Every serving. No expiration date.
THAILAND JUST KNOCKED RUBELLA OFF THE PUBLIC-HEALTH LIST
Decades of vaccination and surveillance turned a dangerous pregnancy infection into a preventable public-health victory.
653 FROGS JUST GOT THEIR MOUNTAINS BACK
653 endangered frogs. Two mountain-stream releases. One species getting a real shot at coming back.
THE GLOWWORMS CAME BACK. A GARDEN SHED WAS INVOLVED
After a century away, tiny green lights are blinking again in North Yorkshire.
THEY BUILT A HIGH-RISE OUT OF STONE. LIKE, STRUCTURALLY
The future of lower-carbon construction might involve a material humans have been stacking for thousands of years.
RICK STEVES BOUGHT HIS HOMETOWN MOVIE THEATER SO IT WOULDN’T DIE
A century-old neighborhood movie house just got a very determined new owner.
THE BABY RATTLESNAKES ARE CUDDLING. PLEASE ADJUST YOUR WORLDVIEW
Livestream cameras in California, Colorado and Pennsylvania captured live rattlesnake births, dozens of newborns and baby snakes cuddling adults for protection. Apparently even rattlesnakes have a snuggle phase.
THE WARBLERS HAVE BACKPACKS NOW
Researchers are fitting tiny songbirds with Tic Tac-sized geolocator backpacks that record light and atmospheric pressure across entire migrations. Serious science has once again required an extremely small backpack.
THE DEER HAVE INFRASTRUCTURE NOW
Washington’s I-90 Snoqualmie Pass wildlife overcrossing recorded its 10,000th successful animal crossing in July. Add 11 undercrossings and the project is nearing 40,000 recorded crossings since 2014. Apparently the elk were just waiting for civil engineering.
THE WORLD’S WEIRDEST PARROT REFUSED TO GO EXTINCT
New Zealand’s critically endangered kākāpō population has reached 325, after a record 90 chicks joined the official count this season. The recovery program began in 1995 with just 51 birds. Extremely round bird: still here.
A WHOLE REGION JUST KNOCKED TRACHOMA OFF THE PUBLIC-HEALTH LIST
WHO has validated Timor-Leste’s elimination of trachoma as a public health problem. Because it was the last country in WHO’s South-East Asia Region where the disease was still suspected to be a public-health problem, the entire region has now cleared that threshold.
THE INTERNET GAVE THE BABY PORCUPINE AN EMOTIONAL SUPPORT LOG
Point Defiance Zoo welcomed its first prehensile-tailed porcupine baby in 121 years. Then the internet spotted the tiny porcupette clutching a log and named it an “emotional support log.” For once, the comments improved the story.
CRUSH WENT HOME. EVERYONE CRIED
Crush, a loggerhead found cold-stunned and nearly lifeless on a Jersey beach in January, spent months in rehabilitation before being flown to the Azores, fitted with a satellite tag, and released back into the Atlantic. Good turtle. Good humans. Everybody go home.
SPAIN HIRED TINY COWS TO FIGHT WILDFIRES
In Galicia, small, agile Cachena cattle and other grazers are being used to chew down fire-prone vegetation. A regional pilot is even using GPS virtual fencing to steer cattle toward areas that need clearing. Cow-based infrastructure has entered the chat.
BHUTAN JUST KICKED DOG-TRANSMITTED RABIES OFF THE PUBLIC-HEALTH LIST
WHO has validated Bhutan’s elimination of dog-transmitted human rabies as a public-health problem — the first country in WHO’s South-East Asia Region to reach the milestone. Bhutan has gone more than two years without a human death from dog-transmitted rabies. Vaccines, surveillance and people showing up worked.