Reports Great Progress Against Pediatric Cancer
Brain implants, disability treatments, and assistive technologies
- Tongue-Stimulator Offers Hope to Millions with Sleep Apnoea
- AI Uses Throat Vibrations to Work Out What Someone Is Saying
- Parkinson’s Tremors Disappear with Use of Ultrasound Machine
- US Approves “Milestone” Parkinson’s Treatment for 2025 Release
- First Person with Eye and Face Transplant Is Recovering Well
- AI Is Fixing the Voices of People with Motor Neuron Diseases
- Meet the World’s First Recipient of an AI-Powered Bionic Arm
- Meta’s AI-Powered Ray-Bans Are Life-Enhancing for the Blind
- Gene Editing May Hold Key to Preventing Down Syndrome
- “Life-Changing” Gene Therapy for Children Born Blind
- New Therapy Improves Hearing in Children with Rare Hearing Loss
- Stem Cell Therapy Trial Reverses “Irreversible” Damage to Cornea
- Knee Injury Repairs Improved with Cartilage Grown from Nasal Cells
- Patients with Long COVID Regain Senses with Pioneering Surgery
- Paralyzed Man Stands After Stem Cell Reprogramming
- Brain-to-Voice Neuroprosthesis Restores Naturalistic Speech
- Stem-Cell Trials “Big Leap” for Parkinson’s Treatment
- FDA Clears Minimally Invasive Brain-Computer Interface Implant
- New Wearable Brain-Computer Interface
- Man with ALS Receives Neuralink Implant, Can Type with Brain
- Neuralink’s Speech Restoration Device Gets FDA’s “Breakthrough” Tag
- A Promising Clinical Trial Is Helping People Walk Again
- Apple to Support Brain-Implant Control of Its Devices
- Paradromics Completes First Human Implant
- Brain Implant Lets Man Speak with Expression — And Sing
- Gene Therapy Restores Hearing in the Congenitally Deaf
- New Treatment Restores Sight to Man with Genetic Eye Disorder
- For Some Patients, the “Inner Voice” May Soon Be Audible
- Neuralink “Participant 1” Says His Whole Life Has Changed
- Telepathy Device Lets People Communicate Without Speaking
- The Accessibility Revolution Hiding in Your AirPods
- Eyeglass Lenses to Slow Near-sightedness in Children in the US
- Eye Implant and Special Glasses Let Blind Patients Can Read Again
- Breakthrough Treatment Restores Hearing of Child Born Deaf
- UK Neuralink Patient Uses Thought to Control Computer
- New Drug for Genetic Eye Disease Successful in Late-Stage Trial
Dementia and Alzheimer's
- Alzheimer’s Could Be Treated Using Brain’s Own Immune Cells
- New Treatment May Delay Alzheimer’s Symptoms, Research Continues
- AI-Powered Databases Boost Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery
- Is Dementia Incidence Still Dropping? Birth Cohort Data Say Yes.
- Strongest Evidence Yet That Shingles Vaccine Helps Cut Dementia Risk
- “Amazing” Reduction in Alzheimer’s Risk Verified by Blood Markers, Study Says
- FDA-Cleared Alzheimer’s Blood Test Could Improve Diagnoses
- Younger Generations Less Likely to Have Dementia, Study Suggests
- Scientists Think It Possible to Protect Aging Brains with Lithium
- A Dementia Vaccine Could Be Real
Diabetes
- Positive Results from New Type of Islet Cell Transplantation
- People with Severe Diabetes Are Cured in Small Trial of New Drug
- New Therapy Teplizumab Could Delay Type 1 Diabetes by Years
- Diabetic Produces His Own Insulin After Gene-Edited Cell Transplant
Heart disease and stroke
- Cardiovascular Disease Death Rates Have Fallen Rapidly
- Scientists Develop Patch That Can Repair Damaged Hearts
- Experimental Sanofi Drug Delays Heart Valve Disease Progression
- New Treatment Could Cure One in 20 Cases of High Blood Pressure
- Drug Reduces Mysterious Particle Involved in Heart Attack Risk
- World’s Smallest Pacemaker Fits in a Syringe
- One-off Gene-Editing Therapy Could Permanently Lower Cholesterol
- GLP-1 Drugs May Help Prevent Atrial Fibrillation
- US Heart Attack Deaths Down Almost 90 Percent Since 1970
- Death Rates from Cardiovascular Disease Have Fallen Dramatically
- Once a Death Sentence, This Heart Condition Is Now Treatable
- AI Brain Scans Can Triple Stroke Recovery Rates, NHS Finds
- Weight-Loss Drug Cuts Heart Attack Risk Regardless of Kilograms Shed
- Surgeons Achieve World-First Stroke Surgery Using Robot
- CRISPR Therapy Slashes “Bad” Triglycerides, Cholesterol by Half in Study
