Good News This Week: October 11, 2025 - Corals, Dolls, & Cocoon Coffins

A photo collage of a woman getting a scalp cooling treatment, a line graph by Ember comparing the power generated by Renewables & Coal, Jane Fonda, the sleeve of a fur coat, and two people in front of corals inside a greenhouse

Every day the Good Good Good team collects the best good news in the world and shares it with our community. Here are the highlights for this week!

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The Best Positive News We’re Celebrating This Week —

Nearly 80 years after it was first introduced, Jane Fonda relaunched the ‘Committee for the First Amendment’

The Committee for the First Amendment was first created in 1947 by Hollywood legends like Henry Fonda, Lucille Ball, Frank Sinatra, and Judy Garland during the McCarthy Era in an effort to defend free speech. Now, Jane Fonda is bringing back the organization in what she calls “the most frightening moment of my life.”

More than 550 Hollywood figures have already joined her in support, including Gracie Abrams, Glenn Close, John Legend, Kerry Washington, Natalie Portman, Pedro Pascal, Quinta Brunson, Spike Lee, Viola Davis, and more.

While specific government leaders were not mentioned, a committee spokesperson said Fonda was inspired to relaunch the initiative due to “the onslaught of attacks on free speech from the current administration” to put on a “united front against government censorship, intimidation, and fear.”

Why is this good news? As the committee said in its announcement, “The ability to criticize, question, protest, and even mock those in power is foundational to what America has always aspired to be.”

In light of recent events, like Jimmy Kimmel being taken off air and President Trump saying networks were “not allowed” to “hit Trump,” and promising to punish his enemies, people are understandably worried about their First Amendment rights. Fonda and others are using their power and influence to fight to protect those rights.

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“Because of Jane Goodall, I became a primatologist. Here’s the legacy she leaves behind.”

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Scientists are using corals from other countries to save Florida’s dying reefs

Scientists at the University of Miami are testing corals from Florida, Honduras, and the Cayman Islands to find the ones that best survive warming ocean temperatures driven by climate change.

With 80% of the world’s reefs seeing dangerous levels of heat over the past two years, efforts to protect these critical ecosystems have shifted to replanting them, similar to replanting a forest of trees. And the effort in Florida is one of the largest in the world.

So scientists are working to breed corals that can tolerate heat better, speeding up the natural evolution process to keep pace with more rapidly warming waters. For the first time in the U.S., their “Flonduran” corals were planted in the wild.

Why is this good news? The past three summers have been the worst on record for Florida’s coral reefs, where more than 90% of the living coral off the Keys has died. Not only do these reefs preserve biodiversity and the larger state ecosystem, but they also protect its coastline from extreme weather events, hurricanes, storm surge, and more — rebuilding them is critical to saving these communities and marine ecosystems from collapsing.

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Ilona Maher gets her own Barbie doll, complete with broad shoulders, to inspire young athletes

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Surging wind and solar have given Spain one of the cheapest electricity markets in Europe

Spain has successfully decoupled the influence of fossil fuels on the price of electricity by growing its wind and solar installations, making its wholesale electricity price 32% lower than the European Union average in the first half of the year.

This is despite the country having the third-largest gas power fleet in the EU, which typically drives higher electricity prices. That’s because when lower-cost sources like wind and solar grow enough, they displace gas and coal, leading them to determine prices less often.

That displacement is happening in Spain thanks to strong solar and wind growth. In the first half of 2019, Spain’s power prices reflected the cost of fossil fuels in 75% of hours — it was just 19% in the same time period in 2025.

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Solar and wind generated more power than coal for the first time on record — and outpaced growing demand

In the first half of the year, solar and wind generation together grew by 400 terawatt hours — more than the overall global demand increase in the same time period. Solar grew by a record 31% and wind by 7.7%.

Additionally, for the first time on record, renewable energies combined generated more power than coal. Total fossil fuel generation even declined slightly in the first half of the year.

Analysts have often said that growing renewable energy won’t lead to a reduction in fossil fuel use, but t​​his data shows the opposite is true.

Why is this good news? This latest data confirms it’s entirely possible for the world to phase out polluting sources of power, even as demand continues to rise around the world. This latest data further proves renewable energy is a great investment for the planet and for people.

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Traditional burials are bad for the planet. So this woman created her own biodegradable ‘cocoon coffin’ instead

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The Wolbachia method is helping dramatically reduce dengue fever cases — and could help tackle more neglected tropical diseases

Around 60 million recorded cases of dengue fever occur each year, and around 25,000 people die from it each year. The Wolbachia method is a promising solution that could help reduce the spread of infection and death.

Wolbachia is a bacterium that occurs naturally in around half of all insect species, except for the mosquito that most commonly spreads dengue. Scientists discovered that when these mosquitoes are bred to carry it, they’re less likely to transmit viruses.

In trials in Indonesia, Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes reduced dengue fever infections by 77% and hospitalizations by 86%. It’s been so effective, it could also offer an effective tool against other neglected tropical diseases like yellow fever, Zika, and chikungunya.

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New York will become the first state to require private insurance plans to cover ‘scalp cooling’ for chemo patients

Scalp cooling is a treatment that helps preserve hair during chemotherapy — it’s also expensive, with an average cost of between $1,500 and $5,000 per patient, which is often not covered by insurance.

Starting next year, a new law in New York will require private insurance companies to cover scalp cooling for chemotherapy patients, making it the first U.S. state to ease this cost burden.

The lawmaker who first introduced the bill six years ago said cancer patients already go through so much, so making life easier for them “is worth everything.”

Why is this good news? For many cancer patients, the option to preserve their hair helps give them peace of mind and hold on to some sort of normalcy while undergoing a really difficult treatment regimen. As one said, “nothing is the same as looking like yourself.” Finances shouldn’t get in the way of that.

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Scientists launch ‘breast-cancer-detecting bra’ into space, study tumor growth in microgravity

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One year after Hurricane Helene devastated a national forest in North Carolina, volunteers restored 35 miles of its trails

One year after Hurricane Helene, closures and limited access are still impacting several forest districts in North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest. And that’s on top of staffing cuts impacting the Forest Service.

To help restore access and take the load off rangers, a group of about 50 volunteers took on several major projects at the Grandfather Ranger District of the forest. They built a retaining wall where there was a landslide, laid rock to increase trail sustainability, cleared trails, and more.

Because of their efforts, which equated to about 400 hours of work in a single day and happened thanks to a $60,000 grant for supplies, around 35 miles of trails are now reopened.

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After decades of protests, Vogue publisher Condé Nast will no longer feature animal fur in any editorial content or advertising

Under new guidelines from its parent company, Condé Nast, Vogue will no longer feature “new animal fur in editorial content or advertising.” The guidelines allow for some defined exceptions, like Indigenous practices.

The decision also impacts other publications owned by the media conglomerate, like The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and GQ. As the leader in fashion publication, though, the change is significant for Vogue, and comes after persistent pressure from anti-fur and animal rights activists.

“Elle” banned fur from its international editions in December 2021. Fur farming is also banned in countries including the U.K., Austria, and Italy.

Why is this good news? While activists wish it had come sooner, the announcement from Condé Nast represents a critical turning point in the fashion media landscape due to its global reach and influence. Vogue, in particular, has historically glamorized fur, so this shift is important.

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Wildlife photographers have raised over $1.5M for endangered species. See the stunning photos they ‘donated’ to the cause this year

See the photos

Federal authorities ordered a Vermont man to an ICE check-in — 200 friends and neighbors joined him in support

When federal authorities ordered Juan De La Cruz to check in with ICE, his family feared the worst. When they arrived at the local field office, they were greeted by about 200 friends and neighbors there to show their support.

De La Cruz applied for asylum in 2017, and said the show of support his family received shows why he wants to remain here: “It’s my community.”

One neighbor expressed alarm that “someone like Juan” that’s been “taking all the right steps and being a member of the community who is giving back and following all the rules and is still being kind of punished by the system he’s trying to work through,”

Immigration officials assured the family that he could stay in the U.S. while his asylum case proceeds, with in-person check-ins every six months.

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More good news of the week —

Recently awarded by the EU, a teen invented an autonomous “sea turtle robot” to safely monitor coral reefs. Evan Budz saw potential in the way the turtle moved compared to traditional propeller-based systems of other autonomous robots, which also has less impact on the very environments scientists are trying to protect.

Doctors say that one of the cruellest and most devastating diseases, Huntington’s, has been successfully treated for the first time. The disease runs through families, relentlessly kills brain cells, and resembles a combination of dementia, Parkinson’s, and motor neurone disease, but a new treatment showed the disease was slowed by 75% in patients, giving them decades of “good quality life.”

At Paris Fashion Week, Stella McCartney debuted plant-based feathers in her designs. The “fevvers” are made from a plant-based material and naturally dyed, which has the look of a feather without the bird. McCartney notably hasn’t used leather, fur, or skins in the entirety of its nearly 25-year history.

Since 2018, preschool enrollment in the Kingdom of Morocco rose from 45% to 80% nationally, and 33% to 91% in rural areas. In 2018, the country set a national goal of universal preschool access for children aged 4 to 5 by 2028, with a particular emphasis on reaching rural and disadvantaged communities that have limited access to early learning opportunities.

