Glowing Artificial Trees Could Combat Air Pollution

What is the one thing that could make historical, Sox-crazed, chowder-choping Boston even more exciting? Glowing, multi-colored artificial trees, of course! These trippy "Treepods", designed by Mario Caceres and Cristian Canonico as a Boston urban intervention contest entry, don't just look cool--they're good for the environment, too. Built out of recycled plastic bottles, Treepods would be "covered with solar panels to help power the CO2 filtration process, which would take place throughout the branches using a 'humidity swing' process," explains DVice's Evan Ackerman. "The trunk of the tree sports an integrated seesaw, where children can get off their lazy butts and start generating some electricity to help save the world already." White during the day, the trees--which Universal Hub notes were designed based on dragon blood trees--would glow in a variety of vibrant colors at night. While it might seem like the glowing plants trend is really starting to take off, don't get too excited about seesawing under one of these glowing beauties. Unfortunately, Ackerman doesn't think Treepods actually have a good chance of sprouting up in Boston parks anytime soon. Drat.

This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/technology/2011/02/glowing-artificial-trees-could-combat-air-pollution/17717/

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