All Points of Progress
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.
New report finds cleaner air for many, but not allThe American Lung Association, which tracks air quality in the United States, says the Clean Air Act is working.
Progress WatchAcross US, states answering cries for police reformsLargely overshadowed by the emotional protests demanding police reforms, a wave of legislation and executive orders has been enacted at the state level in the past two years.
America's biggest water users 鈥� farmers 鈥� learn to use less of itIn the Southwest and beyond, irrigation technology and other steps such as planting 'cover crops' to enrich the soil are making a difference.
Study links same-sex marriage laws and decline in teen suicide attempts: What next?As states passed marriage equality laws, the passage of these laws led to a 7 percent drop in teen suicide attempts, a new study finds. That figure climbed to 14 percent for LGB teens.
Once in search of life-long jobs, Spaniards begin to catch start-up spiritPublic sector employment has long been the holy grail of Spanish employment, thanks to the stability such jobs offered. But in today's more uncertain, post-crisis atmosphere, entrepreneurs are finding new success.
Can Somalia鈥檚 new leader 鈥� a former New York bureaucrat 鈥� stabilize his country?Analysis: Somalis celebrated a small but important success in a halting fight for normalcy, as聽Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed was elected president Wednesday. He confronts massive corruption and insecurity.
Philadelphia takes salary history off the negotiating table. Could it help close the gender wage gap?A new Philadelphia law bars employers from asking job applicants to provide their salary history, a move equal pay advocates say could help close the wage gap that often begins as soon as women graduate from college.