This ink is made from air pollution 空气污染物做的墨水

Rachael Lallensack

海詞积累

1. diesel n. 柴油

2. soot n. 煤烟;油烟

3. pigment n. 颜料;色素

4. exhaust n. 尾气;废气

5. marker n. 记号笔

6. medium n. 介质

7. ink-jet printer n. 喷墨打印机

On a trip to India in 2012， Anirudh Sharma captured a photo of a diesel generator blowing black soot against a white wall. That dark dirty mark made Sharma， who was then a student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab， think seriously about pollution-and also about pigments， like ink.

“If you can do it with soot， can we do the same with air pollution？” Sharma asked himself. If he could find a way to capture the particles that produced that stain on the wall in his photograph， he could not only reduce the amount of pollution released into the air， but also turn it into something new， or perhaps something beautiful.

In 2014， after completing his master's degree at MIT， Sharma returned to India to focus fully on developing a product called AIR-INK， the first commercial ink made entirely from air pollution. It started as a small proof of concept experiment using soot from air pollution to make paints. When it worked， he and his team built a lab in a small garage in Bangalore to create a device that could capture air pollution at the source.

They first developed a filtering device called Kaalink that could be attached to an exhaust pipe. Now， Kaalink can turn air pollution into soot， which then absorbs water to form ink that can be used in AIR-INK pens and markers.

Artist Ellen Lupton， who is in charge of the Cooper Hewitt， Smithsonian Design Museum in New York， says she was surprised by the marker's “superior qualities” as an art product， noting that the ink is super black， withstands lasting use， holds up on a variety of surfaces and mediums， and won't dry out quickly.

As for Sharma， the focus is expansion to an industrial scale. The inventor would like AIR-INK to be used in practical applications， like in ink-jet printers in offices， newsprint， textbooks， or textile printing in the fashion industry.

Reading Check

T（true） or F（false） questions

（ ）1. Sharma hit upon the idea of making ink from air pollution by accident.

（ ）2. AIR-INK was the first ink made entirely from air pollution.

（ ）3. Kaalink was a filtering device attached to an exhaust pipe.

（ ）4. The ink invented by Sharma could be used in AIR-INK pens and markers.

（ ）5. Sharma's invention has been widely used in many fields.

Language Study

Complete the following sentences according to the text.

1. That dark dirty mark made Sharma，  _________   was then a student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab，  _________（think） seriously about pollution.

2. He could not only reduce the amount of pollution  _________（release） into the air， but also turn it into something new.

3. In 2014， after  _________ （complete） his master's degree at MIT， Sharma returned to India to fo-cus fully  _________  developing a product called AIR？鄄INK， the first commercial ink

_________（make） entirely from air pollution.

4. Now， Kaalink can turn air pollution into soot，   _________    then absorbs water to form ink that can be used in AIR-INK pens and markers.

5. Artist Ellen Lupton says she was surprised by the marker's “superior qualities” as an art product，

_________ （note） that the ink is super black.