We’re wrapping up the week at Squirrel News talking about Ireland’s new policy making public transport free for all children aged eight and under, Mexico’s jaguar population increasing by almost a third, and the secondhand mall in Sweden offering consumers a more sustainable alternative to online shopping.
Starting immediately, children aged eight and below are now eligible for the Child Leap Card, covering all Transport For Ireland services. Children under the age of five already can travel for free without the need for a card.
Despite most supermarkets having already introduced a voluntary ban, up to a third of children are thought to consume these types of drinks every week, with some brands containing more caffeine than two cups of coffee. Young people have smaller bodies and their brains are still developing, which can make them more sensitive to caffeine, say experts.
Ireland’s solar photovoltaic capacity has increased enormously since 2023, with the International Energy Agency projecting that this momentum will continue. Estimates suggest that the annual average growth rate will hover around 32% between 2025 and 2027, outpacing wind energy.
In 2010, Gerardo Ceballos and a team of researchers set out to answer a burning question: how many jaguars were there in Mexico? The group’s latest census found that in 2024 there were 5,326 jaguars in Mexico, a 30% increase compared with 2010’s 4100.
The device can target brain regions 1,000 times smaller than ultrasound can, and could replace existing approaches such as deep brain stimulation in treating Parkinson’s disease. It also holds potential for conditions such as Tourette syndrome, Alzheimer’s and addiction.
Half of all people who experience a stroke in England will likely now recover thanks to an AI scanning system that increases the number of patients avoiding serious disability. The NHS has equipped every stroke centre in England with life-saving, world-first tech which analyses brain CT scans rapidly.
After Ice’s infiltration of LA, the restaurant community has been mobilising to bring groceries to immigrants who are in hiding. Immigrants make up a sizable share of the workforce in the culinary industry: according to the Public Policy Institute of California, restaurants in the West coast state are staffed overwhelmingly by Latinos and immigrants, 79% and 66% respectively.
As part of Eskilstuna’s climate and waste reduction strategy, ReTuna was launched back in 2015. Situated next to the city’s recycling centre, it features a dedicated drop-off point known as The Return, where residents can donate unwanted items, which are then sorted and redistributed to the mall’s retailers.
Residents of Kibera in the Kenyan capital have charted their own digital map to put their community on the world’s radar. Using handheld GPS devices, open-source tools and mobile phones, local volunteers ventured to document details that were largely missing in official maps, such as water points, latrines, clinics, informal schools and security hotspots.
A growing body of evidence suggests that risky adventure playgrounds, like Berlin’s Kolle 37, encourage children to contend with genuine challenges from a young age, setting them up to better deal with all kinds of obstacles in adulthood.
