North & Central America

This archive covers progress stories from North and Central America, spanning the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the nations of Central America. Readers will find reporting on health, environment, community resilience, and policy advances across the region.

CalTech Space Solar array, for article on space solar power

World-first space solar demonstration beams power from orbit to Earth

By / / Good News For Humankind

Space-based solar power just crossed from theory into reality: a Caltech team has, for the first time, beamed energy from orbit down to a receiver on Earth. The signal arrived at a rooftop in Pasadena exactly when, where, and at the frequency engineers predicted — proof that the precision needed for a future full-scale array is achievable. The demonstrator weighed just 50 kilograms and used flexible, lightweight arrays never before flown for this purpose. The eventual vision is enormous and far from cheap, but the appeal is simple: panels in space see no night and no clouds. If this technology matures, clean power could one day reach communities far beyond the grid’s reach.

Library aisle, for article on Illinois book ban law

Illinois set to become first U.S. state to end book bans

By / / Good News For Humankind

Illinois is poised to become the first U.S. state to outlaw book bans, with House Bill 2789 heading to Governor JB Pritzker’s desk and set to take effect January 1. Rather than criminalizing censorship, the law ties state funding to a clear standard: public libraries and schools must either follow the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights or adopt their own written policy against book bans. It’s a creative answer to a real problem — Illinois alone saw 67 attempts to remove books in 2022. As challenges multiply nationwide, often targeting works by LGBTQ+ authors and writers of color, Illinois offers a model other states could borrow: protecting the freedom to read by making censorship costly, not just controversial.

Microsoft logo, for article on fusion power purchase agreement

Helion announces world’s first fusion energy purchase agreement with Microsoft

By / / Good News For Humankind

Fusion energy just took a big step from lab to grid: Helion Energy has signed the world’s first commercial fusion power purchase agreement, promising Microsoft at least 50 megawatts of electricity from a plant targeted to come online in 2028. That timeline is roughly a decade ahead of most expert projections for commercial fusion. Helion has already built six prototypes and reached the 100-million-degree plasma temperatures considered necessary for self-sustaining reactions, with Constellation handling the grid-side logistics. The engineering road ahead is steep, and nothing is guaranteed. But moving fusion from research aspiration onto a real buyer’s procurement list is a meaningful shift, hinting at a future where zero-carbon baseload power becomes a practical piece of the climate puzzle.