The home of good newshttps://happynewsoftheday.com/enhttps://happynewsoftheday.com/animals/afia-birago-frogs-london-zoo/https://happynewsoftheday.com/animals/afia-birago-frogs-london-zoo/London Zoo has bred 15 Afia Birago froglets, a species that survives in just two pools in Ghana's Atewa forest. They will form a back-up population while their home is protected.Mon, 19 Oct 2026 09:50:00 GMTAnimalshttps://happynewsoftheday.com/health/spain-breast-screening-age-45/https://happynewsoftheday.com/health/spain-breast-screening-age-45/Extremadura will invite women to breast cancer screening from age 45 starting in January 2027, and Galicia will include the change in its 2027 budget. They are the first steps of a national agreement to extend screening to women aged 45 to 74.Mon, 19 Oct 2026 09:50:00 GMTHealthhttps://happynewsoftheday.com/health/chile-breast-cancer-guarantees-99-percent/https://happynewsoftheday.com/health/chile-breast-cancer-guarantees-99-percent/Chile's Ministry of Health has resolved or closed 3,620 of 3,665 overdue breast cancer care guarantees. In 89% of cases, women received a diagnosis, treatment or effective follow-up.Mon, 19 Oct 2026 09:40:00 GMTHealthhttps://happynewsoftheday.com/health/exercise-cancer-23-percent-lower-death-risk/https://happynewsoftheday.com/health/exercise-cancer-23-percent-lower-death-risk/A meta-analysis of 21 clinical trials and 8,449 patients, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, links structured exercise programmes with a 23% lower risk of death. Of the participants, 88% were women and breast cancer was the most common diagnosis.Mon, 19 Oct 2026 09:30:00 GMTHealthhttps://happynewsoftheday.com/health/nice-enhertu-her2-low-breast-cancer/https://happynewsoftheday.com/health/nice-enhertu-her2-low-breast-cancer/Around 1,000 people with HER2-low advanced breast cancer in England can now be offered Enhertu. It was the only breast cancer drug NICE had been unable to recommend since 2018.Mon, 19 Oct 2026 09:20:00 GMTHealthhttps://happynewsoftheday.com/health/pancreatic-cancer-pill-ema/https://happynewsoftheday.com/health/pancreatic-cancer-pill-ema/The European Medicines Agency's drugs committee has recommended approving daraxonrasib. In the RASolute 302 trial of 500 patients, median survival rose from 6.7 to 13.2 months compared with chemotherapy.Mon, 19 Oct 2026 09:15:00 GMTHealthhttps://happynewsoftheday.com/science/madrid-rac1-switch-breast-cancer-metastasis/https://happynewsoftheday.com/science/madrid-rac1-switch-breast-cancer-metastasis/A team at the Complutense University of Madrid has shown that the protein RAC1 needs a small chemical change to help breast cancer spread. Blocking it drastically reduced lung metastases in experimental models.Mon, 19 Oct 2026 09:10:00 GMTSciencehttps://happynewsoftheday.com/ai/catalan-ai-breast-cancer-lymph-nodes/https://happynewsoftheday.com/ai/catalan-ai-breast-cancer-lymph-nodes/Researchers from Pompeu Fabra University, Verge de la Cinta Hospital in Tortosa, Rovira i Virgili University and the Catalunya Sud Biomedical Research Institute have built an AI model that, for the first time, combines tumour data with the patient's immune response.Mon, 19 Oct 2026 09:00:00 GMTAIhttps://happynewsoftheday.com/planet/amazon-deforestation-record-low/https://happynewsoftheday.com/planet/amazon-deforestation-record-low/Brazil's PRODES satellite system measured about 3,335 km² cleared between August 2025 and July 2026, the lowest figure since records began in 1988. The Cerrado savanna also hit a record low.Mon, 19 Oct 2026 08:30:00 GMTPlanethttps://happynewsoftheday.com/people/helga-99-oldest-wing-walker/https://happynewsoftheday.com/people/helga-99-oldest-wing-walker/Helga Duffy stood on the wing of a biplane over Gloucestershire, encouraged by her niece, and Guinness World Records handed her the title as soon as she landed. She also raised more than £1,600 for the air ambulance.Mon, 19 Oct 2026 07:45:00 GMTPeoplehttps://happynewsoftheday.com/planet/wind-sled-antarctica-2026/https://happynewsoftheday.com/planet/wind-sled-antarctica-2026/Explorer Ramón Larramendi's Windsled heads for the Antarctic interior, pulled by kites and powered by the sun. On board: 16 science projects, from microplastics and viruses to how isolation affects the mind.Mon, 19 Oct 2026 07:10:00 GMTPlanethttps://happynewsoftheday.com/wins/davidovich-shanghai-champion/https://happynewsoftheday.com/wins/davidovich-shanghai-champion/Alejandro Davidovich Fokina came from a set down to beat 20-year-old Rafael Jódar 1-6, 7-6, 6-4 in an all-Spanish final and win the biggest title of his career. Nadal, Ferrer and Bautista had all fallen short in Shanghai.Mon, 19 Oct 2026 07:00:00 GMTWinshttps://happynewsoftheday.com/education/gaza-students-back-to-school/https://happynewsoftheday.com/education/gaza-students-back-to-school/The Palestinian Ministry of Education reopened the first in-person schools on 19 September and plans about 700 learning sites across the Strip. Many lessons take place in tents, but children are sitting together to learn again.