And in other news...
It's Canadian air... in a can...
By Lananh Tran
China’s air pollution has gotten so bad that Chinese citizens are buying bottles of air from a company called Vitality Air. Vitality Air is a company based in Edmonton, Canada and specializes in the sale of bottled air. Moses Lam and Troy Paquette, the CEO and COO of Vitality Air started selling air as a joke.
It all started when they sold a plastic bag filled with air on Ebay for less than 75 cents. They sold their second bag of air for $160. The two quickly realized that they could create a product that could potentially benefit society. Lam saw a business opportunity and a need for an innovation like this in the market. They saw that the increasing pollution has led to a decline in air quality. Their goal was to provide fresh air to people who don’t have access to it. The company states, “As we continue to live in highly polluted areas, we are your solution to pollution.” Vitality Air sells compressed air composed of 95% oxygen contained in aluminum bottles. They claim that their product can be used for other purposes such as improving athletic performance, preventing altitude sickness, and better brain activity.
Vitality Air was founded in 2014. They began selling their bottled air in China in October of 2015. Their first shipment of 500 bottles was sold out in only four days. Although the company is sold in several countries, the majority of their consumers are wealthy women from the highly polluted Northeastern and Southern China. People might scoff at the concept of bottled air, but CEO Moses Lam believes that the development of bottled air is strikingly similar to the introduction of bottled water in which people thought was ridiculous. Since then there has been an increased demand for water to be readily available.
Today bottled water has evolved into a multi billion dollar industry. Vitality Air continues to sell bottled air. They work on providing this necessity to their customers and people who need it. Their vision snowballed into their modern day company and helps people worldwide.
China’s air pollution has gotten so bad that Chinese citizens are buying bottles of air from a company called Vitality Air. Vitality Air is a company based in Edmonton, Canada and specializes in the sale of bottled air. Moses Lam and Troy Paquette, the CEO and COO of Vitality Air started selling air as a joke.
It all started when they sold a plastic bag filled with air on Ebay for less than 75 cents. They sold their second bag of air for $160. The two quickly realized that they could create a product that could potentially benefit society. Lam saw a business opportunity and a need for an innovation like this in the market. They saw that the increasing pollution has led to a decline in air quality. Their goal was to provide fresh air to people who don’t have access to it. The company states, “As we continue to live in highly polluted areas, we are your solution to pollution.” Vitality Air sells compressed air composed of 95% oxygen contained in aluminum bottles. They claim that their product can be used for other purposes such as improving athletic performance, preventing altitude sickness, and better brain activity.
Vitality Air was founded in 2014. They began selling their bottled air in China in October of 2015. Their first shipment of 500 bottles was sold out in only four days. Although the company is sold in several countries, the majority of their consumers are wealthy women from the highly polluted Northeastern and Southern China. People might scoff at the concept of bottled air, but CEO Moses Lam believes that the development of bottled air is strikingly similar to the introduction of bottled water in which people thought was ridiculous. Since then there has been an increased demand for water to be readily available.
Today bottled water has evolved into a multi billion dollar industry. Vitality Air continues to sell bottled air. They work on providing this necessity to their customers and people who need it. Their vision snowballed into their modern day company and helps people worldwide.
The glass bridge has cracked?
By Malakai Smith and Samuel Hurlburt
Recently, the province of Hunan, China built a bridge entirely out of glass! The bridge is slightly more than 1,410 feet long, 19 feet wide, and close to 1,000 feet high! The glass is one inch thick in total, but even though the glass is very thick, a crack has appeared. The glass is clear and there is a rope to hold onto if you are frightened. If you are brave enough to walk cross the bridge you will have the thrill of seeing how far away ground is; the entire bridge spans a rocky gorge.
Visitors were told that it was okay to jump on the bridge and not worry about it cracking, because the structure is firm. However, the glass bridge, located Shiniuzhai National Park, is being repaired due to a crack. A team of 11 engineers carried out the repair work, adding new steel cables and struts for support before replacing the wooden slats with panes of glass, doubled up to give a thickness of 24 millimeters (0.94 inches). When the repairs are completed, "No matter how the tourists jump on the bridge we built, it will be fine," said Yang Guohong, one of the engineers involved in the project (Quote taken from CNN News source). The steel structures beneath the bridge are incredibly dense so even if the glass gets broken, visitors won't fall down."
So are glass bridges all they are cracked up to be? These sorts of sky walks have become increasingly common in recent years. The Grand Canyon has a horseshoe-shaped glass-bottomed walkway that curves out over the canyon and back, and there are also attractions like The Ledge at Chicago's Willis Tower, a small glass balcony built into the skyscraper's observation floor. This gave tourists a scare in May last year when cracks appeared in the glass, but officials said it was only the scratch-proof top layer, not the load bearing glass itself that was damaged.
The glass bridge craze isn't over. An even larger glass-bottomed bridge is currently being constructed in the same region of China. When finished, it will reportedly span 380 meters, builders hope to use it to host fashion shows, and even have the world's highest bungee jump there. Engineers from around the world will continue to construct glass bridges for our enjoyment. Perhaps one day you will challenge yourself to walk on a glass bridge or observatory.
Recently, the province of Hunan, China built a bridge entirely out of glass! The bridge is slightly more than 1,410 feet long, 19 feet wide, and close to 1,000 feet high! The glass is one inch thick in total, but even though the glass is very thick, a crack has appeared. The glass is clear and there is a rope to hold onto if you are frightened. If you are brave enough to walk cross the bridge you will have the thrill of seeing how far away ground is; the entire bridge spans a rocky gorge.
Visitors were told that it was okay to jump on the bridge and not worry about it cracking, because the structure is firm. However, the glass bridge, located Shiniuzhai National Park, is being repaired due to a crack. A team of 11 engineers carried out the repair work, adding new steel cables and struts for support before replacing the wooden slats with panes of glass, doubled up to give a thickness of 24 millimeters (0.94 inches). When the repairs are completed, "No matter how the tourists jump on the bridge we built, it will be fine," said Yang Guohong, one of the engineers involved in the project (Quote taken from CNN News source). The steel structures beneath the bridge are incredibly dense so even if the glass gets broken, visitors won't fall down."
So are glass bridges all they are cracked up to be? These sorts of sky walks have become increasingly common in recent years. The Grand Canyon has a horseshoe-shaped glass-bottomed walkway that curves out over the canyon and back, and there are also attractions like The Ledge at Chicago's Willis Tower, a small glass balcony built into the skyscraper's observation floor. This gave tourists a scare in May last year when cracks appeared in the glass, but officials said it was only the scratch-proof top layer, not the load bearing glass itself that was damaged.
The glass bridge craze isn't over. An even larger glass-bottomed bridge is currently being constructed in the same region of China. When finished, it will reportedly span 380 meters, builders hope to use it to host fashion shows, and even have the world's highest bungee jump there. Engineers from around the world will continue to construct glass bridges for our enjoyment. Perhaps one day you will challenge yourself to walk on a glass bridge or observatory.