Vehicle-to-grid school buses, Sesame Street’s Rohingya characters, hospital designed by children

Photo: Jannis Lucas/Unsplash (CCO)

In today’s edition of Squirrel News, we’re looking at New York’s e-bus initiative bringing energy and WiFi to schoolchildren, the creation of two new Rohingya muppets to help deliver early years education to refugees, and a children’s ward in Charleston designed for and by patients and their families.

School e-buses in New York are providing students with reliable electricity and WiFi

The buses store energy and transfer it to the grid by parking outside apartment complexes, homeless shelters and recreation centres, helping schools adapt to student needs during the pandemic.

Source: Electrek

Sesame Streets has created two Rohingya muppets to support refugee children

The new characters Noor and Aziz are six-year-old twins, and will feature in a series of educational videos for children living in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar.

Source: BBC News

Cities in the US will pay you $10,000 to relocate there

Several regions are offering the sum to potential movers in an attempt to boost local economies, with the scheme a possible solution to rising costs of living in larger cities.

Source: NPR

EcoTree encourages investment in individual trees through a sustainable forestry model

The company’s aim is to conserve, restore, and grow over one trillion trees by 2030.

Source: The Planetary Press

Switzerland approves marriage equality and makes changing ID gender markers easier

Prior to Friday’s vote, Switzerland was one of just a few remaining European nations without marriage equality.

Source: Advocate

Wind farms in Great Britain break record for clean power generation

40% of Friday’s electricity was generated in wind farms thanks to blustery winter weather.

Source: The Guardian

The virus-free scientific breakthroughs of 2020, chosen by scientists

The response to Covid-19 has been momentous but discoveries in AI, diet, conservation, space and beyond, show the power of science to improve the world post-pandemic.

Source: The Guardian

A West Bengali sitar maker has turned his village into a booming musical hub

Having taught over 1,000 people the craft of instrument-making, many of Tarapada Halder’s students from Dadpur village have now started their own businesses.

Source: The Better India

The new children’s ward at a Charleston hospital has been designed by patients

The Medical University of South Carolina wanted to hear the perspectives and opinions from children themselves in order to create an empathetic and compassionate design.

Source: Fast Company

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