--- description: Haiti 5 years after the earthquake, economic sanctions missing their target, the impact of partisanship on the U.S. states, and more. title: These Are Today's Best Ideas image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Innovation](/tag/innovation/) ## Innovation Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Five Best Ideas of the Day: January 12 by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 12, 2015 5:01 PM CUT by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 12, 2015 5:01 PM CUT **1\.** [**On the fifth anniversary of the Haiti earthquake, political strife is still the greatest obstacle to recovery.**](http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article6031617.html "undefined") By Jacqueline Charles in the Miami Herald **2\.** [**The U.S. uses economic sanctions because they don’t require a global coalition to work. But they may inflict damage beyond the intended target.**](http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-dollar-power-20150112-story.html "undefined") By Paul Richter in the Los Angeles Times **3\.** [**With deepening partisanship becoming the norm, don’t look to the states for new ideas.**](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/12/opinion/dont-look-to-states-for-new-ideas.html "undefined") By Aaron Chatterji in the New York Times **4\.** [**Juries could use virtual reality headsets to ‘visit’ crime scenes.**](http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26764-forensic-holodeck-to-transport-jury-to-the-crime-scene.html "undefined") By Jessica Hamzelou in New Scientist **5\.** [**A new waterproof solar lantern is helping reduce deaths from burning fuel indoors for the world’s 1.2 billion living without electric light.**](http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/7/7482949/mpowerd-luci-solar-lantern-kerosene-alternative-ces-2015 "undefined") By Michael Zelenko in the Verge  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/ "undefined") _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3663586/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-january-12/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3663586/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-january-12/"},"headline":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: January 12","datePublished":"2015-01-12T17:01:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:06:16.223Z","description":"Haiti 5 years after the earthquake, economic sanctions missing their target, the impact of partisanship on the U.S. states, and more.","url":"https://time.com/3663586/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-january-12/","keywords":["Innovation","russia","North Korea","Iran","States","Courts","Sanctions","health","Earthquake","development","Solar Power","Virtual Reality","Haiti","VR"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3663586/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-january-12/","name":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: January 12"}}]}] ```