Living with a stink? Technology might help

Milpitas, an affluent city in California's Silicon Valley tech hub, has an odour problem.

For decades, residents have had to endure rank smells wafting from industrial sites, among them a 342-acre landfill.

"When I first moved here, I could not open my window for over 10 years," says Chia-Ling Kong, an engineer for a tech firm who lives around half a mile from the dump.

While things have got better in recent years, Kong says she and her neighbours must…