All posts tagged: cigarette

I Tried an Air Purifier Designed to Filter Out Weed and Cigarette Smoke

I Tried an Air Purifier Designed to Filter Out Weed and Cigarette Smoke

Published by skeptic

In the US and globally, April 20 has become an unofficial holiday for weed smokers. While vaping, gummies and edibles are increasingly popular, a fair number of people still light up for a smoke, and that can result in a lingering odor many find unpleasant. I’m one of those people, and GermGuardian’s new FLT420B air purifier filter is designed to remove cannabis smoke more effectively than standard air purifier filters.“As cannabis use becomes more widely accepted, we recognized a real gap in the market for a filter purpose-built to tackle cannabis smoke odors, not just mask them,” said Rukky Ojakovo, senior director of heaters and air quality at Guardian Technologies. “In our two-week in-home test, over 90% of users rated it very effective at reducing cannabis odor.” GermGuardian’s new air purifier filter can help remove the lingering smell of cannabis smoke and other VOCs.  GermGuardian I’ve been using the FLT420B filter in my home with a GermGuardian AC4880B air purifier for several weeks now, and I’ve been impressed with just how effectively it tackles smoke odors. …

My son was fined £500 just for dropping a cigarette butt | Consumer affairs

My son was fined £500 just for dropping a cigarette butt | Consumer affairs

Published by Sam Flores

My son was fined £500 after dropping a cigarette butt in Southwark, London. He says the enforcement officer physically prevented him from picking it up, and told him he would escape a fine if he provided ID, and the police would be called if he didn’t. He complied and was promptly issued with a fixed-penalty notice (FPN). However, £500 is more than a typical fine for a dangerous offence such as speeding. I’ve since found fines and enforcement vary dramatically between London boroughs. Barnet charges £100, but drop your cigarette on the Enfield side of Cockfosters Road and your fine will be £500. Same “crime” a few yards apart and a 400% increase. These fines are not proportional and not fair. TH, London I should start by saying that littering is a national scourge and flung fag ends an environmental hazard. However, the government guidance to councils on enforcement, which last month was made legally binding, is unambiguous: the goal is to “educate” and “change behaviour”, and enforcement should be “transparent, accountable, proportionate and consistent”. …

Teen convicted of manslaughter after asthma inhaler DNA matched to crime scene cigarette butt | UK News

Teen convicted of manslaughter after asthma inhaler DNA matched to crime scene cigarette butt | UK News

Published by Sam Flores

A 19-year-old has been convicted over a fatal stabbing after police matched DNA on a cigarette found at the scene to that on his asthma inhaler. Ali Abdul Basit was convicted at the Old Bailey on Friday for his role in killing Michael Patrick Afonso Peixoto, 27, Metropolitan Police said. Basit’s conviction followed a two-year investigation, after he fled to Pakistan. Mr Peixoto was attacked in Thornton Heath in south London on 19 December 2023, police said. A group of men in a white BMW were seen waiting in the road when Mr Peixoto arrived with a friend in a Vauxhall Grandland on the night of the killing. The 27-year-old father was stabbed multiple times with a knife after he stepped out of the car, including once in the chest as he attempted to climb back in. Image: Michael Patrick Afonso Peixoto. Pic: Metropolitan Police The victim’s friend was threatened with a knife and forced out of the car. The vehicle was later found abandoned nearby. Mr Peixoto was found by police officers on the …

How ‘Love Story’ Recreated John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette’s Wedding, Down to the Last Cigarette

How ‘Love Story’ Recreated John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette’s Wedding, Down to the Last Cigarette

Published by Sam Flores

The room watched JFK Jr. and Carolyn’s Wedding: The Lost Tapes to get a feel for the order of operations. Listening to attendees share memories from the occasion, we were struck by the joy and reverence and warmth that friends and family of the couple still felt about that weekend 25 years later. We wanted the drama of the wedding episode to mimic the conflict surrounding any wedding, which is to say the drama of logistics. Who’s sitting where? Which friends made the cut for the guest list? Who’s wearing what? Unlike every other episode of the show, this is the one where John and Carolyn are in total lockstep, working as a team to achieve a shared goal. It’s them against the world. It’s the height of their romance, when everything seems possible. The plan was to illustrate this with two moments set to iconic ’90s songs. Moment one: Their dance to the Pulp song “Common People” at the top of the episode. But there was a snag: When it came time to clear …

KGB cigarette pack spy camera still works (sort of)

KGB cigarette pack spy camera still works (sort of)

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. The James Bond films are famous for their very cool—and usually very absurd—spy gadgetry. In reality, however, espionage has always been more about lowkey surveillance than laser watches. Any good professional intelligence officer will almost always opt for a discreet, reliable camera over a parking meter loaded with tear gas. One of the Central Intelligence Agency’s former chiefs of disguise has even said as much. “There are a lot of ways to collect intelligence. Cameras [were] my preferred method of collection,” Former CIA Chief Jonna Mendez explained during a 2020 interview. While decent store bought cameras often did the trick, specialized spy photography remains a cornerstone of modern espionage. There are plenty of examples, from the commercially available Minox-B subminiature camera of the 1950s–60s to the CIA’s famous 1970s fountain pen containing a tiny Tropel lens. But it wasn’t only American and British spy agencies that gathered intel from photography. The Soviet KGB apparatus employed all kinds of custom …

Scientists convert cigarette butts into new material for fast, durable energy storage

Scientists convert cigarette butts into new material for fast, durable energy storage

Published by Jenni Sidey

Billions of cigarette butts end up on sidewalks, beaches, and gutters each year. They are small, easy to ignore, and hard to clean up. Over time, they can also leak toxic chemicals into soil and water. A new study suggests this familiar trash could become something far more useful: a high-performance material for fast, durable energy storage. Scientists from Shenyang Agricultural University report that they can convert discarded cigarette butts into an advanced carbon material that works as a strong electrode for supercapacitors. The study describes a process that turns the filters into nitrogen and oxygen co-doped nanoporous biochar. In lab tests, the material stored large amounts of charge, charged quickly, and stayed stable through thousands of cycles. “Our work shows that cigarette butts are not just a pollution problem, but also a valuable carbon resource,” said corresponding author Leichang Cao. “By converting them into functional porous carbon materials, we can address waste management while supporting clean energy technologies.” SEM images of (a) H-hydrochar, (b) CNPB-600-4, (c) CNPB-700-1, (d) CNPB-700-2, (e) CNPB-700-3, (f) CNPB-700-4, (g) …