Other non-communicable diseases
- Stem-Cell Therapies: 10 Breakthrough Technologies 2025
- Novel Test Can Detect Different Types of Asthma via Nasal Swab
- Ozempic-Style Drugs Tied to More than 60 Health Benefits
- New Sickle Cell Treatment Cures Disease at Lower Cost
- Mutated DNA Restored to Normal in Gene Therapy Advance
- FDA Approves First New Antibiotic for Uncomplicated UTIs in Decades
- Stem-Cell Therapies Might Soon Yield Medical Breakthroughs
- We’re on the Verge of a Universal Allergy Cure
- Active Ingredient in Wegovy May Help Treat Type of Fatty Liver Disease
- A New “Holy Grail” Treatment for Autoimmune Diseases
- Doctors Rewrite DNA of Infant with Severe Genetic Disorder
- Ultra-Powerful CRISPR Treatment Trialled in a Person
- New Blood Test to Rapidly Diagnose Rare Genetic Diseases
- AI Drug Startup Touts Promising Advance in Treating Lung Disease
- Brain Drugs Can Now Cross the Blood–Brain Barrier
- New Coeliac Test Diagnoses Without Need to Eat Gluten
- A Cutting-Edge Cancer Therapy Offers Hope for Lupus Patients
- Babies Made Using Three People’s DNA Are Born Free of Hereditary Disease
- New Implant Offers Hope for Easing Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Children with Rare Genetic Diseases Get CRISPR Cures Center
- Huntington’s Disease Treated Successfully for First Time
- Remarkable New Treatments Can Tackle Peanut Allergies
- Gene Therapy Cures 95 Percent of Kids with “Bubble Boy” Disease
- US FDA Approves Arrowhead’s Genetic Disorder Drug
- Boy with Rare Condition Amazes Doctors After Gene Therapy
- CAR-T Therapies Treat Autoimmune Diseases
Malaria, dengue, and other mosquito-borne diseases
- Malaria Deaths in Kenya Drop by 93 Percent over Eight Years
- Scientists Turn Mosquitoes Into Tiny Weapons to Fight Disease
- Country of Georgia Certified Malaria-Free by WHO
- Progress Is Being Made Against Malaria in South-East Asia Region
- New Data on Remarkable Malaria Vaccine Impact
- FDA Approves Bavarian Nordic’s Chikungunya Vaccine
- Nitisinone Drug Makes Human Blood Deadly to Mosquitoes
- Poisoning Mosquitoes with Human Blood
- Progress Toward Malaria Elimination
- A Novel Hybrid Vaccine Delivery Approach to Combat Malaria
- Eliminating Malaria in Southeast Asia
- Indonesia Develops AI System to Help Diagnose Malaria
- California Officials Unleash Sterile Mosquitoes to Curb Disease
- Scientists Propose Novel Way of Treating Mosquitoes for Malaria
- Suriname Certified Malaria-Free by WHO
- Scientists Are Dropping Mosquitoes Into Hawaii to Fight Malaria
- Swiss Medicines Authority Approves Antimalarial Drug for Treatment of Infants
- Stealth Genetic Switch in Mosquitoes Halts Malaria Spread
- Get Ready, Brazil. The “Good Mosquitoes” Are Coming
- Timor-Leste Certified Malaria-Free by Who
- Guinea Introduces Malaria Vaccine Into Routine Immunization
- Togo Introduces Malaria Vaccine, Aims to Protect 269,000 Children
- Ethiopia Rolls Out Malaria Vaccine
- Zambia Launches Malaria Vaccine to Protect Half a Million Children
- Genetically Engineered Fungus Could Fix Your Mosquito Problem
- New Malaria Drug Performs Strongly in Late-Stage Testing
- Brazil Approves World’s First Single-Dose Dengue Vaccine
- Ethiopia’s R21 Malaria Vaccine Rollout, a Global First in a Refugee Camp
Other tropical diseases
- Guinea Eliminates Sleeping Sickness
- Niger Becomes First African Country Free of River Blindness
- Uganda Declares End of Ebola Outbreak
- With 70 Percent Dip in Cases, Kerala Set to Eliminate Rheumatic Fever
- WHO Declares Elimination of Trachoma in Mauritania
- Eye Disease Trachoma Eliminated in Papua New Guinea
- Burundi Eliminates Trachoma as a Public Health Problem
- Senegal Joins List of Countries That Have Eliminated Trachoma
- Kenya Eliminates Public Health Problem of Sleeping Sickness
- Congo Has Improved Its Response to Ebola with Every New Outbreak
- Mpox No Longer an Emergency, World Health Organization Says
- Reported Leprosy Cases Fell 5.5 Percent Between 2023 and 2024
- Fiji Eliminates Trachoma as a Public Health Problem
- Global Progress Against Tropical Diseases Continues
- Egypt Eliminates Trachoma as a Public Health Problem
