ANIMALS
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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MOST COUNTED AS PROGRESS
These are the stories readers most often counted as progress.
0111 COUNTS ALL TIME
0210 COUNTS ALL TIME
PROGRESS
High-mileage electric cars were less likely to fail.
At 90,000–120,000 miles, EVs were about 25% less likely to fail an MOT.
SOURCEBVRLA / New AutoMotive
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039 COUNTS ALL TIME
NATURE
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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049 COUNTS ALL TIME
ANIMALS
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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059 COUNTS ALL TIME
SCIENCE
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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068 COUNTS ALL TIME
NATURE
$65 million is turning 34 farm-conservation ideas into field tests.
The lab bench is moving onto working farms.
SOURCEUSDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
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078 COUNTS ALL TIME
WEIRD JOY
Peanut butter failed. Burnt coconut found a new species.
Two mice, one mountain valley, and twenty-two years of patient taxonomy.
SOURCEZooKeys / PubMed Central
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087 COUNTS ALL TIME
NATURE
Tsavo West's black rhino sanctuary: an October progress update.
The 3,200 km² sanctuary was officially opened in December 2025. An October 2026 report describes subsequent fence removal and wider habitat work.
SOURCESan Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance / Kenya Wildlife Service / KRRE
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097 COUNTS ALL TIME
SCIENCE
India capped trade margins on 137 cancer drugs, with lower prices due November 9.
The rule targets excessive distribution markups while requiring manufacturers to maintain supply.
SOURCEPress Information Bureau of India / NPPA
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107 COUNTS ALL TIME
PROGRESS
Rhode Island will pair solar carports, batteries and EV charging on one civic campus.
A government parking lot is becoming a small, flexible power system.
SOURCERhode Island Office of Energy Resources
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117 COUNTS ALL TIME
SCIENCE
A simpler quantum sensor design kept its sensitivity at true zero.
A few strategically bare loops replaced a forest of compromises.
SOURCEAdelaide University / Physical Review Applied
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127 COUNTS ALL TIME
SCIENCE
One extra year of school lowered dementia diagnoses nearly 50 years later.
A school-leaving law became rare causal evidence that social policy can shape brain health decades later.
SOURCENIH / Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
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137 COUNTS ALL TIME
HUMANS
Allegheny County signed a 12-week paid parental leave law.
A local law turns a family-support promise into paid time.
SOURCEAllegheny County
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147 COUNTS ALL TIME
PROGRESS
NYC's toll zone cut fine-particle pollution 13%.
The estimated air-quality gain closely tracked an 11% drop in vehicles entering the zone.
SOURCEColumbia Climate School / Environmental Science & Technology Letters
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156 COUNTS ALL TIME
ANIMALS
Corvo is turning off its lights so young shearwaters can follow the stars to sea.
A tiny Atlantic island is dimming its nights to give fledgling seabirds a safer first flight.
SOURCESPEA — Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds
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166 COUNTS ALL TIME
PROGRESS
World Bank borrowers can now use pooled purchasing for lifesaving health products.
A new procurement route could help more countries stretch constrained health budgets.
SOURCEThe Global Fund / World Bank Group
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176 COUNTS ALL TIME
HUMANS
Food insecurity in Uruguayan homes with young children fell from 18.9% to 14.8%.
The sharpest drop since this measurement began in 2022 still leaves children more exposed than the national average.
SOURCEPresidency of Uruguay / National Food Institute
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186 COUNTS ALL TIME
PROGRESS
The world's largest battery-electric ship entered commercial service.
A 130-metre electric ferry is now carrying passengers and vehicles across the Río de la Plata.
SOURCEIncat Tasmania
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196 COUNTS ALL TIME
PROGRESS
Off-grid solar now reaches 149 million people—up 26% in two years.
Small solar systems are powering homes, jobs and 7.4 million microenterprises.
SOURCEWorld Bank / GOGLA
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206 COUNTS ALL TIME
HUMANS
A small Amazon basic-income pilot cut reported food insecurity from 73% to 26%.
Economic security and rainforest stewardship rose together in three Indigenous communities—but the pilot had no control group.
SOURCEUniversity of Bath / Cool Earth
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216 COUNTS ALL TIME
SCIENCE
A precision T-cell therapy stalled hard-to-treat cancers in 16 of 27 patients.
A more precise signal gave exhausted treatment paths one more opening.
SOURCENIH / Nature Medicine
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226 COUNTS ALL TIME
SCIENCE
One health system cut anesthetic emissions 45%—and spending nearly 40%.
Six hospitals changed everyday anesthesia practice, lowering estimated emissions and anesthetic spending without worsening tracked outcomes.
SOURCEAmerican Society of Anesthesiologists
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236 COUNTS ALL TIME
SCIENCE
A major Alzheimer's prevention trial has randomized its first participant.
The study will test whether clearing amyloid, then adding a second mechanism, can delay inherited Alzheimer's.
SOURCEBanner Health
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246 COUNTS ALL TIME
PROGRESS
Teenagers are unplastifying 400+ schools.
A school challenge has engaged 3,500+ young people in 23 countries to redesign everyday plastic use.
SOURCEUnplastify / Reasons to Be Cheerful
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