Agents for Change

The new generator works by capturing heat energy in the air, which is warmed by the sun during the day. Heat in the air naturally wants to escape the planet into the cold of outer space. The device harvests the energy created by this heat transition, turning it into electricity. Photo by Jan Skowron/University of Warsaw/Handout via REUTERS.

This clean energy invention runs on nothing but cold, night air

By Nsikan Akpan

How giant African rats are helping uncover deadly land mines in Cambodia

From Angola to the former Yugoslavia, land mines are a lethal legacy of wars over long ago. Cambodia is among the most affected countries, with millions of buried explosives that kill and maim people each year. Now, an organization is…

By Fred de Sam Lazaro

A year after outbreak, Ebola has killed hundreds in the DRC

It’s been one year since the Ebola epidemic outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. So far, more than 2,400 cases have been detected and over 1,700 people have died from Ebola. Richard Preston’s new book “Crisis in the Red…

By PBS NewsHour

Women walk along a corridor at the Los Angeles County women's jail in Lynwood, California April 26, 2013. The Second Chance Women's Re-entry Court is one of the first in the U.S. to focus on women, and offers a cost-saving alternative to prison for women who plead guilty to non-violent crimes and volunteer for treatment. Of the 297 women who have been through the court since 2007, 100 have graduated, and only 35 have been returned to state prison. Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

3 innovative ways former inmates are getting help to restart their lives

Most people who are released from prison are arrested again, but nonprofits are trying to combat that by helping former inmates get back on their feet.

By Rebecca Oh

How to improve education and economic opportunity for black South Africans

It’s been 25 years since the end of apartheid in South Africa, but parts of the brutal era’s legacy still linger. Ensuring that all South Africans receive an equal education, for example, remains an elusive challenge. Special correspondent Fred de…

By Fred de Sam Lazaro

5 ways social entrepreneurs are trying to cut food waste

By Bryan Wood

For now, the problem isn’t that there’s not enough food on the planet to feed everyone. The problem is how much food is wasted.

How Uganda’s former child soldiers try to heal from the scars of war

By Fred de Sam Lazaro

A community in Lamunu, Uganda, is struggling to return to normal after decades of violent conflict that displaced nearly 2 million people. The Lord’s Resistance Army, led by Joseph Kony, abducted 35,000 children and deployed them as soldiers in an…

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4 ways groups are making period care easier and more equitable

By Courtney Vinopal

From U.S. prisons to rural communities in India, activists and companies are working to improve feminine hygiene care for all.

How failing infrastructure and climate change leave many South Africans without water

By Fred de Sam Lazaro

It's been 25 years since South Africa dismantled apartheid, and while political progress has occurred, the young democracy continues to face hurdles. In recent years, extreme drought pushed the country to the brink of disaster, and although rainfall finally mitigated…

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Meet the entrepreneur connecting indigenous artists with the global art market

By Maea Lenei Buhre

The benefits of life in larger cities can also come with the loss of a rich rural or indigenous craft culture. But this social enterprise company aims to bridge the gap between native artists and customers across the world.