113 articles
United Way of Greater Kansas City honored three CommUNITY Volunteers of the Year — two adults and one youth. One adult winner contributed more than 1,000 volunteer hours and helped open seven transitional housing homes.
A study published April 30 in Science by Harvard, Beth Israel Deaconess and Stanford researchers found OpenAI's o1 reasoning model received perfect clinical-reasoning scores on 98% of cases, versus 35% for attending physicians.
New satellite data from the University of Maryland and World Resources Institute, released April 29, show tropical primary forest loss fell 36% in 2025 from 2024's record — Brazil cut non-fire primary loss 41% to its lowest level on record.
In a São Paulo State University trial, 43% of women taking 2,000 IU vitamin D daily alongside neoadjuvant chemotherapy saw their breast cancer disappear, versus 24% on placebo — an inexpensive boost worth larger trials.
Researchers reported that madecassic acid — derived from the long-used herb Centella asiatica (gotu kola) — disrupts drug-resistant bacterial infections in lab studies, suggesting a new lead against the antimicrobial-resistance crisis.
After half a century of global protection, the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) has been moved on the IUCN Red List from Endangered to Least Concern, with the global population up about 28% since the 1970s.
In 2026, the U.S. National Gallery of Art received a $116 million endowment to permanently fund its nationwide loan program — the largest gift in the institution's history dedicated to programming, supporting exhibitions in museums across all 50 states.
William Alvarez, who lost both legs to a Vietnam land mine in 1972, finished his fourth Boston Marathon on April 20, 2026, running with Achilles International — proof that purpose can outpace pain.
In a historic first, all six 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize laureates are women. Yuvelis Morales Blanco, an Afro-Colombian organizer from Puerto Wilches, helped block Ecopetrol's Kalé and Platero fracking pilots and protect the Magdalena River.
Kenya's Sharon Lokedi won the 130th Boston Marathon on April 20 in 2:18:51 — the fourth-fastest women's time in race history — leading an all-Kenyan top-three with Loice Chemnung second and Mary Ngugi-Cooper third.
A new WHO/Europe report released on April 20, 2026 — the first cross-EU snapshot — finds all 27 EU countries deploying AI in health care, with 74% using it for diagnostics, 63% for patient-engagement chatbots and 81% engaging stakeholders in AI governance.
During National Volunteer Week (April 19–25), the American Red Cross celebrated its workforce — 90% of which is unpaid volunteers — with the Los Angeles region alone hosting more than 6,000 volunteers and a regional Volunteer Excellence Awards on April 11.
On April 19, 2026, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art opened its long-awaited David Geffen Galleries — a 900-foot, single-level building by Peter Zumthor that displays the museum's permanent collection without hierarchy.
The Breakthrough Prize Foundation awarded six $3 million prizes on April 18, 2026, recognizing pioneers who restored sight through gene therapy, cured sickle cell disease and mapped the genetic roots of ALS.
Seattle-based Mast Reforestation sold out all 4,277 credits in its first biomass-burial carbon removal batch, priced through Puro.earth, with buyers including Bain & Company, BMO and RBC — a boost for forest-fire restoration finance.
A study published April 15 in Nature Nanotechnology shows printed neurons made from molybdenum disulfide and graphene that can trigger lifelike spike, burst and continuous firing patterns in mouse brain slices — a step toward better neural prosthetics.
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science and Japan's NIMS reported a 200-fold deviation from the Wiedemann–Franz law: electrons in ultraclean graphene at the Dirac point behave as a near-perfect Dirac fluid.
A Pinoleville Pomo Nation water specialist confirmed juvenile coho salmon in Ackerman Creek — the first natural reproduction documented in the Russian River's upper basin since 1991, after parents swam more than 90 miles upstream.
The High Seas Treaty (BBNJ Agreement) entered into force on January 17, 2026 after Morocco's ratification last September pushed it past the 60-country threshold. By April 2026, 145 countries have signed and 88 have ratified.
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic and AI interpretability startup Goodfire used the Evo 2 genomic foundation model to predict which DNA mutations cause disease — and to explain why — in work reported by TIME on April 14, 2026.