- African Countries’ Great Epidemiological Progress
HIV/AIDS
- Data Suggest Once-Yearly Shot of Prep Drug Blocks HIV Infection
- Botswana Leads the Way in Eliminating Mother-to-Child HIV
- HIV Prevention Drug Hailed as a “Breakthrough” Gets FDA Approval
- The First Widespread Cure for HIV Could Be in Children
- Landmark Deal Paves Way for Cheaper HIV Protection Jab
- South Africa Registers the Twice-a-Year Anti-HIV Jab
- AIDS Related Deaths Drop 64 Percent in Uganda
- A Drug to Prevent HIV, an “Unprecedented” Rollout
- A “Functional Cure” for HIV May Be in Reach, Early Trials Suggest
- Brazil Eliminates Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV
Tuberculosis
- African Region Records Further Decline in TB Deaths and Cases
- Tuberculosis Is Now Rare in Rich Countries — Here’s How It Happened
- Tuberculosis Deaths Fell by 3 Percent Between 2023 and 2024
- Africa Exceeds Global Tuberculosis Targets
Other communicable diseases
- Global Burden of Diarrheal Diseases Has Declined Substantially Since 1990
- COVID-19 Seems to Be Becoming Milder
- 9 Countries Said Goodbye to a Devastating Disease in 2024
- New DNA Sequencing System to Fight Superbugs
- Experimental Antifungal Compound Kills Multidrug-Resistant Fungi
- New Antibiotic Kills Drug-Resistant Bacteria
- FDA Approves At-Home Test for Sexually Transmitted Infections
- A Flu Strain Has Likely Gone Extinct Since 2020
- Pakistan Edges Closer to Eliminating Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus
- New RSV Treatment Linked to Fall in Baby Hospitalizations
- Stablepharma Begins Trial of “World-First” Fridge-Free Vaccine
- Measles Vaccines Save Millions of Lives Each Year
- Roche Extends Trials of Promising Antibiotic Against Superbug
- Egypt Meets WHO Target for Hepatitis B Control
- Childhood Pneumonia Deaths Have Plummeted in Nepal
- How Rwanda Is Beating Back Hepatitis B
- World-First Gonorrhoea Vaccine Launched by NHS England
- New Era of Medicine: AI Designs a Superbug Killer in Seconds
- AI Designs Antibiotics for Gonorrhoea and MRSA Superbugs
- Nepal Eliminates Rubella
- A New Vaccine May Fix Africa’s “Meningitis Belt”
- Rubella Eliminated in Japan and Pacific Island Countries and Areas
- Maldives Becomes the First Country to Achieve “Triple Elimination”
- New Antibiotic Found “Hidden in Plain Sight”
- Seychelles, Mauritius, Cabo Verde Eliminate Measles and Rubella
- Measles Deaths Down 88 Percent Since 2000
- FDA Approves Two New Drugs to Treat Gonorrhea
- Taiwan Achieves Hepatitis C Targets Ahead of Schedule
Accidents, injuries & poisonings
- Antivenom Renaissance: Using AI to Explore Antivenoms
- Shark Attacks Declined Sharply in 2024
- Drowning Deaths Decline Globally
- Cambodia’s Significant Milestone in Landmine Clearance Efforts
- Bitten by a Snake? There May Soon Be a Pill for That
- Deaths at Work Decreased Slightly in 2023: Report
- Scientists Identify Antibodies That Neutralize Snake Bites
- New Breathalyser May Prevent Thousands of Poisonings Each Year
- Gut Microbes Could Protect Us from Toxic “Forever Chemicals”
- Traffic Fatalities Decreased in the First Quarter of 2025
- EU Food Authority Condemns Bad Microplastic Studies
- AI System Prevents Deadly Elephants Encounters in India
- An Antivenom Cocktail, Made by a Llama
- Poland Records EU’s Joint-Biggest Decline in Road Deaths
- In Senior Homes, AI Technology Is Sensing Falls Before They Happen
Maternal care
- US Maternal Mortality Decreased Significantly from 2022 to 2023
- Tanzania Cut Maternal Mortality by 80 Percent in Seven Years
- New Pregnancy Blood Test Sensor Detects Birth Risks Earlier
- Maternal Mortality Dropped Significantly from 2000 and 2023
- Maternal and Infant Mortality Continues Decline in Kazakhstan
- A New Method for Reducing Global Maternal Mortality
Fertility and birth control
- A Less Brutal Alternative to IVF
- Woman Becomes First UK Womb Transplant Recipient to Give Birth
- World’s First Baby Conceived with Remotely Operated, Automated IVF
- Non-hormonal Contraceptive for Men Lasts at Least Two Years
- A Couple Tried for 18 Years to Get Pregnant. AI Made It Happen
- Breastfeeding Device Measures Babies’ Milk Intake in Real Time
- Hormone-Free Male Birth Control Pill Shown Safe in Human Trial
- Human Skin Cells Are Turned Into Eggs in Fertility Breakthrough
- Robots Are Learning to Make Human Babies
Mental health, substance abuse, and addiction
- Teen Alcohol and Drug Use Keeps Declining
- Semaglutide Helped with Alcohol Use Disorder In Clinical Trial
- US Drug Overdose Deaths Drop to Lowest Levels Since June 2020
- Suicide Rate Declined by Nearly 40 Percent in Three Decades
- Some Good News About Tweens and Phones
- First Therapy Chatbot Trial Yields Mental Health Benefits
- Overdose Deaths Drop to Lowest Level Since Before the Pandemic
- Global Suicide Rate Dropped Significantly Since 2000
- Drug Deaths Plummet Among Young Americans as Fentanyl Carnage Eases
- Psychedelic Nasal Spray Shows Promise Against Depression
Weight loss
- Dozens of Promising New Obesity Drugs Are Coming
- New Weight Loss Drugs Aim to Save Muscle
- Ozempic Rival in Weight Loss Sidesteps Side Effects
- Daily Pill May Eclipse Ozempic for Weight Loss and Blood Sugar
- Fast Food Consumption Decreased, CDC Data Shows
- GLP-1 Adoption Is Changing Consumer Food Demand
- Obesity Rate Declining in US
- Daily Pill Could Offer Alternative to Weight-Loss Injections
- Obesity Drug Delivers Strong Weight Loss in Late-Stage Trial
Nutrition
- Childhood Stunting Rate Plummets in Indonesia
- AI Can Predict Child Malnutrition and Support Prevention Efforts
- Famines Kill Far Fewer People Today than They Did in the Past
- Stunting Declines in Indonesia
- Breastfeeding in Indonesia on the Rise
- Vietnam Makes Strong Gains in Child Nutrition
- Stunting Among Children Aged 0–59 Months in Ghana Declined Since 1993
- More Children Are Obese than Underweight in World-First
Longevity and mortality
- Life Expectancy Has Continued to Rise in Longest-Lived Countries
- Seventy Really May Be the New Sixty for English Baby Boomers
- Startup Trains GPT-4b Model to Extend Human Life
- In These Nine Asian Countries, Child Mortality Has Significantly Declined
- The Downward Trends in Child Mortality
- Mitochondria Transplants Could Lengthen Lives
- Americans in Their 80s and 90s Are Redefining Old Age
- US Life Expectancy Is Rebounding
- Ozempic Reverses Biological Age by 3.1 Years in First Clinical Trial
- US Death Rate Declined Significantly from 2023 to 2024
- EU Life Expectancy Increased by 0.3 Years from 2023 to 2024
Surgery and emergency medicine
- FDA Approves New Nonopioid Painkiller for Acute Pain
- Swirling Sound Waves Used to Rip Apart Kidney Stones
- Japan to Begin Clinical Trials for Artificial Blood This Year
- The First Non-Opioid Painkiller
- Robot Performs First Realistic Surgery Without Human Help
- Telesurgery Connects Florida and Angola in Medical Breakthrough
- Tiny Robots Swim Through Blood, Deliver Drugs — And Dissolve
Organ transplantation
- Recipient of Pig Kidney Transplant Reaches a Milestone
- Surgeons Transplant Engineered Pig Kidney Into Fourth Patient
- FDA Approves Studies of Pig Organ Transplants
- Man Lives for 100 Days with Titanium Heart in New Trial
- For Patients Needing Transplants, Hope Arrives on Tiny Hooves
- Genetically Modified Pig Liver Transplanted Into Chinese Patient
- World’s First “Nonstop Beating Heart” Transplant
- Surgeons Perform First Human Bladder Transplant
- Tiny Human Hearts Grown in Pig Embryos for the First Time
- Surgeons Do First Fully Robotic Heart Transplant in US History
- Lab-Made Hearts, Lungs and Livers Grow Blood Vessels
- Scientists Perform First Pig-to-Human Lung Transplant
- Another Man Gets a Pig Kidney. Transplant Trials Poised to Start
- US Man Still Alive Six Months After Pig Kidney Transplant
- Scientists Make Most Authentic Kidney Replicas So Far
- Chinese Surgeons Perform First Pig-to-Human Liver Transplant
- Enzyme Technology Could Enable Universal Donor Organs
- Scientists Hopeful About Ending a Global Organ Shortage
- A New Way to Stop Pig-Organ Transplant Rejection
Testing, diagnosis, measurement, and imaging
- Autism Test That Uses a Strand of Hair Is Now Available to the Public
- Epilepsy AI Tool Detects Brain Lesions Doctors Miss
- AI Tool Diagnoses Diabetes, HIV and COVID from a Blood Sample
- Doctors Told Him He Was Going to Die. Then AI Saved His Life.
