Pollution
Latest
Blue Sky for iOS lets you visualize clearer air
Blue Sky is a free iOS app coming out of China, where skies are often gray and air pollution is often out of control. Of course, China isn't alone with that problem. Blue Sky is sponsored by the World Wildlife Federation and an advertising agency, Ogilvy and Mather, based in New York and Shanghai. Since it's Earth Day, I thought it might be appropriate to point out this little app. It's simple in concept and execution -- you take a photo or select one from your camera roll. With your finger, paint in a bluer sky on the photo you've loaded. It's easier if you have a pretty flat horizon. The app doesn't let you magnify your photo to work in tight places, and there is one and only one brush size. The app simply serves as an environmental reminder to let you visualize cleaner and clearer skies. The app also lets you add your signature to a petition to state your preference about 'bringing back the blue'. Although the app was designed for a Chinese audience, it works just fine everywhere else. Doug Schiff, Executive Creative Director of OgilvyOne China, said, "Many in China feel only the government can improve the worsening air conditions, but WWF wanted to encourage individuals to think up and support individual initiatives, and this app is a step in that direction." Blue Sky isn't a sophisticated photo editor by any means. But it packs a little message, and you can certainly do some simple editing to improve your images of cloudy or polluted skies. The app is not universal, and requires iOS 6.1 or later. It is optimized for the iPhone 5.
WSJ: China investigating Foxconn and others over river pollution
Infamous gadget manufacturer Foxconn is in the news once again after Chinese authorities alleged that the company has been dumping heavy metals into local rivers. Environmental regulator Ding Yudong believes that Foxconn and UniMicron Technology's facilities in Kunshan may be allowing toxic, cancer-causing substances to pass into the water table. Both companies have already issued firm denials claiming that the black-green fluid, which locals describe as "sudsy," is compliant with local laws. All we need to do now is find the guy with the heart ring.
Butlers, lunar rovers, snakes and airboats: the best of Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute
How was your week? We got to spend a couple of days trekking around the Carnegie Mellon campus in Pittsburgh, PA to check out some of the latest projects from the school's world renowned Robotics Institute -- a trip that culminated with the bi-annual induction ceremony from the CMU-sponsored Robot Hall of Fame. Given all the craziness of the past seven days, you might have missed some of the awesomeness, but fear not, we've got it all for you here in one handy place -- plus a couple of videos from the trip that we haven't shown you yet. Join us after the break to catch up.
AirBot and WaterBot help localize pollution data collection (video)
Want to do something about pollution in our water and air? Carnegie Mellon's CREATE Lab is working on a few interesting solutions to the problem of localizing pollution data with a trio of devices aimed at making the process accessible and affordable for regular people. First up is AirBot, a "particle counting robot" that monitors pollutants that can contribute to breathing problems like asthma. Aimed at a $99 price point, the little black boxes are portable enough to bring around with you, so you can, say, compare the air quality in areas when apartment hunting. The lab has made six prototype devices (one of which was on-hand during our visit), and is aiming to bring them to market next year. WaterBot, meanwhile, is set to bring the solution to streams near you. Stick one end in a body of water near your home and it will upload water purity information to the web via a built-in ZigBee module. CREATE's also cooked up the CATTFish, a method for recording such information in your home via, yes, your toilet. Dip one end in the reservoir and the box on top of the tank, and it will give you a reading of the cleanliness of the water being used to refill. That information can then be uploaded to the web via a USB port. The lab is shooting for a $50 price tag on the device. The big thing here is the ability to let the community take its own readings to build a bigger picture of water and are purity levels through online applications. More information on all of the above devices can be found in the video below.
Robo-fish swim into the ocean's funk, so you don't have to
Gene Roddenberry would have you believe that space is the final frontier. But really, the deep blue sea is more apt for that distinction. And without mega-rich hobbyists to fund exploratory plunges into those uncharted depths, science has had to seek out an alternative, more cost-effective means. Enter the robotic fish. Measuring five feet in length (1.5 meters), lasting up to eight hours and costing about $32,000 (£20,000), these cyborg swimmers are made to boldly go where no man should -- that is, into contaminated waters. The project -- a joint collaboration between the University of Essex and Strathclyde, the Tyndall National Institute and defense contractor Thales Safare (cue ominous Jaws soundtrack) -- aims to cut down on the time it traditionally takes to collect samples and determine corresponding levels of water pollution. The sensor-laden bots apparently swim just like the real thing and, if a recent trial off the coast of Gijon, Spain pans out, could very soon "school" their mass-produced way into other maritime endeavors. No word on whether these automated pesce will be able to detect the piscio in your pool, but there's always the purple water for that.
