  Over the last three years, a number of fundamental physical issues were
addressed in loop quantum gravity. These include: A statistical mechanical
derivation of the horizon entropy, encompassing astrophysically interesting
black holes as well as cosmological horizons; a natural resolution of the
big-bang singularity; the development of spin-foam models which provide
background independent path integral formulations of quantum gravity and
`finiteness proofs' of some of these models; and, the introduction of
semi-classical techniques to make contact between the background independent,
non-perturbative theory and the perturbative, low energy physics in Minkowski
space. These developments spring from a detailed quantum theory of geometry
that was systematically developed in the mid-nineties and have added a great
deal of optimism and intellectual excitement to the field.
  The goal of this article is to communicate these advances in general physical
terms, accessible to researchers in all areas of gravitational physics
represented in this conference.
