As we begin a brand new year, our intrepid host Ruby takes a look back at her favourite stories of 2025.

It's getting very close to the end of the year, so we're looking back at five of our favourite good news stories from 2025.

If you’ve listened to News Time before, you’ll know that we end each week’s countdown with our Wow of the Week.

Today’s episode is 100% Wow. It’s WowFest 2025! A countdown of five amazing stories this year that made you go... 'wow!'

On this week’s News Time, we’ll head to the desert to dig up a haul of significant artefacts. Then, we’ll hear from a News Time listener with a truly life-saving message.

And, in our Wow of the Week, we’ll blast off to Mars for some rather shocking space news.

Quiz Questions

1. How old do Australians now need to be to open a social media account?

2. What is Rosie asking grown-ups of News Time listeners to do?

3. What is the name given to the tools the archaeologists found?

4. Who is the last dog on Christmas Island?

5. What is the name of the rover on Mars?

Bonus Tricky Question

Why are dogs not allowed on Christmas Island?

Answers

1. 16

2. Donate blood, platelets or bone marrow

3. Tulas

4. Shiloh the chocolate labrador 

5. Perseverance

Bonus Tricky Answer

To protect Christmas Island's threatened species

On this week’s News Time, we’ll play a game that’s saving a language from extinction, and we’ll journey deep into the jungle searching for something that humans haven’t seen for ten years! Then, we’ll blast off into space with some very green passengers in our Wow of the Week.

Quiz Questions

1. How long does a Test Match of cricket usually go for?

2. What did Macquarie Dictionary name as its "Word of the Year" for 2025? (Hint: it's actually two words!)

3. What did the Elders create to save their language from extinction?

4. How many hours did Deki trek, to find the rare flower?

5. What green plant was placed outside the International Space Station for nine months?

Bonus Tricky Question

What was the name of the charity that received all the leftover food?

Answers

1. Up to five days

2. AI slop

3. A smartphone game

4. 23 hours

5. Moss

Bonus Tricky Answer

OzHarvest

Nas Campanella, the ABC's National Disability Affairs Reporter, is picking up the News Time microphone this week for International Day of People with Disability.

You'll hear about a show where everyone can experience ballet, even if they can't see! You'll meet a teenager whose idea to share expensive equipment is making a real difference. Then we'll head to a huge sporting event for deaf athletes in our Wow of the Week!

Quiz Questions

1. How many times has Leo's speech been viewed on social media?

2. What technology is Kaitie using to gain the confidence to drive?

3. What is the name Ava has given to the online community she created?

4. What word does Devon use to describe the type of accessibility in her show?

5. What anniversary did the Deaflympics celebrate this year?

Bonus Tricky Question

In track events at the Deaflympics, what is used instead of a starting pistol?

Answers

1. More than 2.5 million times!

2. A driving simulator

3. The Sharing Shed

4. Radical

5. 100th!

Bonus Tricky Answer

Lights

On this week’s News Time, you’ll hear about a family who’s received a message from 100 years in the past, and we’ll go on a quest to identify a mysterious animal prowling around a forest. Then we’ll put on our dancing shoes for a very wild Wow of the Week!

Quiz Questions

1. Where has the mango been grown and developed?

2. Who won the 2025 NSW Premier's Spelling Bee?

3. What was inside the glass bottle?

4. What breed of dog (not lion!) is Mouse?

5. How long did GrassHopper dance for?

Bonus Tricky Question

How many songs did GrassHopper dance to?

Answers

1. Far North Queensland

2. Finn

3. Two letters

4. Newfoundland

5. 144 hours (or six days!)

Bonus Tricky Answer

More than 3,000 songs!

On this episode of News Time, we’ll descend from great heights to save an endangered tree, then we’ll hear about an archery world champion who shoots arrows with her feet! And, in our Wow of the Week, we’ll collide with something that’s truly out of this world!

Quiz Questions

1. What was the name of the eSports competition that went to regional New South Wales for the first time?

2. What will be built on the car park?

3. What was the name of the endangered tree that Stan saw?

4. Where were the recent World Para Archery Championships held?

5. What part of Andrew's car was struck by the possible meteorite?

Bonus Tricky Question

What did the horticulturalists collect from the trees?

Answers

1. The FUSE Cup

2. An aged care facility for Indigenous elders

3. Jillaga ash

4. South Korea

5. Windscreen

Bonus Tricky Answer

Gumnuts

This week's News Time is a real creature feature!

You’ll hear five stories about curious creatures from Australia and around the world. We’ll meet a cheeky bear that broke into a zoo, then we’ll hop to an island where millions of scuttling crabs are making an escape. And, in our Wow of the Week, we’ll hit the catwalk to meet some very fashionable dolphins. 

Quiz Questions

1. What is the name of the project that's asking Australians to take photos of insects?

2. What type of dinosaur was dug up (as a mummy)?

3. How many red crabs on Christmas Island are migrating?

4. How did zoo staff describe the unexpected bear visitor?

5. What were the male dolphins wearing on their heads?

Bonus Tricky Question

What are two ways that residents of Christmas Island gently move the crabs?

Answers

1. The Australian Bug Hunt

2. Duck-billed dinosaur

3. 100 million

4. He was very polite

5. Sea sponges

Bonus Tricky Answer

Shields on their cars, and leaf blowers

On this edition of News Time, we’ll head to a beach to see a shipwreck, we’ll hear about a clever invention giving sick kids a holiday from hospital, and we’ll hit the shearing sheds for a wild and woolly Wow of the Week! 

Quiz Questions

1. How big was the tiny noisy frog?

2. How old is the shipwreck believed to be?

3. What sort of business did Sharon create?

4. What technology allows kids to have a holiday from hospital?

5. How many lambs did Nikki shear in nine hours?

Bonus Tricky Question

How do the newly-discovered frogs on Dauan Island begin life? 

Answers

1. As big as a fingernail

2. 100 years old

3. Catering

4. Virtual Reality (VR) headsets

5. 502

Bonus Tricky Answer

They hatch from eggs (and don't begin life as tadpoles!)