North & Central America milestones | Good News for Humankind

A student placing a smartphone in a storage pouch for an article about the student phone ban in New Jersey schools

New Jersey bans student phones all day in a landmark school law

By Peter Schulte / February 6, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

New Jersey student smartphone ban affects nearly 1.4 million public school students under a sweeping new law requiring all K–12 schools to adopt phone-free policies before the 2025 school year begins. Students must store devices in pouches, lockers, or designated areas throughout the entire school day, with exceptions preserved for medical needs and individualized education programs. The legislation joins a growing national and international movement linking constant phone access to declining attention, anxiety, and depression among adolescents. Research consistently shows that phone-free school environments improve academic performance, with the greatest gains among lower-income students.

Aerial view of dense tropical forest canopy in Guatemala's Petén region for an article about Maya Forest rewilding — 13 words.

Guatemala closes oil fields in the Maya Forest to begin historic rewilding

By Peter Schulte / February 4, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

Maya Forest rewilding is underway in Guatemala after the government shut down oil extraction inside the Maya Biosphere Reserve and began ecological restoration of the affected land. The reserve spans 2.1 million hectares at the heart of the Selva Maya, the second-largest continuous tropical forest in the Americas. The decision ends decades of industrial pressure on habitat shared by jaguars, scarlet macaws, and hundreds of other species, and responds to longstanding calls from Maya Q’eqchi’ and Itza’ communities. It also advances Guatemala’s commitments under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Busy street market in Mexico City with vendors and shoppers for an article about Mexico middle class growth — 13 words.

Mexico’s middle class now outnumbers its population in poverty for the first time

By Peter Schulte / January 27, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

Mexico’s middle class has surpassed the poverty rate for the first time in recorded history, marking one of Latin America’s most significant social milestones in decades. CONEVAL data shows poverty fell from over 44 percent in 2008 to below 36 percent, while the middle class grew to exceed that share. The shift was driven by aggressive minimum wage increases, conditional cash transfer programs, record remittances, and nearshoring investment creating formal employment. Serious challenges remain, including regional inequality, economic fragility among newly middle-class families, and an informal workforce still exceeding half of all Mexican workers.

Offshore wind turbines at sea at sunset for an article about offshore wind capacity

The U.S. surpasses 100 GW of offshore wind capacity for the first time

By Peter Schulte / January 25, 2026 / Archive of Human Genius

U.S. offshore wind could reach 100 gigawatts by the late 2040s, enough to power roughly 38 million homes. The pipeline already grew 53% in a single year as of 2025, and eleven states have set procurement targets totaling 84 GW. If the trajectory holds, it would mark one of the largest clean-energy buildouts in American history.

A stethoscope resting on medical billing paperwork for an article about North Carolina medical debt relief — 13 words.

North Carolina erases more than billion in medical debt for 2.5 million residents

By Peter Schulte / January 21, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

Medical debt relief in North Carolina just made history. The state erased more than billion in medical debt for roughly 2.5 million residents — about one in four people — making it the largest state-level debt relief effort of its kind in U.S. history. Funded through savings from North Carolina’s 2023 Medicaid expansion, the 40 million investment leveraged a nonprofit debt-purchasing model to cancel bills at a ratio exceeding 40-to-1. No application was required — relief simply arrived. The program offers a replicable model for other states and demonstrates what’s possible when political will meets creative fiscal policy.

Close-up of a researcher examining brain scan imagery for an article about Alzheimer's reversal in mice

American scientists fully reverse Alzheimer’s in mice in a promising study

By Peter Schulte / January 20, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

Alzheimer’s reversal in mice has been achieved by a team of American researchers who eliminated amyloid plaques and tau tangles while restoring measurable memory and spatial reasoning in treated animals. Using precision gene therapy to suppress overactive neurodegeneration pathways, the team reduced brain inflammation and reactivated neurons that had gone functionally silent. The findings matter because no existing treatment reverses Alzheimer’s — they only slow it. What makes this significant is that recovery, not merely stabilization, was observed, challenging longstanding assumptions about irreversible brain damage and strengthening the case that neuroplasticity could become a realistic therapeutic target.

A modern heat pump unit mounted outside a residential home in winter for an article about heat pump adoption

For the first time, a majority of U.S. homes are heated by heat pumps

By Peter Schulte / January 16, 2026 / Archive of Human Genius

Heat pumps could power more than half of U.S. homes by 2040, a milestone shaped by years of steady momentum rather than any single breakthrough. They first outsold gas furnaces back in 2022, and cold-climate models have since won over even the northern states. If it holds, the shift means cleaner air indoors and lighter emissions outside.

A forensic evidence collection kit on a medical table for an article about rape kit testing mandates — 14 words.

New Jersey requires testing of every rape kit under new survivor justice law

By Peter Schulte / January 15, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

Rape kit testing is now mandatory in New Jersey under a new law requiring all sexual assault forensic evidence kits to be submitted to a lab within 45 days and tested within six months. The legislation directly targets a decades-long backlog that left thousands of survivors waiting years for answers while dangerous offenders went unidentified. Survivors also gain the right to track the status of their own evidence. New Jersey joins more than 40 states that have passed similar accountability laws, part of a national movement that has shown testing backlogs leads to identifying serial offenders and preventing future crimes.

A doctor reviewing patient records in a bright clinic for an article about U.S. cancer survival rates

More than 7 in 10 U.S. cancer patients now survive five years after diagnosis

By Peter Schulte / January 13, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

Cancer survival rates in the United States have crossed 70% for the first time in recorded medical history, meaning the majority of the roughly 2 million Americans diagnosed each year will be alive five years later. Up from approximately 50% in the 1970s, this milestone reflects decades of progress in early detection, immunotherapy, targeted treatments, and survivorship care. More than 4 million cancer deaths were averted between 1991 and 2022. Critically, significant gaps persist by race, cancer type, and geography, making equity the defining challenge of what comes next.

Naloxone kit and opioid awareness materials for an article about fentanyl overdose deaths

Fentanyl overdose deaths in the U.S. fall by a third in a historic reversal

By Peter Schulte / January 12, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

Fentanyl overdose deaths dropped by roughly 35 percent in 2024, marking the steepest single-year decline in the history of the opioid epidemic. Provisional CDC data shows total drug overdose deaths falling from a peak of around 112,000 in 2023 to an estimated 80,000 in 2024, with synthetic opioids driving most of the decrease. The reversal reflects years of overlapping efforts, including expanded naloxone access, removal of federal barriers to buprenorphine prescribing, and sustained harm reduction investment. Tens of thousands of Americans are alive today who would not have been under the prior trajectory.