Skip to main content

Future Perfect

Finding the best ways to do good. Check out our 2024 Future Perfect list, which presents the 50 thinkers, scientists, activists, and scholars who are working to build a more positive future.

Sign up for our newsletter to explore the consequential arguments and solutions around the world’s biggest issues.

The latest in Future Perfect

Fish farming was supposed to be sustainable. But there’s a giant catch.Fish farming was supposed to be sustainable. But there’s a giant catch.
Future Perfect

A groundbreaking study suggests your farmed shrimp and salmon might have a much bigger environmental toll than previously thought.

By Kenny Torrella
How progress creates its own obstaclesHow progress creates its own obstacles
Future Perfect

The world really is getting better. So why don’t people believe it?

By Bryan Walsh
How the wealthy are redrawing the world mapHow the wealthy are redrawing the world map
Future Perfect

A new book explores the world of tax havens and techno-utopias, and asks if they can be used for good.

By Joshua Keating
What went wrong with autism research? Let’s start with lab mice.What went wrong with autism research? Let’s start with lab mice.
Future Perfect

Animal models of autism haven’t helped autistic people enough. So why do scientists still use them?

By Celia Ford
I left my religion. Should I still raise my kid with it?
Future Perfect

My faith gave me my moral values. I want my child to have those — without all the stuff I don’t believe in.

By Sigal Samuel
Sick of AI hype? I have some bad news.Sick of AI hype? I have some bad news.
Future Perfect

AI is here to stay and the Nobels know it.

By Kelsey Piper
Why some economists are skeptical of this year’s NobelistsWhy some economists are skeptical of this year’s Nobelists
Future Perfect

Did they actually figure out why nations fail?

By Dylan Matthews
Cities face daunting challenges. Mike Bloomberg wants to help them help each other.Cities face daunting challenges. Mike Bloomberg wants to help them help each other.
Future Perfect

The 11 policies that could help the cities of the future.

By Dylan Scott
Your mind needs chaosYour mind needs chaos
Audio
The Gray Area

The human mind is designed to predict, but uncertainty helps us thrive.

By Oshan Jarow
AI companies are trying to build god. Shouldn’t they get our permission first?AI companies are trying to build god. Shouldn’t they get our permission first?
The rise of artificial intelligence, explained

The public did not consent to artificial general intelligence.

By Sigal Samuel
These California and Colorado ballot measures are terrifying the meat industry
Future Perfect

In Sonoma County and Denver, activists are putting animal welfare on the ballot.

By Marina Bolotnikova
Why don’t your psychiatric drugs work better?Why don’t your psychiatric drugs work better?
Future Perfect

Billions of dollars later, neuroscientists are still struggling to address the mental health crisis.

By Celia Ford
An Ebola-like virus is spreading in Rwanda. Why isn’t there an approved vaccine for Marburg?An Ebola-like virus is spreading in Rwanda. Why isn’t there an approved vaccine for Marburg?
Future Perfect

Rwandan public health officials have a strategy that could help prevent further outbreaks.

By Jess Craig
A DNA test upended my family. Do I side with my grandmother — or her secret child?
Future Perfect

I don’t know what I owe my newfound relative.

By Sigal Samuel
Nitrous, one of the oldest mind-altering drugs, is backNitrous, one of the oldest mind-altering drugs, is back
Future Perfect

Whippets on TikTok are just a re-run of inhaling nitrous on stage in the 1800s.

By Oshan Jarow
How zapping the brain can supercharge meditationHow zapping the brain can supercharge meditation
Future Perfect

New brain stimulation techniques could help scientists understand how meditation changes the mind.

By Oshan Jarow
The world’s spending to fight global lead poisoning just doubledThe world’s spending to fight global lead poisoning just doubled
Future Perfect

1.5 million people die from lead exposure a year. This new global partnership could change that.

By Dylan Matthews
Helene just pummeled America’s chicken farming capitalHelene just pummeled America’s chicken farming capital
Future Perfect

Factory farming makes hurricanes more dangerous, disgusting, and expensive.

By Kenny Torrella
Do animals experience love like people do?
Audio
The HighlightMember Exclusive

Dr. Gregory Berns on his surprising research on the emotional lives of dogs and cows.

