ALL THE SLOP

Of 285 large UK rewilding projects, one was hit by fire this year.

The advocacy-group analysis also found burned areas from 2016–2026 were concentrated in acid grassland, heather, bog and other simplified landscapes rather than restored habitat.

SOURCERewilding Britain

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Six people with advanced retinal disease became measurably more sensitive to light.

In a 10-person safety trial, an experimental optogenetic treatment produced clinically meaningful light-sensitivity gains in six participants. It did not restore normal sight.

SOURCENew England Journal of Medicine

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Two Great Indian Bustards are back in the wild.

Two captive-bred males are now walking free in the Thar Desert. The release is a test, not a declaration of recovery.

SOURCEPress Information Bureau of India / Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

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One of North America’s tiniest mammals just got a third new population.

More than 500 pocket mice have been released over 20 years. North San Mateo is now the third reintroduced population.

SOURCESan Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

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Healthy reef sounds drew more coral and fish larvae.

Underwater playback helped young corals and fish find experimental reef structures in field trials off Oʻahu.

SOURCEScripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego / Communications Biology / Scientific Reports

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A lab-grown lung model kept its own immune memory.

Human lung organoids retained resident T cells, recognized SARS-CoV-2 and responded more strongly after a simulated booster.

SOURCENational Institutes of Health / Nature

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A new framework makes moving endangered species less of a guess.

More than 250 practitioners and community members helped shape a decision process for high-stakes conservation moves.

SOURCEConservation Science and Practice / University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

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40,000 native sedges started repairing a Yosemite meadow.

Three years in, the soil is improving. Full recovery may still take 25 to 50 years.

SOURCEColorado State University / JGR Biogeosciences

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A small skin biopsy could spare patients a more invasive test.

Functional testing on skin cells helped close difficult mitochondrial-disease diagnoses across samples from more than 30 medical centres.

SOURCEChildren’s Hospital Colorado / EMBO Molecular Medicine

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Conservation’s best outliers share three things.

Local knowledge. Shared decisions. Management that learns.

SOURCEUniversity of Sydney / Nature Ecology & Evolution

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They released 11,000 giant insects. Now the population is increasing.

Fourth- and fifth-generation wētāpunga are now breeding without help on two islands.

SOURCENew Zealand Journal of Zoology / Department of Conservation / Auckland Zoo

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Two of the world’s rarest rhinos are pregnant.

Ratu and Delilah are both due in May 2027.

SOURCEInternational Rhino Foundation / Ministry of Forestry of Indonesia

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Bumblebees delivered bacteria-killing viruses to cherry blossoms.

The pollinators carried a precise biological treatment to as many as 88% of flowers.

SOURCEUniversity of Warwick / Biological Control

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Twenty american chestnuts returned to the Bronx Zoo.

The blight was first documented here. Now a restoration network is taking root.

SOURCEWildlife Conservation Society / New York Restoration Project

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Fifteen rare ibises followed a plane south.

Human foster parents flew ahead. Fifteen young ibises followed them into a new Spanish flock.

SOURCEThe Guardian / Waldrappteam

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Norway created its largest marine protected area.

Andfjorden now protects 1,848.5 square kilometres.

SOURCENorwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment

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California’s wolves just had a record 42 pups.

Eight packs raised pups in 2026, extending one of California’s wildest comeback stories.

SOURCESFGATE / California Department of Fish and Wildlife

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A paper-thin robot swam through a maze on muscle cells.

Two fins. One layer of living muscle. A light to follow.

SOURCEMIT News

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A knitted crop cover produced 3.56× the harvestable strawberries.

The fabric let light, rain and air through — while keeping insect mouths out.

SOURCENC State News

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They put eyes on a buoy. Seabird bycatch risk fell 59%.

A pair of spinning eyes and a kite gave threatened seabirds a practical way around a deadly net.

SOURCEUniversity of Exeter

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A phone-and-telehealth program cut risky firearm behaviors 57%.

Three remote counseling sessions and a phone tool helped young people make safer decisions in a rigorous trial.

SOURCEUniversity of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation

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368 farmers made a hallway. 529 elephants have already used it.

A narrow strip through the Kilombero Valley is reconnecting savanna and rainforest — one elephant at a time.

SOURCESouthern Tanzania Elephant Program

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