Doomslayer: Weekly Progress Roundup

Jul 13, 2025

World Bank country income classifications reflect tremendous global economic growth. In 1987, the organization classified 30 percent of countries as low-income and 25 percent as high-income. In 2024, only 12 percent of countries were low-income, while 40 percent were in the high-income group.
These thresholds are adjusted for inflation and exchange rate effects.
Mobile money—a form of banking that uses text messages to transfer money between accounts linked to phone numbers—is bringing financial services to the global poor. Between 2010 and 2023, the number of mobile money accounts grew from 13 million to 640 million worldwide, including 330 million in Sub-Saharan Africa.
According to a recent Sustainable Development Goals report, 92 percent of the world had access to electricity in 2023, up from 87 percent in 2010.

Energy & Environment

Conservationists are releasing Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes in Hawaii to control the spread of avian malaria, which has devastated local bird populations.
Scientists have developed a rabies vaccine for vampire bats that spreads naturally through grooming. The vaccine is delivered via a gel applied to one bat’s fur. When others groom it, they ingest the gel and gain immunity. Laboratory studies show this method could effectively protect entire colonies.
Colossal Biosciences, the biotech company aiming to bring back extinct species, has set its sights on the Moa: a giant flightless bird from New Zealand devoured by Maori hunters 600 years ago.

Atmospheric water harvesters—devices that collect liquid water from humidity—are becoming somewhat more practical thanks to advancements in materials like hydrogels and metal-organic frameworks. One research team from UC Berkeley is now exploring using the devices to collect water using heat generated by data centers.
The Japanese government plans to start testing deep-sea mining for rare-earth minerals in January.

The city of Paris has determined that the Seine is now clean enough for public swimming, ending a century-long ban.
A recent report on European air pollution found that all main pollutants (nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, sulfur oxides, ammonia, and fine-particle pollution) fell substantially between 1990 and 2023.

A Johns Hopkins–designed robot has learned to autonomously perform gallbladder removal surgery, completing a series of trials on pig tissue with perfect accuracy.
Swiss regulators have approved the first malaria treatment specifically designed for small babies. The medicine could make it easier to treat the disease in infants without causing an overdose.
Burundi has eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, bringing prevalence of the blindness-causing disease below 0.2 percent in adults.
A new gene therapy has restored hearing in patients with a rare form of congenital deafness. In the trial, all 10 patients improved after a single treatment and experienced no serious side effects.
A psychedelic compound found in the venom of the Colorado River toad is showing promise as a faster, simpler treatment for depression. In a trial of 193 patients, a single dose eased symptoms for at least eight weeks with no serious side effects. Most patients were ready to go home after just 90 minutes—a big improvement over other psychedelics that can require all-day supervision.

Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic have partnered with the American Federation of Teachers to launch a “National Academy for AI Instruction” in New York City. The initiative aims to train 400,000 K–12 educators to effectively integrate AI tools into the classroom.
Waymo has begun testing in Philadelphia in preparation for a possible expansion of its robotaxi service. A bold choice—it’s a dangerous city for robots.

Vietnam has ended the death penalty for eight crimes, including embezzlement, drug trafficking, and various crimes against the state.
The government of Tajikistan has promised to stop arresting people for interacting with dissident content on social media.