In today’s edition of Squirrel News, we take a look at the UN’s success at avoiding an oil spill from an ailing tanker in Yemen, golden monkeys bouncing back from near extinction in Brazil, and a Black-owned gaming company fighting racism through mentorship.
Yemen: UN removes 1m barrels of oil from ageing tanker
The oil was transferred to a replacement tanker after difficult negotiations to avoid a possible spill four times bigger than the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster off Alaska.
Brazil’s population of golden monkeys rebounds after challenges
More golden lion tamarins live in the Brazilian rainforest now than since the population hit a low point of 200 in the 1970s. It has now reached 4.800, having recovered from a recent yellow fever outbreak and benefited from an expanded habitat area.
New bionic hand allows precise movement of fingers
Scientists and engineers have developed a bionic hand that is able to read electrical signals from an amputated arm in a way that the user can move the fingers with impressive accuracy.
Trailblazing Black-led gaming company fights racism
Faced with intense racism as he tried to enter the video game industry, Leroy Jones decided to found his own company 3D Dojo Studios. He recruited other Black developers online and set up a mentorship network for developers from underrepresented backgrounds.
Indonesian firm makes bricks out of single-use plastic waste
Ovy Sabrian founded Rebricks after she saw an opportunity to reuse the high amounts of plastic waste produced in Jakarta as building material for the current construction boom.
How a mobile-home park community avoided corporate takeover
A mobile-home park community in Colorado successfully collaborated with a local non-profit land trust to form a cooperative and avoid having the park sold to a company known to raise rents to unaffordable levels.
Sustainable forestry practices support tribal economy
The Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin’s logging practices of cutting down old or sick trees rather than the healthiest ones are unusual. But they sustain both the forest’s ecosystem and the tribal economy.
The Mexican school bringing migrant kids into the classroom
70% of the student population at a public elementary school in the south of Mexico are migrant and asylum-seeker children who would normally be left without education due to poor enforcement of the law.
Filipino mental health professionals fight climate anxiety on the frontlines
In the Philippines, a highly climate-vulnerable nation, mental health professionals have offered free services to activists and are championing decolonial and community-based interventions to tackle rising climate anxiety.