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 15:00:00 GMTEducationhttps://happynewsoftheday.com/education/kenya-pre-primary-31-million/https://happynewsoftheday.com/education/kenya-pre-primary-31-million/Kenya's 2026 Economic Survey shows every stage growing: primary and the new junior secondary reach 11.9 million pupils, there are more trained teachers, and vocational institutions are up 13%.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 14:40:00 GMTEducationhttps://happynewsoftheday.com/ai/ai-mammography-masai-29-percent/https://happynewsoftheday.com/ai/ai-mammography-masai-29-percent/It is the first large randomised trial of AI in breast cancer screening: 106,000 women in Sweden. The final results, in The Lancet, also show 12% fewer cancers appearing between screenings and 27% fewer of the most aggressive types.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 14:20:00 GMTAIhttps://happynewsoftheday.com/ai/ai-drug-rentosertib-phase-3/https://happynewsoftheday.com/ai/ai-drug-rentosertib-phase-3/Insilico Medicine's rentosertib is now being tested in about 320 patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a serious disease that scars the lungs. In the previous phase, the highest dose improved lung capacity while it worsened in the placebo group.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 14:10:00 GMTAIhttps://happynewsoftheday.com/ai/ai-mathematics-erdos-conjecture/https://happynewsoftheday.com/ai/ai-mathematics-erdos-conjecture/An OpenAI model found a way to place points on a plane with more pairs at distance one than was thought possible. Mathematicians including Noga Alon and Tim Gowers checked the proof. It is the most striking result in a wave of AI solving problems that had been open for decades.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 14:00:00 GMTAIhttps://happynewsoftheday.com/ai/ai-hassabis-golden-era-discovery/https://happynewsoftheday.com/ai/ai-hassabis-golden-era-discovery/The head of Google DeepMind believes AI will change medicine beyond recognition and help cure major diseases. He isn't speaking in a vacuum: his AlphaFold has already predicted the shapes of more than 200 million proteins and is used by more than three million researchers.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 13:50:00 GMTAIhttps://happynewsoftheday.com/ai/ai-chatbot-primary-care-harvard/https://happynewsoftheday.com/ai/ai-chatbot-primary-care-harvard/Doctors at Harvard and Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess tested an assistant that took patients' medical histories from home with 98 real patients. No conversation had to be stopped, and most doctors who read the summary said it helped them prepare. It is a small feasibility study.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 13:30:00 GMTAIhttps://happynewsoftheday.com/education/ohio-reading-five-year-high/https://happynewsoftheday.com/education/ohio-reading-five-year-high/62.2% of students reached proficiency in English language arts, the highest in five years, and all ten student groups the state tracks improved, including economically disadvantaged students and students with disabilities.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 12:40:00 GMTEducationhttps://happynewsoftheday.com/education/spain-vocational-training-record/https://happynewsoftheday.com/education/spain-vocational-training-record/1,211,062 students enrolled in vocational education and training (FP) in 2025–26, 30,092 more than the year before. Every level grew, and specialisation courses rose by almost 18%.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 12:30:00 GMTEducationhttps://happynewsoftheday.com/education/unesco-literacy-prizes-bogota-chiapas/https://happynewsoftheday.com/education/unesco-literacy-prizes-bogota-chiapas/BibloRed's LEO Schools (Colombia) and Chiapas Puede (Mexico), which reaches more than 140,000 people a year, receive the International Literacy Prizes alongside projects from the Netherlands, Nigeria, Lebanon and Thailand.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 12:20:00 GMTEducationhttps://happynewsoftheday.com/wins/best-of-the-week-18-october/https://happynewsoftheday.com/wins/best-of-the-week-18-october/Ten good news stories from the week of 12-18 October, each checked against its original source – from Indonesia's collapse in extreme poverty to giant tortoises that now outnumber people in the Seychelles.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 08:30:00 GMTWinshttps://happynewsoftheday.com/animals/aldabra-giant-tortoises-seychelles/https://happynewsoftheday.com/animals/aldabra-giant-tortoises-seychelles/A study by the Seychelles Islands Foundation and the University of Exeter puts the giant tortoise population of Aldabra Atoll at almost 183,000. In the 19th century fewer than 1,000 were left.