Until now the most impressive vacuum cleaning feats have come from Blighty shores with the name Dyson stamped on them. Now a Dutch scientist has created a Tesla coil device that effectively vacuum cleans the smog from air.

Daan Roosgaarde, who's behind the invention, says his system can pluck smog particles from the air. With cities like LA and Beijing shutting down cars in traffic for hours at a time because of such bad smog problems this is a welcome solution. It works by burying Tesla coils under the surface of the Earth which can be used to create an electrostatic field that attracts smog particles.

In reality, at the University of Delft in The Netherlands, scientists have cleared a one cubic meter area of smog in a five cubic meter room. This was done using the electrostatic field which creates a shaft of clear air extending up from the top of the coil. The smog particles fall to the ground and then can be collected easily.

While this shaft system isn't fit for citywide use in its current state it's a step in the right direction. Beijing is going to set up a working example of the system in a city park. At least this will show just how clean the air can be and help the campaign to get citizens to help keep the air clean.

In other Tesla coil news, this has also been done: