Good News Monday
Kick-starting the week with a global round up of positive news nuggets.
Hidden Worlds
Just over 100 shots were selected from more than 26,000 entries to the 2026 European Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition - but this one took the top prize. Titled Hidden Worlds, the photo by Imre Potyó was named the overall winner in this year’s contest. It features dozens of lesser horseshoe bats hibernating in a tunnel against a glowing pin mold that grows out of their dark droppings (called guano). Look closely and you can just see the bats. The Hungarian photographer said that he’s been venturing into tunnels for 13 years to document bats, but noted that “this particular composition” had never occurred to him before.
Some Good Numbers
149 Million: People now reached by off-grid solar, up 26 percent from 2023.
28: US states in which doulas are covered by Medicaid, up from two in 2020.
1.2 Million: Size, in acres, of a new national park in Australia meant to protect koalas and their habitat.
15: Greece has passed a social media ban for kids under 15, becoming the latest country to institute such an age restriction.
3.1: The percentage drop in China’s emissions in the third quarter of the year, marking the largest fall since Covid.
965,000: The number of square miles (2.5 million sq. km) of ecosystems - about the size of Alaska and Texas combined - are now under restoration. A report launched at COP17 counts projects in 149 countries, with more than a million jobs created from the 35 World Restoration Flagships, big government-backed projects the United Nations holds up as showcases. “Restoration” covers a lot of ground, from replanting native forest to simply stopping whatever was wrecking a place and letting it heal, and about half the global total is in China.
Welcome Back
Loch Ness is about to welcome a new (mini) monster. This wee beastie is not to be trifled with: it has razor-sharp teeth and can easily knock down a fully-grown tree. Beavers were last sighted in the area around Scotland’s most famous stretch of water between 1526 and 1527. Now, exactly five centuries later, these key ecosystem engineers will be reintroduced to the local environment. It is one of many beaver re-introductions that have been, or are being, organised around the UK. “Beavers can bring many benefits for nature and people, creating habitats such as ponds and wetlands where other species thrive, as well as moderating water flows in times of flood and water scarcity,” said Robbie Kernahan, NatureScot Director for Wildlife Management.
Best Time For Coffee
A multi-country citizen-science study - published in the esteemed journal Nature - on what makes coffee enjoyable (yes, really) found that people say coffee tastes best black, during Spring, in the morning, on Wednesdays, and when drunk from ceramic cups. Don’t say we don’t bring you the important news!
Wimbledon Upgrade
Wimbledon has demolished the grassy expanse known as Henman Hill to rebuild and improve the space. The grass slope, located next to No 1 Court, is packed with fans throughout the two weeks of the Championships and space is often claimed early in the day and marked with picnic blankets. To coincide with the 150th anniversary celebrations in 2027, Wimbledon has started to redevelop the site. It might look more like a muddy heap at the moment, but the plans include an increased capacity by about 20 percent by reducing the hill’s gradient to something more akin to gentle terracing to allow for more seating and greater access.
One Light-Day
When NASA's Voyager 1 launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in 1977, the mission was only designed to last five years. But in 2026, the spacecraft is still flying and sending back data, and it's about to reach an incredible new milestone. On 18 November 2026, Voyager 1 will make history when it becomes the first human-made object to reach one light-day from Earth. A light-day is the distance it takes for light to travel in 24 hours, equal to about 16.1 billion miles (25.9 billion km). To put that distance into perspective, light from the sun takes just over eight minutes to reach Earth, traveling at around 186,000 miles (300,000 km) per second. So, a light-day is a colossal distance.
Climate Comeback
The COP31 climate summit is set to kick off in Turkey today amid a backdrop of continued fossil-fuel reliance and war, says the Associated Press. Dr Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, told the Financial Times he expects to see a “climate action comeback” at COP31, adding: “I have rarely seen the energy security policy objectives and the climate objectives so closely aligned.”
"No big challenge has ever been solved, and no lasting improvement has ever been achieved, unless people dare to try something different." Tim Cook
On This Day
9 November 1904: First airplane flight to last more than 5 minutes, when Wilbur Wright flies the Wright Flyer II for 5 minutes and 4 seconds in Ohio, covering 2.75 miles (4.4 km).
Today's Articles
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