By Benji Jones
An alternative to antibiotics could work wonders in Africa. It isn’t being used.
The Highlight

Bacteria-eating viruses might be able to fight antibiotic resistance where new treatments are most needed.

By Jess Craig
A big fire at a lab near Atlanta spewed chemicals into the air. Here’s what we know.A big fire at a lab near Atlanta spewed chemicals into the air. Here’s what we know.
Climate

The Georgia chemical plant fire, explained.

By Jess Craig and Sam Delgado
California’s governor has vetoed a historic AI safety billCalifornia’s governor has vetoed a historic AI safety bill
Future Perfect

SB 1047 would have been a landmark in AI safety. Gavin Newsom’s veto is a major setback in the fight against AI risk

By Sigal Samuel, Kelsey Piper and 1 more
Yuval Noah Harari on whether democracy and AI can coexistYuval Noah Harari on whether democracy and AI can coexist
Audio
The Gray Area

“If humans are so smart, why are we so stupid?”

By Sean Illing
In defense of the washing machineIn defense of the washing machine
Future Perfect

Rich people debate washing machines for fun. But for billions of poor people, the debate really matters.

By Kelsey Piper
OpenAI as we knew it is deadOpenAI as we knew it is dead
Future Perfect

The maker of ChatGPT promised to share its profits with the public. But Sam Altman just sold you out.

By Sigal Samuel
The ugly reality behind Tim Walz’s farm-friendly imageThe ugly reality behind Tim Walz’s farm-friendly image
Future Perfect

The VP candidate loves to snuggle baby animals. He’s giving factory farming a progressive sheen.

By Kenny Torrella
41 years ago today, one man saved us from world-ending nuclear war41 years ago today, one man saved us from world-ending nuclear war
Future Perfect

On September 26, 1983, Stanislav Petrov saved the world.

By Dylan Matthews
Chronic diseases cause 75 percent of all deaths globally. The toll is likely to rise.Chronic diseases cause 75 percent of all deaths globally. The toll is likely to rise.
Future Perfect

How diseases like cancer and diabetes are growing, explained in four charts.

By Jess Craig
I give to charity — but never to people on the street. Is that wrong?
Future Perfect

The quest to give effectively feels like it’s turning me into an cold-hearted jerk.

By Sigal Samuel
What it means that new AIs can “reason”What it means that new AIs can “reason”
Future Perfect

OpenAI’s new ChatGPT is better than ever — and more dangerous.

By Kelsey Piper
I asked Bill Gates why there are still so many hungry childrenI asked Bill Gates why there are still so many hungry children
Future Perfect

The billionaire philanthropist talks about how the fight for global health lost steam — and how to get it back.

By Dylan Scott
The moral case for paying kidney donorsThe moral case for paying kidney donors
Future Perfect

Kidney donors save lives. Why aren’t we compensated for it?

By Dylan Matthews
Are Americans generous?Are Americans generous?
Future Perfect

New research sheds light on changing patterns of US giving and volunteering.

By Rachel Cohen
Do the benefits of the expanded child tax credit actually fade with time?Do the benefits of the expanded child tax credit actually fade with time?
Future Perfect

A new study argues the long-run benefits outweigh the costs nearly 10 to 1.

By Oshan Jarow
A thousand pigs just burned alive in a barn fireA thousand pigs just burned alive in a barn fire
Future Perfect

Cruelty is built into the pork industry — but it could at least try to prevent fires.

By Kenny Torrella
The cost of cynicismThe cost of cynicism
Audio
The Gray Area

It’s irrational to be cynical, so why is it becoming more prevalent?

By Sean Illing
The new followup to ChatGPT is scarily good at deception
Future Perfect

The safety paradox at the heart of OpenAI’s “Strawberry” model.

By Sigal Samuel
Science has a short-term memory problemScience has a short-term memory problem
Future Perfect

Scientists are trapped in an endless loop of grant applications. How can we set them free?

By Celia Ford
A plot of land in Southern California could be a game-changer for the housing crisis
Policy

Factory-built housing, ADUs, and community land trusts — all at once.

By Rachel Cohen
The perfect escape from our online world
Future Perfect

Why the new luxury is flip phones and vinyl LPs

By Zoë Bernard