Co-founders of MIT Media Lab spin off company Graviky Labs in Bangalore, India, Anirudh Sharma and Nikhil Kaushik have come up with a way to repurpose soot prevalent in densely populated urban areas. Kaalink is a soot trap retrofit that can be attached to the tailpipe of vehicles, and is able to capture up to 95 percent of tailpipe-emmitted pollutants. The harmful soot is "then ground into an ultrafine powder and combined with solvents and oils to produce five grades of ink for a variety of applications, from screen printing to oil painting," according to the Wired article. Sharma and Kaushik call the final product "Air-Ink." Though the duo do not believe this is the sole answer to the issue of air pollution, they hope the system will help reduce toxicity in the air we breathe. Air-Ink is currently available on Kickstarter. [Wired]
Nantes, France–based design firm Faltazi has developed outdoor urine composters to mitigate the issue of public urination in cities. The two-layer box has flowers growing from nutrient-rich soil at the top with a urinal trough leading into the lower cabin filled with straw. Straw is used to reduce odor and the resulting compost is found to create nutrient-rich soil. Gare de Lyon train station in Paris has already purchased two of these "Uritrottoirs." [Fast Co. Design]
ICYMI: The Well Living Lab, a sensor-packed facility in Rochester, Minn., aims to develop insights about preventative health measures for building-related ailments and to evaluate the influence of indoor environments on individual well-being. [ARCHITECT]
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory have discovered a way to isolate hydrogen and oxygen by splitting water molecules through photoelectrochemical devices that use absorbed light, making it easier to source hydrogen for renewable energy. [Scientific American]
Last month electronic equipment company Hangzhou Fengling unveiled China's largest photovoltaic power station constructed above a fishery in the Zhejiang province. With solar panels covering over 300 hectares (approximately 1.15 square miles) of the Changhe and Zhouxiang reservoirs, the station is expected to facilitate fish farming and provide shade to the area. [The People's Daily]
A research team from Shandong University in China, the University of California, Riverside, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory recently published a study on light-printable paper. The material has a thin coat of nanoparticles made up of nontoxic blue pigment and titanium dioxide which change color when exposed to UV light. [Phys.org]
Germany introduces its first zero-emission passenger train, Coradia iLint. The train is powered by hydrogen from large lithium batteries and, as a result, only emits steam into the atmosphere. [The Independent]
According to a recent survey by the nonprofit Solar Foundation, the solar power industry employs more than 260,000 people in the United States—twice as many as coal and three times as many as wind power industries. [Vox]
International modular carpet manufacturer Interface announced in a press release that it would be releasing a line of luxury vinyl tiles—marking its first segue into the hard surface flooring business. The inaugural collection, called Level Set, will be released within the year in select markets, offering natural-looking textures that mimic stone and wood. [Interface]