- £5 Blood Test Could Help Prevent Thousands of Heart Attacks
- AI Beats Human Doctors at Diagnosing Rashes from Pictures
- AI Beats Doctors at Diagnosing Complicated Medical Issues
Health systems
- AI-Developed Drugs Are Headed to Trial, DeepMind CEO Says
- Wastewater Sampling Could Warn Early of New Disease Outbreaks
- Genomics “World Speed Record” Set in Confirming Ebola Outbreak
- 154 Million Lives and Counting: The Power of Vaccines Revealed
- Burundi’s Vaccine Programme Reduces Young Child Deaths
- Drone Deliveries Drastically Reduce Maternal Deaths in Ghana
- 50 Years of Progress: How Bangladesh Chose Health
- AI Is Making Health Care Safer in the Remote Amazon
- 171,000 More Children Were Vaccinated in 2024 than in 2023
- South Asia Immunizes a Record-High Number of Children in 2024
- New AI Scores 100 Percent on the US Medical Licensing Exam
- How Nepal Hit Its 100 Percent Immunization Target
- Gavi’s Record-Setting Year for Saving Lives Through Immunisation
- FDA Moves to Speed Approvals for Cheaper Copycat Drugs
- Gene Editing Helped One Baby. Can It Be Rolled Out Widely?
- Chinese Chemists May Be Overturning High Cost of Drug Treatments
- Defibrillator Drones Deployed During Emergencies in NC Town
- Global Universal Health Coverage Index Rose 17 Index Points Since 2000
Politics & Freedom
- Montana Expands Access to Experimental Drugs
- Supreme Court Narrows Scope of NEPA Review
- Côte D’Ivoire’s Land Reforms Are Unlocking Jobs and Growth
- Reactions to Provocative Social Posts Decriminalized in Tajikistan
- EFTA and MERCOSUR States Sign Free Trade Agreement
- Caribbean Nations’ Deal to Let Citizens Work Across Borders
- Economic Freedom Begins to Recover from Covid-Era Meddling
Science
Archeology, geology, and paleontology
- Scientists Pull 1.2 Million-Year-Old Ice Core from Antarctic
- A Vast Portion of the Arctic Ocean Has Just Been Mapped Out
- New Map of Landscape Beneath Antarctica Unveiled
- X-Ray Reveals Ancient Greek Author of Charred Vesuvius Scroll
- Researchers Discover an Ancient Megacity in a Mexican Jungle
- Buried Cables Are Revealing Earth’s Interior in Incredible Detail
- New “Game Changer” Sonar Tool for Mapping the Sea Floor
- First Human Genome from Ancient Egypt Sequenced
- Google AI Tool That Fills Missing Words in Roman Inscriptions
- The Roman Empire’s Entire Road Network Just Got Mapped
- Researchers Reveal Unexplored Section of Arctic Ocean Ridge
- New Method Spots Signs of Primordial Life in Ancient Rocks
Biology
- Scientists Aim to Create Artificial Life in the Lab
- How AI Uncovers New Ways to Tackle Difficult Diseases
- Scientists Find Links Between Head Trauma, Herpes, and Alzheimer’s
- Scientists Re-Create the Microbial Dance That Sparked Complex Life
- Genome-Wide Cell Morphology Atlas Reveals Gene Functions
- Researchers Link a Gene to the Emergence of Spoken Language
- Trillions of Viruses Live In Your Body. AI Is Trying to Find Them
- Biggest-Ever AI Biology Model Writes DNA on Demand
- Virtual Cell Atlas Combines Data from over 300 Million Cells
- Scientists Discover New Part of the Immune System
- Drug Firms Are Building Their Own Version of AlphaFold
- Groundbreaking Map Made of Human Brain Mitochondria
- Top Genome Scientists to Map Invertebrate DNA Sequence
- A Brain Research Advance That Was Once Thought Impossible
- What Makes Us Human? Ape Genomes Promise Clues
- Powerful Protein Editors Offer New Ways of Probing Living Cells
- New Gene Editor Enables More Precise Complete Gene Insertion
- AI Predicts Location of Virtually Any Protein Within a Human Cell
- Remarkable New Enzymes Built by Algorithm
- AlphaGenome: AI for Better Understanding the Genome
- NIH-Funded Science Must Now Be Free to Read Instantly
- Citizen Scientists Seem to Be Accelerating Ecology Research
- Scientists Rewrite the Genetic Code of E. Coli
- Scientists Just Made CRISPR Three Times More Effective
- The Machines Finding Life That Humans Can’t See
- New World Record Set for Fastest Human Genome Sequencing
Chemistry and materials
