We may think we’re a culture that gets rid of our worn technology at the first sight of something shiny and new, but a new study shows that we keep using our old devices (装置) well after they go out of style. That’s bad news for the environment — and our wallets — as these outdated devices consume much more energy than the newer ones that do the same things.

To figure out how much power these devices are using, Callie Babbitt and her colleagues at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York tracked the environmental costs for each product throughout its life — from when its minerals are mined to when we stop using the device. This method provided a readout for how home energy use has evolved since the early 1990s. Devices were grouped by generation. Desktop computers, basic mobile phones, and box-set TVs defined 1992. Digital cameras arrived on the scene in 1997. And MP3 players, smart phones, and LCD TVs entered homes in 2002, before tablets and e-readers showed up in 2007.

As we accumulated more devices, however, we didn’t throw out our old ones. “The living-room television is replaced and gets planted in the kids’ room, and suddenly one day, you have a TV in every room of the house,” said one researcher. The average number of electronic devices rose from four per household in 1992 to 13 in 2007. We’re not just keeping these old devices — we continue to use them. According to the analysis of Babbitt’s team, old desktop monitors and box TVs with cathode ray tubes are the worst devices with their energy consumption and contribution to greenhouse gas emissions (排放) more than doubling during the 1992 to 2007 window.

So what’s the solution (解决方案)? The team’s data only went up to 2007, but the researchers also explored what would happen if consumers replaced old products with new electronics that serve more than one function, such as a tablet for word processing and TV viewing. They found that more on-demand entertainment viewing on tablets instead of TVs and desktop computers could cut energy consumption by 44%.

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Decades ago, NASA asked experts to develop the "smell of space" in order to help prepare astronauts for the experience of outer space. Now, a perfume, Eau de Space, has attracted eager buyers.

According to the Kickstarter activity, which has been launched to sell Eau de Space, the history of the "smell of space" has been unclear owing to various accounts of its development. Ever since the first spacewalk, astronauts have been shocked by the smell.

NASA astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield said, "The only time you can smell space is when you come back from a spacewalk. As you open the hatch (舱门), there is a distinctive smell." Some astronauts and space tourists describe it as the smell of fruit, or burnt cookies. Astronaut Eugene Cerman talked of another smell he experienced: "The moon smells like spent gunpowder." The smell of space is so distinct that NASA reached out to fragrance makers to recreate the smell, according to NASA documents.

Now, the makers have cooperated with award-winning perfumers (香水制造者), and reported that they've secured commercial contracts to reproduce the smell based on astronauts' accounts.

At $ 29 per bottle, Eau de Space will help support STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs for students. "For every bottle of Eau de Space you buy, we're going to donate $ 1 to a STEM program for low-income students. It's a big promise and isn't the best decision for a company trying to make a profit. But, imagine that a child who smells Eau de Space today is whipped up to become an astronaut, scientist or engineer," shows Kickstarter.

Eau de Space will be made in the UK employing low-income labor and environment-friendly practices, including zero manufacturing waste, according to the campaign. So far, about 11,000 people have become supporters.