MIT researchers are exploring the possibility of floating frozen bubbles made of a thin film above Earth to reflect the sun’s rays, called ‘Space Bubbles’.
This is a variation on the common geoengineering idea of a solar shield, which blocks solar radiation, but as it is space-based there should be no risk of interfering with the Earth’s biosphere.
The researchers stress that the proposal is designed to supplement, not replace, current climate change mitigation efforts.
Architect Carlo Ratti is among a group of MIT researchers exploring the feasibility of fighting climate change with a conglomeration of “space bubbles” that would float above the Earth to reflect the sun’s rays.
The Space Bubbles research project proposes floating a “raft” made of frozen bubbles at the L1 Lagrangian Point – the point between the Earth and the sun where their gravitational pulls cancel out.
The bubbles would be made of a thin-film material and manufactured in space where, when interconnected, they would cover an area roughly the size of Brazil.
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The Space Bubbles proposal envisages using frozen spheres to block some of the sun’s rays.
Image: MIT
Space bubbles to fight climate change
Developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Space Bubbles is a variation on the common geoengineering ide …