{"id":2445,"date":"2020-08-25T02:30:05","date_gmt":"2020-08-25T02:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/?p=2445"},"modified":"2020-09-01T06:50:40","modified_gmt":"2020-09-01T06:50:40","slug":"this-tower-sucks-up-smog-and-turns-it-into-diamonds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/2020\/08\/25\/this-tower-sucks-up-smog-and-turns-it-into-diamonds\/","title":{"rendered":"This Tower Sucks Up Smog and Turns It Into Diamonds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">In one of the world\u2019s most polluted cities, there\u2019s a futuristic tower that sucks up smog, turns it into clean air, and filters out the smog particles so they can be turned into diamonds.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ideas.ted.com\/?utm_source=pocket\">TED Ideas<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Hailey Reissman<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pocket-image-cache.com\/direct?resize=w2000&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Ftedideas.files.wordpress.com%2F2017%2F10%2Ffeatured_art_smog_tower_option_1.jpg%3Fw%3D750\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sound like sci-fi? It\u2019s real \u2014 and there are smog diamonds out there to prove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The tower is the brainchild of Dutch artist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.studioroosegaarde.net\/projects\/#space\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Daan Roosegaarde<\/a> who looked out his hotel window in Beijing and realized that the smog was so thick, he couldn\u2019t see the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/worldnews\/asia\/china\/10427845\/Chinas-air-pollution-blamed-for-eight-year-olds-lung-cancer.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Eight-year-olds<\/a>&nbsp;in the city have been diagnosed with lung cancer, and the filthy air has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bmj.com\/content\/347\/bmj.f7139\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reduced<\/a> residents\u2019 life expectancy by 15 \u2013 16 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is not the bright future we envision,\u201d Roosegaarde says. \u201cThis is the horror.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So he and his team decided to build the largest air purifier in the world: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.studioroosegaarde.net\/project\/smog-free-project\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the Smog Free Tower<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The tower they built, which has been used in Rotterdam, Beijing, Tianjin and Dalian, sucks up 30,000 cubic meters of polluted air per hour, cleans it at the nano level \u2014 the PM2.5, PM10 particles \u2014 and then releases the clean air back into the city. (The tower is powered by solar energy.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pocket-image-cache.com\/direct?resize=w2000&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Ftedideas.files.wordpress.com%2F2017%2F10%2Finline_1.jpg%3Fw%3D770\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s incredibly effective: the air around the tower is 55 to 75 percent cleaner than the rest of the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But after the gnarly, sooty particles are filtered out of the air, they don\u2019t just disappear \u2014 they need somewhere to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe had buckets of this disgusting material in our studio,\u201d says Roosegaarde.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His team was planning to throw it out when they had a eureka moment \u2014 42 percent of the particles they collected are made of carbon, they realized. And what do you get when you compress carbon?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You get diamonds, of course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The smog particles filtered by the tower are compressed for 30 minutes and turned into dark, boxy gems. The diamonds are then used for rings and cufflinks, each representing 1,000 cubic meters of pollution. Roosegaarde says a couple even used a smog ring as an engagement ring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pocket-image-cache.com\/direct?resize=w2000&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Ftedideas.files.wordpress.com%2F2017%2F10%2Finline_2.jpg%3Fw%3D770\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They\u2019re the ultimate waste-to-wonder conversion: toxic pollution transformed into gemstones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Beijing isn\u2019t the only polluted city out there. Roosegaarde is headed to India next. He plans to <a href=\"http:\/\/indiatoday.intoday.in\/story\/daan-roosegaarde-smog-free-project-india-technology-innovation-clean-air-energy-lifest\/1\/1036211.html\">build Smog Free Towers across<\/a> the nation to help Delhi and other municipalities turn their dirty air into objects to treasure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He\u2019s also partnering with NGOs, governments, students and tech companies to come up with other solutions to help reduce air pollution in our cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s all about connecting new technology with creative thinking,\u201d says Roosegaarde. \u201cIf you start thinking about that, there is so much you can imagine, so much more you can do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In one of the world\u2019s most polluted cities, there\u2019s a futuristic tower that sucks up smog, turns it into clean air, and filters out the smog particles so they can be turned into diamonds. TED Ideas Hailey Reissman Sound like sci-fi? It\u2019s real \u2014 and there are smog diamonds out there to prove it. The<\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link\">\n\t\t\t\t <a href=\"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/2020\/08\/25\/this-tower-sucks-up-smog-and-turns-it-into-diamonds\/\" class=\"theme-btn theme-btn-line hvr-bounce-to-right\">Read more<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2445"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2446,"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445\/revisions\/2446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fitadelphia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}