當霧霾久久揮散不去,當呼吸新鮮的空氣、享受湛藍的天空成為一種奢侈,穹頂之下的我們應該如何應對呢?為了對抗霧霾,世界各地的創新達人設計出了各種創意十足的空氣凈化妙招??祀S本文一起來開開眼吧,說不定你會為之心動哦!
Beijing is hardly alone in its air pollution woes1). The World Health Organization has said that roughly half of the world's urban population is exposed to pollution at least 2.5 times higher than it recommends.
While it may take years to fix this global problem, innovative minds in the Asia region have come up with creative solutions for living with air pollution.
在空氣污染問題上,北京一點都不孤單。世界衛生組織表示,全球約有半數的城市人口生活在污染程度至少2.5倍于其推薦標準的環境之中(編注:英文原文發表于2014年7月)。
雖然解決這個全球性的問題或許還需要許多年的時間,但在亞洲地區,一些創新達人已經為在有空氣污染的環境中生活提出了各具創意的解決方案。
DIY Purifier
Thomas Talhelm started worrying about the air inside his Beijing home during "airpocalypse2)" in 2013 when Beijing's air quality index skyrocketed to a terrifying 755—a 500 reading is considered hazardous3) for health, meaning people should avoid outdoor activity.
The Fulbright4) scholar couldn't afford the luxury of5) an expensive air purifier. "Filters are actually very simple—an HEPA6) filter is all you need to get over 96% of the PM2.5," he said, referring to particulate7) matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers that can penetrate deep into lungs, leading to fatal diseases.
With three of his friends, Talhelm created Smart Air8), an air purifier consisting of a basic household fan with an HEPA filter attached to it.
It works as efficiently as the big brands selling for thousands of dollars, removing more than 90 percent of PM2.5 in your room, according to Talhelm's research.
Clean Air Forecasts
A blue sky may be rare in Beijing, but when it appears, the city becomes a beautiful place to live.
Dustin Grzesik, the former Beijing resident created a free website and a free Android app—they share the same content and both forecast the next clean air day based on weather patterns.
Grzesik, who is now based in San Francisco, created the website (Banshirne!9)) and the app (Beijing Smogcast) by observing Beijing's weather reports, air quality reports and the US embassy's Air Quality Index Twitter feed.
Invisible Mask
Infipure's10) "nose mask" claims to cut 99% of PM2.5 without the bulkiness of a surgical face mask.
The disposable11) filters, made from non-toxic, latex12)-free materials, are inserted into your nostrils and aim to be undetectable.
"People care about their health, but don't want all the downsides that come with a traditional face mask," Infipure co-founder Francis Law explained.
Master Battery
Stanford professor Cui Yi and his team have developed a high-energy battery that could potentially increase an electric car's mileage by three times without being recharged.
The nanotube13) lithium14)-ion15) battery is said to outlast current conventional batteries. After 1,000 charging cycles, the battery still retains over half its energy capacity.
Yi's invention can help bolster16) the appeal of electric cars since cheaper, high-energy batteries are needed to compete against traditional vehicles.
Plant Backpack
Taiwanese artist Chiu Chih has designed a survival kit for an apocalyptic world.
Dubbed17) "Voyage on the Planet", a potted plant is housed inside a clear backpack hooked up to two tubes to funnel18) fresh air into a face mask. It's a bold, abstract take19) on an oxygen tank.
自制凈化器
空氣質量指數達到500即被認為有害健康,意味著人們應該避免戶外活動。所以在2013年,當“空氣末日”來臨時(當時北京的空氣質量指數飆升到了駭人的755),托馬斯·塔爾赫爾姆開始為北京家中的空氣質量感到擔憂了。
這位富布萊特學者享受不起昂貴的空氣凈化器?!斑^濾器其實非常簡單——你只需一個高效空氣過濾器就可過濾掉96%的PM2.5。”他所說的PM2.5是指直徑小于2.5微米、能夠深入肺部引起致命疾病的顆粒物質。
塔爾赫爾姆和三個朋友一起用一臺簡單的家用風扇外加一個高效空氣過濾器制作出了“聰明空氣”空氣凈化器。
根據塔爾赫爾姆的研究,這臺凈化器和售價數千美金的各大名牌產品同樣有效,能夠去除房間中90%以上的PM2.5。
潔凈空氣預報
在北京,藍天也許難得一見,但在有藍天的日子里,這座城市就會變成一個宜居的美麗地方。
曾經在北京居住過的達斯廷·格熱西克創建了一個免費網站,并推出了一款免費的安卓手機軟件,兩者內容相同,都依據天氣模式預測下一個空氣清新日。
現居住于舊金山的格熱西克通過觀測北京天氣預報、北京空氣質量預報以及美國大使館在推特上推送的空氣質量指數信息創建了“辦事兒呢!”網站,并開發了“Beijing Smogcast”手機軟件。
隱形口罩
盡飛?!氨侨娇谡帧甭暦Q,無需佩戴笨重的醫用外科口罩,即可將PM2.5吸入量減少99%。
這種一次性過濾器由無毒且不含膠乳的材料制作而成,可塞入鼻孔使用,旨在起到隱形的效果。
“人們關心自己的健康,但又不愿忍受佩戴傳統口罩帶來的種種不便?!北M飛保公司的聯合創始人弗蘭西斯·勞解釋說。
高能電池
斯坦福大學教授崔屹及其團隊已研發出一種高能電池,該電池有望將電動汽車一次充電的續航里程提升三倍。
據稱,這種納米管鋰離子電池要比現有的傳統電池更為耐用。在經過1000次循環充放電后,這種電池的剩余電量依然過半。
崔屹的這項發明有助于提升電動汽車的市場吸引力,因為在與傳統燃料汽車的競爭中,價格更加低廉的高能電池是非常必要的。
植物背包
臺灣藝術家邱志(音)為處于末日陰影下的世界設計了一套求生裝備。
這套名為“地球旅行”的呼吸裝備是在一個透明的背包中放入一株盆栽植物,通過連接背包的兩根管子將背包內的新鮮空氣輸送到面罩里。這是模擬氧氣罐的一個大膽而又抽象的設計。
Breathing Bike
British artist Matt Hope admits his breathing bike looks "ridiculous".
