📉 Overdose deaths in the US have dropped 35 percent from the 2023 peak
The number of overdose deaths in the US is estimated to have fallen by 35 percent from the peak year of 2023 to 2025. The purity of seized fentanyl powder was cut in half between August 2023 and the end of 2024. A coordinated counter-narcotics strategy has choked off the supply of fentanyl.
🤰 Maternal mortality declining – new data and methods show measurable results
Globally, maternal mortality has decreased by 40 percent since 2000, according to estimates from the UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group. A sepsis prevention program at 59 hospitals in Malawi and Uganda reduced infection-related maternal mortality by 32 percent.
🦾 Startups that learned to use AI correctly generated 1.9 times higher revenue
Startups that learned how other companies had reorganized their operations around AI found 44 percent more use cases for the technology. The startups that received this information had 1.9 times higher revenue and were 18 percent more likely to acquire paying customers.
🧠 You don't just inherit general intelligence – ability in math and language is also more than half determined by genes
There has long been strong evidence that general intelligence is heritable. Now a large meta-analysis shows the same applies to abilities like math and language. The findings open up the possibility of using genetic profiles to tailor education to each child's cognitive strengths and weaknesses.
🏗️ More than 80 percent of China's steel production upgraded to ultra-low emissions
Emissions have already fallen by 34 million tonnes of CO2 – equivalent to permanently shutting down eight coal-fired power plants. The steel industry accounts for 7 percent of global emissions, and China produces more than half of the world's steel.
🧮 AI solves math problem that researchers failed to crack for six years
An AI system has for the first time solved a problem from FrontierMath, a benchmark consisting of real research problems that mathematicians have failed to solve. Multiple AI models have now demonstrated the ability to solve the problem, including GPT-5.4 Pro, Gemini 3.1 Pro, and Claude Opus 4.6.
🏫 327 million more children – a 30 percent increase – are in school today compared to 2000
Since 2000, the world has seen one of the most extensive expansions of education in history. Enrollment in preschools has risen by 45 percent, and in higher education by 161 percent over the same period.
🌔 Artemis 2 astronauts flew past the moon — set new distance record
The Artemis 2 crew traveled farther from Earth than any humans before — 406,778 kilometers (252,760 miles). It is the first time in over 50 years that humans have visited the moon, and the first time in history with a woman, a non-American and a Black person on board.
📑 AI scientist produces increasingly better papers – and an AI system can review them as well as humans
The quality of scientific papers written by the AI system The AI Scientist increases predictably as the underlying AI models improve. An automated reviewer built by the same research group matches human reviewers' accuracy when evaluating scientific papers.