Air Ink

 Hi readers! Today, we'll be teaching you about air in. If you don't know what that is, read more!

Meaning: Air ink is air pollution that is being turned into ink. It was first created by Anirudh Sharma, founder of Gravity Labs.

Story:

Anirudh Sharma was at a conference in India when he noticed black particles accumulating on his white shirt. The specks settling on him were from pollution in the surrounding air. By products from burning fossil fuels such as gasoline and coal are causing health problems and climate effects around the world, especially in India's growing cities. In that moment a few years ago, though, he saw the pollution particles as something simpler: A coloring agent.He went back to MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was a graduate student focused on augmented reality, and began working on an idea to turn carbon pollution into ink. Using candle soot to start, he came up with a prototype. After finishing his master's degree, he went back to India and in 2016 co-founded a collaborative called Graviky Labs to continue working on Air-Ink and other ideas. After some time, They developed a device that can be fitted onto the exhaust pipe of a car or portable generator and collected the soot that forms from burning diesel fuel. By mixing the fine black powder with solvents, they produced ink that then went into bottles and markers.The team at Graviky has produced about 1,000 liters (264 gallons) of ink over the last 12 months. Graviky estimates that 30 milliliters of the ink captures 45 minutes of tailpipe pollution. The team is working to bring down the cost of the products, which also include ink for screen printing. The team at Graviky is also working on pollution sensors that can help people gauge air quality where they live. The staff simply work on concepts they like—projects need to have a social impact and make sense commercially, but income isn't the driving factor. Like the artists they've met, he says, they let passion guide them first.

Here are some images: