Somewhere between art and activism, this faux ‘black diamond’ setting made from pollution sucked out of the sky dovetails well with the likewise real but far-fetched project it draws its source material from: a plan currently in motion to pull particles directly from the air in Beijing, China.

Daan Roosegaarde, known for both practical and artistic endeavors, is already working with city officials on this plan to ‘vacuum’ pollution from above the city. This ring is an extension of that project, proposing to turn said smog into a wearable reminder of the larger problem.

The plan calls for “a system using buried coils of copper to create an ion electrostatic field that attracts smog particles, effectively magnetizing them and pulling them down. The result is sizable void of clean air above. While it cannot yet work on a city-wide basis, the idea is to begin by clearing hundreds of feet of air in key public spaces like parks, squares and other paths trafficked by pedestrians.”

Clearly this cannot solve the larger issue of urban air pollution, but it can provide selective relief where it is needed most, and highlight the contrast of still-pollution sections of sky against the cleared areas – it is a start.

The post Ring of Smog: Air Pollution Pressed into Wearable Jewelry first appeared on Gajitz.

The air pollution in China is a problem known and discussed around the world. Beijing in particular suffers from such a thick cloud of permanent smog that on most days, residents are unable to even see the sun in the sky.

In a story straight out of a dystopian sci-fi novel, the natural light-starved residents of Beijing have regained the ability to watch the sun rise and set thanks to gigantic commercial LED screens placed in Tiananmen Square and elsewhere in the capital city.

While these screens are typically used for advertisements and government messages (the one above says “Protecting atmospheric environment is everyone’s responsibility”), they have been providing residents with artificial sunlight on otherwise grey and gloomy days.

Although the simulated sunlight is a lovely picture, it doesn’t provide the Vitamin D that humans need. It also does nothing to mitigate the appalling environmental conditions that cause many residents to wear industrial-strength masks when they go outside.

The post Sun-Starved Chinese Residents Get Fake Sunrise Videos first appeared on Gajitz.

Air pollution is a blight on cities around the world, and it isn’t just a temporary irritation. A recent study found that air pollution increases the risk of strokes and heart attacks even after short-term exposure. The best and longest-lasting way to combat the problem would be to drastically cut down on the use of pollution-causing fossil fuels, but since that will take a considerable amount of time to accomplish, the next best thing is to clean up the pollution in the air.

A company called Boral Roofing wants to do that by providing customers with “Smog-Eating Tiles.” The roof tiles are coated with titanium dioxide, a material which breaks down nitrogen oxide in the air and turns it into calcium nitrate, a harmless compound that washes off of the roof with normal precipitation. As an added bonus, that calcium nitrate is a common garden fertilizer so your plants might thank you for it.

The company claims that a 2,000 square foot house with the tiles can “eat” enough smog in one year to balance out 10,000 miles of driving in a car. Although the technology has been around for a while in Europe and Japan, it is just now making its way to the roofs of the US. If you want to tile your roof in these smog-hungry slabs, it will cost you around $600 to $1000 more than the same job with regular tiles.

The post Roof Tiles Eat Up Air Pollution, Spit Out Garden Fertilizer first appeared on Gajitz.