So you're looking for a REAL way to help improve local air quality? Funny you should mention it...

Volunteers Needed (Hint, Hint) to Label Smoke Emissions from Pollution Monitoring Videos

The Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP) is teaming up with The CREATE Lab at Carnegie Mellon University for an event—and we need your help!

How?

We are looking for folks to serve as volunteers to help label smoke emissions from a collection of pollution monitoring videos.

“Our goal is to train an artificial Intelligence system to detect industrial smoke pollution automatically. To do this, we need a vast amount of data, which will require a considerable human effort,” CREATE Lab officials explained. “As we gather more labeled videos, the AI system will begin to detect local smoke emissions, and our team will design visualization for industrial pollution events. We would greatly appreciate your participation in this community-powered AI research!”

It’s free to attend. Did we mention refreshments will be served? Interested? Here’s what you need to know if you want to go:

When: Choose a session. Either 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. OR 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 16.

Where: GASP headquarters located at 1133 S. Braddock Ave. in Edgewood. FYI: We are on the 61B bus route.

What to bring: Attendees should bring their own devices—laptops or mobile devices—since there will be a very limited number available from CMU. The program being used is compatible with Android version 7 or above. For iPad and iPhone, the system is compatible with iOS version 11 or above. For laptops, the tool works on browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.

How to RSVP: Because space is limited, we ask attendees to RSVP by emailing GASP Executive Director Rachel Filippini at rachel@gasp-pgh.org.

Recommended Reading: 3 Air Pollution Studies You Need to Know About

1.   A Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health study suggests that NSAIDs like aspirin may halve air pollution harms. Read more on ScienceDaily.
2.   Myriad studies have linked poor air pollution to everything from cardiovascular difficulties to obesity. But is air pollution also increasing violent crime? This study suggests it does.
3.   Speaking of the awful things air pollution does to the body, a new study also finds that poor air quality causes damage to the brain. Read all about it on TheScientist.com.

Join GASP for a Stroll Through Donora History

GASP is teaming up with Venture Outdoors and the Donora Historical Society from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Nov. 2 to take hikers on a trek through the past, present and future of air quality in southwestern Pennsylvania—and it's not too late to register!

We’ll take an easy-paced walk in the footprint that was once Donora’s mighty Zinc Works, which sat along the Monongahela River. We will then visit the Donora Smog Museum to learn more about the 1948 smog event that killed 27 people that Halloween weekend, and more than 40 in the weeks that followed. The event helped spur the clean air movement in the United States.

Interested? The cost for Venture Outdoors members is $10. The cost for non-members is $15. Registration is required, and space is limited.