On a snowy December day in 1975, Carl Sagan personally invited a 17-year-old aspiring astronomer to Cornell. That afternoon shaped Neil deGrasse Tyson's life — and sparked a chain reaction of science inspiration that continues today through the Carl Sagan Institute.
The four-member Artemis II crew safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on April 10, becoming the first humans to travel toward the Moon in over 50 years.
Astronomers confirmed GJ 887 d, a super-Earth with about 6 Earth masses orbiting in the habitable zone of a nearby red dwarf star, making it the second-nearest known habitable-zone exoplanet.
Cornell researchers demonstrated that targeting a natural checkpoint in meiosis can safely and reversibly halt sperm production, achieving 100% effectiveness in mice with full fertility recovery within six weeks.
Scientists at Great Ormond Street Hospital created the first lab-grown oesophagus and successfully transplanted it into minipigs, restoring swallowing function without immune suppression.
Rose Lavelle recorded a goal and an assist in her 100th international appearance, leading the USWNT to a 2-1 victory over Japan and extending the team's winning streak to 10 matches.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, the first hosted by three nations, will feature 48 teams across 16 cities in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, marking the largest World Cup in history.
The monarch butterfly overwintering population in Mexico increased by 64%, occupying 7.24 acres of forest — the largest population recovery since 2018, with forest degradation also declining.
The world's largest stoat eradication on an inhabited landscape is delivering results in Orkney, with the endemic Orkney vole reaching its highest recorded activity levels and hen harrier breeding at a decade-high.
AirJoule Technologies won the 2026 CleanTech Breakthrough Award for its system that extracts pure distilled water from air, functioning at humidity as low as 20% and using waste heat from data centers.
Eavor Technologies won the top prize at the 2026 CleanTech Breakthrough Awards for Eavor-Loop, the world's first scalable closed-loop geothermal system that provides baseload power without water resupply.
The America250 initiative "America Gives" surpassed 2.5 million volunteer service hours by mid-March 2026, mobilizing nonprofits across all 50 states as the U.S. prepares for its 250th anniversary.
On a Southwest Airlines flight, crew announced that 2-year-old passenger Cruz had beaten stage 4 neuroblastoma, prompting the entire cabin to erupt in cheers and write messages of encouragement on napkins.
Six-year-old Tlotlo Tsheka from Gauteng, South Africa, has published her first books including "Remember When" and "Mommy's Secret," turning bedtime storytelling into a literacy mission for children.
Mbalenhle Mkhatshwa, a 20-year-old psychology student, teaches ballet to young aspiring dancers in Tembisa township, creating access to formal dance training for children who would otherwise have none.
The Martha Graham Dance Company, the oldest continuously performing dance company in America, celebrates its centennial with "Graham 100" at New York City Center, featuring masterworks and a new piece set to undiscovered Leonard Bernstein music.
Boulder Arts Week 2026 featured over 115 events and marked the unveiling of the Boulder Arts Blueprint, a new ten-year roadmap for supporting artists and strengthening the city's creative ecosystem.
The IUCN announced that 10.01% of the global ocean is now designated within protected areas, with approximately 5 million square kilometers added in just two years — an area larger than the European Union.
For the first time on record, renewable energy generated more electricity globally than coal, contributing 34.3% of all electricity versus coal's 33.1%, with solar alone covering 83% of the rise in demand.
University of Michigan researchers developed "Prima," an AI that interprets brain MRI scans in seconds, identifying over 50 neurological conditions with up to 97.5% accuracy after training on 200,000+ studies.
Italian researchers used AI to design "Apt1," a novel molecule that disrupts DNA repair in pancreatic cancer cells, making tumors significantly more responsive to chemotherapy while sparing healthy cells.
The Manx Wildlife Trust planted 30,000 native trees at Creg y Cowin on the Isle of Man, expanding from an original 70-acre goal to 100 acres of restored temperate rainforest in one of Britain's rarest habitats.
Laureus Sport for Good unveiled its 2026 shortlist of six standout programs — from rugby in Hong Kong to tennis in Brooklyn — that use sport to tackle poverty, trauma and inequality on three continents.