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMTAnimalshttps://happynewsoftheday.com/planet/bleached-corals-healthy-clones/https://happynewsoftheday.com/planet/bleached-corals-healthy-clones/Stanford scientists found in the lab that a healthy coral can pass its algae to a bleached clone when the two touch. It was a small experiment and is still a long way from the reef.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMTPlanethttps://happynewsoftheday.com/animals/bogong-moths-signs-of-recovery/https://happynewsoftheday.com/animals/bogong-moths-signs-of-recovery/The species lost an estimated 99.5% of its population from 2017 and was listed as endangered by the IUCN in 2021. This spring its migration is back in homes and streets across eastern Australia – and scientists see a sign of hope.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMTAnimalshttps://happynewsoftheday.com/health/cancer-fighting-cells-usc/https://happynewsoftheday.com/health/cancer-fighting-cells-usc/A University of Southern California team has kept and multiplied blood stem cells that give rise to immune defenders, and engineered them to attack tumours. It worked in mice, and a Stanford lab has independently confirmed the method. It has not yet been tested in people.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMTHealthhttps://happynewsoftheday.com/planet/china-qinghai-solar-hybrid/https://happynewsoftheday.com/planet/china-qinghai-solar-hybrid/In Gonghe, Qinghai, PowerChina has connected 900 MW of solar panels and a 100 MW solar thermal tower whose molten salt stores heat for eight hours. It expects about 2,200 GWh a year – company projections, not measurements.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMTPlanethttps://happynewsoftheday.com/animals/colorado-i25-wildlife-crossings/https://happynewsoftheday.com/animals/colorado-i25-wildlife-crossings/Five underpasses and 14 miles of fencing on I-25 have sharply reduced collisions with deer, elk and other animals, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation. The figures were released in late September.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMTAnimalshttps://happynewsoftheday.com/planet/england-organic-farmland-10/https://happynewsoftheday.com/planet/england-organic-farmland-10/The UK government has launched a ten-year Organic Action Plan aiming for 10% of England's farmland to be organic by 2036, backed by advice for farmers, better supply chains and public-sector buying. France is already at about 10%.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMTPlanethttps://happynewsoftheday.com/health/fatty-liver-drug-gut-repair/https://happynewsoftheday.com/health/fatty-liver-drug-gut-repair/University of Michigan researchers tested DT-109, which curbs an ammonia-producing gut bacterium and strengthens the gut lining. It reversed the disease in mice and reduced it in primates. It has not yet been tested in people.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMTHealthhttps://happynewsoftheday.com/data/girls-health-improves-178-countries-index/https://happynewsoftheday.com/data/girls-health-improves-178-countries-index/The first World Girls' Index, from Plan International and Ruhr University Bochum, covers 971 million girls aged 5 to 19. In 2000 almost 1 in 800 died; by 2023 it was 1 in 1,700. But 290 million still live in countries with low scores.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMTDatahttps://happynewsoftheday.com/data/indonesia-extreme-poverty-86-to-4-percent/https://happynewsoftheday.com/data/indonesia-extreme-poverty-86-to-4-percent/In 1984, 86 in every 100 Indonesians lived on less than $3 a day. By 2025 it was fewer than 4. There are around 130 million fewer people in extreme poverty – though most still live on little.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMTDatahttps://happynewsoftheday.com/health/light-fabric-hospital-germs/https://happynewsoftheday.com/health/light-fabric-hospital-germs/Researchers in Valencia have tested a cotton fabric that kills bacteria when exposed to light and survives 20 washes. In 12 hospital rooms it collected 75% fewer microbes than ordinary cotton. It is still a prototype.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMTHealthhttps://happynewsoftheday.com/health/maternal-vaccine-superbug-mice/https://happynewsoftheday.com/health/maternal-vaccine-superbug-mice/Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis found that more than 80% of pups born to vaccinated mothers survived Klebsiella pneumoniae, against 0–35% without the vaccine. The study was in mice: human trials are still to come.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMTHealthhttps://happynewsoftheday.com/science/microscope-living-cells-stanford/https://happynewsoftheday.com/science/microscope-living-cells-stanford/Nobel laureate W. E. Moerner's team at Stanford has built a microscope that reaches about 120 nanometres of detail in living cells without fluorescent labels, using less light so cells suffer less damage. It could help show how drugs work and how infections such as malaria take hold.