Apple, Chinese environmental group will audit factory for pollution concerns
ComputerWorld notes that Apple and a Chinese environmental group plan to jointly audit one of its factories in China. The audit, which is just a pilot project for the time being, will be completed by the end of April. It will be done at one of the factories that manufacture printed circuit boards for the company. The goal of the audit is to identify and pollution concerns. The joint audit will be done by Apple and The Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE), a Beijing environmental group. The IPE told ComputerWorld that Apple held talks with the organization last year after it criticized the company's suppliers and their effects on the environment. Apple has come under pressure in recent years to help make its suppliers' factories as environmentally friendly as possible. The company recently overhauled the Environmental section of its website and began publishing environment reports for the sake of transparency.
Apple, China groups meet to discuss environmental concerns
Environmental concerns continue to plague Apple and its suppliers in China. Earlier this year, Apple was singled out in an environmental report called "The Other Side of Apple," which detailed health, environment and safety issues at Chinese manufacturing facilities. Apple met with some of its green critics over the summer, but its practices are still under fire. Apple reportedly met this week again with nine representatives from five Chinese environmental groups to discuss pollution from its suppliers. Apple supposedly admitted that some of its suppliers were accused of excessive pollution, but put the blame on the offending companies and not Apple itself. According to Li Li, the director of EnviroFriends, Apple said "it had already spoken to 11 supply firms and asked them to reform, and they're in the process of initiating communications with the other four." Despite this effort, Li believed Apple was not sincere in its efforts to curb pollution. Not everyone was negative towards Apple's response, though. Notable Chinese environmentalist Ma Jun said Apple's efforts were "a major step forward." Apple has not commented on this latest meeting, but did issue a statement to the Wall Street Journal through Spokesperson Carolyn Wu. Apple reiterated what it has said in the past, "Apple is committed to driving the highest standards of social responsibility throughout our supply chain. We require that our suppliers provide safe working conditions, treat workers with dignity and respect, and use environmentally responsible manufacturing processes wherever Apple products are made."
Virgin Atlantic launches low-carbon fuel, aims to halve carbon footprint (video)
Richard Branson was in London today to announce "one of the most exciting developments of our lifetime." Right, so that'd be SpaceShipFour, we presume, capable of landing on the moon? No, not quite, but a low-carbon fuel would definitely be our second guess. Virgin Atlantic is partnering with LanzaTech, a company that specializes in carbon re-use technology, to recycle waste gasses from 65 percent of the world's steel mills. In Branson's own words, they'll be "taking much of the s**t from up the chimney stacks and turning it into aviation fuel." By capturing those gases that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere, Virgin would be able to reduce its overall carbon footprint without necessarily reducing the carbon output of its individual aircraft. The airline plans to have the fuel ready for commercial use by 2014, and will begin trials on its routes from London to Shanghai and Delhi around that time -- two cities that have become synonymous with pollution. Jump past the break for an audio-less demonstration video -- that's right, there's nothing wrong with your speakers.
Coca-Cola's green billboard consumes carbon dioxide like so much sugary soda
Sure, we've seen plenty of cool billboard features over the years, from facial recognition to interactive Pong games, but few have managed the dual feat of promoting a popular soft drink and making the world a slightly greener place. All of that fuzzy area you see surrounding the silhouette of the Coke bottle in the above 60 by 60 foot billboard is made up of a number of Fukien tea plants, each of which can soak up around 13 pounds of carbon dioxide per year, for a combined total of 46,800 pounds. The plants are housed in pots made from recycled Coke bottles and are watered via a drip irrigation system. The billboard is the product of a partnership between Coca-Cola Philippines and the World Wildlife Fund. No word on when it might be greening up more skylines around the world. Press release below.
