These are the stories readers most often counted as progress.
THE SCAN CAME BACK EMPTY.
Researchers at Texas Children's, Baylor College of Medicine and Seattle Children's reported in the New England Journal of Medicine that a child with hepatoblastoma had complete regression of disease after a novel immunotherapy given as part of the CARE study.
FIFTY YEARS. NO DOG-MEDIATED HUMAN CASES.
Chile became the first South American country validated by WHO for eliminating dog-transmitted rabies as a public-health problem after more than five decades without a dog-mediated human case.
Côte d’Ivoire connected 3.56 million more people…
684,735 new connections. Around 3.56 million more people with access.
LOUD AND INCREASING.
285 counted in a single day, almost 100 more than last year.
STAGE 1 AND 2, CAUGHT ABOUT 87% OF THE TIME
An investigational blood test flagged stage 1 and 2 pancreatic cancer about 87% of the time in a study of roughly 1,800 people. Not FDA-cleared. Still a big deal.
800 VILLAGERS. 350,000 OBSERVATIONS.
About 800 villagers across nine Borneo villages get paid for verified photos, video and audio of wildlife. Two villages have since banned hunting themselves.
EIGHT LESSONS. NEARLY 2,000 SCHOOLS.
An eight-lesson learn-to-ride curriculum is now in nearly 2,000 US elementary schools. Balance bikes first, pedals when you are ready, gym class credit either way.
$650 AND JEOPARDY AT 7.
Affordable rent, useful help, and Jeopardy at 7.
18.5 MONTHS INSTEAD OF 10.
18.5 months vs. 10.0. Promising, not approved.
A SHED FULL OF GLOW.
After a century away, tiny green lights are blinking again in North Yorkshire.
During one May morning count, Cycling Scotland recorded more bikes than cars on Leith Walk from 8 to 9 a.m.—a first for that route, not a claim about the whole city.
TWO WIRES, SWITCHED OFF.
The fix was two unpowered wires.
EIGHT POUNDS OF RARE CAT.
Eight pounds of extremely rare cat.
208 TURTLES, HAND-DELIVERED.
235 eggs in. 208 tiny turtles out.
THE MAP WAS THE PROBLEM.
Africa was not small. The map was weird.
SHE WENT BACK. SHE STAYED.
Rescued at 18 months. Rewilded eight years later. Now Lulingu is raising a baby of her own in the forest.
SAME BLOOD DRIVE. DIFFERENT DOORS.
They started as new neighbors. Fifteen years later, the annual blood drive is still on the calendar.
THE BOAT ADAPTED.
Sometimes inclusion looks like a hoist, a custom boat and a wide-open sea.
HE BOUGHT THE MARQUEE.
A century-old neighborhood movie house just got a very determined new owner.
THE WATER IS COMING BACK.
A 23-square-mile tract of drained North Carolina peatland is being rewetted, replanted and restored to hold water, reduce fire risk, rebuild habitat and stop releasing so much stored carbon. Sometimes progress is admitting the ditch was a bad idea.
ALL THREE STEPS, THEIRS.
At Colorado’s Aspen Backcountry Marathon, Brier Youngfleish won the race outright — and women finished first, second and third overall. The overall podium was all women. That’s the whole post.