Chinese solar manufacturer LONGi reached 34.85% conversion efficiency on a perovskite-silicon tandem cell, certified by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory — a milestone underscored by the IEA's State of Energy Innovation 2026.
AirJoule Technologies (NASDAQ: AIRJ) was named Water Technology Innovation of 2026 by CleanTech Breakthrough Awards for a device that captures clean drinking water from humid air using metal-organic frameworks.
Researchers at the University of Chicago developed an AI tool, published in Annals of Oncology, that classifies rare thymic epithelial tumors with high accuracy — helping non-expert pathologists diagnose 100% of aggressive thymic carcinomas in testing.
Houston Food Bank — the largest in the Feeding America network — aims to engage 100,000 volunteers in 2026 after a record 94,000 helped pack and distribute meals in 2025, as demand stays high across southeast Texas.
After decades in storage, sacred Cheyenne and Arapaho artifacts — including ceremonial pipes — are being returned by the University of Denver under NAGPRA, a step tribal leaders welcome as a long-overdue act of justice.
NASA's Artemis II mission launched on April 1, 2026, sending four astronauts on a flyby around the Moon — the first crewed voyage beyond low Earth orbit in over 50 years.
Nobel laureate Shinya Yamanaka reflects on 20 years of iPSC research as the technology now enables corneal cell transplants to treat blindness, eliminating the need for embryonic stem cells.
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet treated ten patients with a single injection delivering a working OTOF gene to the inner ear, with all showing clear hearing improvement within six months.
Led by Samuel I. Stupp, the Northwestern team created a bioactive scaffold that regenerated high-quality hyaline cartilage in sheep in under six months, offering hope to over 500 million people with knee damage.
As the largest World Cup in history approaches with 48 teams across Mexico, Canada, and the US, the Play Collective initiative will fund community sports organizations reaching 3.6 million youth annually.
The TCS London Marathon on April 26 aims to build on last year's world record of 87.3 million pounds raised for charity, with Marie Curie as the 2026 official charity partner.
At COP15 in Brazil, over 130 governments agreed on expanded protections for threatened migratory species, including blue corridors for sea turtles and flyways for birds.
Analysis of over 100 rewilding sites across Scotland reveals dramatic biodiversity gains, with bird species up 261%, breeding territories up 546%, and bumblebee and butterfly varieties doubled.
Japanese researchers have achieved 130% effective efficiency in solar panels by harvesting heat energy that traditional panels waste, potentially transforming renewable energy economics.
QuiX Quantum, NASA, and the University of Twente demonstrated a photon distillation technique that reduced quantum computing errors by 2.2 times, a key step toward practical quantum computers.
The first continental road safety charter has become legally binding after 15 African nations ratified it, with the WHO calling it "a milestone for Africa" in the effort to halve road fatalities and serious injuries.
Yancey County's Double Island Volunteer Fire Department installed a solar-powered microgrid with battery storage, creating a resilience hub that operates during power outages and reduces energy costs.
Japan's revised civil code now allows divorced parents to seek joint custody, ending a system where one in three children of divorced parents lost all contact with the non-custodial parent.
The America250 initiative and nonprofit partners are mobilizing communities across the United States for National Volunteer Month in April, with Idealist hosting 53 community meet-ups on a single day.
The 2026 International Booker Prize shortlist features six novels translated from Mandarin, German, Farsi, Bulgarian, French, and Portuguese, with the 50,000-pound prize shared equally between authors and translators.
Communities across the US are celebrating April as Arts, Culture & Creativity Month with free events, performances, and workshops that highlight the arts as an economic catalyst and social anchor.
Wind and solar produced 30% of EU electricity in 2025, overtaking coal, oil, and gas at 29%, while Norway achieved 97% electric vehicle sales in a landmark year for clean energy.
France has implemented a ban on PFAS — persistent "forever chemicals" linked to cancer and immune damage — in cosmetics, clothing, and ski wax, while mandating expanded drinking water testing.
Machine learning algorithms have successfully predicted the effectiveness of drug compounds for Alzheimer's and cancer, drastically compressing the traditionally years-long drug discovery process.
The University of North Texas is introducing a dedicated undergraduate major in Artificial Intelligence covering machine learning, NLP, and AI ethics, responding to heavy employer demand for specialized AI talent.
