The paper investigates the presence of extra-relativistic degrees of freedom in the early Universe, contributing to the effective number of neutrinos ($N_{\text{eff}}$), using recent measurements of Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) from the DESI collaboration. The authors analyze one-parameter extensions of the $\Lambda$CDM model where dark radiation (DR) is either free-streaming or behaves as a perfect fluid due to self-interactions. They report significant relaxation of upper bounds on $\Delta N_{\text{eff}}$ (the difference between $N_{\text{eff}}$ and the standard value of 3.044) compared to previous BAO data from SDSS+6dFGS, when combining with *Planck* and supernovae data from *Pantheon-+*. For free-streaming DR, the 95% C.L. upper bound is $\Delta N_{\text{eff}} \leq 0.39$, and for fluid DR, a mild preference for $\Delta N_{\text{eff}} = 0.221^{+0.088}_{-0.18}$ is found. Constraints from primordial element abundances slightly tighten these bounds but are avoided if DR is produced after Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN). The tension with the SH$_0$ES determination of $H_0$ is less than 3$\sigma$ for fluid DR and below 3$\sigma$ for free-streaming DR if production occurs after BBN. The results suggest a combination with SH$_0$ES can provide evidence for dark radiation with $\Delta N_{\text{eff}} \simeq 0.6$ and significant improvements in $\chi^2$ over $\Lambda$CDM. The paper also discusses the implications for the Hubble tension, finding that the new BAO data can address it with minimal extensions of the $\Lambda$CDM model.The paper investigates the presence of extra-relativistic degrees of freedom in the early Universe, contributing to the effective number of neutrinos ($N_{\text{eff}}$), using recent measurements of Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) from the DESI collaboration. The authors analyze one-parameter extensions of the $\Lambda$CDM model where dark radiation (DR) is either free-streaming or behaves as a perfect fluid due to self-interactions. They report significant relaxation of upper bounds on $\Delta N_{\text{eff}}$ (the difference between $N_{\text{eff}}$ and the standard value of 3.044) compared to previous BAO data from SDSS+6dFGS, when combining with *Planck* and supernovae data from *Pantheon-+*. For free-streaming DR, the 95% C.L. upper bound is $\Delta N_{\text{eff}} \leq 0.39$, and for fluid DR, a mild preference for $\Delta N_{\text{eff}} = 0.221^{+0.088}_{-0.18}$ is found. Constraints from primordial element abundances slightly tighten these bounds but are avoided if DR is produced after Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN). The tension with the SH$_0$ES determination of $H_0$ is less than 3$\sigma$ for fluid DR and below 3$\sigma$ for free-streaming DR if production occurs after BBN. The results suggest a combination with SH$_0$ES can provide evidence for dark radiation with $\Delta N_{\text{eff}} \simeq 0.6$ and significant improvements in $\chi^2$ over $\Lambda$CDM. The paper also discusses the implications for the Hubble tension, finding that the new BAO data can address it with minimal extensions of the $\Lambda$CDM model.