- A New Paradigm of Materials Design with Generative AI
- New AI-Designed Material Is as Light as Foam but Strong as Steel
- AI Models Are Dreaming Up the Materials of the Future
Math and physics
- New Neutrino Detector Aims to Spot Mysterious Ghost Particles
- New Book-Sorting Algorithm Almost Reaches Perfection
- Brand-New Colour Created by Tricking Human Eyes with Laser
- Mathematician Solves Algebra’s Oldest Problem
- New Method Is the Fastest Way to Find the Best Routes
- Newly Discovered Origami Patterns Put the Bloom on the Fold
- Gravitational Wave Observatory Improved by Deep Loop Shaping
- Breakthrough in CERN’s Antimatter Production
More AI in science
- OpenAI Unveils AI Tool That Can Do Research Online
- Google Builds AI “Co-Scientist” Tool to Speed Up Research
- DeepMind Unveils “Spectacular” General-Purpose Science AI
Space industry and exploration
- NASA Spacecraft Survives Closest-Ever Approach to Sun
- New Images of Mercury Captured by UK Spacecraft
- James Webb Telescope Spies Record-Breaking Hoard of Stars
- Two Private Moon Landers Have Launched at Once
- New Andean Observatory Could Expand Our Knowledge of the Cosmos
- India Achieves “Historic” Space Docking, Key for Future Missions
- Roar of New Glenn’s Engines Silences Skeptics of Blue Origin
- NASA and General Atomics Test Nuclear Fuel for Future Missions
- Sky Skimmers: The Race to Fly Satellites in the Lowest Orbits Yet
- Intuitive Machines’ Athena Lander Launches on Journey to the Moon
- Meet the Ice-Hunting Robots Headed for the Moon Right Now
- NASA’s Mission to Map 450 Million Galaxies
- Private Lunar Lander Blue Ghost Aces Moon Touchdown
- NASA Launches Newest Space Telescope
- Medicines Made in Space Set to Land in Australian Outback
- In a First, Webb Telescope Directly Observes Exoplanet CO2
- Scientists Hail Avalanche of Discoveries from Euclid Telescope
- NASA Astronauts’ Nine-Month Orbital Odyssey Ends in a Splashdown
- Astronomers Discover 128 New Moons Orbiting Saturn
- “Arguably the Most Exciting Organic Detection to Date on Mars”
- SpaceX Launches Polar Spaceflight
- Astronomers Claim Strongest Evidence Yet of Extraterrestrial Life
- Katy Perry, Gayle King Safely Return from Blue Origin Space Flight
- Starship Launches Every Other Week from Starbase Green-Lit
- Private Japanese Lunar Lander Enters Orbit Around Moon
- Painting Satellites Vantablack Could Help Fight Light Pollution
- First Celestial Image Unveiled from Revolutionary Telescope
- Honda’s Hopper Suddenly a Serious Player in Rocketry
- The Second Launch of New Glenn Will Aim for Mars
- Satellite Will Map Changes on Earth Down to a Centimeter
- Executive Order Signed to Ease US Commercial Spaceflight
- SpaceX’s Mars Rocket Completes Nearly Flawless Test Flight
- Over 2,000 Starlink Satellites Have Been Deployed in 2025
- China Pulled off High-Orbit Refuelling
- NASA Sends and Receives Data Encoded with Lasers from 218 Million Miles Away
- SpaceX Finally Got Exactly What It Needed from Starship V2
- SpaceX Launches 10,000th Starlink Internet Satellite
- An Army of Robot Telescopes Is in Texas
- SpaceX Breaks Multiple Records
- Space Startup Beams More Laser Energy to Panels than Ever Before
- Vast Completes Haven-1 Structural Testing, Launches Mission
- Blue Origin Lands Booster After Rocket Launch
- Scientists May Have Finally “Seen” Dark Matter
- Sugars, “Gum,” Stardust Found in NASA’s Asteroid Bennu Samples
Technology
Artificial intelligence
- Using AI to Talk to Animals
- New AI Can “Reason” Through Math and Science Problems
- Training Computation of AI Systems Has Doubled Every Six Months
- OpenAI’s “Operator” Agent Can Buy Groceries, File Expense Reports
- China’s Cheap, Open AI Model DeepSeek Thrills Scientists
- New “Automated Reasoning” to Reduce AI’s Hallucinations
- How the Rise of AI in Indonesia Is Expanding Financial Inclusion
- Could AI Lead To a Revival of Decorative Beauty?
- AI Can Decode Data Stored in DNA in Minutes Instead of Days
- Could AI Make You a Better Gardener?