Earth Day: Lower your carbon output (and blood pressure) with Roadify
In this year's NYC Big Apps 2.0 competition, there was a lot at stake for the developers behind the 57 app submissions. Not only were they up for cash prizes, but the recognition of their efforts to leverage the city's data mine for the public good was certain to boost their profile in Silicon Alley, and possibly attract bigger investors (or customers!) to their offerings. For the grand prize winner, Roadify, the increased awareness of their commuter-support platform means big improvements: more people participating and more/better data. The service, which depends on crowdsourced reporting of available parking spaces, bus positioning and subway arrivals along with public data on transit schedules and privately-sourced data on gas or garage pricing, becomes more useful as more users are sending in their information. Roadify supports 'giving' and 'getting' parking spaces (or updating transit details) via SMS, but it's with the iPhone app that the service really shines. Users can share and check transit information, traffic conditions, gas pricing and more -- plus they can quickly find a parking spot in congested areas. Considering that New York City drivers sometimes find themselves circling and circling in the hopeless search for an open parking spot, any approach to cutting that time will save on gas, reduce pollution and make the Big Apple a happier place. If you're a frequent or occasional NYC commuter, check out the free Roadify app; you can also watch the Roadify demo video in the continuation of this post.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: solar pyramids in UAE, Tequila turns to biofuel, and green lamps galore
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. Alternative energy projects powered up around the globe this week as Inhabitat showcased a series of solar pyramids designed to energize Abu Dhabi and the Netherlands rolled out plans for a bike path paved with photovoltaics. Meanwhile India announced that it will launch a series of solar-powered cellphone towers this year, and a 19-year-old American teenager created a parabolic solar death ray -- and promptly proceeded to burn down his garden shed. In other news, Tesla jolted the auto world with plans to launch its upcoming Model X in 2013, and a team of researchers from the University of Illinois discovered that the same plant that produces Tequila actually yields a pretty potent biofuel as well. We also learned that Toyota plans to power its upcoming hybrids with lighter, more powerful Lithium-Ion batteries, and we were impressed by the streamlined classic stylings of Mitsuoka's electric Himiko car. Finally, this week we washed away the winter blues by shedding light on 15 green lamps that bathe your interiors in energy-efficient illumination. We also shared 6 green lighting tips that will help you cut your energy bills and 5 tips for home renovations that will keep your house cozy in the worst winter weather.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: the power plant you can ski, and NASA's orbiting Nanosail-D
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. This week we saw new horizons dawn for green transportation as NASA's Nanosail-D became the first solar sail spacecraft to orbit the earth and President Obama issued a call for one million electric vehicles in his State of the Union Address. We also test drove the recently released electric Mini Cooper and took a look at several transportation breakthroughs that could clean up car emissions - researchers have developed an air pollution-fighting road treatment and Cella Energy claims to have created an emission free gas that costs $1.50 per gallon. In other news, this week Qatar showcased designs for 9 sustainable stadiums for the 2022 World Cup and BIG unveiled plans for a plant-wrapped waste to power plant that doubles as a ski slope. Super cities are on the rise in Asia as China announced plans to construct a mega-city the size of Switzerland and SOM unveiled a masterplan for a cutting-edge green tech city for Hanoi. On the other hand, Dubai's architecture of excess is fading fast as a report revealed that the emirate's world-shaped archipelago of islands is sinking into the sea. We also showcased the latest in portable tech as we brought you a brilliant Fire Department iPhone app that stands to save lives, and we rounded up our five favorite phone-charging green gadgets. And if you're looking for a case to carry it all in, check out these chic quilted iPad bags - just the thing to keep your kit cozy and protected during this month's blizzards.
Australians develop space junk laser tracking system, still can't track space jams
Australian company Electric Optic Systems has announced its developed a laser tracking system which will be able to stop space junk -- discarded debris in orbit around the earth, of which there is currently over 200,000 pieces larger than 1cm -- from colliding with satellites and spacecraft. The new laser system is more precise than previous radars specifically because of its ability to track debris that is small, which can still cause major problems if encountered. Using a 3.5 million dollar grant from the Australian government, the company developed the system which it says will ultimately work best as a network.
Audi shows off Travolution vehicle-to-infrastructure communication system (update: video!)
We've already seen Audi show off a car-to-traffic light communication system, but the automaker has stepped things up considerably with a recent demonstration of its new Travolution system, which not only lets cars communicate with traffic lights, but other cars as well. The basic idea is the same as before: to cut down on pollution and fuel-consumption by reducing idling at stop lights and, in some cases, the need to stop at all. To do that, the system relies on a combination of WiFi and 3G, which currently lets Audi's 15 test cars communicate with some 150 traffic lights in Ingolstadt, Germany -- and with each other to further avoid accidents. What's more, the system can now also even take control of the vehicles in some instances to prevent them from running a red light, and it will give drivers a heads up about the status of upcoming traffic lights -- saying, for instance, if the next light will be red or green if you continue at your current speed. As if that wasn't enough, the system also helps keep track of traffic jams, and Audi has even thrown in online payment at gas stations and parking garages for good measure. Head on past the break for the complete press release. Update: Video after the break! [Thanks, Christopher]
Breakfast Topic: Keep Azeroth clean
This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. Is it just me, or is the air a bit dirtier than it used to be? Turbo-Charged Flying Machines, Mekgineer's Choppers, the new Refer-A-Friend X-53 Touring Rocket and not to mention all of the vehicles in Ulduar and Wintergrasp. Soon goblins will be driving their very own cars! Yes, it seems the once fresh, clean atmosphere of Azeroth is destined to become more polluted than trade chat. At first I thought the whole Ice Stone melting incident was a farce .. just a part of our natural, cyclical climate change. But what if all of this engineering exhaust is causing irreparable damage? Perhaps it's the pollution itself that causes "Cataclysm" and not the return of Deathwing, like we've been told. It seems we are amidst the industrial revolution of Azeroth, and the progression of technology cannot be stifled any longer. As an engineer myself, I have to wonder about the effects I have personally had on WoW's environment -- crafting machines, bombs and even extracting motes and eternals on a daily basis. For shame. Have you contributed to polluting Azeroth? If so what can we do to improve the air quality or prevent the situation from getting out of control? Have you ever wanted to write for WoW.com? Your chance may be right around the corner. Watch for our next call for submissions for articles via Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. The next byline you see here may be yours!
