What does a data leak smell like? This little device lets you find out
In 1937, Texas suffered its third-deadliest disaster, when a natural gas leak at a school in New London caused an explosion that killed nearly 300 people. When extracted from the ground, natural gas is odorless, and a leaking pipe in the school went undetected for days until a spark triggered the blast. To ensure such a tragedy would never happen again, Texas passed legislation mandating that a pungent smell be added to all natural gas. The rest of the world followed suit, and that’s why you can now smell when someone leaves a stove burner on by accident, or when there’s a gas leak in your house.
Now, artist and graphic designer Leanne Wijnsma wants to do for data what Texas did for natural gas. She wants to make it smell.
“In the…
