Doomslayer: Progress Roundup

May 10, 2026

Economics & Development

A common concern about data centers is that they burden local communities with noise and higher electricity demand without giving much back. Loudoun County, Virginia, offers a strong counterexample. The affluent jurisdiction was an early center of data-center construction and will soon get nearly half of its tax revenue from data centers, helping lower the homeowner property-tax rate by about 40 percent over the past decade.
For years, governments have mostly agreed not to put tariffs on digital trade, meaning countries do not tax cross-border downloads, streaming media, software, and other electronic products the way they tax some physical goods. That arrangement recently came under pressure, with Brazil and some other countries reluctant to extend the measure because they worry it limits future tax revenue. Now, 19 countries including the United States have agreed among themselves to keep digital trade duty-free, helping preserve a small but important piece of open commerce.

The Asiatic wild ass, which vanished from Mongolia’s Eastern Steppe in the mid-20th century after the Trans-Mongolian Railway fenced off its migration routes, is beginning to return thanks to targeted fence removals along the railway.
Until recently, the Victorian grassland earless dragon was thought to be extinct after farms and suburbs destroyed almost all of its native habitat. Then, in 2023, scientists found a surviving wild population on a single private grazing property. Melbourne Zoo is now breeding the lizards, with the ultimate goal of returning a restored population to the wild.

The World Health Organization has prequalified the first malaria drug designed specifically for newborns and small infants, clearing the way for UN agencies, donors, and public health systems to buy and distribute it in highly malarial countries.
In a randomized controlled trial, an experimental pill helped men with pattern baldness regrow significantly more hair than a placebo. After six months, men taking the drug reportedly gained about 30 to 33 hairs per square centimeter of scalp, compared with about seven for men on placebo.
The World Health Organization says that Sudan and South Sudan have eliminated maternal and neonatal tetanus, an infection that can kill newborns within days without proper care. Note that Sudan’s validation relies on data collected before its civil war began, so it is uncertain how that achievement is holding up.
The government of Burkina Faso is reporting a major drop in malaria cases and deaths after adding the malaria vaccine to a broader prevention campaign. Recorded malaria cases fell 32 percent between 2024 and 2025, while deaths fell 44 percent, though officials note that the gains came from several tools working together, including vaccines, bed nets, seasonal prevention drugs, and insecticides.

Japan Airlines is testing humanoid robots as baggage handlers at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, starting with the hard physical work of moving luggage and cargo on the tarmac.
In a recent blog post, Jack Clark, one of the founders of Anthropic, argues that AI systems may soon be capable of performing AI research by themselves, citing major improvements in their ability to code, conduct research, and manage other models. If he’s right, it would raise the possibility of “recursive self-improvement,” a milestone that could dramatically accelerate AI progress.

New York City has recorded just 76 murders over the first four months of the year, the lowest number for that period in the city’s history.
Jamaica recorded 673 murders in 2025, the lowest number since 1993 and a 40 percent drop from the year before. The country’s national security minister credits the decline partly to an increase in tips to police, which have risen nearly tenfold over the past decade.