A world-first vaccine has been rolled out to save young elephants around the world from a deadly virus. Elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus is a rapid, dangerous disease that causes acute blood loss issues and can lead to an elephant’s death within 24 hours of them first exhibiting symptoms, and it’s especially fatal to elephants under the age of eight.

A new $23 million “homeless resolution center” just broke ground in Fort Collins, Colorado. Offering more than just beds and a kitchen, the new center’s goal is to “resolve homelessness” and is slated to open next fall with a capacity of 250 beds, which are all much needed after a serious fire destroyed 89 beds in the rescue mission’s previous building.

An innovative “sponge” park saved a historic neighborhood in Atlanta from flooding. Funded by the Trust for Public Land, the city, and private donors, Rodney Cook Sr. Park cost $40 million to install, but saved the city about as much when Hurricane Helene rolled past and filled the park with nine million gallons of water — keeping nearby homes completely dry.

Researchers at the University of Arizona developed a solar drying tower to combat food waste. The system can dry fruits and vegetables in hours rather than days, has zero carbon footprint, uses natural heat gradients to preserve produce that might otherwise end up in landfills, can process four tons of produce at a time, and produces clean drinking water in the drying process.

Colorado is training teachers on how to use the state’s new “red flag” gun law to help prevent shootings. Teachers were added to the list of people who can request a person’s guns be temporarily confiscated in 2023, a proven solution in helping prevent school shootings, but few have used it because officials say they “don’t know about it.”

Mackenzie Scott donated $50 million to a nonprofit that offers scholarships to Native students. The Native Forward Scholars Fund is the largest provider of scholarships to Native students, and Scott’s contribution is one of the largest-ever gifts to a Native nonprofit, following a $20 million unrestricted donation to the fund in 2020.

The Church of England named Sarah Mullally as the next Archbishop of Canterbury, the first woman to ever serve in the role. Mullally is a former NHS nurse, became a priest in 2006, was appointed the first female Bishop of London in 2018, and has promised to confront failures which had “left a legacy of deep harm and mistrust” in the Church.

A company in Switzerland created the world’s first two solar-powered furnaces to produce completely recycled steel. The two pilot systems are designed to recycle high-quality steel waste from local watchmakers and medical manufacturers, industries that are both known for their precision engineering and intensive use of stainless steel.

Indigenous nations are planning a tariff-free trade route along the U.S.-Canada border. For generations, Indigenous peoples freely exchanged goods, knowledge, and culture across what is now the Canada–U.S. border, and those networks are now being reimagined as a modern supply chain grounded in Indigenous law and sovereignty.

A mother raised $11,000 for trade school scholarships in her son’s memory. After her son passed away in a car accident, Heather Walters created the Ethan Legrand Helping Hands benefit to raise funds to support a local trade school, which Ethan had graduated from.

After a years-long legal battle, villagers in Kenya saved their ancient, sacred caves from a mining project. (Gifted link) Against the odds, a Kenyan court revoked the licenses for an Emirati-backed company that was looking to bulldoze over 600 acres of land for cement production, thanks to the community members who challenged the project.

Thanks to the recovery of seagrass beds, turtle strandings and soft-shell syndrome cases are declining in Australia. Soft-shell syndrome has been devastating the country’s green turtle population, with a 400% increase in admissions to the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital in the past three years, which researchers quickly connected to the turtles’ declining food source.

Scientists developed a new ‘bamboo bioplastic’ that outperforms traditional plastic and breaks down in just 50 days. Made with fossil fuels, oil-based plastics not only have a large environmental footprint in their assembly, but also take decades — or even centuries — to decompose once thrown out.

While the U.S. government aims to weaken protections, Latino communities are stepping up to monitor and improve local air quality. Motivated by rising pollution concerns, a growing number of people have installed air quality sensors outside their homes, businesses, and churches to better understand the air they’re breathing and advocate for change in their communities.

More than 700 faith leaders in Minnesota signed a letter urging the governor and lawmakers to ban assault weapons. The letter was in response to the Annunciation Catholic School shooting that killed and wounded children, and a delegation of 50 clergy members delivered it to the lawmakers and gathered on the state capitol steps to kick off a week of prayer and action.

Scientists developed a novel blood test that can detect and diagnose chronic fatigue syndrome with 96% accuracy. Offering new hope for those living with the debilitating, long-term illness, which impacts millions worldwide but is poorly understood and has long lacked reliable diagnostic tools.

Article Details

October 11, 2025 5:00 AM
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