Researchers have taken lasers beyond light into the realm of sound, creating a breakthrough phonon laser that manipulates tiny vibrations at the quantum level, potentially transforming gravity measurement and smartphone technology.
In a world first, researchers have used generative AI to design synthetic DNA molecules capable of controlling gene expression in healthy mammalian cells, opening new frontiers for precision cancer therapy.
The FDA has approved suzetrigine (Journavx), a groundbreaking non-opioid pain medication that works by blocking sodium channels in pain-sensing nerves, offering millions of patients effective pain relief without addiction risk.
FDA approval of elinzanetant (Lynkuet) marks a breakthrough in menopause care, offering women effective relief from hot flashes and night sweats without the risks of hormone replacement therapy.
Basketball icon Candace Parker has been inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2026, capping a legendary career that transformed women's basketball and inspired a new generation of athletes.
2026 is shaping up as an unprecedented year in global sports with the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, the World Baseball Classic, and the first expanded FIFA World Cup hosted across North America all bringing nations together through athletic competition.
Chamilandu, an elephant orphaned by poaching at just 18 months old, has given birth to her first calf born entirely in the wild in Zambia's Kafue National Park, surrounded by a herd of released and wild elephants — a powerful testament to conservation.
In a major victory against wildlife trafficking, 94 African grey parrots were rescued from illegal international trade in the DRC in 2025, highlighting growing global enforcement against the billion-dollar wildlife crime industry.
Neuromorphic computers modeled after the human brain can now solve complex physics simulation equations, a feat once thought possible only with energy-hungry supercomputers, marking a new era of sustainable computing.
The world added a record 814 gigawatts of new wind and solar capacity in 2025, up 17% from 2024, as the renewable energy transition accelerates far faster than most experts predicted.
The United Nations has designated 2026 as the International Year of Volunteers, sparking a worldwide surge in community service as organizations and governments recognize the vital role volunteers play in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.
A coordinated multi-state operation in 2025 rescued nearly 200 dogs from suspected dog fighting rings across Florida, South Carolina, and Indiana, with local authorities and animal welfare organizations working together in one of the year's largest animal rescue efforts.
British Nigerian artist Nnena Kalu has become the first person with a learning disability to win the Turner Prize, one of contemporary art's most prestigious awards, with her striking draped sculptures and vortex-like circular drawings.
Ireland's pandemic-era basic income pilot for artists has been made permanent in 2026 after an independent study found it generated over €100 million in social and economic benefits, offering a weekly stipend of €325 to over 2,000 artists.
Bad Bunny's album 'Debí Tirar Más Fotos' has been named the top album of 2025 by Billboard, Rolling Stone, and Complex, transcending music to become a cultural statement about identity, gentrification, and the preservation of Puerto Rican heritage.
Veteran broadcaster Sean McDonough has won the 2025 National Sportscaster of the Year award, recognizing decades of versatile, authoritative broadcasting across multiple sports in an era where great storytelling elevates athletic competition.
A landmark Breathe Cities report reveals that 19 of the world's biggest metropolises — including Beijing, London, and Paris — have slashed air pollution by 20% to 40% in just 15 years through cycling infrastructure, clean air zones, and electric vehicles.
Despite rising emissions, 2025 delivered tangible environmental victories: renewable energy capacity surged to record levels, endangered green sea turtles hit milestone recovery numbers, and tiger populations grew across Asia, reports the BBC.
Google's 2025 AI research produced significant breakthroughs including Gemini 3 and Gemma 3 models with dramatically improved reasoning, multimodal understanding, and energy efficiency, advancing AI capabilities while making them more accessible.
Scientists have used AI to design smart DNA-based drugs that can identify and target cancer cells with extreme precision while leaving healthy cells untouched, potentially transforming cancer treatment by minimizing the devastating side effects of conventional chemotherapy.
Students at St. Peter School in Cambridge formed a human chain to pass donated parcels hand to hand for an annual generosity initiative — a tradition that grows in donations every year.
