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This new solar-powered device can pull water straight from the desert air
Science Magazine ^ | Apr. 13, 2017 | Robert Service

Posted on 04/13/2017 7:55:01 PM PDT by Innovative

You can’t squeeze blood from a stone, but wringing water from the desert sky is now possible, thanks to a new spongelike device that uses sunlight to suck water vapor from air, even in low humidity. The device can produce nearly 3 liters of water per day, and researchers say future versions will be even better. That means homes in the driest parts of the world could soon have a solar-powered appliance capable of delivering all the water they need, offering relief to billions of people.  

There are an estimated 13 trillion liters of water floating in the atmosphere at any one time, equivalent to 10% of all of the freshwater in our planet’s lakes and rivers. Over the years, researchers have developed ways to grab a few trickles, such as using fine nets to wick water from fog banks, or power-hungry dehumidifiers to condense it out of the air. But both approaches require either very humid air or far too much electricity to be broadly useful.

To find an all-purpose solution, researchers led by Omar Yaghi, a chemist at the University of California, Berkeley, turned to a family of crystalline powders called metal organic frameworks, or MOFs. Yaghi developed the first MOFs—porous crystals that form continuous 3D networks—more than 20 years ago. The networks assemble in a Tinkertoy-like fashion from metal atoms that act as the hubs and sticklike organic compounds that link the hubs together. By choosing different metals and organics, chemists can dial in the properties of each MOF, controlling what gases bind to them, and how strongly they hold on.

(Excerpt) Read more at sciencemag.org ...


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: desert; invention; soiarpower; solarpower; water; watergen; watergeneration; watertechnology
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It is a HUGE discovery, if indeed it works.

It is very hard to believe, especially that they could do this in large quantities.

But the fact that they developed this at a US university adds to its credibility.

1 posted on 04/13/2017 7:55:01 PM PDT by Innovative
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To: Innovative

Moisture vaporators, just like on Tatooine.

CC


2 posted on 04/13/2017 8:14:03 PM PDT by Celtic Conservative (CC: purveyor of cryptic, snarky posts since December, 2000..)
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To: Innovative
"There are an estimated 13 trillion liters of water floating in the atmosphere at any one time"
10 trillion of those liters are in Tennessee air!
3 posted on 04/13/2017 8:14:17 PM PDT by LYDIAONTARIO
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To: Innovative
Now if they'd only find a way to make droid motivators that don't blow up.


4 posted on 04/13/2017 8:17:45 PM PDT by Telepathic Intruder
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To: Innovative
It is very hard to believe, especially that they could do this in large quantities.

What will that do to climate change since water vapor is a green house gas.

5 posted on 04/13/2017 8:26:05 PM PDT by itsahoot (As long as there is money to be divided, there will be division.)
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To: Innovative

Wow, sounds like a real innovation.


6 posted on 04/13/2017 8:27:41 PM PDT by bigbob
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To: Innovative

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/search?m=all;o=time;q=quick;s=Device%20water


7 posted on 04/13/2017 8:29:54 PM PDT by TexasGator
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To: Telepathic Intruder
Now if they'd only find a way to make droid motivators that don't blow up.

That's always been a problem, has it not?

CA....

8 posted on 04/13/2017 8:33:41 PM PDT by Chances Are (Seems I've found that silly grin again....)
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To: Innovative

This could help those in the desert like, in the Arabia be sure to get all the water they need to drink every day!


9 posted on 04/13/2017 8:33:57 PM PDT by ichabod1 (I call Obama "osama" because he damaged us far more than Osama bin Ladin ever did.)
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To: Innovative

What will be the effect of sucking all that water out of the dessert air?


10 posted on 04/13/2017 9:11:01 PM PDT by fella ("As it was before Noah so shall it be again,")
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To: itsahoot

Sucking all that moisture from the air can’t be a good idea.


11 posted on 04/13/2017 9:13:41 PM PDT by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: Innovative

Prepper alert. Have several of these on hand.


12 posted on 04/13/2017 9:18:16 PM PDT by upchuck (Be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy.)
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To: Innovative

I’m sure the insane leftists are already working feverishly to prove sucking all the moisture from the air will cause global warming to increase and the seas to rise.

Women and children hurt first and the most.


13 posted on 04/13/2017 9:25:18 PM PDT by upchuck (Be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy.)
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To: Innovative

I dunno, it seems to me that the desert lives off the existing moisture in the air. Sucking the water vapor in a large capacity might lead to killing of all existing desert fauna.


14 posted on 04/13/2017 9:26:24 PM PDT by BreitbartSentMe (RIP Andrew Breitbart - first soldier in the Great Meme War - MAGA!)
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To: Telepathic Intruder

Nah, it’s just them cheap R5 units. Get yourself an R4 and you won’t have those problems.

CC


15 posted on 04/13/2017 9:28:27 PM PDT by Celtic Conservative (CC: purveyor of cryptic, snarky posts since December, 2000..)
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To: ichabod1
This could help those in the desert like, in the Arabia be sure to get all the water they need to drink every day!

They don't need it - they can just drink camel pee.

16 posted on 04/13/2017 9:34:37 PM PDT by JaguarXKE (n1973: Reporters investigate All the President's Men. 2013: Reporters ARE all the President's men d)
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To: Innovative

So-called “air wells” are an ancient technology; so the concept of extracting water from desert air isn’t new. However, the old air-well technology involves a lot of massive stones. This new tech operates on different principles, and appears to be much more portable, and to require much less space.


17 posted on 04/13/2017 9:35:37 PM PDT by USFRIENDINVICTORIA
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To: Innovative

so they are creating dew ?


18 posted on 04/13/2017 9:39:41 PM PDT by stylin19a (Terrorists - "just because you don't see them doesn't mean they aren't there")
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To: Innovative

Nothing new. I saw this type of technology demonstrated in Namibia years ago.


19 posted on 04/13/2017 9:47:54 PM PDT by stormer
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To: Celtic Conservative

It’s the red ones that always do that.


20 posted on 04/13/2017 10:01:34 PM PDT by Telepathic Intruder
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