MIT scientists envision 'space bubbles' can stop global warming
Researchers from MIT have suggested fighting climate change with a floating shield of "space bubbles" the size of Brazil to reflect the sun's rays.
Their Space Bubbles research project suggests that a raft of frozen bubbles could be positioned between the Earth and the sun, blocking out some of the incoming solar radiation to theoretically reduce the effects of manmade global warming.
Sun shields are not a new idea, but the key difference to this project is that as it would be in space, it would not interfere with the Earth's biosphere. Projects deployed within the Earth's stratosphere do run this risk.
It is a project by MIT's Senseable City Lab, collaborating with Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions and Philips Lighting.
The bubbles would be made from a material like silicon, transported to space in a molten form, or graphene-reinforced ionic liquids. The team carried out a successful preliminary experiment by inflating a sphere in outer space conditions.
For now, the project is a working hypothesis, looking to secure support for a feasibility study that would involve further lab experimentation on materials and methods for shipping into space.
The MIT researchers stress the proposal was designed for a situation where such an intervention becomes essential - and not to reduce the need for efforts to combat greenhouse gas emissions.