Physicists at CERN's LHCb experiment have identified a never-before-seen pentaquark configuration, providing crucial evidence for how quarks bind together in exotic combinations beyond ordinary protons and neutrons.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected water vapor in the atmosphere of TRAPPIST-1e, marking the first confirmed detection of water on a rocky planet in a star's habitable zone outside our solar system.
The Australian Institute of Marine Science reports that coral cover in the Great Barrier Reef's northern third has reached 39%, the highest in 12 years, driven by successful water quality programs and favorable ocean conditions.
Costa Rica has set a new national record of 300 consecutive days generating all its electricity from renewable sources, primarily hydropower, wind, and geothermal, surpassing its previous record by over two months.
Detroit's community land trust model has reached a milestone of 500 permanently affordable homes across 12 neighborhoods, keeping families housed while preventing displacement from rising property values.
A Tokyo government program pairing elderly residents with university students in shared housing has expanded to 2,000 participants, with studies showing significant reductions in loneliness and improved well-being for both groups.
An mRNA-based malaria vaccine developed by Oxford and BioNTech has demonstrated 95% efficacy in a Phase 3 trial involving 22,000 children across six African nations, far surpassing existing vaccines and offering hope for eliminating the disease.
Portugal's nationwide program placing mental health professionals in every public school has reported a 35% decrease in teen anxiety and a 40% reduction in crisis interventions after its first full year of operation.
The British Museum has signed a precedent-setting agreement to return 200 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria while establishing a joint research center and rotating exhibition program that both institutions hailed as a new model for cultural restitution.
Buenos Aires' free youth orchestra program, which provides instruments, training, and mentorship to children in underserved neighborhoods, celebrated its 10,000th graduate with a sold-out concert at the iconic Teatro Colón.
The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation has launched professional leagues in eight Asian countries, backed by a $120 million sponsorship deal that will fund player salaries, accessible training facilities, and youth development programs.
Marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge's foundation has completed its 150th school running track in Kenya, providing 50,000 young athletes with professional training surfaces and coaching programs that are producing the next generation of distance runners.
The California condor population has reached 1,000 individuals — a remarkable recovery from just 22 birds in 1982, making it one of the most successful endangered species recovery programs in history.
Thailand has completed a 120-kilometer protected wildlife corridor linking five national parks in the Western Forest Complex, enabling wild elephant herds to migrate safely between fragmented habitats for the first time in decades.
A Dutch biotech startup has demonstrated an engineered enzyme that breaks down PET plastic bottles into reusable raw materials within 48 hours, operating at industrial scale and producing material of equal quality to virgin plastic.
A Singapore-based agritech company has achieved the first commercially viable indoor rice cultivation, producing yields comparable to traditional paddies while using 95% less water and no pesticides in a controlled vertical farm environment.
Dr. Ahmad Nasser, who fled Syria in 2015 and requalified as a physician in Germany, has opened a free clinic in Berlin that has served 10,000 uninsured patients — many of them refugees — earning him Germany's Federal Cross of Merit.
Doña Carmen Rodríguez, 92, has graduated from the University of Antioquia with a degree in social work, becoming Colombia's oldest university graduate and inspiring 11 family members across three generations to enroll in higher education.
MIT researchers have developed an AI system that can detect Parkinson's disease up to seven years before clinical symptoms appear by analyzing subtle voice changes captured through a standard smartphone, with 94% accuracy in a validation study of 50,000 participants.
A consortium of tech companies and universities has released an open-source AI translation model supporting 250 low-resource languages, enabling 1.5 billion people to access online content, healthcare information, and educational materials in their native tongues.
A new study in Science shows that a rare group of "gifted word learner" dogs can pick up the names of new toys just by overhearing humans play with them — no direct training required.
The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation's Dream Team youth program will reach 17,000 children across 156 locations in 2026, a 13% jump over last year, with a new scholarship fund and expanded coaching network.
The Government of Canada announced a $2.5 million investment in the new Kahnawà:ke Cultural Arts Center and roughly $700,000 over five years to support the Kanien'kéha Mohawk language program, a half-century of revitalization work.
Vietnam's largest city announced on April 1 a "principle agreement" to make 135 intra-city bus routes free for all residents starting as soon as May 2026, backed by a roughly $280 million annual budget.
