This archive gathers more than 1,500 solutions-journalism stories tied to the United States — covering policy wins, community efforts, scientific advances, and social progress reported from across the country. Each article highlights what is working, who is driving change, and what results have followed.
A team at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has achieved fusion ignition, producing a net energy gain from a fusion reaction for the first time ever. The feat was hailed as a “moment of history” by physicists and another major breakthrough in the quest for near-limitless clean energy.
The sweeping pardon applies to all U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents in possession of marijuana for their personal use and those convicted of similar federal crimes. It also forgives pot users in the District of Columbia.
The discovery of a new compound that can kill a drug-resistant bacterium that kills thousands worldwide every year could prove to be a turning point in the fight against antibiotic resistance.
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology exposed CO2 to catalysts and then electrolysis that turns the gas into a powder called sodium formate, which can be safely stored for decades. The breakthrough follows an almost century-long effort to turn CO2 into a cheap, clean fuel. Researchers have previously turned CO2 into fuels that required too much energy to make or were difficult to store long-term.
New research from Maryland-based Sunstone Therapies found that psilocybin-assisted therapy for cancer patients induced a clinically meaningful improvement in depression symptoms, with 80% of participants demonstrating a sustained response and 50% showing full remission of depression symptoms at week one, which was sustained for eight weeks.
A new law that allows parents who experience a reproductive loss, such as miscarriage and stillbirth, to take leave from work will go into effect in California in 2024. The right to utilize reproductive loss leave applies to any person who would have been a parent if the loss had not occurred.
Tribal communities in Colorado share some of the same registration and voting barriers as other rural communities across the U.S., like geographic isolation and unreliable mail delivery. But according to the Native American Rights Fund, tribal communities also commonly experience obstacles like language barriers, a lack of voter registration opportunities, and state laws in some parts of the country that block polling places on tribal lands.
Thirteen of the works are being returned to Cambodia in concert with an investigation from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York and Homeland Security. Among the works are a large head of Buddha made of stone in the seventh century, and a tenth century sandstone goddess statue from the Koh Ker archaeological site.
A drug that targets the deadliest form of breast cancer was administered to 16 women in three separate doses in a trial conducted at the Cleveland Clinic with funding from the Pentagon. The trial found that the drug elicits no side effects and triggered an immune response in 75% of patients.
According to Inside Climate News, Massachusetts is the first state to take such a clear step to phase out natural gas, but it likely won’t be the last. At least 11 other states, including California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington — as well as Washington, D.C. — have ongoing regulatory cases that are exploring the future of natural gas.
