Matt Hope’s “Breathing Bike” is, in theory, a bike that lets the rider pedal around super-polluted Beijing while breathing clean air. In practice, it’s a “provocative object” that Hope is kind of afraid to ride because it might electrocute him. But the theory is solid!
Here’s how it works: The wheels turn a generator that runs an air filter. The clean air goes through a tube, into one of those fighter pilot masks that make the wearer look like an alien. Ah, clean air.
The only problem is that the generator’s 5,000 volts could kill anyone riding the bike in the rain. Which means that basically, your biking options in Beijing right now are to die slowly from sucking in terrible pollutants or potentially die quickly when you’re electrocuted by your bike/breathing aid. Considering the small chance that the electrocution would turn you into some sort of clean air-producing superhero, we’re going to say that the risk is totally worth it.