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMTSciencehttps://happynewsoftheday.com/science/roman-telescope-sharper-focus/https://happynewsoftheday.com/science/roman-telescope-sharper-focus/After nudging its secondary mirror by a sixteenth of a hair's width, the telescope's main instrument – launched on 30 August – is producing sharper images than its team predicted. It will hunt for planets, map galaxies and probe dark energy.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMTSciencehttps://happynewsoftheday.com/people/teen-bluetooth-disaster-app/https://happynewsoftheday.com/people/teen-bluetooth-disaster-app/Emirhan Duman, a student in Istanbul, built Crisis Connect after the 2023 earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria: messages hop from phone to phone over Bluetooth until they reach the right person. It is free and open source.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMTPeoplehttps://happynewsoftheday.com/health/teen-steps-mental-health/https://happynewsoftheday.com/health/teen-steps-mental-health/A study of 5,515 US young people who wore activity trackers found that the more steps they took, the fewer symptoms of anxiety, low mood or behaviour problems they had the following year. It is an association, not proof of cause and effect.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMTHealthhttps://happynewsoftheday.com/planet/thames-super-sewer-86-percent/https://happynewsoftheday.com/planet/thames-super-sewer-86-percent/In its first full year, the 25km tunnel under London cut overflows into the river from more than 21 million to under 3 million cubic metres. The figure is the companies' own modelled estimate, in a dry year.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMTPlanethttps://happynewsoftheday.com/planet/evs-save-20bn-oil-imports/https://happynewsoftheday.com/planet/evs-save-20bn-oil-imports/With the Hormuz crisis keeping oil prices high, EV fleets displaced an estimated 200 million barrels of crude between March and August, according to Ember. And 49 of 56 countries hit record electric car sales.Sat, 17 Oct 2026 18:20:00 GMTPlanethttps://happynewsoftheday.com/data/breastfeeding-spain-up-70-percent/https://happynewsoftheday.com/data/breastfeeding-spain-up-70-percent/Two in three babies in Spain are still breastfed at six months, up from under four in ten in 2006. Exclusive breastfeeding has almost doubled – bringing Spain close to the WHO's global target.Sat, 17 Oct 2026 18:10:00 GMTDatahttps://happynewsoftheday.com/data/deforestation-falls-15-percent-2025/https://happynewsoftheday.com/data/deforestation-falls-15-percent-2025/The world lost 7.04 million hectares of forest in 2025, 1.2 million fewer than in 2024, with Latin America leading the way. We are still off track for zero by 2030 – but the numbers prove deforestation can fall fast.Sat, 17 Oct 2026 18:00:00 GMTDatahttps://happynewsoftheday.com/people/starmus-canary-islands-artemis-crew/https://happynewsoftheday.com/people/starmus-canary-islands-artemis-crew/The eighth Starmus festival opens in Tenerife and runs to La Palma until 22 October. Climate diplomat Christiana Figueres receives the first Jane Goodall Earth Medal.Sat, 17 Oct 2026 17:50:00 GMTPeoplehttps://happynewsoftheday.com/planet/pac-man-enzyme-bioplastics/https://happynewsoftheday.com/planet/pac-man-enzyme-bioplastics/German researchers have found the bacterial enzyme that lets forest soil fully digest certain bioplastics. Conventional polyethylene, meanwhile, barely changed.Sat, 17 Oct 2026 17:40:00 GMTPlanethttps://happynewsoftheday.com/science/blast-fungus-new-defence/https://happynewsoftheday.com/science/blast-fungus-new-defence/Researchers in the UK and Japan have redesigned cereal immune receptors to spot blast disease. It works in wheat cells so far – whole plants come next.Sat, 17 Oct 2026 17:30:00 GMTSciencehttps://happynewsoftheday.com/science/memory-protein-ptsd-mice/https://happynewsoftheday.com/science/memory-protein-ptsd-mice/Spanish scientists dampened the protein that locks in long-term memories. The mice still learned normally, but their fear responses faded faster. It's an early proof of concept.Sat, 17 Oct 2026 17:20:00 GMTSciencehttps://happynewsoftheday.com/health/cabergoline-breast-cancer-risk/https://happynewsoftheday.com/health/cabergoline-breast-cancer-risk/Scientists in Salamanca found that cabergoline halved tumours in high-risk mice and was linked to 70% lower breast cancer risk in younger women. A clinical trial will now put it to the test.Sat, 17 Oct 2026 17:10:00 GMTHealthhttps://happynewsoftheday.com/animals/alliance-500m-threatened-species/https://happynewsoftheday.com/animals/alliance-500m-threatened-species/Nine conservation funders will coordinate their money over five years to recover endangered species – while 17 governments led by Colombia and Armenia launch a coalition with the same goal.Sat, 17 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMTAnimalshttps://happynewsoftheday.com/opinion/editors-letter-why/https://happynewsoftheday.com/opinion/editors-letter-why/We're not a feel-good site. We're a what-works newsroom.Sat, 17 Oct 2026 06:00:00 GMTOpinion