All Points of Progress
Progress WatchFaux fur makes inroads in high fashionAs more consumers turn away from animal fur for luxurious feeling synthetic materials, high-end fashion houses are making a commitment to the prevention of animal cruelty in fashion.
Progress WatchCities eye zero-emission futuresOxford leads world聽cities聽with its plans to ban gas and diesel cars.
Progress WatchWorld bites into food waste issueWorldwide, actors across the food chain are working at the problem.
Progress WatchA steady forward march for captive elephantsAs public awareness of the plight of zoo elephants grows, policies are shifting, although not always as fast as advocates would like.
Race and the beauty counter: What a greater selection of hues says about cultureBlack women are increasingly able to influence the cosmetics market through their purchases. And it鈥檚 sending a deeper cultural message than just creating a fresh face.
Progress WatchChild labor plunges: Millions more children get a childhoodRoughly 100 million fewer children are having to work or are trapped in slavery or sexual trafficking, according to a progress report. But serious concerns remain about a slowdown in the rate at which children are being extracted from dangerous work conditions.聽
Progress WatchUS poverty rate points downwardThe national poverty rate declined to 12.7 percent in 2016. Increases of minimum wages at the state and local levels have had a direct effect on poverty rates across the United States.
Progress WatchConservation success: Buoyed hopes for sea turtlesAfter half a century of conservation efforts, scientists are seeing long-term growth in some populations聽of the globe鈥檚 seven species of sea turtles.
Using outer space to help cool buildings on EarthUsing a phenomenon known as radiative sky cooling, a team of Stanford researchers has developed rooftop panels that could be used to passively cool buildings.
Land-mine casualties show signs of global declineTwo decades after a landmark treaty, and despite an overall increase due largely to Syria鈥檚 civil war, the majority of affected countries recorded fewer deaths linked to land mines and cluster munitions.
Progress WatchUS homelessness is on the declineAs a result of bipartisan, "teams effort" across a number of US cities the numbers of homeless veterans declined 50 percent over the past decade, the sharpest fall among homeless populations.聽
After years of stagnation, low-income jobs join the recoveryAnalysis of 2016 employment data indicates the largest income bump is for workers earning roughly $30,000 in a majority of states.
A disrupter at UN: Can new chief shake up bureaucracy to speed progress?Secretary-General Ant贸nio聽Guterres, the former prime minister of Portugal, says the world has made progress 鈥� on hunger, poverty, education 鈥� but he's impatient for more. His approach: We can do better.
US teen tobacco use declinesPublic health advocates are encouraged by the recent figures, but say there is more work to be done.
Millions of pigs will soon live better lives in ChinaA 2016 survey by the International Cooperation Committee of Animal Welfare聽found that two thirds of Chinese shoppers would pay more for pork that had been treated well.聽
Growing acceptance of interracial marriage in USIn 2017, 39 percent of Americans said interracial marriage was a good thing for society, up from 24 percent in 2010.
Boston's bid for zero waste: when less really is moreMayor Marty Walsh's push to eliminate the Boston's net trash output is a key component of the city's goal to become carbon neutral by聽2050.
Is there a doctor in the kitchen? How culinary medicine reenvisions food.Hospitals in the US are setting up food banks, and medical schools are putting cooking classes on the curriculum 鈥� part of a shift in focus away from simply treating disease toward caring for the whole person.
Progress WatchWhy fewer states are trying teens as adultsHarsh prison sentences for juveniles are a legacy of the get-tough-on-crime laws of the 1990s. New York's move to take 16- and 17-year-olds out of the adult system leaves North Carolina as the only state that considers 16-year-old offenders adults by default.
Fuel from CO2? Experiment brings it a step closer to realityIt won't immediately solve our energy woes, but does increase our control over light-induced chemical reactions.