- DeepSeek Is Already Everywhere in China
- Google Unveils a Next-Gen Family of AI Reasoning Models
- Google’s New AI Model Designed to Help Study Dolphin “Speech”
- ChatGPT AI Bot Adds Shopping to Its Powers
- 30 Percent of Microsoft’s Code Is Now AI-Generated, Says CEO
- The Length of Software Tasks AI Can Do Is Increasing Quickly
- Google Unveils AI Chatbot, Signaling a New Era for Search
- An AI-Based Tool Restores Age-Damaged Artworks in Hours
- Netflix Uses Generative AI in One of Its Shows for First Time
- Google and OpenAI Win Gold Medal at Global Math Competition
- Microsoft’s New AI Agent Can Autonomously Detect Malware
- OpenAI Just Released Its First Open-Weight Models Since GPT-2
- DeepMind Thinks Its New Model Is a Stepping Stone Toward AGI
- Voice Startup ElevenLabs Launches AI Music Service
- OpenAI’s GPT-5 Hallucinates Less than Previous Models Do
- New Updates and More Access to Google Earth AI
Autonomous vehicles
- New Platform Simulates Realities for Training Self-Driving Cars
- How Uber and Lyft Are Gearing Up for the Robotaxi Revolution
- Softbank-Backed Self-Driving Firm Wayve Nears Commercial Debut
- Waymo Plans Robotaxi Launch in Washington, DC in 2026
- Waymos Crash a Lot Less than Human Drivers
- Waymo to Begin Data Collection in Tokyo with Driver-Operated Test Rides
- Uber to Add Volkswagen Robotaxis to Its Growing AV Fleet
- Driverless Trucks Are Rolling in Texas, Ushering in New Era
- Zoox to Scale up Robotaxi Production for US Expansion
- Waymo Study Shows 96 Percent Crash Reduction at Intersections
- Waymo Approved to Expand Ride-Hailing Service to San Jose
- Waymo Says It Reached 10 Million Robotaxi Trips
- Waymo Taxis Heading to Houston, Orlando, San Antonio
- Uber Brings Forward Trialling Driverless Taxis in UK
- Chinese Robotaxis Are Catching Up to Silicon Valley’s
- Waymo Has Set Its Robotaxi Sights on NYC
- Amazon Hopes to Deliver 10,000 Robotaxis Annually
- Tesla Rolls Out Robotaxis in Texas Test
- Tesla’s First Driverless Delivery of a New Car to a Customer
- Waymo Debuts in Philadelphia
- China’s Baidu to Bring Its Driverless Cars to Uber Globally
- China’s Amazing Vision for a Driverless Future
- Waymo Expands to Denver and Seattle with Its Zeekr-Made Vans
- Waymo’s Most Serious Crashes Are Rarely Waymo’s Fault
- Waymo to Launch Autonomous Ride-Hailing Service in London
- Chinese Robotaxis Race Waymo to Take Driverless Cars Global
- Waymo Expands to Las Vegas, San Diego and Detroit
- pony.ai Granted Citywide Driverless Robotaxi Permit in Shenzhen
- Neolix Raises $600M to Continue Scaling Autonomous RoboVans
- Waymo Takes Riders on Freeways
- Waymo Launches Fully Autonomous Robotaxis in Miami
- Fully Driverless Robotaxi Commercial Operations Launched in Middle East
- Driverless Trucks to Deliver Sand Using Public Roads in the Permian
- Waymo’s Cars Are Suddenly Behaving Like New York Cabbies
Aviation
- Boom Supersonic Passenger Jet Prototype Breaks Speed of Sound
- Balloon Company Sceye Heralds a New Layer of Human Exploration
- Joby Logs eVTOL Aircraft Transition Flights with Pilots Onboard
- Trump Clears US For Supersonic Flights Ending +50 Year Ban
- New Fuel Cell Could Enable Electric Aviation
- Beta Makes First Electric Flight Into New York City Airport
- Can These Self-Flying Planes Transform the Skies?
- NASA’s X-59 Quiet Supersonic Jet Completes Maiden Flight
Communications
- Amazon’s Satellite Project Pushes Ahead with UK Broadband Plans
- Meta Creates Speech Translator That Works in Dozens of Languages
- Nine in Ten People Were in the Range of a 4G Network in 2023
- Deutsche Telekom and Perplexity Announce New “AI Phone”
- Subsea Fibre Cables Can “Listen Out” for Sabotage
- Alphabet Spins off Starlink Competitor Taara
- Can Starlink Finally Crack India?
