Breathe easier

Please note: This item is from our archives and was published in 2018. It is provided for historical reference. The content may be out of date and links may no longer function.

Breathe easier

The Smog Free Tower, which acts as an external smog vacuum cleaner, sits in Jordan Park in Krakow, Poland.

Poor air quality is a widespread problem. Nine of out ten people worldwide breathe polluted air, according to the World Health Organization. One innovation aimed at battling the issue on a local level is Dutch artist and designer Daan Roosegaarde’s 7-metre-tall Smog Free Tower. The tower uses positive ionisation technology to clean the air surrounding it by removing particulate matter. Whether the tower’s tech can be truly effective and scalable remains to be seen. Roosegaarde is also working on a bicycle that cleans air as the cyclist pedals.

Up Next

AI errors and poor data quality fuel investor scrutiny

By Steph Brown
August 17, 2026
Most investors in a new survey cite concerns about AI accuracy in company disclosures, and more than one in four executives report that AI errors have been detected in information that reached external audiences or company boards.

Related Articles

CIMA calls for skills and tax reset by UK government