Slashdot Mirror
Smog Busting Paint Breaks Down Noxious Gasses
jlechem writes "New Scientist is reporting a story about a new paint that can absorb noxious gas. According to the article the new paint is called Ecopaint. The substance is designed to reduce levels of the nitrogen oxides, collectively known as the NOx gases, which cause respiratory problems and trigger smog production. The paint's base is polysiloxane, a silicon-based polymer. Embedded in it are spherical nanoparticles of titanium dioxide and calcium carbonate 30 nanometres wide. Because the particles are so small, the paint is clear, but pigment can be added. The first paint to go on sale will of course be white."
You're missing the point that, although other people have the right to live their own lives, they don't have the right to live mine. An SUV on the road does disproportionate harm to the air we *all* share, and gives its driver better road visibility at the expensive of that of everyone around them. If they have good reasons to use an SUV that offset those public harms, then we might as well live with it. But as long as those private SUVs are driven on public roads and harm other people, well, we have the right to worry about our own lives by telling other people what they should be doing (to us).