- Vietnam Allows Elon Musk’s Starlink to Provide Pilot Service
- How Starlink Took over Africa’s Largest Internet Market
- Secure “Quantum Messages” Telecoms Breakthrough
- Amazon Launches Satellites to Compete with SpaceX
- Every Global Region Has Seen a Rise in Mobile Phone Use
- Spanish Electricity Blackout Drives Use of Elon Musk’s Starlink
- Scientists Record 9,000 Hours of African Languages as Free-Access Data for AI
- Remote Work Comes to Piloting Ships
- “Glass Straw” Optical Fibers Could Speed up the Internet
- Starlink Tech Being Developed to Provide Global Broadband
- Apple Introduces AirPods Pro 3 with Live Translation Feature
- Verizon and Ast SpaceMobile Pursue Space-Based Cell Service
- Paratus Enters Rwanda, Launches Starlink Services
- How Starlink Became the World’s Internet Alternative
Computing
- Up Close with the World’s Largest Supercomputer
- Hybrid Quantum Supercomputer Goes Online in Japan
- Supercomputer Runs Largest Simulation of the Universe Ever
- Microsoft’s New Chip Could Bring Quantum Computing Within Years
- Amazon Unveils Ocelot, Its First Quantum Computing Chip
- Start-up Launches “Biological Computer” of Human Brain Cells
- Amazing Trends in AI Supercomputers
- TSMC’s 1.4nm Chip Tech That Will Appear in Future Iphones
- JWST’s Most Ambitious View Is Now Available to Everyone
- China Begins Assembling Its Supercomputer in Space
- Google’s Quantum Computer Makes a Big Technical Leap
Construction and manufacturing
- 3D Printed Microscope Could Bring Microscopy to Millions
- World’s Smallest LEDs from a New Semiconductor
- Waymo Scales Its Fleet Through US Manufacturing
- InventWood to Produce Wood That’s Stronger than Steel
- The Zipper Is Getting Its First Major Upgrade in 100 Years
- An Auto Holy Grail: Motors That Don’t Rely on Chinese Rare Earths
Drones
- Drones Will Do Some Schlepping for Sherpas on Mount Everest
- Ghana Turns to Zipline Following Disruptions to Supply Chains
- Drones Carry 180 Tonnes of Steel and Concrete up Mountain
- Chipotle Teams up with Zipline to Test Drone Food Delivery
- Uber Eats Partners With Flytrex to Launch Drone Delivery
- Walmart Plans Drone Deliveries in “Most Areas That We Operate In”
- Drone Delivery Is Finally Having Its Moment
- Amazon Prime Air Drones Are Back in the Skies Making Delivery Drops
Robotics and automation
- Chick-Fil-A’s Lemon-Squeezing Robots Save 10,000 Hours of Work
- Automated Port Will Handle 65 Million Containers per Year
- Invasion of the Home Humanoid Robots
- China Shows off Humanoid Robots in Half-Marathon
- Amazon Robotics Devices Develop A Sense of Touch
- Amazon “Testing Humanoid Robots to Deliver Packages”
- Google Rolls Out Gemini Model That Can Run on Robots Locally
- Amazon Nearly Using More Robots than Humans in Its Warehouses
- The Holy Grail of Automation: Now a Robot Can Unload a Truck
- The Robot Sculptors of Italy
- The Robots That Are Taking Over Your Food Delivery
- Rented Robots Get the Worst Jobs and Help Factories Keep Humans
- AI Robots Carve Stone Statues. Entire Buildings Are Next
- DeepMind’s AI for Coordinating Manufacturing Robots
- The Robots Fueling Amazon’s Automation
- Japanese Convenience Stores Hire Robots Run by Workers in the Philippines
- Amazon to Replace More than Half a Million Jobs with Robots
- Macy’s Employs Warehouse Robots to Speed Up Deliveries
- Amazon’s Delivery Glasses: Innovation to Enhance Delivery Experience
- Foxconn Hires Humanoid Robots to Make Servers at Nvidia Factory
Other innovations
- The Laser Revolution Part I: Megawatt Beams to the Skies
- DARPA Tops Wireless Power Record, Beams Energy Five Miles
Violence
Capital Punishment
Child Abuse & Bullying
- Child Marriages Have Declined in Malaysia
- A Path Towards Ending Child Marriage
- Portugal Raises Minimum Legal Age for Marriage to 18 Years Old
- The City of Islamabad Has Moved to Ban Child Marriage
- Colombia Declares Child Marriage Unconstitutional
- FGM Rate Among Egyptian Teenage Girls Drops to 37 Percent
- Bolivia Bans Child Marriage
- Burkina Faso Raises the Legal Age for Marriage to 18 Years Old
- Moldova Is Making Orphanages Obsolete
Crime
- Visa Sets up New Team to Take Down All Scammers
- Iraq Crime Rate Drops 15 Percent in 2024, Violent Crimes Down 20 Percent
- Crime Is Way Down in San Francisco
- US Crime Is Likely Down An Enormous Amount So Far In 2025
- Public Deadly Mass Shootings Massively Down in the US This Year
- Brazil Drops 20 Percent in Recorded Homicides over Decade
- Jamaica Records Significant Decline in Murders
- America’s Incarceration Rate Is About to Fall off a Cliff
- Italy’s Homicide Rates Dropped by 80 Percent Since 1990
- US Violent Crime Rate Fell in 2024 to Lowest in 20 Years: FBI
- Brazil Sees Notable Drop in Homicide Rate
- The Smartphone-Induced Teen Crime Decline
- Record High Number of Adults Feel Safe in Their City or Area
- Shoplifters Could Soon Be Chased Down by Drones
- Analysis Shows One of the Greatest Drops in Gun Violence
- Mexico Has Become a Less Deadly Place
- India’s Violent Crime Cases Fall Dramatically in a Decade
- Youth Crime Rates in Sharp Decline in Developed Countries
- Homicide Rates Are Down Across the US
- NYPD Announces Record-Low Shooting Victims
- Mass Killings in 2025 in the US Hit the Lowest Level Since 2006