In Maine, four hydroelectric dams are being sold to conservationists, paving the way for the largest river-restoration effort in US history. The deal could reopen hundreds of kilometres of spawning habitat for endangered Atlantic salmon and other migratory fish, following decades of advocacy and smaller dam removals that already boosted alewife and shad runs. The Maine Monitor

The Maine Monitor

Kennebec River dams sale clears way for salmon to return

The Nature Conservancy will buy the last four dams blocking salmon from their spawning grounds in the Sandy River.

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Solar in California now out-generates fossil fuels. California’s vast solar farms, now backed by giant batteries, have flipped the state’s electricity balance, driving record emissions drops and lower power prices. The shift, built on three years of storage expansion, shows how clean energy can run an economy the size of France’s without the grid collapsing. Reuters https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/californias-solar-battery-combo-packs-transformational-punch-2025-10-03/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email #ShareGoodNewsToo

A decade after the Paris Agreement, global greenhouse gas emissions are barely rising, up just 0.3% a year since 2015, compared with 1.7% before.

Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit

Paris Agreement at ten – ‘brakes slammed on’ emissions growth, finds…

Annual increase slowed fivefold to just 0.32% since agreement signed

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Paris turns the Seine into an air conditioner. Beneath the city, 100 km of pipes now channel river water through heat exchangers to cool 800 buildings - none more than the Louvre, which alone draws 12MW to protect its art. The way the system works is by transferring heat through closed loops, room by room, until it disperses back into the Seine. The network will more than double by 2042, supplying 3,000 sites as heatwaves intensify. WIRED https://archive.md/64Dni #ShareGoodNewsToo

In good ocean news, Scotland is officially banning bottom trawling in 11 marine protected areas starting October 16, in a move welcomed by both environmental groups and the Scottish Fisherman’s Federation. Oceana UK

Oceana UK

What Scotland’s trawling announcement really means for its marine protected areas

In this blog, our Director of Policy and Research, Alec Taylor, reflects on the Scottish Government's trawling announcement this week.

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Denmark is on track to wipe out the most dangerous strains of HPV. 15 years after rolling out its national HPV vaccination program, Denmark is closing in on eliminating the leading cancer-causing strains of the virus. New data shows the vaccine has all but wiped out HPV16 and HPV18 - which together cause around 70% of cervical cancers - among young women born after 2000. It's a powerful proof point for what widespread, equitable vaccine coverage can do.

Denmark close to wiping out leading cancer-causing HPV strains after vaccine roll-out

A nationwide study suggests infections with human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 have been virtually eliminated since vaccination began in 20...

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Scientists from China and the U.S. have found direct evidence of a solid inner core inside Mars. Using seismic data from NASA’s now-retired InSight lander, researchers detected a solid core about 600 km in radius, roughly the same inner-core-to-planet ratio as Earth. If confirmed, it would mean that Earth, the Moon, and Mars all share the same inner structure, hinting at a more dynamic history for our rocky neighbours than we realized

South China Morning Post

Mars should not have a solid inner core but it does, China-US study finds

Marsquake data gleaned by Chinese and US researchers could change long-held beliefs about red planet.

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In recent years, we’ve all been horrified by news of increasing wildfires, but between 2002 and 2021, global burned area fell 26%. The horror mostly comes now that humans are being exposed to more wildfires, because settlement near wild lands and climate change makes fires easier to encounter and start - but ignores how they’ve also gotten easier to stop. Science https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adu6408?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email #ShareGoodNewsToo

Cotton farmers are turning to nature’s own pest control. Developed by entomologist Robert Mensah, a simple mix of yeast, sugar, and water lures in ladybirds and lacewings (predator insects that feast on crop pests). The method has since spread from Australia to Benin, Ethiopia, Vietnam and India, protecting farmers’ health while cutting pesticide use. The Guardian

the Guardian

‘Leave it to nature’: how enticing insects to kill off pests helped cut reliance on pesticides

While working to stop bollworms destroying cotton crops, Dr Robert Mensah wondered whether other insects could provide a solution

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We can now restore memory by recharging the brain’s batteries. French and Canadian researchers have shown that faulty mitochondria directly drive memory loss in dementia. Using a new tool to boost mitochondrial activity in mice, they restored memory performance, proving cause and effect for the first time. The work points to mitochondria as a powerful target for therapies that could slow, or even prevent, neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.

ScienceDaily

Scientists reversed memory loss by powering the brain’s tiny engines

Scientists have discovered a direct cause-and-effect link between faulty mitochondria and the memory loss seen in neurodegenerative diseases. By cr...

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