Like Uber, but for Cartographers

Children coming from abusive households are often reluctant to discuss their past experiences. A Mexican foundation is using animated characters to help abused and ill children speak about their lives.

Concerned with colony collapse syndrome in honey bees worldwide, scientists, farmers and tech companies teamed up in Australia to create a micro-sensor that collects data on the bee's environment.

Harassment on the internet is more accepted but just as harmful as it is in person. RiotGames, a game publisher, decreased abuse by enabling its gaming members to decide and enforce community norms.

Poor people are less likely to make smart financial decisions; however, new research in the U.S. says this is not about intelligence but rather about a brain being overwhelmed with issues related to poverty. To combat that barrier of stress, organizations around the world are making financial decisions easier for people experiencing poverty by making borrowing easier and automating future financial planning, like 401(k) contributions.

The Canadian federal government has identified bullying as a national problem. Roots of Empathy, based in Toronto, encourages empathy in elementary kids by having them interact with babies.

Crime is a result of many underlying social issues, but Crime Lab, a research organization with branches in New York and Chicago, is studying which simple solutions will have the most impact in their city. Cost-effective efforts such as tutoring combined with cognitive behavioral therapy have proven to be successful.

New York City suffered from fires that erupted in overcrowded, run-down apartments. Then the city sleuthed through residential records and found that landlords who foreclosed let their properties fall apart and ignored safety-code violations. Greater Toronto wants to expand upon New York City’s method by using transportation surveys, census data and computer data to build transit lines.

Studying the outcomes of public health delivery can lack a scientific methodology. MIT economists have applied the methodology of randomized controlled trial (RCT) to study the effect of the Medicaid expansion plan in Oregon. These researchers look into how the new healthcare coverage affects clinical outcomes, emergency-room use, and employment.

Despite strong evidence that school-based physical activity improves children’s cognitive skills, concentration, and behavior, schools under pressure to produce quantitative results and decrease bullying have drastically cut back on recess in recent years. An Oakland-based nonprofit organization called Playworks is working to make healthy play accessible for more children and show schools how productive recess can be to the whole academic world.

While weight loss can be challenging to maintain, different structures are being created to help. Certain support groups, financial incentives, and tough love are proving to be effective.