AT&T moves toward eco-friendly packaging, earns our approbation
Notice to all gadget makers and vendors: if you reduce your packaging and engage in environmentally conscious behavior, you'll get free press out of it and positive brand awareness to boot. Take for example AT&T's newly announced design specifications for its own-brand phone accessories and packaging requirements for cellphone makers. Both are geared toward minimizing the surplus of paper and plastic that tends to come with the purchase of your device, and both will require the use of recycled and recyclable materials. AT&T expects to save 200 tons of excess materials by the end of 2010, which is very encouraging, but also disturbing in that it lets us know we were wasting 200 tons each year that could, presumably, have been saved by some sager planning. Anyway, better late than never -- and guess what, it will probably end up costing the company less than those inane advert attacks on Verizon.
United Nations identifies e-waste as an urgent and growing problem, wants change
E-waste might be one of the biggest misnomers in the history of nomery -- the image it creates in the mind is of a bunch of email and document files clogging up your local internet pipes. The reality of it is that electronic waste is rapidly populating ever-growing landfill areas in so-called developing countries (they're poor, just call a spade a spade) and the issue has now garnered the attention of the United Nations. The UN Environment Programme has issued a wideranging report warning that e-waste in China and South Africa could double or even quadruple within the next decade, whereas India could experience a five-fold rise. Major hazards exist in the unregulated and informal recycling of circuit boards and techno gadgets, as processes like backyard incineration for the retrieval of gold generate toxic gases while also being wildly inefficient. The whole point of the report is to encourage some global cooperation in setting up modern and safe recycling facilities in the affected countries to ameliorate the problem, though being generally more careful in our consumption and disposal of electronics wouldn't do the environment's chances any harm either.
Blog Action Day: Five apps to help save the world
TUAW is participating in this year's Blog Action Day on 10/15, an annual event in which bloggers around the world aim to spark discussion and awareness of serious and important issues. This year's topic is climate change, and fortunately, just like last year, we in the Apple community are in a pretty good place -- the company makes it a point to stay as green as possible, they have Al Gore on their board, and they make it safe and easy to dispose of their products in an environmentally friendly way. But there's always more we can do, from person to person -- making the earth a better place to live is going to take all of us working together. And so, here's five iPhone and iPod touch apps you can use to find out what you can do to take action on climate change. Some are paid, some are free, but all of them will give you fun and useful ways to help find approaches to dealing with climate change in your own behavior and life.
Greenpeace takes a break from issuing reports to vandalize HP corporate HQ
As readers of this site know, Greenpeace has quite an active sideline in rating (and berating) technology companies that generate excessive toxic landfill. In fact, we've seen so many of these reports that we almost forgot what the organization does best: chasing down whaling vessels, trespassing, hanging banners, and generally bedeviling polluters in the name of Mother Earth. And now, after repeatedly calling out HP for using PVC and hazardous chemicals in its devices, the group has taken matters into its own hands -- specifically, by slipping into the company's Palo Alto headquarters and painting "hazardous products" on the roof, in really big letters, with non-toxic children's paint. Congratulations to the activist group for finally finding a way to spread their message to low-flying pilots in the San Francisco Bay area! One more pic after the break.[Via Switched]
Madrid gets in on the pollution-cutting asphalt action
It looks like the Dutch aren't the only ones looking to snag some car pollution before it gets too far from the source, with Madrid now also paving at least one of streets with a special asphalt of its own that promises to capture up to 90 percent of the pollutants on a sunny day. Unlike the special mix of concrete used in the Dutch town of Hengelo, however, this method apparently uses a layer of a product called "noxer" that's affixed to regular asphalt which, again, produces a reaction that turns the captured nitrogen oxide into a more harmless material that can be washed away whenever it rains. What's more, Madrid is also rolling out another type of pavement that contains recycled tires in other parts of the city, which it hopes will cut down on the city's noise pollution. No word on any plans to combine the two just yet though.[Via Autoblog Green]
