Making public transportation available without charge actually wouldn’t do good for the environment: By taking public transportation instead of driving a car alone, an individual can save up to 30% of carbon dioxide emissions, according to the American Public Transport Association. In efforts to promote climate-friendly policies, several US transit agencies have been experimenting with dropping their bus fares, to boost ridership and decrease emissions — but the effective end result actually wasn’t a net improvement, environmentally speaking, according to a Bloomberg report citing transport program data. Not charging fares did end up increasing public transport users, but these included commuters who would usually walk or bike towards their destination, or not travel in the first place due to the cost — all of whom were originally net zero emitters but became contributors to the emissions from public transport. The experiments also failed to sustainably lock in car owners, who continued to rely on their own cars as convenience and comfort trumped a zero-cost ride.

A new mysterious liver disease affecting children is slowly making its way across the globe: Japan is the latest country — the first in Asia — to detect a case of a liver disease that has so far been detected in over 170 children, most of whom are in the UK, CNBC reports, citing the Japanese Health Ministry. The disease — which presents like hepatitis, or liver inflammation — was first detected in January, and has since found its way from the UK to the US, Israel, and now Asia, with health experts studying it for potential links to covid-19, according to the World Health Organization. Symptoms of the disease include nausea, diarrhea, jaundice and yellowing of the eyes and skin. Experts are exploring whether the disease could have appeared as a result of a lack of exposure to common viruses — known as adenoviruses — due to covid-related lockdowns and restrictions, which could have triggered a severe immune response in children. Of the 170 cases, one death has been reported, and 17 children have required liver transplants.

Apple has launched its Self Service Repair online store, allowing iPhone users to repair their mobiles themselves, according to a press release. The store will offer more than 200 parts and tools customers can use to repair the iPhone 12, iPhone 13 and third-generation iPhone SE including the screen, battery and camera. Customers can also rent tools in the case that they don’t want to purchase them and get credit for returning a replaced part for recycling. This comes following US regulators putting pressure on Apple to give consumers more control over their products. The program is now live in the US, but will expand to Europe later this year and also add parts to fix certain Mac computer models.

Don’t expect to save money by DIYing your phone, with iPhone screens going for as much as USD 300. For example, buying parts to fix an iPhone 12 Mini on your own would cost only USD 3 less than having your out-of-warranty device fixed at an Apple Store — plus you’d still have to pay for tools, writes the Wall Street Journal.

Twitter advertisers are worried the platform could turn into a hotbed of toxicity and abuse following Elon Musk’s strategy of liberalized speech, writes the Financial Times. Twitter wrote to its advertisers, promising them that their ads will not be placed alongside harmful or offensive content, according to an email seen by the FT. The move signals that Musk’s takeover could hurt Twitter’s advertising business, with many of the brands having appreciated that the platform had taken steps to tackle online hate and extremism in recent years. It is still to be seen how Musk plans to run the company from now on.