[40–42] That caffeine buzz feels even better now. GREEN MOUNTAIN COFFEE ROASTERS went ape for Jane Goodall with the launch of Gombe Reserve blend, a move that will help support 2,700 small-scale farmers near Tanzania's Gombe Stream National Park. STARBUCKS started cutting trans fats and switched from whole milk to 2 percent in its North American stores, and DUNKIN' DONUTS, which has been brewing Fair Trade coffee for its espresso drinks since 2004, zapped trans fats from all of its 5,400 locations.

[43] STILL GOING! He played at benefit concerts in Hawaii, and the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association named him Environmentalist of the Year, but our favorite EDDIE VEDDER moment from 2007: his soundtrack for the born-in-the-pages-of-Outside movie Into the Wild.

[44] Best escape artist: REGGIE, a seven-and-a-half-foot alligator that eluded trappers for nearly two years in Machado Lake, in Harbor City, California, was finally captured last May and taken to the Los Angeles Zoo. A week after settling into his new pen, he escaped over a mesh fence. Workers found him later near a loading dock and have since modified his enclosure.

[45] THE G-TRAINER antigravity treadmill uses a pressurized air chamber that can suspend from 1 to 80 percent of a runner's bodyweight, lessening impact and speeding injury recovery. Thanks to the system, American Dathan Ritzenhein placed ninth in the 10K at the World Track and Field championships in August despite suffering a stress injury in his foot just four months earlier.

[46] Boldest land grab: With its eyes on Arctic oil rights—and its mind in the 17th century—Russia sent a pair of submarines 13,980 feet below the North Pole to PLANT A TITANIUM FLAG and claim about 460,000 square miles of Arctic Ocean floor as (soggy) Russian soil.

[47] The International Dark-Sky Association, an Arizona-based group of stargazers, named Utah's NATURAL BRIDGES NATIONAL MONUMENT the first International Dark Sky Park, citing it for having one of the darkest, most pristine night skies in the lower 48. darksky.org

[48] For too many Americans, the local-foods movement means eating at the closest McDonald's. Hilary Brown, 38, a chef with an environmental bent, split the difference with LOCAL BURGER. Her fast-food restaurant in Lawrence, Kansas, sells about 200 burgers a day made with grass-fed beef and organic, in-season vegetables sourced from nearby farms.

[49] Another reason to love New Zealand: FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS, an HBO show about a down-and-out Kiwi musical-comedy duo trying to hit the Billboard charts, aided by their earnestly clueless manager, who runs the band from his office at the New Zealand Consulate.

[50] Best opportunity for a shrinkage joke, No. 1: In July, British swimmer LEWIS GORDON PUGH set a world record with an 18.5-minute dip in the 29-degree waters of the North Pole, wearing only a Speedo, goggles, and a cap.