Hope attached a small generator to the bike's back wheel and as he pedals, electricity is produced to power his homemade filtration system. The air is pulled through a perforated20) trash bin where dust particles get positively charged and stick to a metal trumpet21) within the bin. Clean air is then sent through a tube and received in Hope's fighter-pilot mask.
"Earth has a breathable atmosphere; that's why we're here. Being attached to air filtering devices, it defies the point of being alive," Hope said.
Smog Vacuum
Daan Roosegaarde has been working on a smog vacuum—an electromagnetic field generated by copper coils that will suck pollutants from the sky to the ground like a vacuum, making way for clean air. He hopes to test out his design in a park environment.
A byproduct of this smog vacuum, namely The Smog Free Tower, is the "smog ring"—a piece of jewelry made from smog particulates.
"The pollution we suck up, the small particles, we don't throw them away. We put them under pressure for a couple of weeks and they crystallize, creating the notion22) of a diamond," Roosegaarde explains.
"By creating a place where you can feel the difference, where you can see the difference, people get an incentive to work together to say, hey, what should we do to make a whole city clean like this?" Roosegaarde says.
會呼吸的自行車
英國藝術家馬特·霍普承認,他的會呼吸的自行車看起來有些“滑稽可笑”。
霍普在這輛自行車的后輪上安裝了一臺小型發電機,當他踩動腳蹬時,發電機就會發電,為他自制的過濾系統供電。空氣先是被吸入一個帶孔的垃圾桶中,塵埃顆粒在此帶上正電荷并被吸附在桶內的一個喇叭形金屬組件上。隨后,清潔的空氣便會通過一根輸氣管被送到霍普的戰斗機飛行員面罩里,供其呼吸之用。
“地球上有可供呼吸的大氣,因而我們人類才能在地球上安家。當我們把自己和空氣過濾裝置連在一起時,那就違反了生存的要義。”霍普說。
煙霧真空吸塵器
丹·羅斯加德一直在建造一臺煙霧真空吸塵器——由銅線圈產生的電磁場可以像真空吸塵器一樣將污染物從天空吸到地面,只留下干凈的空氣。他希望能在公園的環境中檢驗自己的這一設計。
這臺煙霧真空吸塵器名為“霧霾凈化塔”,其副產品為“霧霾戒指”,即用霧霾顆粒制作而成的首飾。
“我們不會把吸出來的那些污染物微粒扔掉。這些微粒在經過幾周的加壓處理后會結晶,形成類似鉆石的小飾品?!绷_斯加德介紹說。
“通過創建這樣一個場所,可以讓人們親眼看到、親身感受到其中的區別所在,可以促使人們共同思考這樣一個問題——嘿,我們應該怎樣做才能讓整座城市都變得這么潔凈呢?”羅斯加德說。
丹·羅斯加德(Daan Roosegaarde),荷蘭新銳建筑師、藝術家,致力于使建筑與公共空間更具開放性并與人產生更多的互動,其代表作品有“智能高速公路(Smart Highway)”、薄如蟬翼的智能服裝“親密(Intimacy)”等。此外,他還計劃在北京建造第一個空氣凈化公園。
1. woe [w??] n. (常作復數)麻煩;問題;困難
2. airpocalypse: 空氣末日。該詞由air和apocalypse (世界末日;大災難)兩個單詞合成。
3. hazardous [?h?z?d?s] adj. 有危險的;有危害的
4. Fulbright: 富布萊特獎學金獲得者(1946年,美國國會通過參議員James William Fulbright的提案,決定設立富布萊特獎學金,派遣美國學生及學者到海外進修或接受外國學生及學者到美國進修)
5. afford the luxury of: 難得能享受……
6. HEPA: (high-efficiency particulate arresting的縮寫)高效空氣過濾器
7. particulate [pɑ??t?kj?l?t] adj. 微粒的,顆粒的
8. 其網址為www.smartairfilters.com/zh。
9. 其網址為banshirne.com。
10. Infipure: 盡飛保,是一家生產“鼻塞式口罩”的公司。
11. disposable [d??sp??z?bl] adj. 用后即丟棄的;一次性的
12. latex [?le?teks] n. (天然)膠乳;(尤指橡膠樹的)橡漿
13. nanotube [?n?n??tju?b] n. 【化】納米管
14. lithium [?l?θi?m] n. 【化】鋰
15. ion [?a??n] n.【化】離子
16. bolster [?b??lst?(r)] vt. 支持;提高
17. dub [d?b] vt. 把……稱為;給……起綽號
18. funnel [?f?nl] vt. 使通過小口子;使流經漏斗形空間
19. take [te?k] n. 看法;意見(多與on連用)
20. perforated [?p??f?re?t?d] adj. 穿孔的;有孔的
21. trumpet [?tr?mp?t] n. 喇叭形物
22. notion [?n???n] n. 別致的小東西,精巧的玩意兒