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Tag Archives: Innovation
From Smog to Clean Air and Diamonds
The Smog Project — a project that creates 75% cleaner air and diamonds.
Air pollution is a phenomenon we all know. Most of us are aware that, probably, we should be doing something about it, but the real treat of global warming seems to be too distant for many to actually take considerable action. Still, we all know how refreshing it can be when you escape from the city for while to enjoy the ‘fresh’ air in rural places or at the beach.
Daan Roosegaarde, also involved in the glowing-plant project I blogged about earlier (yes, it seems like he is on his way to master innovative thinking), decided to address this urban pollution problem in an ambitious project to create smog-free parks in Beijing.
Not only will this result in ‘clean’ recreation areas for residents, an integral part of the project also includes the creation of diamonds from the residues of charcoal, which is a major component of the black dust.
By buying a designer smog-ring,
“you are buying a cubic kilometer of clean Beijing air” (Roosegaarde)
According to Roosegaarde, the rings are the “aware makers.”
Lasers installed on top of the centre-tower in the park(s) visualize the clean air (laser beams cutting through air only show for the human eye when they ‘hit’ particles).
The first pilot version of the park should be up and running by the beginning of next summer, and the first rings should be available by the end of 2014.
Another piece of innovative thinking with high potential for the community.
What do you think, will this project be as promising in practice as it appears to be in theory?
Check the full article here.
Welcome!
Hi there,
Welcome. This will be a pretty all-round blog, talking about the things that interest me. As I am one of those people who has way too many interests, my blogs will most likely be about somewhat diverging topics. The key categories will be: Medical Science, Technology, Innovation, and Film (with every now and then some theatre).
The one common denominator, which made me start this blog in the first place, is ‘connections.’ Nowadays, there is such an abundance of information and knowledge, both in the community and within particular fields, that we’re close to losing track and control over what is out there and how we can best use it to develop, enhance, and recreate our lives. As a result, the key to innovation these days seems to lie in making the right connections rather than in inventing something from scratch. Take a step back, see what’s out there, combine knowledge or tools that are already out there in a creative and valuable way, and you might very well come up with the most simple but genius solutions and inventions.
Voltaire already said it years ago: “Originality is nothing but judicious imitation,” and the big shooters from this era took that very same approach: “Creativity is just connecting things” (Steve Jobs).
On this blog I will post things I come across that are somehow related to this topic, merely within the three categories mentioned above. Oftentimes, it will concern examples of what creativity can lead to, which to me forms a great source of inspiration for using this very type of thinking.
Enjoy! Hope to see you back soon.
N -- allround & all around 